The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 355 Kobe's Retirement Tour

Li Xun didn't have his own office, so he simply took Booker and Jokic to the old Hornacek's office.

Seeing Li Xun's serious face, the two were a little frightened.

Jokic is okay, after all, he and Li Xun have also been teammates for a year.

Although he didn't communicate much with Li Xun, at least he knew Li Xun as a person, and treated his teammates very kindly.

How did Booker know this? Seeing Li Xun's serious appearance, he felt that disaster might be imminent.

"Sit down, I'm looking for you two today, mainly to talk to you about the latest game."

Li Xun waved for the two to sit down.

The two quickly sat down, waiting tremblingly for Li Xun to continue.

"Devin, you are my No. [-] pick."

"If you know me even a little bit, you should know that so far in my career, I have rarely been able to get such a high draft pick."

"Such a high-ranked draft pick can at least rank in the top three in my career."

"Why do you think I chose you with this precious draft pick?"

Li Xun asked Booker directly.

Booker was taken aback, "Boss, I don't know."

"Then what kind of player do you think you will become in the future?"

Li Xun continued to ask.

"I want to be a shooting guard like Jordan, or at least like Kobe."

Booker has strong confidence in himself.

Li Xun shook his head directly, "Let's not talk about offensive ability for now, but only defensive ability. I feel that if you continue like this, you will not be able to catch up with Kobe in another 100 years."

"Not to mention Jordan."

Jordan has DPOY in hand, and it is absolutely rare among outside players who can get DPOY.

In addition to DPOY, Jordan has also been selected to the best defensive team in his career.

Although Kobe does not have DPOY, he is also a frequent visitor to the best defensive team.

"Boss, my physical fitness is not as good as theirs."

"No matter how hard I try, the defense is definitely not as good as them."

Booker replied.

This answer made Li Xun quite dissatisfied.

"Physical fitness is not as good as them, I admit this."

"But what about Klay? Your draft template is Klay."

"But look at your defensive performance in these preseason games, and then look at Klay in his rookie season."

"Never use your physical fitness as an excuse, because there are simply too many players in this league who are not as physical as you."

"I didn't draft you with the expectation that you could only be a player who could only score like Mike Reid."

"You have the potential to become a top super giant in my eyes, and it is impossible for a player who can only score to become a top super giant."

Li Xun said to Booker word by word.

What Booker said was ashamed and pleasantly surprised.

Li Xun is right, it is cowardly to use his physical fitness as an excuse.

Clay's physical fitness is similar to his own, but isn't he also selected to the best defensive team?
Surprisingly, he is so important in Li Xun's mind.

He actually thought he could become a top super giant!

It's not easy to be called a top super giant, at least you have to have two or three championships in your hand, and then two or three MVPs.

"Boss, I see."

"I will work hard!"

Booker said confidently.

Li Xun shook his head. He had heard this kind of words almost a thousand times after he entered the alliance.

"It's useless to say such words, it still depends on your own performance."

"In the next regular season, you will be placed on the bench."

"When will your defensive performance satisfy me and the coach, and when will you return to the starting lineup."

Li Xun said.

Booker nodded quickly. In fact, he didn't expect to enter the starting lineup in the main game.

Because there is still Afflalo in the Knicks lineup, how can he be a first-class shooting guard who once averaged 20 points per game.

For a newcomer like myself, it wouldn't be considered embarrassing to serve him as a substitute.

"Okay, boss, then it depends on my performance."

"I will definitely try to defend."

Li Xun nodded in satisfaction, and then looked at Jokic.

"Dude, in that year with the Mavericks, I really wronged you a bit."

"I remember your average playing time, less than 5 minutes?"

Jokic nodded embarrassingly, not only for less than 5 minutes, he averaged only 3 minutes per game.

Not even a fraction of Nukic's.

Even if he played in garbage time, because he was an insider, he couldn't get a chance to make a shot in that little time, so the average number of shots per game was not even one.

"It's really too little."

"Maybe that's why you're not confident enough on the court."

