I'm really strong in basketball

Chapter 28 The New Bet
Memphis celebrates victory.

On the other side, O'Neal walked off the court with a dark face.

The team's substitute players quickly handed over the towel.

O'Neill took the towel but didn't wipe it. Instead, he threw it viciously on the seat, cursed "Fuck", and walked into the player tunnel without looking back.

The rest of the team kept silent and filed in behind O'Neal.

After returning to the locker room, O'Neal couldn't bear it anymore, and accused Kobe who had just entered the door: "You selfish bastard, you made 3 for 0 shots, 4 for 0 shots, and 5 for 0 shots. At this time, why do you still force it? Don't you know how to pass? We could have won this game. It was you who caused us to lose the game."

Horace Grant, an experienced veteran, rushed to the door at the first time, closed the door of the locker room, and then sat in his seat, staring blankly at the floor under his feet.

And Fisher, Fox, and George, the old people of the Lakers, were also well prepared, sitting quietly in their positions one by one, trying to blur their sense of existence as much as possible.

Obviously this kind of quarrel is not the first time, these guys have already had a wealth of experience.

The newcomers Luke Walton and Jamal Sampson, who were at a loss, immediately followed suit and curled up in their positions.

Mountains and rains are coming, and self-preservation is the first priority.

And Kobe looked at O'Neal without fear, and replied: "Who is the pass to? The big man who can't even make a free throw? We were ahead by a lot of points, and it was because of his laziness that we were caught up a little bit."

O'Neill was directly blasted.

Free throws are his only downside.

He had just been targeted by the enemy on the field, but he was still being ridiculed by his teammates off the field.

O'Neal raged: "A selfish guy like you will never be a great player."

Not to be outdone, Kobe replied: "That's better than a guy who has a problematic training attitude."

O'Neal: "Without me, you are nothing, and you won't even win a championship!"

Kobe: "Without me, you can't even touch the floor of the Finals in the West!"

The two faced each other tit for tat, the tip of the needle against the wheat awn, and they quarreled so much that the rest of them trembled.

Even Peyton was in hiding.

Naturally, Liu He didn't feel that a rookie was capable of persuading two furious superstars. Kobe and O'Neal bowed their heads in a fit of domineering anger. That was all nonsense.It is estimated that Liu He dared to speak, and Kobe and O'Neal kicked each other, so Liu He would have to change teams to make a living.

So Liu He also obediently hid.

But someone doesn't think so, and that is Karl Malone, the self-proclaimed boss of the locker room.

Ma Long stood up: "Let me be fair."

Liu He was taken aback for a moment, he had read a book before crossing, when a person said "Let me tell you something fair", it means that he has been bribed, and what he said must not be fair.

Sure enough, Malone looked at Kobe with accusing eyes.

Liu He thought, it's broken.

This guy Malone, in the press conference after the last game, he implicitly stated that O'Neal is the boss of the team, which made Kobe very upset, and he already had opinions on Malone.

Malone doesn't know how to restrain himself, but he has to come out to teach Kobe at this time.

Kobe in his 30s may not turn his back on him. Kobe is now 25 years old when he is the number one in the world. Why don't he turn his back on Malone immediately?
This guy Ma Long is simply adding fuel to the fire, the more he helps, the more chaotic he is!

In fact, at this time, Payton is still qualified to say a few words. There is no problem with his position and position. After all, Payton is still neutral and does not favor one side like Malone.But Payton is too cautious, just the opposite of Malone.

Seeing that the fire was about to grow bigger and bigger, the door of the locker room was pushed open.

Phil Jackson walked in and looked at Kobe Bryant, O'Neal who were fighting each other, Malone who looked like a big brother, and 12 other little quails.

I thought to myself: Fortunately, I caught up.

Phil gestured for Malone to return to his seat, and he had everything to do with him.

After Malone returned to his position, Phil said sarcastically: "Shaq O'Neal, the most dominant player in NBA history? Kobe Bryant, the second-best player in the league? I really opened my eyes tonight. I don't have the ability to lead the team to victory, but I put all my energy into the locker room quarrel. Come on, continue, let me see your strength and see how far you can bring the Lakers. Stop the first round? Or can't even make the playoffs?"

Both Kobe and O'Neal blushed, glanced at each other, and returned to their seats silently.

It has to be Phil Jackson!

