Champion Rules

Chapter 49046: All face-to-face (please read!)

The day before the game, Dream Team training center, locker room.

The pale ceiling light made Stephen Marbury's lowered face dim and unclear.

Allen Iverson asked the sullen New York native, "Stephen, why do you hate that kid?"

Stephen Marbury casually replied: "I don't hate him."

"Come on, do you think an 18-year-old rookie can threaten your locker room status? Kobe Bryant got rid of Shaq, but it took him 8 years."

Stephen Marbury did not answer.

Did he hope Lynch wouldn't come to New York? No, he really hoped that New York would have someone who could really play basketball.

Because he longs to be the pride of New York.

His basketball story has shone with extraordinary brilliance since childhood. Unlike most players who made their mark in high school, this gifted Coney Island boy was dubbed "America's No. 1 Elementary School Student" by mainstream media such as The New York Times as early as 1988, becoming a rare young phenomenal player in the history of North American basketball.

His family genes can be called the Coney Island basketball dynasty. His three brothers are all well-known locally for their extraordinary athletic talents. The entire Marbury family is like the "basketball version of Kardashian", always occupying the media spotlight from street courts to community events.

There is really no difference between the two sides, both make a living by playing "ball".

Born into a basketball family, Stephen has been a subject of media attention since the age of six. By the time this basketball prodigy, nurtured by the spotlight, entered high school, he already possessed the stature of a superstar, becoming one of the few players in history to play high school basketball at Madison Square Garden, the "Mecca of Basketball," and receiving the cheers of the entire city.

Unlike his brothers who failed in the face of professional basketball, he became the only player in his family's 20-year hope to make it to the NBA, fulfilling the generational dream of the entire neighborhood.

He has a halo around him. He is the savior of Coney Island and the idol of countless Coney Island children.

He is the chosen one of New York and the brightest basketball star in New York after Patrick Ewing.

Although his career began in faraway Minneapolis, he has always had a place in the hearts of New York fans.

Last season, he finally came to the team he dreamed of playing for as a child. He was eager to lead the Knicks to success and continue his own campus basketball legend.

But reality gave him a loud slap in the face.

Alan Houston was out for the season, with the injury announcement still plastered on the front page of the New York Times. Isiah Thomas couldn't wait to tell him, "Our goal this season is to get that kid playing in Spain."

Then, Isaiah Thomas traded away the few players who could play, and Stephen Marbury could only struggle in the vortex of tanking.

He often had emotional breakdowns and would come home and yell, "Why did they act like nothing happened when we lost?"

He went from being New York's chosen son to being "New York's most despised player" in the New York Times. The media often mocked him and Kidd for swapping them, saying that the Nets turned the entire Eastern Conference upside down, in order to highlight his incompetence.

Now, the nightmare is not over yet.

New Yorkers have a new favorite. The guy who has never set foot in New York has become the beloved of all New Yorkers.

He just played in a summer league game, but it was broadcast live nationwide.

Even before he officially wore a Knicks jersey, some people already regarded him as the leader of the Knicks.

Stephen Marbury doesn't know what he did wrong to be abandoned by the New York media and fans.

So he was eager to prove himself in the Olympics. He wanted to let all of New York see that as long as he had a group of capable teammates, he could win.

Now, fate made him meet the Chinese man from Madrid.

How he wished to tell the New York media that he was the one who could lead the empire to rise.

Stephon Marbury looked up and gazed into the haggard face of the locker room mirror. Reflected there was the glaring New York Post headline "Most Disliked Player," as well as the image of the prodigy chased by cameras through the streets of Coney Island in 1988.

He has to win tomorrow night.

Because he longs to be the pride of New York.

On the other side, the Chinese team's training ground was also lit with white ceiling lights, but it looked full of energy.

The echo of the basketball hitting the floor filled the open court in a regular pattern. Lynch's jump shot drew a beautiful arc, and beads of sweat cast a fine silver light as he took to the air.

