Champion Rules

Chapter 71 067: You’re done (Please subscribe!)

The scandal between Lynch and Megan Fox led to a significant increase in the number of calls from Wu Lan.

"How old is the girl?"

"Do her parents know you're together?"

"Take good care of them."

"Can you bring us home for dinner sometime? I'll cook for us myself."

"Lin Qi, you young people, please take note of the health and safety issues."

Lin Qi did not feel annoyed. Although Wu Lan strongly supported her child to realize his dream, as a traditional Chinese mother at heart, her behavior of expressing her concern in a roundabout way on the phone was understandable.

It doesn’t matter. If Lynch does something else a few more times, she probably won’t bother asking anymore.

At this moment, in a mansion in Long Island.

Megan Fox curled up in his arms wearing only a lace gown, her skin glowing like a pearl under the warm floor lamp.

Lynch's fingertips were still operating flexibly on the PS2 controller.

In the game screen, the virtual Knicks once again ended the Pistons. Lynch used this method to vent his frustration at losing to the defending champions twice this season.

Carmelo Anthony has become a completely different character in this historical line. He has become high and mighty, overshadowing the Chosen One.

He became an insurmountable goal hanging over the heads of all young players.

Unless someone can beat him to the top in a few years, the position he has created will be unshakable.

After all, you can't say that he is at his peak and Lynch is just a young Lin just because he won.

The opportunity to create brilliance at the beginning of your career is rare, and if you miss it, you miss it.

Lynch stared at the low-resolution image of Carmelo Anthony in the game, and suddenly wanted the next game to start as soon as possible.

He tried women, tried games, and finally came to the conclusion: only the next victory can dilute the pain left by the previous failure.

Megan Fox suddenly dug her cold toes into the hem of Lynch's sweatshirt, bringing him back to reality.

"Can I go to Philadelphia with you tomorrow? And be your sideline mascot?"

"sure."

After getting the answer, she happily jumped off the sofa barefoot and ran to the cloakroom. Her joyful figure was reflected on the marble floor.

Lynch looked at Anthony on the TV screen and started another game.

Beating the Detroit Pistons is always fun, no matter how many times you do it.

Two days later, the Knicks returned to winning ways in Philadelphia.

Allen Iverson's offense was still sharp, still able to ignite a roaring crowd. But his 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists couldn't mask the fact that his chances of victory were slipping away along with the clock.

Now he can no longer save this team.

A basketball player always makes the mistake of thinking that a certain moment is just the beginning of his glory.

Looking back, I realized that was my peak.

Some peaks are like ancient insects in amber, their brilliant moments are sealed forever, but they can no longer spread their wings and fly high.

Allen Iverson's peak will always be in 2001.

This reminds Lynch to never waste any opportunity, because you never know if that will be your peak.

When the olive branch of fate falls, you must hold it tightly with your blood-stained hands. The God of Basketball will never give another chance to those who hesitate.

After the final whistle of the game, the questions raised by the sideline reporters had nothing to do with the Philadelphia 76ers and even deviated from the game itself.

"Is it true that you and Isaiah had another argument?"

Lynch was almost certain that the source of the news was General Manager Isaiah Thomas himself.

Because there was no third person present at the time, even if the honest cleaning lady heard the noise outside, no media would think of looking for the cleaning lady to get information.

Why did he do this?

It’s very simple, use public opinion to put pressure on Lynch.

This shrewd management is obviously well versed in the art of public opinion warfare and intends to use the direction of public opinion to put pressure on Lynch.

He didn't mind making Lynch a thorn in the side who disrupted the harmony of the team.

In fact, Lynch received a call from James Dolan yesterday because of this.

The latter kindly reminded Lynch not to get into conflict with the assassin again.

"It's going to make people think we're still a messed-up, bad team!" Dolan said on the phone.

Lynch agrees with this point, whether it is the disagreement between players or the analysis between players and management, the team will be labeled as "chaotic."

