freeallnovels Chapter 762 272 When the Story Named LeBron James Comes to an End
Chapter 762 272 When the Story Named LeBron James Comes to an End
In the regular season opener against the defending champion Warriors, who would have thought that the 'Royal Wolves' led by LeBron would end their astonishing debut, which can only be described as suffocating, with a single-quarter score of 10 to 45?First quarter over, entering intermission.
Wolves bench.
Constantly biting his thumb.
Brows permanently furrowed.
Helpless, bewildered.
Resigned, hesitant.
At this moment, no one knew whether LeBron, already wearing a mask of pain, was lamenting the score gap between the two teams on the court or mourning his seemingly unhealable groin injury.
But one thing was certain.
This quarter had completely dispelled LeBron's thoughts of resurrecting his 'Wolf King' career.
So, after gritting his teeth firmly, despite the still-healing groin injury, LeBron moved people profoundly by requesting Coach Rick Adelman, "Coach, I don't need rest, I can continue in the second quarter."
Continue, he must continue.
Since the Warriors made this opener lose its suspense in just one quarter, LeBron had to find a way to make his stats look better no matter what.
However, just as the never-give-up LeBron was preparing to lead the Wolves substitutes onto the court, Bogut, known for indiscriminate attacks, disregarded LeBron's face and quipped, "We're already 35 points behind, what's the point?"
After pausing, Bogut continued, "If someone hadn't tried playing football in a basketball game, how could we have fallen so far behind?"
Indeed...
Bogut has never been known for tactful speech.
But in the first quarter, wasn't the Wolves' collapse against the Warriors also due to the young sideline referee Chris Mobley calling LeBron for six traveling violations in total?
4 attempts, 1 made.
Scored 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 8 turnovers.
The game's plus-minus was a team-low minus 35 among the starters.
On this night, LeBron's disastrous performance destined him to be partly responsible for the Wolves' ongoing debacle on the court.
"The game isn't over yet." In the next second, turning his gaze toward Bogut, the flushed LeBron said, "We still have a chance to narrow the score gap."
But to this, Bogut said, "Narrow the score gap? Some people just want to beef up their stats while others send in substitutes, right?"
Hearing this, LeBron's face darkened immediately.
He never expected that Bogut could have such low emotional intelligence.
What does it mean to just want to make the stats look better?
Has never giving up on the court also become a mistake?
Moreover, from LeBron's perspective, even if he's 'fallen from grace,' Bogut has no right to criticize him.
After all, Bogut's performance in the first quarter was equally disastrous.
It could be said that this unpleasant episode further sank LeBron's heart, which was already at rock bottom, deeper.
Because Bogut's attitude towards him at the moment was enough to prove that since he fell from favor, he really seemed to have become the stray dog everyone could kick on the roadside.
Meanwhile, on TNT TV Station, O'Neal and Barkley boldly speculated, "Charles, if LeBron and Messiah swapped places, do you think the Wolves could make the playoffs this season?"
"Playoffs? Although the current Wolves lineup indeed lacks the potential to contend for the championship, I think it wouldn't be difficult for Messiah to lead this team through the first round of the playoffs."
As we all know, there are no "ifs" in the real world.
However, in front of the TV, quite a few fans agreed with Barkley's hypothesis.
The reason?
Of course, it's because Qin Yue led the then equally underestimated Warriors to the top in his rookie season.
Online, Durant used his small account to comment, "If back then, Michael Jordan taught us that in the NBA, players with the best physical talents need to focus on honing their skills to dominate an era.
Messiah taught us how to fully unleash one's physical talent through superb basketball skills.
Then LeBron James undoubtedly taught us, as long as you have a thick enough skin, as long as the referees tolerate you, as long as the capital is willing to market you, even if you have no real skills, you can become an NBA frontline star over the past decade."
Deprived of the shelter of capital, as people of this era begin to objectively and fairly assess LeBron, perhaps LeBron isn't as useless as Durant mentioned.
But in the Pantheon of the NBA, honestly speaking, what qualifies LeBron to step among those ancient gods who made great contributions to the development and progress of basketball?
Is it just because he knows best how to hold onto other people's coattails or because he always managed to score those padded points under the referee's protection through traveling violations?
In this era, LeBron has merely returned to the place he was meant to be.
In the second quarter, under the strict defense of sideline referee Mobley, Kwame Brown successfully managed to provide help defense against LeBron twice.
This is LeBron, who cannot profit from traveling violations.
His impact is strong, indeed.
But under the premise of not being able to use the 'American step,' his long-standing lack of fundamental problem-solving ability has been completely exposed.