The world's best combo guard

Chapter 106 [Focusing on the Christmas War]

Before that, when many fans were guessing who could interrupt the Lakers' winning streak, they did not expect that this seemingly difficult task would be easily accomplished by the people of Detroit who underestimated it.

Fans who have watched this game know that the process of this game was not exciting and intense. The entire Lakers team at home seemed to be out of shape, and they lost the game easily.

Because, for this shocking upset, the response of public opinion was not very strong. Everyone just attributed the reason for the Lakers' loss to the poor feeling of the whole team, and there was no reason other than that.

Also, how can a civilian army like the Detroit Pistons defeat the invincible Zijin head-to-head?They just had a little luck this night.

For the Lakers, it's okay to lose a game once in a while, and it doesn't seem to hurt.

In this way, the game about the Lakers' upset Pistons at home gradually faded away, and it was replaced by the upcoming annual "Christmas Game".

The Christmas War is every year on Christmas Day in the United States. The NBA will only arrange a few heavyweight games. These games are called the Christmas War.Since the 40s, the NBA has had a tradition of launching heavyweight games on Christmas Eve. This kind of business thinking seemed quite advanced at the time.After the prevalence of television broadcasts, watching wonderful NBA live broadcasts on Christmas Eve has become a tradition for Americans.

The NBA's selection criteria for the annual Christmas game lies in a "grievance".It can also be an open arena where popular stars compete for popularity and market, all for the purpose of attracting attention.

Through the records of classic Christmas games in the 90s, you will find that the intention of NBA officials to create Christmas games is obvious.As the overlord of the league, the Bulls of that year were naturally the VIPs that must be invited every year. The most important thing is the selection of supporting roles.The grievances between the Bulls, the Knicks, and the Heat are well known. The Eastern Conference semifinals of the 1991-1992 season were considered the biggest test the Bulls encountered on their 6-time championship journey. Jordan stalked the Knicks tirelessly. Hitting almost lost his cool, the two sides have been fighting until the seventh game, the Bulls just escaped danger.With such a shocking series as a foreshadowing, two teams will be arranged for the finale Christmas drama in the new season, so the attendance rate, ratings and TV broadcast fees will naturally be worry-free.

The Heat had the honor to co-star with the Bulls in the 1997 Christmas drama, which is also due to the soul-stirring 1996-1997 Eastern Conference finals, plus two old accounts in the 1992 and 1996 playoffs. It has already been defeated for the third time, such an opportunity for hype, how can the NBA, which is proficient in calculations, let it go.

After Jordan retired, the Christmas game naturally became the Lakers' backyard party.As the first dynasty team to win three consecutive championships in the new century, O'Neal and Kobe are also indispensable guests on Christmas Eve every year, and their opponents, from the Trail Blazers to the 76ers to the Kings, are all from the NBA. Considering the deep hatred between the two sides in the playoffs last season, the best dance partner was carefully selected.

To sum up, the NBA's selection criteria for the annual Christmas game actually lies in a "grievance".There is no world without grudges, and the NBA itself is a world. Here, grievances can be the beams formed by the poignant playoffs, the riots caused by the fight of fists, kicks, and saliva. An open arena where popular stars compete for popularity and the market, and everything is to attract attention.The league is well versed in the principle of "if you have the conditions, you have to go if you don't have the conditions." In order to attract attention and create the greatest comprehensive benefits, the NBA even did not hesitate to artificially concoct the so-called "enmity", such as the Lakers and 2001ers in 76. In the Christmas battle, do Allen Iverson and OK have a deep hatred?Obviously not, David Stern just used the remaining smoke of the previous finals to forcibly provoke grievances.

Even opponents who already have deep hatred may not be interested in the NBA's Christmas game. For example, before the start of the Christmas game between the Lakers and the Kings in 2002, Robert Horry, who was a Lakers player at the time, publicly stated: " I hate the Christmas War. From the moment my daughter was born, I think Christmas should be spent with my family." Their sworn enemy, the Kings coach Adelman, also rarely stood on the same front: "Christmas War prevents Christmas. Disturbing the reunion of players and their families, it is really unnecessary to hold the game on the festival day." Even the relatively small-known "thin wrists" are mostly unwilling to report to the stadium on Christmas night. Head coach Byron Scott put it this way - "I'm a family man, it's better to cancel games on Christmas Day like the hockey league."

However, David Stern would not pay attention to Si Yansiyu, and the businessman's instinct drove him to make the "Christmas War" cake bigger and better.At least as far as today is concerned, the "Christmas brand" strategy that Stern has worked hard to create has been fruitful. Except for the popular star sacrificing a little bit of family happiness to spend a good time with his family, the league, fans, TV stations, advertisers, and everything related to basketball The surrounding industries have benefited a lot from it.

And the duel between the Lakers and the Heat, the protagonists of this year's Christmas game, is undoubtedly the best continuation of another "grievance and hatred" that the league has painstakingly managed.

It's just that in the first Christmas game in the post-Jordan era, David Stern turned the grievances between superstars and super teams into the head coach, or a rivalry in another field. Head-to-head duel.

The feud between Heat President Pat Riley and Lakers coach Phil Jackson was cleverly grasped by David Stern, which is the theme of this Christmas game.

As we all know, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson were the most successful head coaches in the eighties and 90s of the last century. With an embarrassing record of 90 win and 1 losses, Riley envied Phil Jackson for having a superstar like Jordan, while Phil Jackson envied Riley for being the general manager and head coach.

To put it bluntly, the Christmas game led by the Chicago Bulls in the 90s was actually an alternative duel between Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.

Whether it's the Bulls against the New York Knicks or the Heat, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley are at the helm afterwards.

It's just that people didn't expect that with Phil Jackson's journey to the west, the two people who hadn't faced each other for several years would become the protagonists again in the first Christmas game in the post-Jordan era, even if Pat Riley is no longer the head coach.

"Haha, maybe David Stern also thinks that he has worked so hard to manage the grievances between these two people for so many years, so he wants to completely end this grievance and hatred in the first year of the post-Jordan era!" Some people speculated jokingly .

It’s just that David Stern himself didn’t expect that the most exciting Christmas battle between the Lakers and the Heat, which will be staged soon, will not only focus on Phil Jackson vs. Pat Riley, which he has painstakingly planned. In addition, Dwyane Wade is also very concerned about the head-to-head confrontation between Li Hao, the two most popular rookies in the league...

(End of this chapter)