Therefore, Lynch did not continue to escalate the situation. He told reporters: "If there is no audio or video, it is fake."

Of course, Lynch couldn't be convinced by just one sentence from James Dolan.

The reason why he was willing to compromise temporarily was because of another statement from James Dolan.

"You don't have to interfere with each other. At the end of the season, I will naturally know who is the one who is not doing anything, and I will never sit idly by and watch."

Lynch still doesn't know what James Dolan means by "I will never sit idly by and watch things change."

But he knew that he was definitely not the one who did nothing.

All Lynch needs to do now is to play the role of a good spokesperson for the team and let this incident fade from the public eye over time.

Lynch now only needs to deal with the media and maintain the team's image in the outside world, and this matter will pass.

After all, when the trade between the New Jersey Nets and Vince Carter shocked the league, as long as Lynch and the Assassin did not escalate the situation, even the most explosive locker room secrets would take a back seat in the media.

The New Jersey Nets traded Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for the demigod Vince Carter.

This was a major deal that instantly ignited the party and made all the media start a frenzy.

On the one hand, people were surprised by Carter's departure. Although he had already requested a trade, and although he had long since become estranged from the Raptors, the sight of this iconic star, a Canadian legend, finally donning a Nets jersey still shook the basketball world. People still found it inconceivable that Toronto's first iconic player had left.

On the other hand, people marveled at how cheap the New Jersey Nets' chips were.

Alonzo Mourning was once one of the best power forwards in the league, but only once.

The other two guys named Williams don't have any real trading value at all. They are just chips to balance the salary.

Even though the two first-round draft picks are still valuable, it is not certain that the Raptors can pry open the cornerstone of reconstruction in the draft.

The New Jersey Nets, who fought the champion Pistons to a seventh game in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, added a star player like Carter, which undoubtedly added fuel to the already tense situation in the East.

This also increases the difficulty of the Knicks' Christmas Eve battle.

Because their opponent in the Christmas game is their neighbor, the New Jersey Nets.

It is not difficult to imagine how much attention this has attracted to the Christmas game between the two teams.

The next day, Vince Carter became the most watched man in the league.

He arrived in New Jersey for a press conference.

He said he still needs time to deal with some personal matters and will not appear in the Nets game immediately.

At the same time, he also promised: "I will definitely have my debut at Christmas at the latest!"

This is good news that is enough to make fans cheer. The Nets after Vince Carter joined the team and the New York Knicks who have been making great strides this season, two major traffic groups have collided together.

New Jersey fans are hoping that the home team, which had a sluggish start, can be reborn on Christmas Eve with the help of superstars, while the Knicks will face another heavyweight opponent in the standings.

On the eve of the Christmas game, the Knicks had a solid record of 2 wins and 1 loss in three games.

The only defeat came from the Dallas Mavericks' crazy three-point show - the Cowboys rained three-pointers with a terrifying three-point shooting percentage of 47% that night. Their shooting was so hot that Lenny Wilkens wanted to check if there was some device in the basketball to control its flight trajectory.

Despite this, the New York Legion, led by Lynch, still maintains its competitive form as a strong team in the Eastern Conference.

On the New Jersey side, the Nets showed amazing resilience even though Vince Carter had not yet appeared on the court, and also achieved 2 wins and 1 loss.

The most eye-catching was the last battle before Christmas: Jason Kidd led the remaining team to defeat LeBron James' Cavaliers.

Richard Jefferson turned into an offensive devil, scoring 42 points over the "Little Emperor" and having a career night.

Of course, a fan on the other side of the ocean with the online name "比不中" was also celebrating because Kidd scored 2 points tonight with just 1 of 9 shots.

James was lost in the Nets' tight defense. Although he scored 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, his shooting percentage of only 38% made these data not very convincing.

After the game, the Cavaliers' record became 15 wins and 11 losses, gradually widening the gap with the Knicks with 19 wins and 7 losses.

