basketball kingdom

Chapter 52
After returning to Los Angeles, Xu Tian drove to the Toyota Center and quickly started his training.

The Staples Center, home of the Lakers and Clippers, is not a dedicated basketball court, and concerts and other activities are usually held when there are no games.It is worth mentioning that the final of the League of Legends S6 Global Finals was held at the Staples Center.

The Lakers' training facility is called the Toyota Center, and its name is very similar to the home court of the Rockets.The Clippers also have their own training hall, so the daily training of the two teams will not conflict.

Today, the film crew of "Behind the Lakers" will follow the Lakers training throughout the process, and will also conduct exclusive interviews with several key figures.The first target is naturally Xu Tian, ​​but the film crew is still preparing and cannot shoot for the time being.

The first two players to come to the training hall were No. 24 Kobe Bryant and No. 1 Xu Tian.

Kobe's physical condition was not good yesterday, and he has already entered the daily observation list, so the training of the two did not increase the intensity, but only simple shooting training.

Kobe's No. 24 jersey number has an allusion.The most widely spread about this number is that Kobe wanted to be better than Jordan, so he changed from No. 8 to No. 24.When Lakers fans refute this point of view, the person who made this point of view will use the number of the national team to say, "How do you explain that Jordan is number 9 in the national team and Kobe is number 10?"

To this day, there is no good way to refute this.However, Kobe himself explained why he changed the jersey number. The following are his original words.

"The meaning of the number 24 is 24 hours. I want to put all my energy into basketball, which is why I choose the number 24. If I can't devote myself wholeheartedly, I am not Kobe. 24 is my best interpretation .”

Jordan is naturally the goal that Kobe wants to surpass, but surpassing by jersey number is still a bit of nonsense.However, these are not important now.

Hibbert was the last to come to the training facility.He was still haunted by the frustration of yesterday, and he had to use a lot of force to close the car door.

The muffled sound of the car door alarmed the flock of pigeons foraging for food near the parking lot. They were frightened and flapped their wings and flew into the distance.

Kobe can't fight against training today, he has already gone to the sidelines for an interview.

Xu Tian took the substitute players and was playing a training match with the main players.For the effect of shooting, there is no scoreboard, so it is not known which side is leading.

When Hibbert put on his training clothes and walked into the training hall, he saw that his teammates had already started training, and his inner unhappiness deepened.But he knew that it was being filmed now, so he walked to the sidelines silently.

Scott called Hibbert to his side, instead of blaming him for being late for training, he directly asked him to replace Xu Tian and lead the white team to a training game.

After Xu Tian came to the sidelines, a tall and thin staff member with glasses and a little bald head brought the photographer to his side and said, "Xu, I want to conduct a brief interview with you."

Xu Tian nodded and replied, "No problem. Do you want to interview here, or do you want to sit and talk on the sidelines?"

The staff said: "I have a lot of questions to ask, but for the sake of the program effect, it is better to stand and talk."

Xu Tian nodded and said, "No problem, we can start now."

The cameraman turned on the device on his shoulder and began to record the conversation between the staff and Xu Tian. Although the clips that could be cut into the show may only be a few minutes, he still had to record the whole process.

The staff behind the scenes of the Lakers didn't ask too many questions. The whole interview process was very relaxed and pleasant, at least much better than Xu Tian imagined.He had expected a lot of pointed questions to come up, but they didn't, which left him in a good mood to end the interview.

Kobe sat on the sidelines watching practice games on the court.Although it was an exercise with a performance nature, the players on the court had no tactics to speak of, which still made him a little unhappy.

Kobe saw the end of Xu Tian's interview and beckoned him over.

Xu Tian walked to Kobe's side, sat down on the seat next to him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kobe looked at the court and asked, "What do you think of Roy (Hibert)'s performance?"

Xu Tian heard the words and looked at the training match that was being played on the court.

Hibbert's running was slower than usual, and he didn't even raise his hand when defending. This situation made Xu Tian frowned.He was immersed in the joy of winning yesterday, and he didn't notice Hibbert who was lost in this atmosphere at all. Now seeing his depressed attitude, he felt a little worried.

The Lakers' current inside players are only Randall and Hibbert at a high level.Although Hibbert's movement speed is very slow, and he is also troubled by the league's changing vertical rules, his defense is still worth relying on, at least much better than the average center.

Xu Tian leaned back in his chair and asked Kobe, "How did you supervise Andrew Bynum before?"

Kobe turned to look at Xu Tian and said, "If it was before, I would definitely go on the court and scold him, but now I don't have that kind of heart. Roy (Hibert)'s problem, you should find a solution!"

