Chapter 1002
Lin Tian or Xu Xian? A snake tamer, huh?
In this game, the Lakers controlled the game and maintained a huge advantage throughout. It seemed like the game was a foregone conclusion, but professionals could easily analyze the problems that the Lakers exposed in this game.
Substitutes! It's all about substitutes!
Although six players scored off the bench, five of them did so in the fourth quarter, which was essentially a foregone conclusion. In the first three quarters, when the game was slightly more suspenseful, only Isaiah Thomas scored among all the Lakers' bench players.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers' bench lost to the Hawks by 11 points, squandering the lead they had built up in the first three quarters.
The team's poor bench strength was something everyone knew and prepared for before the season started, but tonight's performance was still beyond many people's expectations.
They can't even beat the Hawks' bench!
That's an eagle!
Currently, it seems that apart from Isaiah Thomas, who has some potential, the rest of the Lakers' bench are unlikely to be of much use.
In a game where the main players are essentially coasting and only exert themselves fully in one quarter to secure the victory, there naturally won't be any alarming statistics.
林天只打了21分钟就拿下12分13次助攻，科比19分5篮板，杜兰特16分，小托马斯10分。
No Lakers player scored more than 20 points that night. They played with ease, prioritizing teamwork and winning the game effortlessly.
After such a resounding victory, the Lakers set off again, with another away game in the Eastern Conference before returning to Los Angeles.
Fortunately, the third opponent wasn't strong either; it was the Chicago Bulls, who had been rebuilding since Jordan left but had never been able to succeed.
It seems the Bulls are trying to pay back the debt Jordan owed them back then; the more glorious they were in beating others in the 90s, the more badly they were beaten in the new century.
Today, the Bulls are still struggling on the road to rebuilding.
The rebuilding Bulls certainly couldn't stop the Lakers' onslaught, and the precious opportunity of a nationally televised broadcast couldn't be reserved for the Lakers indefinitely.
In the end, we still need to distribute the benefits evenly, right?
Especially after the blowout victory over the Hawks in the last game, the league is even less likely to change its plans for broadcasting the game.
From roster to overall strength, the Bulls and the Hawks are evenly matched, like two equally matched heroes.
What if I give you another nationally televised match, and you deliver another one that's a complete blowout with absolutely no entertainment value?
What the league wants is a game of star players going head-to-head, scoring sprees, physical battles, and a close contest until the very end, ideally with consecutive game-winning shots and comebacks.
Whether the Lakers knew the league's thoughts or not, after their dominant performance against the Hawks in the previous game, they seemed quite out of sorts against the Bulls.
They were unable to pull away from the score, and the two sides were neck and neck from the first quarter, playing a very tense and exciting game with back-and-forth exchanges.
In the latter part of the fourth quarter, the Bulls were the first to launch an attack.
Francisco Garcia and John Salmons, two seemingly unknown players, hit four consecutive three-pointers in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, completely widening the score gap.
Two players who have always been criticized for being too self-centered, lacking tactical awareness, and being too fond of one-on-one play ended the Lakers' two-game winning streak.
When the game ended, both teams were caught off guard.
Bulls: We won just like that? The league's best team, we just took them down like that?
虽然开赛才不到一周，2胜0负、3胜0负并列第一的球队足有8-9支，但你湖人到底也是并列第一不是嘛？
The Bulls secured an unexpected victory, while the Lakers achieved a respectable 2-1 record on the road.
In this third match, their loss was truly inexplicable.
"It's okay, it's just one loss. We'll win the next one. After all, this is the level a seventh-ranked player in the league should be at!" After the game, Lin Tian gathered his teammates in the locker room and gave his speech.
"It's perfectly normal to have a bad game."
"But I think if some people keep doing this, they'll be 70th in the league next season. Keep working hard, and in two years at most you'll be off the list of the league's top 100 players. Keep it up, I believe in you!"
It was the content of his speech that was so unbelievable.
Are you serious?
When a team loses, the post-match debriefing usually involves either encouragement, reminding everyone to be more careful on the next game, or everyone being criticized equally and harshly, or a nonchalant smile indicating complete indifference and absolute confidence.
Of course, some teams that have lost so badly don't care at all, and after losing, they start thinking about where to go out and have fun that night.
But Lin Tian is like this...
This directly and openly shifts the blame onto one person, resorting to sarcasm, open criticism, and no attempt to hide or conceal the true nature of the attack...
It's not that no one does it; there are quite a few people who do it.
However, this situation basically only occurs in teams that have already or are about to have internal conflicts, when both sides have completely broken off relations and have no intention of continuing to work together.
Or perhaps the absolute leader uses a particularly poorly performing subordinate as a warning to others, targeting one person to remind everyone else to be careful.
