Thanos

Chapter 21

three days later.

The Lakers sit at home and welcome the challenge of the Houston Rockets.

This summer, the Rockets exchanged Francis, Mobley, and Cato for the league's two-time scoring champion, man-made balloon star, and Eastern starting All-Star guard Tracy McGrady.

Together with Yao Ming, they formed the famous MM combination.

Two All-Stars started the first team, and it was a standard combination of inside and outside. The Rockets were immediately advertised as a strong team in the league.

The MM combination is considered more likely to be comparable to the OK combination.

In China, because of Yao Ming's relationship, the Rockets are the home team of the Chinese people, and some crazy fans have even shouted: Rockets champion.

before the game starts.

Kobe and McGrady fist bumped and hugged each other. They were good friends before they entered the NBA.

Of course, the German heads-up incident is still a major unsolved case in the NBA.

Bryant claimed that he beat Tracy McGrady 1-on-1 when he was in Germany.

McGrady said he had never been to Germany.

Later, the two sat together for an interview with ESPN female reporter Rachel Nichols.

Kobe said he beat McGrady 11:3.

McGrady said that the two were not singled out at all, they were just training their footwork, and there was no one who scored.

It was later confirmed that the two did not go to Germany together, but went to Paris, France together in 97.

The heads-up incident should have happened that time.

It's just that Kobe insisted that it was a one-on-one match, but McGrady didn't think so.

The hostess Rachel said something very interesting: "T-MAC, you know, KB even has to time the time to drink saliva with others."

This incident also fully demonstrated the personalities of the two. Kobe was a paranoid with an outrageous desire to win.

And McGrady is very casual most of the time, and his fighting spirit sometimes disappears.

This is also a portrayal of their careers.

And at this moment, a giant walked towards Ye Heping.

"Ye Heping?"

"Brother Yao!"

No introduction needed, as there were only two yellow men on the field.

Ye Heping was very excited. Yao Ming was one of his idols. He had watched his games countless times in front of the TV in his previous life, and now he was going to compete in the same arena.

But this guy is really tall.

Yao Ming stood in front of him, and Ye Heping felt that it was dark in front of him, and all the lights were blocked.

And not only tall, but also strong.

Yao Ming, who is in the third grade, has already gained weight successfully, weighing nearly 140 kilograms.

Ye Heping is 206 centimeters, and looks like a high school student in front of him.

Not to mention Ye Heping, Chris Mihm, the strongest Lakers, is too small in front of Yao Ming.

You know Mihm is already one of the strongest centers in the league.

Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land is one of the four great joys in life.

The two are not old acquaintances, but they are compatriots, and they are inexplicably very kind.

But neither of them is the kind of person who is good at talking, and they are both somewhat introverted.

After chatting for a short while, Yao Ming patted Ye Heping on the shoulder: "Come on!"

A thousand words are in it!

"I will!"

Ye Heping nodded and said.

"After the game, I'll treat you to dinner!"

Yao Ming said another word, then turned and left to warm up.

……

However, tonight's host is not Kobe, McGrady, Yao Ming or Ye Heping, but Tang Shuai.

When Rudy Tomjanovich walked into the Toyota Center, the fans stood up and cheered for Tomjanovich.

He has been here for 32 years, including 11 years as a player and 12 years as a head coach.

During the player period, Tang Shuai was the core player of the Rockets. He was a five-time All-Star. If he hadn't been headshot by Washington at his peak and retired sadly, Tang Shuai's status in the Rockets would be even higher.

Washington punched his head, which was a notorious violent incident in NBA history. It ended Tang Shuai's playing career, and Washington soon retired sadly.

However, Tang Shuai overcame the injury and soon returned to become the head coach of the Rockets.

And his coaching career is more brilliant than his playing career.

The Rockets he coached won two consecutive championships, which is the only two championships in the history of the Rockets.

Unfortunately, in 2003, Tang Shuai had to resign because of bladder cancer.

A year later, he overcame his illness and became the head coach of the Lakers.

Houston fans don't hate Tang Shuai, they only blame God for being too cruel to Tang Shuai, and bad luck came one after another.

But Tang Shuai was not knocked down, he stood up again and again, and returned to his favorite basketball career.

