Chapter 989
Who exactly is the leader of this team?
If these MVP predictions from various media outlets, radio stations, betting companies, and fan forums across the United States are ultimately just self-entertainment and talking past each other, then the 'Top 100 NBA Players Ranking' jointly launched by ESPN and the NBA speaks volumes.
This list was jointly released by the league and their top partner ESPN, taking into account factors such as players' performance last season, injury status, age, and team standing, to provide a relatively objective overall ranking.
As for rookies and players who didn't play last season, their performance was evaluated based on their game statistics and quality before entering the league.
Because of the alliance's involvement, this can be considered a semi-official ranking.
However, the Lakers also received good news from this list.
First, they have four players ranked in the top 4 in the league, and all four of their star players are ranked in the top 70. In fact, if it weren't for Bynum, who is ranked 65th, dragging the team down, the whole team would be ranked in the top 20!
Having four players in the top 3 is certainly not the most among all teams, just slightly above average, but the Lakers have three players in the top 20, which is undoubtedly the most in the league.
But there's also bad news.
That is, although three people made it into the top 20, Kobe, who ranked the highest, was only ranked 7th.
This list is nothing new; it's been around since 2000. This is the second time Kobe has been pushed out of the top five.
The first time was in this year, 2000, when the young Kobe had not yet gained recognition.
But at that time, he didn't gain recognition, and being ranked outside the top ten was the driving force and impetus for Kobe to continue to work hard and risk his life.
But now that he has achieved great success, he has been pushed out of the top five, which is something Kobe can't tolerate.
After this list was released, Kobe increased his training volume again and became more taciturn. Obviously, he was going to train like crazy during training camp and get himself into peak condition.
It's worth mentioning that Kobe went to Germany this summer to undergo a cryotherapy treatment to repair his riddled knees. The results are said to be quite good, and at least for now, Kobe seems to be in much better shape than last season.
Aside from Kobe Bryant at number 7, Kevin Durant also failed to make the top ten, ranking 13th, while Lin Tian was 20th, exactly the gatekeeper of the top 20.
To sum up this ranking in one sentence: I, Lord Lin, have never suffered such a humiliation in my life!
It's also worth mentioning that this year's top five are completely dominated by a new generation of players!
James is ranked first, Wade second, Rose third, Paul fourth, and Howard fifth.
The top five are all newcomers who joined the league after 03.
As I said before: the change of dynasties has been underway for a while now, it's just that this year it's become more thorough!
"20, why aren't you practicing more?"
One day at the training camp, after training ended, Kobe, still eager to continue practicing, suddenly approached Lin Tian and asked him to practice with him. However, he didn't even call Lin Tian by his name anymore, but simply called him Ranking, just like calling someone an artificial human.
"Idiot." Lin Tian didn't even look at Kobe, swore, and then continued on his way, preparing to go back to change clothes, take a shower, and go home.
"20, come and fight me one-on-one! You can't leave today, don't you feel ashamed? Don't you feel embarrassed? Hmm? The 20th player in the league? That's impressive! You must be smug about your current status, right? You must think it's amazing that you're 38 years old and still ranked 20th!"
"Then go ahead and slack off! If you don't train extra, you'll be ranked 40th next season, 80th the season after that, and then you'll be eliminated! You'll be over!"
"Idiot." Lin Tian didn't even look back at Kobe, and his feet never stopped moving forward, ignoring Kobe the whole time.
For him to exchange even a single word with Kobe would be an insult to himself.
"I'm talking to you!" Just as Lin Tian was about to walk out of the training hall, Kobe suddenly accelerated forward and blocked Lin Tian's path.
Before he could even speak, Lin Tian grabbed his shoulders with both hands, took a half-step forward with his left foot to block Kobe's back, and then pushed him hard, causing Kobe to fall to the ground.
In other words, Lin Tian showed mercy and didn't just let go and throw him out, but rather gently placed Kobe on the floor.
"Don't go!" Kobe, humiliated, roared. "Let's get stronger together!"
"Do you believe I'll send you to hell?" Lin Tian finally couldn't take it anymore and glared down at Kobe.
That icy gaze made even Kobe, who was known as the Honey Badger, swallow hard and finally shut up, no longer forcing Lin Tian to do extra practice.
He felt that Lin Tianzhen could really send him to hell.
The kind of physical exorcism.
