I'm teammates with Kobe

Chapter 160 The Son of Philadelphia
"I was like that feeling of seeing an exotic animal," Lucas said. "I only put two people in the training gym at the time, Kobe Bryant and Don Streeter. Streeter is a professional player. , that year her knees were overwhelmed and she was going to retire. Kobe was training with our players every day. Our daily practice was held at 6 a.m., starting on the trail at St. Joseph's University, and I never won there Kobe once."

In the year before Kobe announced his participation in the draft, that is, in the 1995 NBA draft, Lucas decided to select Kobe in the draft.Every rookie who was trying out for the No. 76 pick with the 1995ers at the time played Kobe one-on-one.And Bryant only tasted one defeat in the trial training - lost to power forward Antonio McDyess, he became the second pick in the [-] draft.

A player whose self-esteem was hurt by Kobe Bryant came to ask Lucas, "Is Kobe who just taught me a lesson a 76ers player?"

Lucas replied, "No, he's just a high school senior."

In the draft in June of that year, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick, and since then the high school player has returned to the NBA draft.It's a pity that Kobe didn't participate in the draft that year, but Lucas firmly believed that he would become the next high school player.

Lucas later left Kobe with tickets to a 76ers game, and when the Chicago Bulls came to Philadelphia, he arranged a special meeting: Kobe was obsessed with Michael Jordan and was eager to meet him .So Lucas vacated the locker room and let the two meet.

Jordan dressed in a suit, glamorously walked in front, Kobe followed.

"Kobe walks into the locker room and says 'Hello, Mr. Jordan'"

Jordan talked to him about North Carolina and other things, hoping that he could go to North Carolina in college, but Kobe wanted to enter the NBA directly. He said, "Mr. Jordan, I don't want to wait until you retire to enter the professional league."

Lucas said to Kobe, "If you become a professional player next year, you can't call him 'Mr. Jordan' anymore."Kobe laughed loudly after hearing this, and worked harder since then.

When the 1996 draft approached, Lucas decided to seize the opportunity and use the No. 1996 pick to select Kobe instead of Iverson.But Lucas did not participate in the 76 [-]ers draft because team owner Howard Katz sold the team to Pat Croce, who hired a new front office and The coaching staff, so Lucas was fired.

Although the 76ers tried out Kobe, he was regarded as an outlier in the trial, and he was considered to be only a mid-level player in the first round.

Of course Iverson was a better choice at the time.

Iverson was born in Hampton, Virginia on June 1975, 6. He has shown super athletic talent since he was a child. In high school, he was already the absolute core of the school football team and basketball team. He also led the school team at the same time. Wins Virginia football and basketball championships.

Between football and basketball, he chose the latter, and then entered Georgetown University.

During his college period, he averaged 23 points, 4.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game.In two years of college, he not only became the best rookie in the Eastern District, but also was selected as the best defensive player in the Eastern District twice and once in the first team of the United States.

Gradually people discovered that this small defender with a height of only 1.83 meters has unlimited possibilities.

So in the 1996 draft, Iverson was selected by the 76ers with the first pick in the first round, thus becoming the shortest No. [-] pick in NBA history.

If the 76ers didn't choose Iverson at the time, everyone would think they were fools.

In his rookie season, Iverson became the main point guard of the 76ers. In the first official NBA game, he scored 30 points.Throughout the season, he averaged 40.1 minutes per game, 23.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.1 steals.Not only became the best rookie of the year, but also became the first rookie player in NBA history to score at least 5 points in 40 consecutive games.

Since then, Iverson has become even more unstoppable. He won the scoring title 4 times, entered the All-Star 11 times, and was selected to the best team 3 times...

And his most glorious moment was the 2000-01 season. In this season, Iverson changed his bad habit of being late for training. In order for Iverson to better play his offensive ability, the team coach The defenders were sent away, the defensive guards were reused, and then Iverson, who was only 1.83 meters tall, was changed to a shooting guard, allowing him to have more shots.

Iverson, who is fully fired, averaged 31.1 points, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season. He not only led the team to the playoffs as the No. [-] in the East, but also won the regular season MVP and became the The first player since Michael Jordan to win the scoring and steals titles at the same time, and was once again selected to the NBA All-NBA First Team.

They easily beat the Pacers to advance in the playoffs, then fought the Raptors led by Carter in 7 games before advancing, and then slammed the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals for another 7 games. He scored 7 points in the life-and-death battle and led the team to the finals.

Before that, people in Philadelphia seemed to only know the "answer", and thus forgot the "son of Philadelphia" who left Los Angeles.

But when the finals came, the people of Philadelphia finally realized that it was the "Son of Philadelphia" who stood in front of the "answer" at the moment. The head started the three consecutive championships of the "OK" combination, kicked "The Answer" back to Philadelphia, and completely killed Philadelphia's championship dream...

It became a trauma that will never go away from the hearts of Philadelphia fans.

This has become an eternal pain between the two parties.

So much so that Kobe can get cheers when he goes to many places now, but he can only get boos when he comes to Philadelphia.

There are two direct reasons:

One is that he didn't play for the 76ers, and the other is that in the 2001 NBA Finals, he helped the Los Angeles Lakers beat the 76ers and beat the Philadelphia "answer" Allen Iverson.

