Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 185 Impulsive Punishment

Because they participated in the conflict on the bench and punched the opposing player, which led to the escalation of the conflict, Garnett and Nene were each suspended for 2 games.

Brian Xiao was called to Jim's office.

"Bryan, I want to thank you for stopping Ron in the first place and not letting him rush into the field. Otherwise, Kevin and Nene may not be the only ones who will be suspended. God knows what Ron will do." After Xiao sat down, Jim handed him a cup of coffee.

"Brad and Joan both helped. To be honest, I couldn't stop Ron alone." Shaw smiled wryly. At that time, everyone was blocking Artest, but Garnett and Nene were missed. The two were passionate and touched David Stern's minefield.

"Oh? I want to know the specific situation at that time." The live broadcast was aimed at the players on the field. Jim, who was not at the scene, could not see what happened on the bench.

Shaw tried hard to recall the scene at that time, and no one seemed to be indifferent, except for the rookies Korver and Barbosa who were a little at a loss, Ostertag served as a peacekeeping force on the court, and David West wanted to rush Go up and get caught by Campbell.

The big guys on both sides, Ray Allen and Kobe, did not fight each other, but they were limited to verbal communication.

After Xiao described the situation he could recall to Jim, Jim let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go to the training ground together and I have something to say to everyone."

After practice, Jim gathers all the players together.

"I once had a dream where I was wearing a Lakers jersey and I was playing on the court and you weren't on the team and there were strangers on the court. I tried to make a layup and I was fouled hard by the opposing center Stopped it, I was very angry, I got up and argued with them, five of them surrounded me. And my teammates, they stood ten meters away with their waists in their hands, like 'this has nothing to do with me, I can't Go and get into a fight with the other side, you'll be fined, you'll be suspended.'”

The players gathered in a circle, listening to Jim's story, but no one spoke.

"Fortunately, my dream did not become a reality, Dwyane, you have to thank your teammates, they rushed to your head in the first place, and paid the price of the suspension, I want everyone to know, you When you wear this jersey, you're not alone, your brothers are behind you, when you hit the ground, don't rush to get up, your brothers will pull you up. Next time you meet a Seattle guy , let's kick their asses hard!"

After the meeting, Wade took out his modest rookie salary and treated the whole team to a meal.

The next day, the Lakers faced the Los Angeles Clippers.

Although it was an away game in name and the Staples Center was decorated in the color of the Clippers, more than half of the audience still came to see the Lakers.

Although the Clippers lost Odom, the rookie Kaman has good abilities, much more practical than Olowokandi, and the power forward Elton Brand can contribute 20 points and 10 points stably as soon as he enters the league. Rebounding data, Chris Wilcox, who is also sitting on the bench with explosive physical fitness.

Without Garnett, the Lakers have nothing to do with the young and strong Clippers inside, Ostertag is too slow, Campbell is too old to keep up, Haslem and David West are short .

In addition to the Clippers guard, who has been in the league for ten years and changed nine teams, Douglas Overton, who averaged 8 points per game in the highest season, suddenly broke out. He scored the points of the previous week in one game, completely confusing the game.

Although Kobe scored 36 points, but the inside was too bad, Brand 25 points and 18 rebounds, Kaman 10 points and 15 rebounds, Wilcox also had 12 points and 6 rebounds, the Clippers relied on a large number of secondary offenses to score, Has been suppressing the Lakers, and finally achieved a rare derby victory 104 to 97.

Next, the Lakers challenged the Timberwolves back to back.

Like Karl Malone, Garnett also "smartly" avoided meeting with his old club again because of the suspension.

The Timberwolves are now strong and strong. Jermaine O'Neal has performed well. Except for the fact that he has less assists than Garnett, his performance in other aspects has almost perfectly filled the vacancy of the former wolf king. In addition, the outside line has improved a lot every year. This year Gilbert Arenas, who is already comparable to the league's first-line guards, marksman Szczerbiak, and the inside tank Nesterovic, already have the skeleton of a strong team, and after the introduction of Sprewell, The team made up the last piece of the puzzle. The madman with excellent offense and defense can provide flanking firepower and stable singles output, sharing the pressure of Arenas and O'Neal. The Supersonics have a large part, and there is a faint trend of catching up with traditional strong teams such as the Kings, Mavericks, and Spurs.

Before the game, Malone seemed to have some discomfort in his knee, and the accompanying team doctor Gary Vitti reported it to Jim.

"Phil! I know we can't persuade Carl to take a rest, but you have to control his playing time. After this game is over, we will take him for a checkup!"

After Jim's fiery phone call, Phil Jackson promised that Malone's playing time would be strictly controlled.

Malone played less than 20 minutes, the rest of the time with ice packs off the court, and rookie David West got a lot of opportunities to play.

Facing Jermaine O'Neal, one of the top power forwards in the league, West paid his full tuition, and the Lakers continued to be hammered inside. O'Neal scored 36 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks, while Arena The backcourt combination of Adams and Sprewell even scored 7 three-pointers and scored 51 points. The Timberwolves sent the game into garbage time early.

112 to 89, the Lakers suffered a three-game losing streak, and the record has been tied by the Timberwolves and Pacers.

"This year our lineup is unprecedentedly strong. The Timberwolves have only one goal, and that is the championship. We have shown everyone that the Lakers are not invincible opponents." Timberwolves coach Philip Sanders issued a victory declaration after the game .

The Lakers' next game will be a guest at Denver to challenge the Nuggets. With Jim moving out of the team regulations, Malone reluctantly followed the team doctor back to Los Angeles for a knee examination.

"I have been playing like this for 20 years. This problem is not even considered an injury." After getting off the plane, Malone was obviously dissatisfied.

"I can still afford to lose one or two regular season games, Carl, I have already compromised with you, you have to understand that we need you to be 100% healthy in the next season, our opponent is Tim Duncan, Germany Nowitzki, Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal, you don't want to miss them in the playoffs."

"Then let's get started!"

(End of this chapter)