"You have to be confident, otherwise it won't make any sense for me to bring you here from Mavericks."

"You have to know, those rookies in the Mavericks team, in fact, as long as I ask, I can bring even Nukic."

"Even Embiid, as long as I promise some conditions, I can actually bring it to New York."

"But I still chose you. Do you know why?"

Li Xun asked patiently.

Booker's current problem is that he has a bad defensive attitude and always thinks about offense, so Li Xun asked him to strengthen his defense.

The problem with Jokic is that he doesn't play confident enough.

Li Xun thought about stimulating Jokic's self-confidence today.

What he said just now made Jokic a little distracted.

Originally, he thought he was an extra in Li Xun's deal, but after thinking about it carefully, there was actually no need for an extra in this deal.

"Boss, do I have any potential in me?"

Jokic said in disbelief.

He is not considered a main player in his own league, and he has been buried in the Mavericks for another year. At this moment, Jokic has lost confidence.

Li Xun nodded solemnly and said, "Potential?"

"There's more than potential in you."

"Let's put it this way, as long as you can be confident, you will be the most versatile center in the league."

"You can't even count the entire history of the NBA and find a more versatile center than you."

"Embiid will definitely become a super giant in the future, but your future achievements will definitely be higher than Embiid."

"Now do you understand why I brought you here?"

"As long as you two boys can play well this season, let's not talk about the finals, the championship will be fine."

Li Xun said confidently.

It doesn't need this new melon egg to be in place in one step, it is directly at the peak level.

As long as they can show [-]% to [-]% of their peak ability, the Knicks will definitely win this year.

The eyes of the two young men suddenly brightened.

This was the evaluation that Li Xun placed on them, and it was so reasonable. The two of them were full of longing for their wonderful future in an instant.

Soon, after the preseason, it will be the regular season.

It is certainly impossible to rule out the Knicks in this year's regular season opener.

Even if you don't look at the Knicks' game market, just looking at Li Xun's status, the Knicks are qualified to play the opening game.

And the opponent in the opening game is also full of gimmicks.

Los Angeles Lakers!
If it wasn't for the opening game against the Lakers, Li Xun hadn't paid much attention to the Lakers team for some years.

The main reason is that the Lakers really have nothing to do now, and there is no one in the team who can play.

Kobe only played forty or so games in the previous two seasons combined, and it was basically time for him to retire.

The Lakers management is also enough to save face. Although there is no official announcement this season, who knows that this season is Kobe's retirement tour season.

How could the alliance miss such a sensational event, and directly arranged for the opening match.

The ticket price is so expensive that even Li Xun finds it amazing.

When I was in the Pistons before, the ticket price was only one hundred and ten dollars.

After arriving at the Mavericks, the ticket price is a little more expensive, because there are many rich people in Dallas, about [-] to [-] US dollars.

But when it came to the New York Knicks, the direct ticket price soared to a small three hundred!

This is still the most rubbish seat. If it is a very front seat, it will cost a few thousand dollars, or even tens of thousands of dollars.

It's no wonder that the Knicks make more money. Every season, the ticket money alone earns more than other teams.

In addition to ticket money, some peripheral income is also profitable.

Before the start of this season, Li Xun's jersey has been sold out several times.

The game has not yet started, and the two sides are warming up.

Li Xun saw Kobe walking towards him slowly.

"Li, it's a pity that you still didn't choose our Lakers in the end."

Kobe said regretfully.

Li Xun shook his head, "I can't help it, there are too many brands of the Lakers."

"I still prefer teams with less branding."

When it comes to the brand of the Dallas Mavericks, most fans will definitely only think of Nowitzki.

When it comes to the current New York Knicks, most fans will only think of the orangutan Ewing.

And if you mention the Lakers, there are too many top names in history that you can think of.

"I'm going to retire after this season."

"The luckiest thing in my life may be to snatch a championship ring from you."

"That ring can also be said to be the ring with the highest gold content in my hand."

"Yes, at least I have no regrets in my career, at least I have defeated Li Xun."