Handling the relationship between superstars is Phil's forte.

However, Liu He is not optimistic. Kobe and O'Neal are only temporarily in a truce, but if the most fundamental problem cannot be resolved, this boss battle will not end.

On the one hand, as Kobe grows up, he needs more and more possessions.

On the other hand, O'Neal is still at the peak, how could he be willing to delegate power.

This is an unsolvable proposition.

On the second day of the game, the media broke out a lot of unfavorable news for the Lakers.

After all, the Lakers this season have formed the Galaxy Battleship and are the strongest contenders for the championship. In addition, Los Angeles is the entertainment capital, and every move of the Lakers has attracted much attention.

The media published a picture of O'Neal throwing a towel angrily, and interpreted: "The Los Angeles Lakers suspected of conflicts within the team, and O'Neal threw a towel angrily."

Another media analyzed: "In the fourth quarter of the game between the Lakers and the Grizzlies, there was no linkage between Kobe and O'Neal at all, and the league's famous OK connection completely disappeared. There is reason to believe that the conflict in the Lakers team is O'Neal and Kobe."

Later, the media revealed: "According to a staff member of the Lakers team, there was a violent quarrel in the Lakers locker room on the night of the game."

This news further verified the rumors of conflicts within the Lakers.

For a while, the Lakers were in turmoil.

Boss Jerry Buss was furious.

The staff of the Lakers actually betrayed the team.

When did this ever happen when Jerry West was general manager?
Under Kupchak's management, it is simply unforgivable that such a situation happened!

Buss Sr. gave Kupchak a bad rap.

Kupchak repeatedly promised to deal with it as soon as possible and find out the traitor, which temporarily extinguished the anger of Old Buss.

Soon, the Lakers PR department responded.

"O'Neal threw the towel because he lost."

"There aren't many OK connections because Coach Phil Jackson is trying new tactics."

"There was no quarrel in the locker room, it was just the players discussing the game. Because of different views, it was more intense, which caused a misunderstanding among the staff."

……

As expected of the Lakers PR department.

I don't know how many troubles the OK group has had in the past few years. They have already had rich experience in dealing with it, and they responded easily.

As for whether others believe it or not, that is up to you.Anyway, as long as there is no real hammer, who can prove that the OK combination is in conflict?After all, such rumors have been circulating for 2 or 3 years, but rumors are just rumors after all.

Are there eggs under the overturned nest?When the Lakers were brought to the limelight by the media, Liu He was not spared either.

上一场比赛，刘河的发挥也不是很好，全场7投2中，只得到了6分2篮板3助攻1抢断。

This is the first time Liu He has scored below single digits in a single game.

I still remember Liu He's NBA debut, scoring 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. At that time, the media praised Liu He like this.

"Surpassed Yao Ming in the first show and crushed Kobe."

"The most underrated rookie of the 2003 class."

"Another rookie-to-peak guy?"

"The other 28 teams were all wrong."

"Joe Dumars made a stupid deal."

"Beyond third pick, he's outperformed Carmelo Anthony."

After that, Liu He's score never reached 20 again, which made the praise fade away.

But this time, after Liu He only scored 6 points, the attitude of the media took a 180-degree turn.

"Scored only 6 points, the Chinese rookie showed his true strength, and the last pick in the first round just matched."

"Sure enough, one team may be wrong, but it is impossible for all 28 teams to be wrong."

"A role player who can only shoot, his strength may be overestimated."

"In the deal between the Lakers and the Pistons, maybe the Lakers are the loser."

……

On November 2003, 11, the Lakers returned to their first game at home.

The Lakers finally beat the Toronto Raptors 84:79.

Liu He's condition is still relatively poor. He only scored 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. He scored in single digits for two consecutive games. This made the voice of doubting Liu He very loud.

The "Denver Daily" stated that comparing Liu He and Anthony together is an insult to Anthony.

安东尼虽然首秀不如刘河，但是在11月7日掘金打快船的比赛中砍下30分5篮板4助攻，成为历史第三年轻的30分先生。这要远远超过刘河至今为止的最高得分记录21分。

And in college, Syracuse University led by Anthony defeated Wake Forest University led by Liu He and Howard. Liu He has always been Anthony's defeat.

