You should cross the mountains like a brave man

Chapter 384 Plastic Friendship (249)

Losing to the Mavericks was like an alarm, and since then, the Lakers' problems have erupted frequently.

Kobe implemented the strategy of trusting his teammates for half a season, controlling his shots to less than 90 times in more than 20% of the games.His sacrifice paid off when the Lakers filled their roster.But when the Lakers were short of major generals and he reduced his shots, the game would naturally be unsustainable.

Starting with the loss to the Mavericks, the Lakers lost five of the eight games.

The two games won were based on Kobe's 42 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists to defeat the Warriors.

When Wei Xia met the Celtics, he broke out with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

After defeating the Celtics, the Lakers received a gratifying news: Lamar Odom is about to return.

Yes, he is back.

But whether he can regain his previous state after his return is open to debate.

Odom's comeback first game against the Washington Wizards.

The whole Lakers team is on standby and attaches great importance to this game.

Both sides have their own beams.

The last time they met, the two teams went to overtime, and Arenas dominated the overtime, scoring 60+ in the game, eclipsing Kobe's 40+.

On the eve of the game against the Wizards, Wei Xia continued to play Havlicek.

Since Havlicek is married, he has to be more careful.He doesn't want to take advantage of Havlicek anyway.So every time he crosses over, he will make sure to fall asleep before returning home.

Once asleep, his consciousness can jump out of the body and go to the arena.

Today, Wei Xia encountered another real match.

Now he no longer regards these chances that can change history as the key, because it is only the regular season, and it can't change much.What can really change history should be the same as when he crossed to Havlicek for the first time, and to Thompson Skywalker.

But it has been almost three years since he last had the chance to change history.

The 1963-64 season in the old days has also come to the eve of the All-Star Weekend.

This year, the league is going to make a big move.

This season's All-Star Weekend will usher in the first televised broadcast ever.

This is the league's chance to present itself to the nation and let them know how much fun the NBA is.However, the prosperity on the surface hides many hidden reefs.If you don't pay attention, you will end up with a shipwreck.

The Celtics are playing against the Cincinnati Royals today.

The Royals are the Celtics' greatest rivals out of the East. They have the league's No. [-] guard Oscar Robertson, superstar Jerry Lucas, and three other current or future All-Star players.

The confrontation between the two teams will trigger extensive discussions at any time.

But today, neither side has the idea of ​​smashing the other.

Wei Xia was warming up on the side, and then saw his own Russell, Heinsohn, Sam Jones, Robertson, Lucas and others coming together.

What you need to know is that brothers basketball is not popular at the moment.

Four or five years ago, if players who were separated by two cities wanted to contact each other, they had to write letters to each other.Although telephones are popular now, they are basically inseparable from each other.So it can't be said that they don't want to play buddy basketball. People of this generation don't have this concept.

The two sides don't have much contact in private, they can't talk about friendship, and they are sworn enemies in the East. Since they can't beat the Celtics, Robertson's locker room often has to be put into messy things.He had every reason to be hostile to the Celtics, but not today.

Today, he tightened his hostility.

Wei Xia approached them to hear something.

"Are you really going to make this vote?"

There is no smile on Robertson's face. He has suffered a lot from the times, and he is not as lucky as Russell.

Russell can at least hold a roomful of trophies with pride, and when he helped his alma mater win the championship, the school treated him differently because of the color of his skin.Since then, his view of the world has changed.

Heinsohn's voice was as hoarse and deep as ever: "It has to be done, unless you think you won't be the next Maurice Stokes!"

Robertson took a deep look at the three rivals in front of him.

He knew that the matter was serious, and he knew that once he took a step forward, he could not turn back. He also knew that if he failed, he would not only be punished severely, but the players association founded by Bob Cousy and others would be nothing in front of capital.

They can only succeed and not fail!

"How sure are you?" he asked.

Heinsohn said with a smile: "If you have no problem, we will have four votes. You can do other people's work, and we will do the work of those masters in Los Angeles."

"I didn't expect that I would say that," Robertson said with a sneer on his face, "but I will support you in this matter."

Russell said arrogantly: "I really saw you right!"

"But I will still blow you up today!" After saying that, Big O went back to warm up boldly.

Heinsohn and the others snorted softly, turned around and saw Havlicek's curious expression.

"Hondo, don't ask if you shouldn't, you can't help with this matter." Heinsohn said loudly.

Wei Xia was a little unconvinced when he said that.

He can't help?Just kidding—"Why?" he asked.

Jones asked cheaply, "Are you an All-Star?"

"It's almost there," Wei Xia responded in a low voice.

"That's not so close!" Jones gestured noblely. "Many opponents who lost to us in the seventh game were just a little bit behind. Sometimes, just a little bit is a lot worse, and that can determine the champion and runner-up. So you are still far behind, so don't get meddled with your lord's affairs!"