Xu Tian jokingly said: "Do you mean to hand over the power of the Lakers to me?"

"I don't want you to grab it, right?" Kobe smiled lightly for a while, but soon he became serious, "Seriously, I have decided to retire after the end of the season. The Lakers will be the boss sooner or later, how about I'll give you this position now. Roy (Hibert) should be your test."

The smile on Xu Tian's face disappeared, and he looked at Kobe and asked, "Is the decision to retire serious?"

Kobe was a little disappointed and said: "I never doubted my desire to win, but my body told me it was time!"

Xu Tian looked at Kobe, speechless for a long time.In his mind, Kobe was still the bloodthirsty Mamba, who didn't know how to respond when he heard that he was going to retire.

If the team wants to compete for the championship, it must establish a clear boss. At the beginning of the 21st century, needless to say, the era of one person, one city, even the combination of the Big Three of the Green Army and the Big Three of the Heat, there is a clear boss.

The Heat tried to play without establishing a boss, but they lost to the Mavericks who were united that year.In the second year, Wade found James and took the initiative to give him the position of the boss of the Heat. Only then did he win the next two consecutive championships.

The Lakers will also experience such a transformation, but Xu Tian never thought it would come so soon.

Kobe stood up and said with a smile: "The position of the boss can be given up, but the privilege of playing the finale can't be given to you."

"What does it matter." Xu Tian stood up and said with a sigh of relief, "If possible, I want to compete for the championship this season."

Kobe shook his head with a bitter face, and said: "Winning the championship is far more difficult than you think. When Paul (Gasol) and I led the team to win the championship, teamwork was not popular. Now the atmosphere of the league has changed. It's impossible to compete for a championship with multiple stars."

Xu Tian was silent.

Since James and Bosh joined the Heat in the summer of 10, the atmosphere of the entire league has changed, and the previous star loyalty to the team will never happen again.After the expiration of the star contracts of many weak teams, they all want to join stronger teams to compete for the championship. This has led to serious polarization of team strength, and the overall competition in the league is not as fierce as before.

With the current lineup of the Lakers, let alone the championship, it is difficult to even enter the playoffs.

The cameraman behind the Lakers saw Kobe and Xu Tian talking on the sidelines, and recorded this scene with a camera, preparing to use it in the opening title of the Lakers behind the scenes.

Xu Tian looked at the players on the field with a loose attitude. He originally wanted to say a lot, but now he is not in the mood.When it was Clarkson's turn to interview, Xu Tian replaced him and continued to play the training game.

Randall made a pass error while running tactics, and the basketball was in Xu Tian's hands, but he was not concentrating, and the ball slipped out of the sideline.

Kobe yelled from the sidelines: "Xu! Pay attention, this league is cruel, you don't have time to wait."

Xu Tian quickly ran out of bounds, picked up the basketball, and handed it to the players of the white team.

When Xu Tian returned to the field, Nick Young asked, "Xu, what's wrong with you? I've never seen you like this."

Xu Tian knew that the camera was still being filmed, so he simply indicated that there was no problem, lowered his focus and began to defend.However, he still couldn't dispel his inner thoughts, he just ran back and forth on the court.

Scott didn't know exactly what Kobe and Xu Tian said, but looking at Xu Tian who was absent-minded on the court, he could probably guess that what the two said must be something important, otherwise Xu Tian, ​​who was still very concentrated just now, would not change. into this.

The magician has received Kobe's notice this morning. Kobe's decision has changed his original plan. At this time, he has to study more possibilities in the office.

After training, Xu Tian was still thinking about Kobe's words on the way back to Boss Jin's jewelry store from the training hall.He still can't believe that Kobe will retire after this season!

That night, Kobe published an article called "To Dear Basketball" on the player forum, officially announcing that he would retire after the end of the season.

Kobe's decision immediately caused an uproar on the Internet.

The fans in Los Angeles are a bit unacceptable. They don't understand why Kobe still made the decision to retire even though the Lakers have improved.Some rational fans took Kobe's description of his body in "To Dear Basketball", saying that his body is overwhelmed and it is time to retire.

Xu Tian lay on the bed and watched the comments of domestic fans, as if he saw his state of mind before coming to the United States.But he also understands that Kobe's current body is not enough to support him to maintain a high level of competitive state.

Such a status quo will indeed make Kobe, who is super competitive, uncomfortable.

After the magician finished the work at hand, he called Scott and informed him to establish Xu Tian as the absolute core of the team in the next game.

(End of this chapter)