Coincidentally, "Motor City Sports News" also stated: Liu He's performance is getting more and more struggling, while Brian Cook's performance is getting better and better, and even scored a quasi-double-double of 11 points and 8 rebounds in a game last week.

By comparison, Joe Dumars' original deal proved to be a smart one.

Later Pistons general manager Joe Dumars said in an interview: "Liu He is undoubtedly a very good player. I wish him better and better results in the league. But Brian is obviously a more suitable player for the Pistons. So we will never regret the original deal."

After the interview, Joe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Some time ago, Liu He's performance has been very good, completely crushing Brian Cook, which made Joe's life very difficult. It can be said that life is like a year, especially when he sees the media.

But recently, Liu He's performance in two consecutive games was poor, but Cook played a good performance, and Joe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In a TNT live program discussing rookies, Steve Kerr, who just joined TNT, said when talking about Liu He: "He has a very good three-point shooting percentage and defense. He will become an excellent 3D player. But only for one time, his ability to hold the ball is too weak, which limits his further growth."

Another TNT commentator, Charles Barkley, immediately objected: "No, no, no! I watched his debut, so I have a different opinion. The Chinese rookie still dared to take a shot at the critical moment at the end of the game and hit the key ball even though he made 4 of 0 shots. This is a proper big heart. He will not be an ordinary role player. He hopes to become a key player like Robert Horry."

Cole argued: "Charles, you overestimate him. Horry has proven himself many times in key moments of the playoffs, while Liu He just hit a key goal in an ordinary regular season. This is a completely different concept. I am sure that a player like Liu He who has a single scoring method will score lower and lower as long as he is found out by the opponent... The performance of these two games has confirmed this point. If you still disagree, let's make a bet."

Cole suggested confidently.

"What bet?" Barkley asked.

Cole: "Just bet that Liu He can't score 30 or more points this season. The bet is... of course kissing the ass of the donkey."

Cole knows live TV and how to attract attention.

Last season, Barkley also made a bet with Kenny Smith on whether Yao Ming could score 20 points.

That show drew a massive TV audience for TNT and kept Barkley and Smith on fire for a long time.

Cole wanted to replicate that episode and give himself a good start in TNT's commentary career.

As for what if you lose and want to kiss the ass of the donkey?Cole is very confident that it is absolutely impossible for Liu He to score 30 points in his rookie season.

You must know that Yao Ming was the No. 2002 pick in 20, and the bet was only [-] points in a single game.

Liu He, a rookie with the 25th overall pick, can only score in single digits in recent games, and the distance to 30 points is too far away!

Barkley hesitated for a while, and didn't dare to agree immediately.

Although he is optimistic about Liu He, he doesn't think Liu He can score 30 points in a single game in his rookie season.

You must know that a team in today's league can generally score about 90 points, and 30 points is one-third of the entire team's points.

Even if it is the core of a team, there is no guarantee that it will score 30 points in every game.

At this moment, the director of this episode reminded Barkley that after Cole made this bet, the ratings of this episode increased significantly, and the popularity continued to rise.

The director did not ask Barkley to agree, but his prompt has already shown his attitude: he hopes that Barkley will agree.

Barkley was even more embarrassed for a while.

Until he noticed Cole's confident smile, Barkley gritted his teeth and agreed.

Am I still afraid of you?

As a player, you're a role player and I'm a superstar.

When explaining, I also crush you.

If I don't agree, the audience really thinks that I, Sir Charles, are afraid of a little Steve Kerr.

"I agree, but I ask Kenny Smith to join the bet!"

"Best partner" Smith, who sat beside Barkley innocently: "???"

After thinking for a while, Smith agreed, but he chose to stand on the opposite side of Barkley and stand with Cole, because he did not believe that Liu He could score 30 points in a single game in his rookie season.

"I can join. If I lose, Cole and I will both kiss the donkey's ass. But if you lose, you have to kiss the donkey's ass twice! Twice is enough! It's only fair!"

Ge Lao Tzu, if you drag me in for no reason, Lao Tzu is easy to provoke, and I will also cheat you.

Barkley nodded indifferently in agreement.

Kissing a donkey's ass is zero and countless times.

He has already kissed once, and he has already broken the boundaries in his heart, so there is no pressure to kiss him many times.

On the contrary, Cole and Smith, these two guys have not experienced it yet, and the struggle to break the boundary for the first time is the most exciting.

(End of this chapter)