NBA: I am the god of basketball

This is the reality. When a player's popularity or level reaches a certain height, any of his actions will be infinitely magnified with a magnifying glass, and the highest standards are required. Be criticized by all kinds of verbal criticism.

This is like James in 2023. As a 38-year-old veteran, he can still average 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Even if he is no longer the top player in the league, he still plays very well. one of the players.

But he will still be sprayed with bruises all over his body. What kind of defense with his hips on his hips, he will only play fast breaks, and the evaluation of scoring points in garbage time will follow one after another.

Limited by physical fitness, it is an indisputable fact that James' defensive ability has dropped significantly. He has used most of his physical energy on the offensive end, and he has no way to take care of defense, so he can only make a choice.

In the regular season, whether it is for the completion of the 411 project or to continue to secure his position as the leader of the Lakers, James chose to allocate more physical energy to offense that can reflect data rather than defense.

But the problem is that under this premise, James is not bad on the offensive end. He averaged 28.9 points per game, and his shooting percentage can still be maintained above 50%. He is the player with the highest offensive efficiency on the Lakers.

Despite giving up defense, James has completed his task on the offensive end.

There are countless players with strong offense and weak defense in the league, but only James will be singled out for various criticisms.

Indeed, in various highlights, there will be a large number of James standing still and not returning to defense, but in 82 games in a season, can the entire network find more than 100 shots of James not returning to defense in a single season?Obviously not.

In the current NBA, the number of rounds per game is close to 200, which requires a lot of round-trip running and offense and defense.

Even if James does not return to defense once per game, it is extremely insignificant compared to his contribution on the offensive end, and the number of times James does not return to defense is far lower than the average of 1 time per game.

And this kind of non-returning situation, most of which happened when the Lakers were intercepted and counterattacked, the same shots were placed on other players in the league, and there will be a lot of similar shots, but the person who made the video highlights only showed James. defense.

The funniest thing is that someone made fun of James for only ranking 22th in the league in defensive efficiency in the 23-104 season. As a result, Leonard was 126th, Butler was 133rd, Harden was 166th, and Doncic was 244th...

Having said so much, it’s not for James to wash the ground. In the 22-23 season, James has indeed become weaker to the naked eye, and he has lost his previous hard work on the field. The already “reasonable” style of play has become more “reasonable”. , Even winning is no longer the first priority. More often than not, he wants to ensure good attendance while healthy, so as to complete his 411 project.

To put it more simply, give James a choice, let him work hard for one season, win another championship and then retire with a serious injury, or he can continue to play healthy for four to five seasons, and continue to maintain around 20+5+5 stats, but not competitive, and don't want to win the championship again. I believe James will still choose the latter.

This may also be the difference between James and Kobe.

The paranoid Kobe can even rupture his Achilles tendon for the illusory promise of entering the playoffs instead of the championship. This choice is not available to James, who plays more often with a businessman mindset.

But it cannot be said that James’ choice must be wrong, because in fact Kobe did pay the price for his impulsiveness. After 13 years of hard work, the rupture of the Achilles tendon caused Kobe to ruin his entire career. If there is no such serious injury, maybe Kobe can continue his peak state for a few more years. If the Lakers make some trade reinforcements in the past few years, they may not have no chance to compete for the championship.

All in all, the crux of the topic is that no matter what James chooses, he is the one who gets scolded.

No need to think about it, assuming that James in 22-23 years gave up his personal data and focused all his energy on defense to strengthen the defense of the Lakers. There will be no fewer people who spray him, and there will be even more.

After all, can you imagine, if James averaged only 15+10+5 per game in a season, what kind of carnival would usher in on the Internet?

Wang Chao is now treated like James, and even those extreme fans have higher requirements for Wang Chao than James. After all, his personal honor is too strong, and there is no one who can compare. Only by a higher, inhuman standard.

This offseason, Wang Chao did not practice extra, so choosing to spend the holiday with his daughter is a good point.

The media took it for granted that Wang Chao was content with the status quo and ready to show off.