His experience, not to mention Rockets fans, any team in the NBA, or even any sports fan in the world, will admire him.

The applause lasted for a long time.

……

However, compared to the prelude, this game was played without highlights.

Because Yao Ming had just returned from the Athens Olympics, the Rockets coach deliberately limited his playing time.

And McGrady is sleepy today, sleepwalking, and has no combat effectiveness.

From the very beginning, the game showed a one-sided trend.

After halftime, 55:42, the game basically lost its suspense.

Tang Shuai began to replace the main players and let the substitutes and marginal players play.

In the end, 106:97, the Lakers easily won the preseason record of 3 wins and 2 losses.

Ye Heping played 11 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.

Vujacic played 19 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

Green played 16 minutes, with 6 points and 3 assists.

Vujacic and Green stood together, looking down at Ye Heping with a look of pride on their faces.

Green has been getting very close to Vujacic recently, and at this moment, Ye Heping looks like a winner.

"Hey Asian, I'll be the last one left."

Ye Heping was taken aback, didn't Green know what he had signed?

……

In the sixth preseason game, the Lakers played against the Timberwolves at home.

The leader of the Timberwolves is "Wolf King" Garnett, as well as "Madman" Sprewell and "Alien" Sam Cassell as assistants.

The media dubbed the trio the "three-headed monster".

Last year, they relied on this lineup to reach the Western Conference Finals and were eliminated in 6 games against the Lakers.

If Cassell hadn't been injured in the second game, they would have a great chance of eliminating the Lakers and reaching the finals.

This year, they made a comeback, and the media expected a lot from them.

Last season, Garnett won the honors of regular season MVP, All-Star starter, rebounding leader, best team first team, and best defensive team first team.

一个赛季西部6个月最佳球员，加内特独揽4次，场均24.2分13.9篮板5助攻1.5抢断2.2盖帽，简直就是神仙数据。

You must know that the 03-04 season was the cruelest year for NBA defense. The average points per game and shooting percentage were the lowest in the league for decades. The no handchecking rule has not yet been promulgated, and the star statistics are not high.

So Garnett's data is simply a miracle.

This season, Garnett has matured again, coupled with the retention of the three-headed monster, so the voice of the media is very high.

But the truth is, this season, they didn't even make the playoffs, so they went back to fishing.

At the beginning of the season, the aliens and madmen hoped to get a big contract, but the Timberwolves couldn't satisfy them at all.

The two began to be dissatisfied with the team, their state dropped sharply, and their performance was extremely poor.

If I remember correctly, Marbury fell out with Garnett because of contract issues.

Think about it, in this era when the salary cap is only 4000 million and the luxury tax is only a little over 5000 million, Garnett alone holds a 6-year 1.26 million contract, accounting for more than half of the team's salary, who is not jealous?

Why do you get so much money and I have to get a basic salary?

Fans often say that the Timberwolves uniform team is an idiot and cannot find a suitable helper for Garnett.

But this problem is really not entirely to blame for the uniform team, Garnett himself is also responsible.

You have used up the team's salary space, and asked other big-name players to cut their salaries to help you?dream.

There is even a saying that the suspension of the 98-99 season was due to Garnett's big contract.

In the 2003-2004 season, Garnett's annual salary was 2800 million US dollars.

During the same period, the league's No. 1 O'Neal only got $2575 million, Kobe Bryant $1359 million, and Duncan $1268 million.

Here lies the crux of the matter.

Is Garnett worth so much money?

Maybe worth it!
But once you get so much money, don't even think that the team can help you find a good helper, you have to fight alone.

Coupled with the Joe Smith yin and yang contract incident in 98, the Timberwolves were confiscated by the league for 5 years of first-round picks, and they were not eligible for bad performance.

Such a forest wolf wants to rise, and it is only in a dream.

　ps: The issue of Garnett's salary is very complicated.Minnesota is a bitterly cold place, and the team wants to keep Garnett through a high salary.

　　And I'm not particularly rich, so I can't afford to pay a lot of luxury tax, so...
　　Thanks: Spicy Shuai Shuai Deb wants Bu Deb's tip.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)