While LBJ was still fighting for a playoff spot, Lynch was slowly losing touch with him.

In fact, among those who are hailed as the top potential in the East, except for Dwight Howard, the others do not seem to be on the same track as him.

At the press conference, LeBron James admitted: "This trade is bad news for all teams that aspire to the playoffs. New Jersey has a deep foundation for winning. They have reached the finals twice in the past three years. Now they have a superstar like Vince, and they have become a strong contender in the East. The road to the playoffs has become more difficult, but my goal will not change."

Under the camera, LeBron still had a decent smile on his face. But if someone looked closely, they would definitely notice a hint of gloom passing between his brows.

LBJ's inner voice must be much more frantic than this. This Nets team is clearly outside the top eight in the Eastern Conference, leaving a playoff spot for the Cavaliers.

But the addition of Vince Carter gave them the ability to move up.

But fortunately, the Nets' strength is the same for everyone.

Lynch's New York Knicks will also suffer! Did he think his playoffs were secure?

No, the East is full of devils!

Then, as expected, the reporter posed the sensitive question: "What do you think of this trade? Many media outlets were dissatisfied with the way Vince left. He didn't contribute on the court and even deliberately leaked team tactics to opponents. Do you think this is the right way to leave the team?"

James, wearing a pink plaid shirt, showed a harmless sunny smile: "I can't comment on this matter, because you know, I have never thought about leaving Cleveland. I never consider how to leave the team."
-
On Christmas Day, at least half of Lynch's star power was taken away by Vince Carter.

Although a series of stupid moves he made with the Raptors caused controversy, in the cold winter of 2004, Vince Carter, wearing the Nets jersey, was still the league's undisputed top star.

As the demigod stepped off the team bus in his sharp suit, the light from the shutters seemed to turn the New York night into day.

Facing the influx of media, Carter greeted each camera with his signature gentle smile, and his every gesture was still the elegant national idol.

However, all the veteran reporters present could read the undercurrents in his eyes - this flying man who once drove all of Canada crazy now had magma surging in his chest, ready to erupt.

He was too eager to prove himself to the people of Toronto.

Over the past few months, everything that happened to Stephon Marbury has happened to Carter.

He went from being a city hero in Toronto to a scumbag despised by fans and the media.

People complained about his excessive injuries, his lack of ambition, and even used the incident of him attending a graduation ceremony during the Eastern Conference semifinals as evidence that "he didn't want to win at all."

These voices deeply hurt Carter and also made him hate him.

Carter knew better than anyone that only by creating a storm at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Eve could all the doubts and ridicules be permanently frozen.

People in Toronto say I can't bring victory?
I brought it from somewhere else for you to see!
In the locker room, Stephen Marbury lowered his head to adjust his protective gear, and the wrinkles between his brows revealed his complicated emotions towards the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets represented another stigma for him to break.

Lynch tugged on the laces of his sneakers, glanced at his partner and joked, "I can walk around this league and run into a few men who've embarrassed you."

"Haha, save these sweet words for use in bed with your Megan, you bastard." Marbury rolled his eyes at Lynch and started changing his clothes.

There were bursts of laughter in the locker room.

Although the outside world exaggerates this New Jersey Nets team as extremely powerful, the Knicks players are actually not nervous.

At the end of the day, this is just a 9-16 team.

If the Nets were not about to collapse this season, they wouldn't be in such a hurry to bring in a superstar.

So, when Lynch came on the court, his attitude towards the Nets was completely different from LBJ's.

LBJ's mouth was full of pessimistic remarks such as "trouble", "bad news" and "getting harder".

Lynch simply told reporters: "The Nets' trade will not affect us. We will continue to move forward steadily. We are destined to have a place in the playoffs. I don't want to keep emphasizing this, but the playoffs hope is not our goal at all. It is just a necessary station, not the end of the journey."

This makes LBJ look like a coward.