From then on, whenever Kobe wants to high-five the fans in Philadelphia, no one will cooperate with him, even if his raised hands are left to dry...

Fortunately, Kobe is not the first high school talent to enjoy this kind of treatment. In the NBA, there are still some people who can hardly continue to win the love of hometown fans as long as they don't play for their hometown teams.James Harden, who was born in Los Angeles, once showed up at a Dodgers game and was booed.It's just that compared to such people, it is estimated that Kobe is the only one who is regarded as a "dead enemy".

The proud Hollywood superstar Will Smith, who is also a Philadelphian, once pointed out the root of the rift between Kobe and Philadelphia fans: "Kobe never played for the 76ers."

In 1996, at the age of 17, Kobe left Philadelphia to enter the NBA and dedicated his entire career to the Lakers.Will Smith also left Philadelphia that year to enter Hollywood and became a super movie star.

Smith has always expressed his gratitude to Philadelphia, "the place where I was born and raised me," and even created a giant mural for it.But Kobe went the same way. He became a totem in the world basketball field, but he often got frustrated when he returned to his hometown.

The most typical example is that 2001 months after the 8 finals, the NBA All-Star Game was held in Philadelphia. During the entire All-Star Weekend, Kobe looked forward to the cheers of his homecoming, because he entered the league from a local high school after all. Then won the NBA championship as a Philly.He also proudly wore his father's No. 76 retro jersey at the press conference when he played for the 23ers, scored 31 points in the All-Star Game, and won the All-Star Game MVP for the first time in his career.

But this time, it turned out to be the only time Kobe was booed around when he accepted the award.

On December 2012, 12, Kobe Bryant once again led the Lakers to Philadelphia to challenge the 16ers. After so many years, what kind of attitude will the hometown people welcome this "son of Philadelphia" this time?

In the middle of the night on December 12, after the Lakers defeated the Wizards, all members took a private jet to Philadelphia. After getting off the plane, they needed to transfer to a bus and walk a section of the highway. The destination was the Hilton Hotel next to the Wells Fargo Center, home of the 14ers.

At this time, a towering LED billboard appeared in the direction of entering the city. It was so huge that it was impossible for every car to ignore it when passing by, and it would habitually look up, because it usually displayed some food, Real estate and other information, at this time there is a huge photo of two people, one is Kobe, he is wearing the Lakers No. 8 jersey, and he is defending another person - Iverson wearing the 76ers No. 3 jersey.There is also a text next to it that reads, "This man killed the answers of the Phillies."

Further down is a row of numbers, "2000-01".

For some reason, Chu Xiao felt extra glaring after seeing this billboard, and needed to take a deep breath to suppress the uncomfortable emotions conveyed by that billboard.

"Who is this boring? It's obvious that there is too much money and no place to spend it!" Even Artest couldn't help complaining.

"Just get used to it, I'm used to it." Kobe turned his head and looked out of the window on the other side, as if he didn't care, but Chu Xiao saw a pair of shining eyes through the reflection of the glass, but he didn't know whether it was the water droplets produced by breathing or other reasons.

The next part of the journey was a bit difficult and long, because there was silence in the car, and Warcraft, who was supposed to be against Kobe, didn't play any ignorant jokes. He sat alone in the last row of the bus, wearing headphones and laying Listen to music on the Internet.

Philadelphia is also often referred to simply as Philly, and is sometimes referred to as the City of Brotherly Love.It is the fifth largest city in the United States, and its population ranks third in the United States, second only to New York and Chicago. It is the most populous city and the largest city in Pennsylvania.

It is also nicknamed the "City of Murals" because Philadelphia is the first city in the United States to be listed as a world cultural heritage, and its cultural heritage can't be any stronger.Being here, you will find that there is a fusion of drunkenness, dreams and culture and art every day. The streets are full of artists and museums, and each artwork in the museum tells a historical evolution or the subtlety of art.

It is also a racially diverse, multi-religious and complex place, including many black movements before and after the American Civil War also took place in Philadelphia.The ethnic diversity is reflected in the division of regions. North Philadelphia is where most Koreans are located. The largest local Han Yalong Supermarket is there, where you can buy a lot of Korean snacks and authentic Korean food.

When it comes to South Philadelphia, it may be the most racially diverse place. In addition to blacks and whites, there are Italians, Vietnamese, Mexicans and Chinese. There are about 1 Chinese students and about 5 Chinese. Chinese immigrants, more and more Chinese entrepreneurs, celebrities, investment companies, etc. enter Philadelphia every year, injecting new vitality and opportunities into the city.

West Philadelphia is mainly a place where rich people live. There are rich people of all races. There is also the home of the 76ers - the Wells Fargo Center Stadium, which can accommodate 20444 spectators. It is the fifth largest stadium in the league. It can provide fans with various services such as catering, entertainment and accommodation.

The Hilton Hotel where the Lakers stayed this time is located 300 meters away from the arena. When you look up, you can see the green beams of the arena that are lit up with the green color of the local football team.

The day after tomorrow, the Lakers will challenge the 76ers there. If there is no accident, Kobe, the "son of Philadelphia", will once again welcome boos from his hometown.

(End of this chapter)