Lynch is still practicing his jump shot, and he is eager to turn Korver's shooting talent into his own combat power as soon as possible.

"Hey! If you keep practicing like this, the gym's going to raise our rent!" Yao Ming leaned against the doorframe and threw a can of Gatorade over. The aluminum can made a crisp sound as it rolled on the floor. "I think you really want to kill Marbury."

Lynch caught the drink that rolled to his feet: "When you hit the black, it looks like you want to kill all of them."

"That's because," Yao Ming wiped his face with a towel. "Because I want to make sure we qualify. It's an amazing feeling. You let go of everything. Once you get to the NBA, you'll understand this feeling."

"What does it feel like?"

"The NBA is crazy, with 82 regular season games, and for seven and a half months, all you think about is basketball, and for seven and a half months, everything is about competition, which gives you a strong sense of competition.

Of course, if I had known we would beat Argentina and Spain later, I might not have fought so hard against Serbia and Montenegro, hahahaha."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Lynch nodded. "At Real Madrid, my captain made me a person who wants to win. So it's not about Stephon Marbury, I just want to win the next game."

"It's normal even if it's related to him. It seems that Marbury is not as good as Francis. Oh, I was sad that he was traded. But they got Tracy McGrady, who is a player on the same level as Kobe. I think we have a chance to win a championship."

Lynch glanced at the giant and continued to pick up the basketball and shoot.

McGrady and Kobe are at the same level. This is Yao Ming's biggest misunderstanding of the NBA, but Lynch doesn't want to hurt him so directly.

Seeing the topic shift to himself, Yao Ming immediately changed the subject: "Seriously, how confident are you tomorrow? They're the American team, after all. God, I never imagined I'd ever compete against the American team. That's something only my idol Sabonis could do."

"It's hard to say, maybe 80%? As long as the US team can find their touch in long-range shooting, everything will be fine."

"I think it's 100% certain," Yao Ming said as he walked onto the court, his 226cm frame casting a huge shadow on the floor. "Before you came to training camp, to be honest, I lost my temper with the team a few times. Because apart from me, I felt that no one else wanted to win that much. We had no fighting spirit, as if coming to the Olympics was just a mission. After you came, everything changed. Everyone is more confident and works harder. Every time you play serious defense and never give up chasing down a shot, it changes something. You are someone who can change the environment. You made us guys believe that we really can plant the American flag in the losers' graveyard."

"Really? I wish I could inject that gene into New York. By the way, I must remind you of something about tomorrow's game."

"You said."

"Be careful of Tim Duncan's windmill."
-
August 26, 2004, Athens.

The eyes of basketball fans around the world are focused on the birthplace of the modern Olympics.

In the old town of Plaka, little Ioannis, who should have been selling souvenirs to tourists at Monastiraki Square, was now curled up on a shabby sofa, staring at the old TV at home with snow-capped lights.

He and his brothers have always liked football, but this important game made basketball popular in Greece.

He didn't know who Lynch and Stephon Marbury were, but he had heard their names countless times on the radio and in people's mouths these days.

He was full of curiosity about this key battle.

The first thing he saw was an old man who was furious.

On the sidelines, Larry Brown was still emphasizing: "Discipline! I want to see damn discipline!"

Stephen Marbury completely ignored it. He casually adjusted his wristband and caught a glimpse of Carmelo Anthony out of the corner of his eye. He felt a little sympathy for this super genius.

He clearly had a chance to win the FMVP, but he had to endure the old-school coach's endless nagging about "reasonable offense and full defense", and then watched the FMVP being awarded to the guard who had never even made an All-Star team.

"Let's go," Marbury called softly, and was the first to step onto the court. The US team's starting lineup was still impressive.

The scoreboard illuminated Marbury's pupils, Iverson's signature furrowed hair attracted flashes of light, Anthony's jab step, which became famous throughout the United States during his college years, was measuring the three-point line, Boozer's granite-like muscles glowed bronze under the spotlight, and the great Tim Duncan was gently grabbing the basketball on the ground with his fingertips.