But now, this kind of mutual blame between the team's top two players can be said to only happen in teams with internal strife.
This is only the third game, the first loss of the season, and it's already this exciting?
The Lakers' locker room was completely silent. No one spoke, and everyone was holding their breath. They didn't know what to do. Murphy, who was closest to the locker room door, was experienced and had already quietly stood up and sneaked out of the locker room.
Quickly invite the Buddha!
No, please invite Phil Jackson!
Only by getting the head coach in quickly can we possibly quell this potential dispute and conflict!
What if the two of them really start fighting...
No, what if Lin Tianzhen beats up Kobe?
"I really played terribly tonight." Kobe said with a gloomy face and no expression, "I know, 9 for 33 and 5 turnovers, it was terrible, I blame myself for losing tonight."
"I won't do that again next time."
Then, before Murphy had even left the locker room, Kobe apologized.
He took the initiative to apologize, admitted his mistakes, and shouldered the responsibility for the team's loss.
Are you crazy?
That's what everyone in the locker room is thinking right now.
Who is Kobe?
He was famous among birds and beasts, and he was the best in the world.
Could he accept such a humiliating disgrace? To be verbally abused by Lin Tian pointing his finger at him like that?
Are you Lin Tian or Xu Xian?
A snake tamer, huh?
The players stared blankly at the two, unsure of what to say. The situation had changed so quickly that their minds couldn't keep up.
"If you're not feeling good, take fewer shots. This team doesn't just belong to you, it belongs to all of us. Besides you, there's me, Kevin, Andrew, and 14 other players who can take shots."
"If you keep shooting regardless of whether your shooting touch is good or bad, if you keep getting angry and shooting out of spite after being provoked by someone, and if you keep getting carried away, then you'll be a burden to this team."
"You'll never win a championship in your lifetime!"
"I understand, I won't do it again."
Kobe was as obedient as a snake controlled by a flute, nodding repeatedly and indicating that he was wrong.
Lin Tian, however, got more and more into his rant, relentlessly attacking Kobe. He even went so far as to say that Kobe's decision not to go to college was an idiotic one, and that it was because he didn't go to college that his basketball IQ was so low and he lacked tactical awareness.
"Missing out of school for a few years is just damn bad!"
Lin Tian glanced at Kobe and saw that the guy's fists were clenched and his lips were twitching, clearly on the verge of exploding. So, Lin Tian quickly stopped while he was ahead, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, "Alright, it's okay to admit your mistake. Let's go to the press conference and admit your mistake to the media."
After Lin Tian finished speaking, he put his arm around Kobe and in the blink of an eye, they looked like good buddies. He then pulled Kobe towards the locker room.
Of course, while the Lakers players were too scared to even breathe and had no idea what was going on, some sharp-eyed people noticed Kobe's struggle.
"Let me go."
Kobe muttered something as he raised his elbow, aiming it at Lin Tian.
"Are you looking for death?" Lin Tian pressed down on Kobe's elbow with his other hand, and then somehow used a bit of force. Everyone saw Kobe suddenly stiffen as if he had been electrocuted, and then he became completely obedient again, being pulled out of the locker room by Lin Tian.
At the same time, the entire Lakers team once again confirmed and affirmed one thing—
The leader of this team is Lin Tian!
Even though Kobe played in Los Angeles for more than a decade, and even though he was the undisputed leader and number one core of the team after Shaq left, everyone else, whether it was McGrady, Durant, or the other helpers the team brought in for him, were his underlings.
But this time, it was Kobe's turn to be the younger brother.
Everyone, everyone in the locker room, had confirmed it.
"Not bad acting!" The locker room door had just closed when Lin Tian, knowing the place was very soundproof, patted Kobe's chest with a smile and said, "Want me to introduce you to a director so you can go to Hollywood and get a lead role or something?"
"Fuck you!" Kobe blurted out, "Didn't you say that if I just apologized and you said a few words, it would be over? Didn't you say that this would quickly improve team cohesion and unity?"
"Yeah, what's the problem? Isn't everything going in the direction we expected and planned?" Lin Tian looked at Kobe, wondering what the guy was struggling with.
That's right, what just happened was a scene put on by Kobe and Lin Tian.
Firstly, it was to let everyone know that the team treats everyone equally, and whoever performs poorly will be criticized and will have to admit their mistakes. Secondly, it was to reaffirm Lin Tian's leadership position.
"Then why were you spraying so enthusiastically? You spit all over my face!" Kobe continued to protest.
"This is just a casual rant," Lin Tian said helplessly. "I didn't use a lot of swear words, and I didn't use a lot of veiled insults and sarcastic remarks that would make you so angry that your hair would grow back! You can't even handle this, can you?"