But Richard Jefferson clearly disagreed. He laughed heartily during a pre-game interview: "Why did Vince choose today for his debut? Need I explain? This is New York, the city everyone is watching, and here's an opponent we can beat."

The media loves this kind of rhetoric, adding a lot of narrative angles to an otherwise ordinary regular season game.

At the start of the game, the Nets did not let Vince Carter start directly.

Nets coach Lawrence Frank hopes Carter will first adapt to the sidelines and see how the Nets play the game - after all, the time he has practiced with the Nets is too short.

Jason Kidd controlled the ball and Stephon Marbury practically tore him apart.

When he was with the Nets, he didn't have Richard Jefferson or Kerry Kittles.

This is one of the reasons why the Nets' performance is not good enough.

He won't say that he has no responsibility at all, but the objective fact is that his Nets are not as good as Kidd's Nets.

But now, the media will just say "that's purely because Stephen is incompetent."

Marbury wanted to torture Kidd like he did to Nash before, but Kidd didn't give him the chance. He quickly passed the ball to Richard Jefferson in the mid-range who caught the ball and made a jump shot.

Jefferson continued to shoot with the confidence that brought him to Cleveland three days ago when he scored 42 points, and he hopes that feeling will continue tonight.

Unfortunately, the crisp sound of iron hammering shattered the illusion.

Richard Jefferson is not a player with particularly good shooting talent. He can occasionally play a game with great accuracy, but it is difficult to sustain it.

Lynch grabbed the rebound, he was a little nervous because Nets center Jason Collins would announce himself on Chengdu's must-eat list in a few years.

Lynch grabbed the rebound and passed it to Marbury. Marbury launched a lightning attack the moment he received the ball, but ran into the wall of sighs built by Kidd when he crossed half court.

Kidd blocked Marbury's breakthrough route in the first time, and used the terrifying confrontation at the number one position to force Marbury to slow down and deform his movements.

Jason Kidd is almost the best defensive point guard in history - in Lynch's mind, he is better than Gary Payton, who won DPOY.

Ultimately, Gary Payton could only defend guards, and he was a one-on-one defender, with no defensive system built around him. On the contrary, Payton's time with the Sonics relied heavily on that team's terrifying front-line double-teaming system.

But Jason Kidd is the kind of player who can defend multiple positions alone and also provide assist defense efficiently. He almost single-handedly brought the team's defensive efficiency to the top ranks in the league.

He is one of the few defenders in history who can support the entire team's defensive system.

"Fuck!" Marbury had no chance. He staggered back under the impact of Kidd's towering torso. He was too familiar with this feeling of defeat.

If it was the lone wolf from before, he would probably mindlessly challenge Kidd for the entire game despite being at such a disadvantage, stubbornly launching a suicidal attack, and ultimately end up with a dismal stat sheet with more than a dozen missed shots.

But now, Stephen Marbury accepted the fact that it was difficult for him to break through Kidd and passed the ball to another ball handler, Grant Hill.

Richard Jefferson directly engaged in physical confrontation. He was full of disdain for Grant Hill's breakthrough and was extremely confident in his athletic ability.

Grant Hill did not fight with Jefferson. He calmly raised the ball above his head, raised his arms like a classical symphony conductor, and waited for Lynch to get into position with his back to the basket before steadily throwing the ball into the inside.

The Nets' inside players are very tall. Jason Collins and Serbian Nenad Kostic are both centers, and both are at least 213 cm tall.

But they are not those kind of violent rim-protecting beasts, so Lynch can still deal with them.

Lynch leaned against the Serbian and quickly turned around him. In the instant the Serbian fumbled to adjust his center of gravity, the scraping sound of his sneakers on the wooden floor was like a blade being unsheathed.

He used a "gorgeous back turn" to get past Kostic, who had poor athletic ability. This move had not been used so smoothly for a long time.

Sure enough, this method works well against Serbian players.