The bench is equally luxurious. For example, LeBron James, who is on par with European champion Lynch, playoff superstar Wade and first-year champion Anthony, is biting his nails.

But the biggest star tonight wasn't on the Dream Team; the real storm came from the other end.

When Lynch came on the court, Greece seemed to become the home court of the Chinese team.

As a basketball player, Lynch's popularity is ahead of everyone else in this Olympics, because everyone who loves basketball, whether in Europe, North America or Asia, is familiar with him.

In the last game against Spain, the boos that the Catalan fans gave to Lynch were enough to disturb the Greek gods - if you are not popular enough, the fans will not bother to boo you.

The camera turned to the stands, where Spike Lee was sitting on the sidelines. He really came here from afar just for a bite of bran.

At the start of the game, Yao Ming won the first attack ball for the Chinese team.

Lynch held the ball outside the three-point line, forcing Carlos Boozer to follow. Then Lynch passed the ball back to Liu Wei, who lobbed it to Yao Ming.

Yao Ming turned around and shot a hook, but missed the shot due to interference from Duncan.

But a red lightning struck the restricted area, and at the moment when Boozer and Duncan bent their knees to gather strength, he had already jumped into the air to grab the offensive rebound, and scored a dunk with a second jump!
"Carlos, fuck you, are you a fucking idiot!? Box out, box out! That's a backboard that even your grandmother could block! Fuck!" Larry Brown's bloodshot eyes almost popped out of the frame. His yelling explained why he was unpopular with the players.

But Lynch only knew that something like Boozer beating Yao Ming would not happen in the Olympics.

He couldn't get offensive rebounds, he couldn't shoot mid-range shots, he couldn't do anything.

Stephen Marbury gritted his teeth and carried the ball across half court.

In Larry Brown's system, AI is naturally a number two player and Stephen Marbury is the number one player.

But Marbury didn't intend to pass the ball from the top of the key like a traditional point guard. He lowered his center of gravity and the basketball repeatedly passed between his legs. Suddenly, with a change of direction, Liu Wei was thrown a whole body length away.

Stephen Marbury is a breakthrough guard, and breakthrough is his most powerful weapon on the offensive end.

He's one of the best dribblers alive, his dribbling trajectory a living specimen from a basketball textbook, each stride carrying the untamed rhythm of the streets of Coney Island.

He's a dribbling museum.

Like a spear, he charged into the Chinese defense, leaping and dodging Yao Ming mid-air. Another palm struck, and knowing it was Lynch, he dodged it again, completing an incredible double fold and releasing the shot—Stephen Marbury's ability to stay in the air has always been greatly underestimated, which is why he can still frequently display aerial kicks in the CBA even after his old age.

A gorgeous double pull-up, but all that remained was splendor, degenerating into an aerial ballet with mere beauty.

Under the overshadowing of Yao Ming and Lynch, Marbury missed the layup.

Lynch rushed to the frontcourt, and Yao Ming grabbed the rebound and made a bold long pass.

After receiving the basketball, Tim Duncan suddenly appeared and blocked Lynch's way.

Carlos Boozer immediately double-teamed the 18-year-old rookie, trapping him.

As the national audience waited breathlessly for the 18-year-old rookie's desperate struggle, Lynch, with a flick of his wrist, turned a crisis into an opportunity. He calmly passed the ball to the oncoming Li Nan, who, undeterred by Anthony's presence, shot a jump shot.

He was confident that even if he missed the shot, Lynch would have a high chance of getting the rebound.

Yao Ming was right. After Lynch came, many things changed and made everyone more confident.

Of course, Lynch did not get the chance to grab the rebound, and Li Nan's three-pointer went directly into the net.

A set of data that subverts cognition: In the 2002 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics, Li Nan, who was at his peak, had three-point shooting percentages of 45.9% and 43.5% respectively. Considering that he averaged 4.6 three-pointers per game in the World Championships and 6.6 three-pointers per game in the Olympics, the sample size is not low, so we can conclude that he is really accurate.

