Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 244 We are champions again, we are always champions (finale)

"No one is bullish on the Cavaliers, but I'll prove..."

What to prove, James didn't say, and this interview was also compiled into jokes after each game.

I don't know if it is the butterfly effect brought by Li Sheng. This time the Cavaliers reached the finals with the complete lineup of the "Big Three". Love, who has not completely lost weight as a pitcher, still has low lethality. Irving, who is not injured, can also undertake the task of an assassin.

As for James, let alone his old opponent, he faced Li Sheng in three consecutive finals.

You see if I do it or not, you're done!

第一场雷霆队坐镇主场，有着球迷和裁判的加成，轻松以108:89获得开门红，杜兰特36+7+8，威少21分12助攻，字母哥也拿到了18+9+7的数据。

骑士队詹姆斯拿到27分11篮板10助攻的三双，但是欧文17中6只拿到14分，乐福也只得到了17分9篮板，角色球员们更是几乎没有发挥。

The strength gap between the players of the two teams is obvious. If James and Durant are considered to be on par with each other, and Love and Ibaka are also considered to be on par, then Irving is no match for Westbrook, and the others are even less match for Antetokounmpo and Gobert.

This game probably proved that James can't win with a triple-double, so he actually used the same data. Although Irving was not allowed in the middle of the third quarter in the chasing stage, he tried three-pointers from the outside every time.

In the end, the fans said that it was because Irving took too many shots that they lost. In fact, they were already behind by 13 points before that.

The second game was still at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Cavaliers' three-pointers recovered a bit. Love made a small explosion and scored 8 points on 5 of 26 three-pointers. James also scored 32 points, but Irving was restricted again.

In fact, many people like to use Irving's performance in the finals to prove that he is a person who can perform brilliantly on the highest stage, but it turns out that no one around him can attract defense and create a scoring environment for him, and when he leads the team alone, he can be restricted.

And how did Li Sheng do it?
For him, "The most dangerous thing about the Cavaliers is Irving, so he must not be allowed to score stably." Based on this idea, he would even rather let James take the shot.

The result is that James still assists teammates, but Irving has not reduced the number of shots because of this. After all, he is also a young star who needs to prove himself.

If it wasn't for the Thunder's loss in the third game when they returned to the Cavaliers' home court, Li Sheng wondered if he would directly make them fight among themselves if he went on like this.

This penalty is not the main problem. In fact, judging from the attitude of the league in the playoffs, they seem to have no intention of setting too much resistance for the Thunder to defend their title. It all depends on what they can do.

After all, the benefits brought by the Thunder's outperformance are not less than those of previous years. The reason is that the Thunder is different from the Heat and Cavaliers, which form the Big Three lineup. The core is all rookies trained by the team.

Even if they are allowed to establish a dynasty, it will only become a good story like the bulls.

Although the Bulls and Jordan also became the league's public enemies back then, and their reputations may not be very good, they are now being promoted as legends, and the Thunder may not be able to be a contemporary legend.

It's just that it's hard for James, and he has to work hard to continue running with him.

In the fourth game, the Thunder adjusted their state and successfully won this away game, which further lowered the suspense of the series. In the end, they returned to the home court in the fifth game and successfully defended their title.

Although this year is 4:1, which seems to be a step backward from last year, the Thunder still have an overwhelming advantage on the scene. Durant once again won the FMVP with an average of 31.3 points per game.

骑士三巨头中，詹姆斯场均28.5分10.2篮板8助攻“尽力了”，乐福场均19分9.3个篮板3.2次三分命中，最凄惨的就是被雷霆花大力气限制的欧文，命中率只有41.2%，场均拿到17分4篮板5.2助攻，被22分8篮板7助攻的威少完爆。

After two consecutive championships, the Thunder are already qualified to be called the strongest team in the world, and in the post-match interviews, the reporters inevitably asked Li Sheng about the topic of "the world's strongest player".

Li Sheng laughed and said: "I said in an interview two years ago that the strongest in the world in my mind is KD. Now I still have this attitude. Of course, I still have a No.2 in my mind. I am willing to give him to Russell. I also hope that everyone can see his dedication and sacrifice.

"As for what everyone thinks in their hearts, I don't know and I don't care..."

The media couldn't help being in an uproar, isn't James worth a second?
But they are naturally not stupid enough to hold on to this kind of question, and Li Sheng probably won't answer it either.

Of course Li Sheng would not answer, after all, this question is too stupid, even if James is the 0th person in the world, it has nothing to do with him as the head coach of the Thunder.

Will James join Oklahoma City with a basic salary next season?

However, after the end of this season, the Thunder will face a lot of problems. The first is the contract renewal of the head coach Li Sheng.

In fact, by the end of the finals, Li Sheng is equivalent to completing his contract period, and the next step is free agency.

This also makes the outside world pay close attention to Li Sheng's future. Even if he knows that the Thunder will not let him go, he is unlikely to give up the ready-made lineup of the Thunder.

Not only the media, Thunder fans also began to leave messages on Li Sheng's social platforms, and even asked him face to face when they met him on the road. Li Sheng just said that he would still stay with the Thunder with a high probability, but he definitely had to see the situation.

What's the situation?

In the 15 NBA Draft, for the first time in three years, Li Sheng did not appear on the scene with Presti. This also made the outside world quite worried, thinking that this was a signal.

But they didn't know that Presti was still drafting according to Li Sheng's previous plan. First, he used the No. 17 pick traded from the Bucks to select Bobby Portis, and then used the second round picks obtained from the Bucks and the Heat respectively. Josh Richardson was selected with the 40th overall pick and Norman Powell was selected with the 46th overall pick.

By the time of the summer league, the position of Thunder head coach was still up in the air. Messina was appointed as the interim coach. Li Sheng was not in a hurry to renew his contract.

Then before the summer league ended, Bennett finally reached an agreement, and the consortium officially settled in the Thunder, and they could wave a lot of money in their hands and start to stir up trouble in the trading market.

But before that, their first task is naturally to invite Li Sheng back.

After Li Sheng confirmed that everything was business as usual, they would not interfere in the daily management of the Thunder team, and would only make some fuss about the operation, he agreed to re-sign with the Thunder team for a three-year contract with a total value of 1250 million U.S. dollars.

This is definitely a big contract in the position of head coach, and Li Sheng has also directly upgraded to become a multi-millionaire, although he has already reached this level two years ago with various incomes.

The confirmation of Li Sheng's contract has also reassured all fans who support the Thunder. The Thunder official added a sentence when the news was announced, "When the dynasty is in progress (2/3)".

This also made the fans more excited and looked forward to the new season.

Then the Thunder first implemented the team options in the contracts of Antetokounmpo, Robertson, and Gobert. They will also work hard for the dynasty in the new year. As for the new contract, it will be discussed later. Don’t be afraid of the pressure at that time. After all, there is now a consortium behind it.

At the same time, Presti also came to Li Sheng to discuss signings, but Li Sheng said that he would first let Presti confirm the signing with Jokic, "This is our biggest signing this season!"

Presti, who arranged scouts to observe Jokic in Serbia around the clock according to Li Sheng's instructions last season, was not surprised, and even felt very excited, because Jokic showed in the summer league that he can adapt to American basketball. As long as he integrates into the Thunder team, he can indeed enrich the Thunder's tactical play and further strengthen the Thunder's offense.

"Don't worry, at this time next year, we should be here to celebrate the dynasty, and then usher in the troubles of real happiness."

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(End of this chapter)