Fans far away in Serbia shook their heads. Lynch used all his tricks on his own people!
Jason Collins broke free from the entanglement with Kurt Thomas and rushed into the penalty area, but he just raised his hands to protect the rim and lacked aggressiveness.

Lynch challenged him in the air and put the ball in, everything was so easy.

After landing, Lynch didn't even bother to glance at the stumbling defender. Instead, he turned to Richard Jefferson and said, "Neither of you can win tonight."

Richard Jefferson spat inwardly and ran upfield.

Glancing at Grant Hill's slightly slow pace, he suddenly lowered his center of gravity and pretended to cut inside. The moment Hill moved sideways to block him, he stepped back and launched like a spring into the air beyond the three-point line—Kidd's pass seemed to have a pre-installed navigation system, landing precisely in Richard Jefferson's open palm.

Grant Hill had to rush forward. Although Richard Jefferson was not good at long shots, he could not shoot recklessly.

This spring-kick, once hailed as the league's first step, now seemed to be stuck in the mire of time. At the moment when the distance between the two men was reduced to half an arm's length, Jefferson suddenly pushed off the ground, seizing the opportunity to attack his front foot, and forcefully pushed Hill away with his left shoulder, completing the breakthrough.

He played with Grant Hill's center of gravity at will. Time will never be kind to players.

Jefferson seemed to be riding a whirlwind, carrying the momentum of his 42-point game three days earlier. Facing Lynch, who was guarding the paint, his eyes burned with the desire to dunk over him. His muscles tensed like a fully drawn bow, and he suddenly soared into the air halfway inside the free throw line.

"Snapped!"

The dull sound of muscles colliding seemed strangely familiar to Megan Fox on the sidelines.

Jefferson was horrified to find that his impact, which was enough to tear through the Cavaliers' defense, turned into nothingness in front of Lynch's motionless core strength.

Lynch lowered his arm and blocked the ball, and Richard Jefferson fell to the earth like an eagle with broken wings.

In the chaos, Kostic grabbed the ball, and the Serbian center made a hasty shot at the edge of the penalty area. As a result, the basketball hit Lynch's fingertips like the Titanic as soon as it was shot.

"The second one in a row!" the commentator yelled.

The basketball fell again and was grabbed by Jason Collins this time.

He shot high, hoping to make an easy layup.

But Lynch's arm slammed like a fly swatter, slamming the orange ball heavily onto the backboard.

"Third time in a row! Oh my God!"

The cheers in Madison Square Garden surged wildly. Lynch completed three consecutive blocks in this round with his incredible speed, completely burying the opponent's offensive dignity in the cold night of New York!

This time, Lynch took the ball himself. Stephon Marbury faced Jason Kidd, using a Sam Gold dribble to shift Kidd's center of gravity for half a second. Just as Jason Kidd was moving sideways, Marbury dribbled past Kidd with a back dribble!

"The collection of the Dribble Museum is enough to buy the entire Brooklyn!" The roar of the live commentator was drowned out by the sound waves.

After dribbling past Kidd, Marbury broke into the basket and raised his hand for a layup.

Lynch's block and Marbury's dribbling made New York fans realize how refreshing the climax that Megan Fox enjoyed these past few nights was.

"Lynch is right, the New Jersey Nets will not be an obstacle at all!" Spike Lee cheered.

Lynch walked straight towards the livid Richard Jefferson, his fingertips still tinged with the warmth of three blocked shots. "MSG is no longer a place for you mediocre, trash players to brag. Do you think this is Cleveland?"

On the Nets bench, Vince Carter took a deep breath and patted his head coach on the shoulder. "Lawrence, I've seen enough."

The Nets took a timeout, and Vince Carter walked to the sidelines and tore off his training jersey with the Nets logo printed on it.

Richard Jefferson, who was beaten violently, immediately showed a smile of revenge on his face.

"Hey, shut up, chick, you're done."

(Today's 10,000-word update is here, begging for monthly tickets!)
(End of this chapter)