Wei Xia was a little depressed. Havlicek's failure to be selected as an All-Star was by no means insufficient in strength.

It is reported that this season is Tom Heinsohn's last season. He himself has not expressed his opinion on this, but the fans put him in the starting lineup.

He divided many of the tickets that belonged to Havlicek.

因此，第二个赛季大有长进的哈夫利切克，以场均19.9分5篮板3助攻的数据，落在了场均16.5分6篮板2.4助攻的海因索恩后头。

He was savoring what they were saying when someone suddenly broke his silence: "John, do you have time during the All-Star Weekend?"

Wei Xia looked over.

It was Royals veteran Jack Twyman SF who spoke to him.

Although this person is a veteran, he is quite prestigious in the league. Even though he is white, he is respected by almost all black players.

The reason why Wei Xia remembered him was because of the bloody playoff battle between the Celtics and the Royals. This person played extremely well and was Robertson's biggest helper and the second threat of the Royals.Twyman's figure is similar to that of Havlicek, a 198-cm swingman who debuted in the mid-50s. His size and position were rare at the time.He lived up to his body. He averaged 31.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game during his peak period, and his career field goal percentage was an astonishing 45%—higher than Russell, and at the same level as Baylor and Kobe. From the perspective of the time, he was a rare and efficient scorer.

The reason why he is respected by all black players has nothing to do with strength.Chamberlain's strength is unparalleled in the world, but few superstars of his generation respect him.

The reason why Twyman is respected is related to another player-I mentioned it earlier, now let me deepen my impression, that person is Maurice Stokes. One of the shooting stars in the 50s, he scored 32 points, 20 rebounds and 8 assists in the first game of his career. In his rookie season, he averaged 16.8 points, 16.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. The three statistics ranked 10th, 1st and 8th in the league.

On March 1958, 3, the final game of the regular season, the Cincinnati Royals played against the Minneapolis Lakers. Stokes fell headlong after a layup and passed out. It took a while to regain consciousness.According to reports at the time, Stokes was in an abnormal state when he got up. He knelt on the floor like a penitent, covered his head with his hands in pain, and took a long time to stand up.

If it was changed to Weisha's era, Stokes would definitely be sent back to the locker room for relevant inspections. However, in that era when basketball players and lumberjacks were not much different, his teammates just waited for him to stand up and pat his ass to show encouragement.After a short break, Stokes returned to the court, where he scored 24 points and 19 rebounds in a 96-89 win over the Lakers.

In the next few days, Stokes felt unwell many times, but the team doctor did not pay attention to it. On the way back to Cincinnati from the away game, he lost consciousness.When Stokes woke up again, what he saw was the ceiling of the hospital. At this time, he felt unable to move his limbs, or even speak a word.

Stokes was diagnosed with traumatic encephalitis, and the severe brain injury and delay in treatment (especially after he played a high-confrontation game) eventually left him paralyzed for life.At that time, NBA players did not have medical insurance. To make matters worse, the Cincinnati Royals were facing a sale at this time. Stokes' $2 contract was directly annulled, and the new boss who took over also refused to renew his contract.Among the Royals players, only Twyman stayed the next season.

Twyman is white, and Stokes is black. The relationship between the two was not harmonious before, and there were some conflicts with each other. After all, they are both rising stars in the forward position.Coupled with the prevalence of racial discrimination at the time, no matter how you look at it, Twyman should not be involved in that matter.

The reason why Twyman chose to help Stokes is so simple that it is unbelievable-they are all from Pittsburgh, and the only person around Stokes who can help is him.

But Stokes' annual treatment fee is as high as $10, and Twyman's annual salary is only $15000 after taxes, which is not enough anyway.Despite all the difficulties, Twyman still chose to help Stokes, first recovering some compensation for him through legal channels, and then holding a charity match through the suggestion of a certain hotel owner.Every charity game has many NBA superstars joining. It was that charity game that raised money for Stockton's medical expenses and helped him through the most difficult moments.

At this moment, Twyman asked Havlicek if he was free, precisely to invite him to participate in the charity game held during the All-Star weekend.

Wei Xia didn't know the inside story, but just said: "Yes."

And when Twyman asked him to participate in a charity game, he didn't immediately agree.This matter should be decided by Havlicek himself. If Havlicek wants to participate, he will reply to him at that time.

They didn't communicate much.

After talking about this, they separated, warmed up and shot, and concentrated on warming up.

From the beginning to the end, the atmosphere on the court was weird, and there was no tension between the Celtics and the Royals in the past.

After the game started, the atmosphere was a little cheerful.

They played happy basketball.

Wesha was stunned when his college teammate Lucas brought him down when he tried to dunk in the game.

Only then did he understand, Friendship?Let's make fun of plastic friendship!

(End of this chapter)