A lot of criticism was raging, and the wind direction was once that Wang Chao would definitely encounter Waterloo next season.

As a time traveler, Wang Chao was already used to this kind of atmosphere, and he didn't take it seriously at all.

He is even ready to slap these people in the face with his actual performance when the new season starts.

Keeping all these negative information out, Wang Chaoan went on vacation with peace of mind, accompanied Keer and Keer on various tours, and even flew back to China with Keer to visit his grandparents.

Time passed quickly, and two months passed almost in the blink of an eye.

"Goodbye, Papa! Goodbye, Aunt Candice!"

In the boarding passage of Los Angeles Airport, Xiao Keer said to Wang Chao in her mother's arms in a childlike voice.

Wang Chao smiled and waved his hand. "goodbye."

Candice also smiled and waved goodbye.

After watching the mother and child board the plane, Candice turned her head to look at Wang Chao, her beautiful eyes rippling.

"Busy people, I finally sent them away, and the next thing is our two-person world, right?"

"What do you think?" Wang Chao smiled, but secretly rejoiced in his heart. "Fortunately, there is no holiday training camp this year. This is obviously to squeeze out my own rhythm. I must stock up on more physical potions. Men must never say that they can't do it!"
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In mid-September, when Wang Chao was away from basketball and traveling with his wife and daughter, other teams in the league were still making trade reinforcements, but it was different from the various big moves in early July. , approaching the start of the new season, the rest of the transactions are just small things.

For example, the Thunder reached a deal with the Eagles to send Carmelo Anthony, one of the Big Three, and then the Eagles reached a buyout agreement with Anthony non-stop and became a free agent.

The experience in the Thunder last season was like a nightmare for Anthony.

The scoring average dropped to a career low of 16.2 points, and he became the backer for the Thunder's loss. Who made him the worst among the Big Three?

How glorious it was when the Big Three were first formed last year, then how embarrassing it would be for Anthony to be swept out by the Thunder. For this player who has been the league's top superstar for more than ten years, it is simply a shame.

But what makes him even more angry is that his reputation has been rotten in the past year. After reaching a buyout agreement with the Eagles, there are many teams in the league that are interested in him, but most of them are unwilling to give him a high salary. Or the promise of a major position.

In short, 2500 million Anthony can't do it, but 250 million can be considered.

"Go to TM's 250, your whole family is 250!"

As a native American, Anthony didn't know the meaning of 250, but this number still made him inexplicably angry.

Joining the Thunder is really the worst decision of his career, not one of them!

After venting his anger, he can only accept the status quo, and choose a team with sufficient strength as much as possible while accepting the basic salary.

If you can't make money, at least win a championship.

Under this premise, the first thing he thought of was of course Wang Chao who had almost ruled the entire league in the past few years.

Although he is not optimistic about the Clippers that Wang Chao chose, Wang Chao is definitely worth his gamble.

But after Wang Chao learned the news, after thinking for a moment, he still declined Anthony.

There was still fuel in Anthony's tank, there was no doubt about that.

In the 19-20 season, as the team's starting small forward in the Trail Blazers, Anthony averaged 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

But Anthony during the 18-19 season is obviously not the case.

At this stage, Anthony is still in the stage of insufficient awareness of his own strength, and has not awakened from his past glory.

Even if he joins the team with a basic salary, he will hope to have more ball rights and prove that he is not old through the game.

This is also one of the reasons why Anthony was kicked out after only playing 18 games after joining the Rockets in the 19-10 season.

This is the same as Iverson’s inability to survive in the NBA at the end of his career. At the end of his career, Iverson no longer has the level of a top star, but he hates changing his team positioning. His perverted personality is difficult to integrate into any team. , In the end, he could only wander for multiple teams, and finally got frustrated, and returned to the 76ers to retire sadly.

Anthony is slightly better than Iverson. At least after the Rockets were beaten in reality in the 18-19 season, he realized that he needed to make a change, transforming from a superstar to a role player, and he did it successfully. In the following years, the external evaluation was not bad.

