Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 76
Once Durant was only one step away from the final trophy. At that time, it could be said that he was inexperienced for the first time and lost the finals when most people in the United States were optimistic.

But the next season passed, and even retreated instead of advancing. Seeing James break into the finals again, even if he lost, he lost in the finals, and in the end he almost reached the tiebreaker.

If it is a tiebreaker, it will be unfavorable to the old men of the Spurs, and the outcome is even more uncertain.

Now that James is full of honors such as MVP and championship, Durant, who has always wanted to match him, is naturally anxious.

James was the No. [-] pick in the draft, and he was No. [-] later. Although they were not in the same class, as the two top stars in the league, they are in the same position. Naturally, they have been compared over the years.

During the finals last year, NBA officials directly uttered the slogan "We didn't wait for 24VS23, but we waited for 35VS6". In the end, Durant got the data, but James wanted both.

This year, everyone still expected this, and maybe hoped that Durant would have a "revenge". Unexpectedly, the old guys of the Spurs quit and jumped out and said that this is still their era.

The fans were disappointed, and Durant was even more disappointed.

But thinking of the current situation of the Thunder, Durant felt a little pessimistic.

Westbrook's injury will be a hidden danger, and the rookie coach is also the weak link of the team in his opinion.

Perhaps the only comfort is that his vision is indeed very good, the three rookies Durant are quite satisfied.

Of course, he was most satisfied with Leonard in this training camp. He felt that if the opponent could join the Thunder in the new season, then no matter how rookie Li Sheng was, as long as he didn't hold back, the Thunder would have a great chance to win the championship in the new season.

Of course, this can only be regarded as a beautiful fantasy.

All fools know that the Spurs will not let such youngsters go in vain. If such superstars fall out because they don't pay attention to them, or even because of controversial issues such as salary and injuries, then the Spurs can only be said to be stupid or spoiled by Duncan and others.

"Okay, if you want to improve yourself, it's useless to rely on words alone, you still have to practice on your own, so keep working hard. I hope that after another month or two, you can continue to surprise me!"

Li Sheng clapped his hands, and finally turned to Durant and said, "By the way, KD, please stay for a while..."

Durant felt a little surprised. After all, when Li Sheng was here before, he had a lot of communication with the three rookies. He also wondered if this guy wanted to win over people who trained him because he was a rookie. He just pulled himself here to help him maintain the scene.

Of course, for the absolute core of the team, Durant didn't feel that these things Li Sheng did would affect him, so he didn't care, but he couldn't be enthusiastic about Li Sheng's attitude.

After all, Shubao Du's personality has always been sensitive. If he is not given enough status and treatment, and the team and coaches are not coaxing him, he will naturally not be happy.

Just like when he left the Thunder in his previous life, head coach Donovan preferred Westbrook and ignored him. One of the reasons is definitely one of the reasons. Later, Cole and Nash were much smarter, especially Nash, who had a similar taste with him, so no matter what the results were, it didn't affect the coaching position.

At present, of course, Li Sheng is more important to stabilize the coaching position, so although he will not deliberately support Durant, he does not mind explaining clearly to him about his position as the core of the team.

You may still be dissatisfied if you make it clear, but at least you can continue to communicate.

Even if there is a system, it is not omnipotent. After all, he is still a rookie who has not proved himself. Only by stabilizing his current position can he talk about other things.

It's not too late to release after the results are obtained. A man can bend and stretch.

So he looked at Durant with a smile at this time, and the first question was: "KD, looking forward to your first MVP, and your first championship?"

Hearing this, Durant frowned immediately. He is not one of those rookies. He entered the league much earlier than Li Sheng. After so many years, he has both success and failure. It is not so easy to be beaten.

No matter how much he longs for championships and honors, he still knows how difficult it is to obtain them—the main reason is that he has failed too many times before, especially the fact that even the MVP is "second in ten thousand years", and he is really fed up.

When they lost in the 12 Finals, Brooks cooked them a good bowl of chicken soup, but last season the Thunder still experienced a failed season, which also made him doubt and reject these.

In his opinion, it is false to say anything before winning the championship.

This is actually the reason why he doesn't have that much regret about Brooks' departure. He is also disappointed in Brooks in his heart and longs for a coaching change, but he will not take the initiative to show it for various reasons.

Li Sheng also knew that he couldn’t say the same thing to the rookies, so he smiled and said, “KD, I know you’ve always wanted to surpass LeBron. But in my opinion, to surpass him, you don’t need to follow him in everything, but to use your own advantages.

"As long as your performance can surpass him, for example, if you win more championships than him, the outside world will naturally admit this..."

The comparison about Zandu has never stopped. Even in Li Sheng's previous life, many people did not recognize Durant in the Warriors period, but he won two championships and two FMVPs, almost copying James' path.

Assuming he didn't suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon, assuming he insisted on staying in the Warriors, or assuming he won the championship with the Nets, maybe everything would be different.

Although it is still impossible to compare with James, it is certainly not like the 22 years in the previous life. Not only is he getting farther and farther away from James, but Curry has fought a turnaround in public opinion.

It can be said that Durant's ability may be fine, but his character and his personal choices are destined to make his later career tragic.

And one of the most important points in this is self-awareness.

The media's pursuit of James also made him lost. He felt that only by playing like James could he be recognized.

Little do they know that James has his own evaluation system. His stats and accumulation of honors rank among the top in the entire NBA history.

But here, James has only won one championship so far, and there are two more than him. Li Sheng thinks this is not a problem.

The Thunder's current lineup, as long as there are no accidents - there is a system to guarantee the bottom line, and it can also refuse accidents. Two consecutive championships are the bottom line. In the third year, they may have to face rookies, like Antetokounmpo.

At that time, with Durant's character, it's hard to say whether he will have other ideas, so it is still difficult for Li Sheng to establish a dynasty with three consecutive championships, especially at that time they will face the 16 Warriors and 16 Cavaliers.

Of course, Durant hasn't even got one yet, so he will naturally feel that Li Sheng is running the train with his mouth full.

He expressed deep doubts about Li Sheng's loan when he opened his mouth, and even showed it directly on his face.

(End of this chapter)