I'm teammates with Kobe

Chapter 116 The Unremarkable Fat Old Man

Today's game, if not because of Kobe's upcoming milestone, would not have received such widespread attention.Inside the venue, not only were there no empty seats, but even the 56 luxury private rooms were packed with bigwigs who came from other places to watch the game.

Before Kobe went to the court, he greeted and hugged Davis’ parents who were sitting on the sidelines, and smiled happily. When he turned around, he looked up at the luxury private room and saw the famous Canadian singer Justin Bieber sitting in one of them. He had just held a solo concert in New Orleans. After hearing about Kobe's visit, he specially modified the itinerary and wanted to stay to witness Kobe's milestone night.

After seeing Kobe looking at him, he happily picked up the phone and waved it vigorously, and stuck out his tongue. Kobe smiled and nodded, and then his eyes were attracted by a person in the next private room.

The man had gray hair, wore rimless glasses, and was short and fat, even a little fat. When he saw Kobe, he smiled and waved to the latter. He was a kind-looking fat old man.

But this fat old man is not as neighbor as he looks, his identity is not ordinary.

His name is David Stern. He is not only the president of the NBA, but also the nominal temporary owner of the Hornets.

It was he who prevented Kobe and Paul from joining forces for "basketball reasons." Even so, Kobe couldn't express his displeasure on the surface. On the contrary, he waved to the old man and showed a very happy smile.

Kobe knows that it is meaningless to hate such a founder and bridge builder of the modern NBA, because it is the owners of other teams that really prevent him from joining forces with Paul. Stern can only press down under pressure. That last key.

Overall, his support for Bryant is obvious to all.For example, when he appeared in New Orleans this time, he put away a lot of schedule and work, just to witness his 3-point night with his own eyes.

I remember that in the 1996 NBA draft, Stern said to Kobe, who was the 1th pick in the first round, "Your number is not everything you are. In the NBA, I expect you to prove your value."

When Kobe scored 81 points against the Raptors, he said, "After watching the NBA for so many years, there is only one person in my heart that cannot be replaced, and that person is Kobe."

When ESPN ranked Kobe only 7th in the NBA power list before the start of the season, Stern also stood up and complained in person, "To be honest, I was angry when I saw this. I think Kobe has something. A little underestimated, judging from the outside world's evaluation of him and his historical status, he is obviously underestimated. He is a great champion player, and there is no doubt about his greatness."

It is this fat old man who looks very ordinary. Since he joined the NBA in 1978, the NBA is far from what it is now. Among the four major leagues in North America, it is far behind the NFL and MLB. The 1980 Finals between the Lakers and the 76ers was only televised on TV.The league was plagued by scandals over violence and drug problems, with a 1982 Los Angeles Times report declaring that 75 percent of NBA players used drugs.

Stern sorted out these issues, and then began to make stars and establish rules.He knew that the success of the league requires not only excellent teams and high-quality games, but also star-making and publicity. With his strong promotion, the league opened the era of "black and white double evil". The "Dream Team" participated in the Barcelona Olympic Games, and Kobe, James and others led each era one after another... His vision is not limited to the United States, and he spent decades building a bridge between Chinese basketball and the NBA.

In 1989, Stern visited China for the first time to discuss cooperation with CCTV.Many people are familiar with this story. Since he did not make an appointment in advance, Stern waited for several hours in the reception room before Li Zhuang, who was in charge of outsourcing from CCTV, reached a cooperation agreement in just 30 minutes.

Since then, NBA game videotapes have been mailed from the other side of the ocean, opening up a whole new world for Chinese fans. Through TV, they got to know Magician and Larry Bird, and witnessed Michael Jordan start the Bulls dynasty. Knowing that high school student Kobe skipped college and went directly to the draft... In 1994, CCTV broadcast the grand finals of the NBA for the first time.

It can be said that Stern opened a window for Chinese fans, and then opened another door. In 1999, Wang Zhizhi became the first Asian player selected by the NBA, and officially landed in the NBA in 2001. In 2002, Stern read out Yao Ming's name in the draft, and the first foreign No. [-] pick without American basketball background was born.Since then, Bateer, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, and Chu Xiao have successively entered the NBA, and the "Yao Shark Showdown" and "Chinese Derby" have become the focus of attention of Chinese fans.

When Chu Xiao entered the NBA in 2012, the league had grown into a global league, with a quarter of its players coming from countries other than the United States.

With exposure, scandals will surface one after another.So Stern set the rules at the same time, the lottery draft, salary cap, maximum salary, development league, WNBA, anti-doping and rejection of pornography, gambling and drugs, etc. These systems that fans are familiar with are all set up by Stern.

It can be said that he is one of the greatest managers in the history of professional sports. To be extreme, the word "one" can even be removed.

This is the kind of person who came to support Kobe's milestone in person, and he didn't know what amazing move he would make afterwards.

After Kobe and Stern finished their greetings and returned to their positions, the court began to jump the ball. Davis took the ball from Jordan Hill's head with a light leap, and then threw it to his own point guard Austin Hill. Rivers.