Kobe said very sadly.

These words also brought back memories in Li Xun's heart.

In his rookie season, he lost to Kobe in the finals, which was the fourth championship ring in Kobe's career.

And then for so many years, the championship has always been in Li Xun's pocket.

From this point of view, Kobe's ring is indeed priceless.

It's just that the Pistons' lineup was aging too much at that time, and Li Xun was just a rookie at the time, so it was normal to lose to the Lakers.

So the gold content can't be said to be high.

"Enjoy your last season, my old man."

"You've got a perfect career."

Li Xun gave Kobe a hug.

Kobe smiled wryly, "Perfect? ​​Compared to your career, mine is definitely not perfect."

"But there's nothing I can do. I'm about to retire, and I can't change anything."

The two chatted for a long time.

Wait until the warm-up is over and players from both sides are ready to play.

The starting shooting guard for the Knicks tonight is Afflalo. Before his debut, Li Xun specifically told Afflalo to put some water on his defense.

"Boss, don't worry."

"I'm not the kind of person who doesn't know what's interesting. After all, it's the first battle of the retirement tour. If I screw up, I will definitely be in the headlines tomorrow."

"Bad headlines."

Afflalo said with a smile.

The game has started. The Lakers' current lineup has many young people. It seems that they have unlimited potential. In fact, getting together may not be a good thing.

Li Xun's opponent tonight is Randall, who is in the second grade.

Randall was reimbursed after only playing one game in his rookie season, and he only returned this season.

Although I want to give Kobe some water, but this kind of opener, Li Xun definitely doesn't want to lose.

Moreover, there is really no reason to lose against a team like the Lakers. The strength gap between the two sides is too great.

At the beginning of the game, Li Xun carried Randall under the basket and scored one.

Turning his head, Kobe made a mid-range shot.

The posture is still picturesque, but it's a pity that he failed to score, and the rebound was also taken down by Jokic.

I have to say that tonight is a good opportunity for Jokic to improve his self-confidence, because his opponent is Gao Yuanyuan.

Gao Yuanyuan has been worse than every year now.

His current strength can really be described as rotten.

Even he is not as powerful as the Lakers mascot Thackeray.

After the game ended, the Knicks won by [-] points.

Li Xun scored 33 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, another standard Li Xun-style data.

The UAE scored 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

As a power forward, only five rebounds were recorded, which is indeed a bit low.

However, it is a bit reluctant to say that the UAE's current style of play is a power forward. He is more like a small forward than Li Xun.

On the contrary, Li Xun is more like a power forward on the court.

The starting center Jokic, against Gao Yuanyuan tonight, scored 19 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in a quasi-triple double.

The performance was a bit of a surprise.

Mainly because of Jokic's passing ability shown tonight, which is a bit tough.

Gao Yuanyuan was completely played around.

With Jokic passing the ball, Yi Jianlian also played more comfortably.

The trio in the frontcourt can be said to have played extremely well, while Sun Yue and Afflalo in the backcourt did not play very well.

Efflalo shot 3 times in the audience, and followed Kobe on the court for the rest of the time.

Kobe scored 27 points tonight.

Li Xun felt that Kobe still hadn't completely let go. This tour debut didn't have the effect it should have.

Afflalo basically doesn't defend very much, and Kobe can actually attack like crazy all the time.

Not to mention getting [-] points, at least [-] to [-] points can still be achieved.

After the game, Li Xun directly praised Jokic and Booker severely.

Jokic played perfectly, mainly because the 7 assists were obtained with 0 turnovers.

Generally, when an inside player gets seven assists, he can still achieve zero turnovers. That is really rare, and it may be even rarer than a quadruple double.

As for Booker, he played 20 minutes off the bench tonight.

It seemed that he really listened to Li Xun's words, and the audience kept defending frantically.

Of course, he was not defending Kobe, but Reed.

The defensive efficiency is not particularly high, but at least this attitude is expressed, which makes Li Xun very satisfied.

(End of this chapter)