NBC commentator Bob Costas frowned: "Goal! Lynch used his attractiveness to help his teammates create opportunities. The Dream Team fell behind by 5 points at the start!"

Lynch glanced at Marbury. Although Lynch did not score in the previous round, Marbury felt provoked.

He wanted to prove himself, so he picked up the basketball again, called for a pick-and-roll, and dribbled the ball before taking a three-pointer to try his hand.

"Bang!"

Yao Ming rebounds +1, Carmelo Anthony is cursing, he misses Chauncey Billups so much.

The Chinese team attacked, Yao Ming moved to the mid-range, pulling away from Duncan, and Lynch blocked Boozer with his back to the basket, then received the ball and played one-on-one.

The moment he turned his back, Carmelo Anthony appeared. The good defensive habits he developed in the Pistons made his defensive enthusiasm very different from his original history.

Lynch raised the ball above his head and passed it to Liu Wei who was cutting in.

Marbury had long forgotten that there was someone next to him, and Lynch's tactical sense cultivated in European youth training allowed him to quickly discover his teammates' entry paths.

Liu Wei made a layup, and the scoreboard showed a scarlet 7-0, which hurt the dignity of the Dream Team and even more so the Coney Island boy who was once deified by the New York media.

Spike Lee on the sidelines could no longer sit still.

He hated the feeling of eating shit mixed with bran.

"Damn it!" the black director even uttered such a rude word, "That's why we only believe Lynch now, not you, an idiot!"

In the next few rounds, Lynch revitalized the game on both the defensive and offensive ends, but Stephen Marbury was powerless to stop the Dream Team's decline.

His breakthrough passes to AI and Anthony turned into long-range shots, and his defense could not change the game.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Chinese team still maintained a 7-point lead.

Stephen Marbury continued to break through and passed the ball to AI in the corner.

AI immediately jumped shot after receiving the ball, but Lynch turned around and rushed out, then jumped up to block it after taking a step out of the penalty area.

This is not a regular blocking range, and whether the basketball can go in seems to depend solely on the AI's own touch.

But when the basketball was halfway through its flight, the AI ​​saw that Lynch's fingers had touched the bottom of the basketball. The three-pointer in the corner that should have been a sure thing was turned into a three-pointer that went off track due to Lynch's terrifying defensive range!

Marbury immediately retreated and temporarily followed Lynch to block the passing route. Seeing this, Lynch ran to the top of the arc outside the three-point line and stopped suddenly, ignoring Marbury and raising his hand to ask for the ball.

After getting the basketball, Lynch deliberately faced Marbury's desperate outstretched arms and made a desperate attempt. The son of New York was completely out of reach of this ball.

The basketball went into the net and the Chinese team took the lead by 10 points!
"It was a shot of judgment! Stephon Marbury was lynched!" NBC's Bob Costas captioned the meme with a clever twist, using Lynch's name. (Lynch, as a verb, means to lynch someone.)
Lynch backed up to defend, tapping his temple with his index finger and raising his lip to the sullen-faced Marbury: "Keep the finals tickets for yourself. Love you, Stephen."

Spike Lee treated this place like Madison Square Garden: "Fuck, this is you, Stephen, this is you! You have no influence on the game at all! Lynch is the future of New York, get out of here!"

Lynch's trash talk and Spike Lee's scolding of Marbury are like a guy with hyperthyroidism visiting China, and all he meets are close-range and aggressive attacks.

Larry Brown paused the game, looked at Marbury with disappointment, then waved to Wade: "Substitute Stephen."

The son of New York covered his head with a towel. He wanted to be the pride of New York, but the harder he tried, the more the starlight belonging to New York slipped through his fingers.

He knew that everything in New York no longer belonged to him.

(Thanks to Yuexiawenyaowenyao, Jingxindeyi, Please Call Me Wolf Master and other big guys for the rewards)
(End of this chapter)