Now that Anthony has just come out of the Thunder, Wang Chao doesn't think he has recognized the reality, so even if he can sign Anthony with a basic salary at this time, it doesn't make any sense. Besides, the Clippers' forward line is already crowded. , Harris, Harrell, and if Wang Chao is added, there are four forward players. In addition, this year's rookie Alexander is also a player who can swing at the guard and small forward positions.

The Clippers can give Anthony not much playing time and possession of the ball. It is basically certain that the opponent will have trouble with the team because of this problem, even if Anthony will not be regarded as a decline in the team's record in the Clippers like in the Rockets. The culprit and scapegoat, but it is still harmful to the Clippers themselves.

Anthony, who failed to hug Wang Chao's thigh, chose to switch to his good brother James.

At the end of August, when it was announced that Anthony joined the Lakers with a veteran's basic salary of 8 million yuan per year, it undoubtedly triggered another violent league earthquake.

The lineup of the Lakers is going to heaven!
James + Towns + Cousins ​​+ Rondo + Anthony?Unprecedented Big Five!
At this time, people still don't know that the Lakers teenager Tatum will also soar into the sky and become a superstar in the future, otherwise the slogan of the Big Six can be shouted out.

The flamboyant Lakers completely overshadowed the Clippers before the start of the new season. After all, when Wang Chao ran back to the country and disappeared, all the other Clippers players together could not match the popularity of Anthony.

"I watched the Los Angeles city derby in the new season! Which of the two Los Angeles teams is better?"

"The Big Five of the Lakers vs. the new god Wang Chao of the Clippers!"

Under various slogans, Wang Chao finally came to the Clippers to report.
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The current head coach of the Clippers is Doug Rivers, a well-known chicken soup coach in the league.

But because he failed to lead the Celtics to win the championship in 08, Rivers, who has no title of champion coach, is even less famous than the original time and space.

However, for Wang Chao's attitude, Rivers is not much different from Wang Chao's previous coaches. If you can lick it, you can lick it. Rich coaching experience did not make Rivers develop that kind of rebellious attitude. On the contrary, He knows exactly how to keep his job.

If there is a conflict between him as the head coach and Wang Chao as a player because of the team's coaching issues, there is no doubt that the Clippers management will choose to help Wang Chao and kick him away.

Therefore, when he saw Wang Chao for the first time, Rivers had already said to himself in his heart, no matter what, he must follow Wang Chao in the team, making money, business, not shabby.

Seeing that the head coach Rivers is a sensible person, Wang Chao is also very happy, which just saves the trouble of tossing around, and Rivers himself is the founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and his ability to pour chicken soup to the players is even better than Tyronn . Lou.

Wang Chao is responsible for formulating the team's tactics and training plans, and Rivers is responsible for supervising and pouring chicken soup to the players during the game to make them play. The division of labor is clear, and no one takes advantage of the other. ,

Wang Chao has already made up his mind. From tomorrow onwards, we will talk about our own business. I will call you the coach, and you will call me the eldest brother.

……

The Clippers assembled and started pre-season recovery training.

In the head coach's office, Rivers looked at a document on the computer in front of him, and fell into deep doubts in his life.

This document was sent to him by Wang Chao just now, and it recorded in detail the team's training plan for next month, the team's starting players, and the allocation of playing time for the substitute players. It was so detailed that he, a head coach, couldn't find anything wrong with it. .

But even if he is known as a chicken soup coach, after all, Rivers is a senior coach who has been coaching the team since 2000. This behavior of feeding food directly into his mouth really makes him a little difficult to adapt.

"Head coach?"

Across the desk, the chief assistant standing in front of Rivers looked at him with some doubts.

Rivers took a deep breath, calmed down, and then said: "I will send you the team training plan in a while, and you can formulate detailed training programs according to the plan."

After arranging everything, Rivers sat alone in his office.

"The coming season may be very different..." (End of this chapter)