Looking at Lin Tian's smug eyes, Kobe knew that this bastard was playing him, knew that he was talking nonsense, but his lips still twitched a few times, and he did not refute him.
Kobe was certain that if he asked a question or expressed disbelief, Lin Tian would immediately give him a freestyle lesson in swearing.
"There's still something I don't understand. With your ability and status, are you afraid of not being able to control the Lakers' locker room? Are you afraid they won't submit to you or that they'll rebel? You could easily become the boss of the locker room and on the court."
"No, you already are. You're already the leader of this team. Why are you putting on this act?"
"Because it's a lot of fun," Lin Tian said frankly. "Compared to taking things step by step and gradually gaining control of the whole team, I think this is much more fun."
"So this isn't a necessary step at all, or even a main part of the story?"
"Of course, it's at most a trivial side quest, but although it's trivial, it's incredibly fun! Nobody can argue with that, right?"
"Your grandma's legs!" Kobe roared!
Where's my knife? Where's my knife? Give me my knife!
Kobe is about to break down.
Shaquille O'Neal also liked to make silly jokes back then, but he never took them out on Kobe!
Or perhaps it was during one training session that O'Neal joked with Kobe, and after Kobe pointed his finger at him and berated him, O'Neal never joked with Kobe again. Of course, it's true that Kobe's outburst that time really startled O'Neal.
He, Shaquille O'Neal, a 300-pound, always-smiling kid, from childhood to adulthood, apart from his father, no one dared to point fingers at him and spew nonsense, so Kobe's actions really startled O'Neal.
But it was just a start, like a lion on the African savanna suddenly seeing a teddy bear it had never seen before baring its teeth and howling at it.
Then, O'Neal realized what was happening and knocked Kobe down with a single punch.
Hmm... just one punch!
This punch startled O'Neal again.
After all, it's common knowledge that O'Neal isn't good at fighting. The fact that he could go toe-to-toe with Barkley, who was a head shorter than him, more than 40 pounds thinner, and also a power player, and even be at a disadvantage, shows how insignificant his fighting skills are.
He rarely got into fights growing up. With his naturally gifted physique, most of the time a single swear word and a glance were enough to scare his opponent to death. If he didn't scare his opponent...
Then O'Neal's underlings will step in.
It wasn't his turn to make a move.
So he really had almost no chance to fight with anyone.
Even before that shot at Kobe, O'Neal had mentally prepared himself.
I'll throw a punch first. If he dodges it, I'll charge in and crush him with my sheer weight. If he blocks it, I'll charge in and crush him with my sheer weight. If he retaliates while dodging, I'll risk taking a punch and crush him with my sheer weight. If…
Simply put, O'Neal's fighting style boils down to one move: crushing his opponent with his sheer weight.
But to O'Neal's surprise, he slapped Kobe, and Kobe fell over.
Although he immediately got up again and roared as he tried to charge at O'Neal again, O'Neal's shot was indeed fatal.
Then, Kobe was stopped by his teammates. A group of teammates held Kobe down tightly, preventing him from moving.
O'Neal, on the other hand, was still completely bewildered.
Seriously, this guy's such a terrible fighter? And he still loves to fight?
This internal conflict did not escalate further, and the two eventually reconciled thanks to Jerry West's mediation.
But after that, O'Neal never joked with Kobe again. He knew the two were not on the same wavelength at all. Kobe didn't like jokes, and O'Neal didn't like Kobe.
From that moment on, no one on the Lakers team dared to joke around with Kobe anymore.
By the way, that year was 1998, and Kobe was not yet 19 years old when it happened.
To get back to the point, this incident shows how stubborn Kobe is, and how much he dislikes people making fun of him.
But this time, Kobe, who was furious at being tricked by Lin Tian, didn't yell at Lin Tian.
It's not that I'm afraid.
It's simply because he's grown up, matured, and become more tolerant.
Of course, I'm not as stubborn as I was when I was younger.
At the same time, he also knew what kind of person Lin Tian was, and how shameless this guy was. They were on the same team and were going to chase the championship together. In particular, Kobe believed that this was probably the last chance in his life to chase the championship as the core player.
If he can't seize this opportunity, he will most likely become the next Elgin Baylor. He doesn't want to be Baylor; he wants the championship and he wants to win.
So Kobe looked at Lin Tian, pursed his lips, but didn't say anything. Instead, he led the way towards the press conference venue.
Those who know Kobe know that this expression and behavior mean he's genuinely angry. In most cases, the Lakers' opponents are in for a rough time; they'll have to endure Kobe's impending furious retaliation. (End of Chapter)