This is an athlete born in 1992 in a basketball family in Santa Monica, California, USA. His father, Doug Rivers, is a famous NBA coach and a former NBA All-Star player.His older brother, Jeremy Rivers, played for the Serbian KK Vizula Club, and his younger sister, Kelly Rivers, was a player on the school volleyball team at the University of Florida and won the National Volleyball League Honor Award. Fiancée of future Dallas Mavericks player Seth Curry and younger sister-in-law of Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry.

He's tall, has an above-average wingspan, can play both positions in the backcourt, has a good jump shot, and has a high basketball IQ.

However, after he joined the Hornets, he mainly served as Vasquez's substitute in the early stage, so he averaged only 6.2 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game.

In this game, I don't know if the head coach of the Hornets wants to use him to limit Chu Xiao, or to cater to the media's gimmick of "three rookies competing in the same field" and even arranged him in the starting position.

This guy was obviously very excited. After getting the ball, he forced a breakthrough against Chu Xiao for a while. Unfortunately, his physique can only be regarded as qualified in the NBA. He did not have an advantage in the confrontation with Chu Xiao. In the end, he had to rely on Luo Pace's pick-and-roll went inside, facing Gasol, who was defending, and passed the ball to Davis who was stuck in the basket. The latter held Jordan Hill on the baseline with his back and took a dribble The ball quickly got up and hit the board, making the first victory for the team.

Looking back, when Chu Xiao dribbled the ball beyond the three-point line, he first hooked Gasol, and then made a "two" to Kobe, which means "two dragons play with pearls" tactic.

I saw Gasol running up to actively pick and roll, escorting Chu Xiao all the way to the free throw line. When the latter saw that Kobe got rid of the defender and started running to the basket, he hurriedly passed the ball in advance.

The Hornets have carefully studied their "Double Dragon Playing Pearl" tactic through the game video, so Lopez and Davis both rushed towards Kobe when they saw this, and cooperated with the teammates who arrived later to block it.

Unexpectedly, when Lopez and Davis were about to form a human wall, Kobe passed the ball through the gap between the two, and it happened to land in Chu Xiao's hands. There was no one in front of him, and the road was smooth. Get points on the fadeaway jumper.

"Boss, I made this ball just for you, why did you pass it back?" When retreating, Chu Xiao and Kobe retreated side by side.

"Your chances are better, of course I'm going to score you." Bryant continued when he parted from him, "Never mind the shit milestones, I don't care at all, you guys score more when you have opportunities, I will attract defense. As long as Winning is more important than anything else.”

"okay!"

In the next few rounds, Kobe played very selflessly. After attracting double-teams, he passed the ball out and assisted his teammates to score. However, he only used pull-up shots to score 4 points when there was a good opportunity.

However, possibly affected by the continuous away games and back-to-back games, the Lakers players including Chu Xiao did not have a high shooting percentage, and the team only scored 10 points after halfway through the first quarter.

On the other hand, the Hornets were not much better. After Rivers used the pick-and-roll to break through Chu Xiao's defense, in most cases, he handed the ball to Davis in the penalty area to force Jordan Hill. The basketball pedigree is very pure, so he implemented the tactical plan arranged by the coach very well. Unfortunately, at this time, Davis played very aggressively, but his finishing skills at the basket were average, and his confrontation ability was insufficient. Jordan Hill, stunned, made 7 of 3 shots, and his shooting percentage was less than [-]%.

Here we can see the importance of confrontation ability to a player.

Jordan Hill is nicknamed "Brother Sharp". Although he is not too tall, he is a sporty insider with full of energy. He has the outstanding speed among small forwards. He can sprint and run for 3.3 seconds. He is hardworking, obedient, and willing to train crazily .The disadvantage is that the low-post footsteps are still in the unfinished stage, lack of experience, average basketball IQ, insufficient defensive basic skills, insufficient passing ability, limited ability to break double-teams, and unstable free throws... So he has been sitting on the bench. Only after being injured on World of Warcraft did he get the chance to start.

However, Kobe has always liked people who train crazily and have a good attitude in the game, so he also takes good care of Jordan Hill. For example, after knowing that the Hornets’ tactic is to use Davis to beat Jordan Hill, he taught him some defense. Experience, "Nail yourself firmly on the floor, never miss a jump easily, and force Davis to do his best every time he scores."

This trick really worked. After receiving the ball, Davis found that the opponent couldn’t jump to block the block. Every time he stuck to himself for confrontation, he could only try his best to shoot, but his movements were deformed during the confrontation. , the hit rate is not high.

Although the offense was not smooth, he showed the potential to become the "best sniper" on the defensive end. With 40 seconds left before the end of this section, Chu Xiao used Gasol's cover to kill the inside throw. He shot, but didn't want Davis, who was still some distance away from him, to rush out and take a clean slate.

So both sides surrendered 40% of their field goals in the first quarter, and the Hornets took a 23-20 lead by 3 points.

The much-anticipated Kobe, willing to make wedding dresses for his teammates in the first quarter, only scored 6 points, which is 3 points away from breaking the 7-point mark.

Fortunately, the audience was very patient, quietly counting the scores, and waiting for that moment to come.

　David Stern died on January 2020, 1 at the age of 1.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)