Lin Tian ignored Li Kebi and arrogantly continued walking out. At his age, what was the point of extra training? He was long past the age of self-torture and self-improvement.
However, Lin Tian dared to completely disregard Kobe's feelings and even pinned him to the ground and beat him, something no one else would dare to do.
Seeing Lin Tian run away, Kobe stood up and coldly scanned the surroundings, while everyone else cursed inwardly.
"You can't see me! You can't see me! You can't see me!"
This is everyone's shared wish.
Even when Kobe isn't angry, he's as fierce as a lion in a gladiatorial arena during training. Now that Lin Tian has bullied and beaten him up, his anger will only burn brighter.
If Kobe had caught them at this moment and asked them to practice with him, what awaited the players would have been an absolutely terrifying hellish experience.
If I don't get completely exhausted from all the fun, I can forget about going home tonight.
But at this moment, no one dared to follow Lin Tian, and no one dared to move. They were afraid that if they made any noise, Kobe would see them and they would become the unlucky ones, dragged into training by him.
Shivering.
But then, our savior arrived.
"Who wants Gatorade?" Durant grinned and came back from the locker room. He had left a few minutes early to go to the bathroom, but now he was carrying a case of Gatorade to share with everyone.
"13, put down your Gatorade and train with me!" Kobe immediately locked onto his target, "It's you!"
I told you to deliver Gatorade, don't you know I have my own energy drink brand? This is blatant slapping in the face, blatantly stealing my business?
I'm going to beat you up today!
Durant was stunned. He saw the anger on Kobe's face. He was confused, bewildered, innocent, desperate, and filled with regret. He just wanted to go home and sleep.
But unfortunately, we can't go back.
He didn't have the courage and resources to disregard Kobe like Lin Tian. When Kobe asked him to do extra training, he didn't dare say a single 'NO' except for nodding.
Lin Tian had no idea how late Durant was kept behind by Kobe that night, how long they practiced, or how intense their practice was.
All he knew was that the next day at practice, Durant, the usually enthusiastic and never late or absent student, asked for leave.
In response, Lin Tian could only say: May God bless this poor child. When I brushed past Durant yesterday, I definitely didn't mean to fail to remind him that Kobe was in a rage.
Absolutely not!
However, this day was still quite important for the Lakers as a whole, or rather, it was a dividing line.
Before this day, there was some laughter at the Lakers' training camp. Although everyone trained hard, the overall atmosphere was relatively relaxed, and the training volume was just average.
But after that day, under Kobe's strong insistence and moral pressure to set an example, the whole team had no choice but to do extra training.
And during training, no one dared to laugh anymore, no one dared to fight or joke around. Everyone was afraid of dying.
Furthermore, when Kobe called Lin Tian and Durant, he no longer used their names, but instead used 13 and 20 instead.
Of course, there are differences. When Kobe calls Durant "13," Durant obediently answers. But when Kobe calls Lin Tian "20," Lin Tian doesn't hear him at all; it's completely ignored.
If you don't call me by my name, I won't say a word to you.
So the two of them started to communicate less.
Unless forced to, Kobe would only call Lin Tian's name; otherwise, the two would remain silent.
This terrible atmosphere naturally made the entire team feel extremely tense and afraid.
They were always worried that they would be caught in the crossfire of the war and hit by stray bullets.
Well, except for Lin Tian, of course.
Regardless of Kobe's situation, Lin Tiancai completed his training on time and without fail, putting in the necessary effort and sweat. He would also laugh and joke around when something funny happened during training.
Could we let him practice more, or let him arrive early and leave late?
Don't even think about it.
I, Lord Lin, have a family!
I need to go home and be with my daughter. Who has the time to sweat and torture themselves with a bunch of grown men here?
Claire is already 4 years old, and it's time for her to start learning.
It was precisely at this time when she needed companionship the most that the little girl perfectly inherited her parents' looks. At such a young age, she was truly as cute as an angel. In addition, her sweet little mouth, inherited from Lin Tian, could melt Lin Tian's heart completely with every word she uttered.
At this age, it's impossible for Lin Tian to leave Claire alone and let her sweat with a bunch of grown men!
It's worth mentioning, however, that normally, the two big shots in the team don't speak to each other, don't give each other any face, and seem to be at odds with each other.
Logically speaking, the team atmosphere in such a team must be terrible. Even if they don't fall apart and fight individually, they should at least be on opposing sides and divided into two groups to play against each other.
But the Lakers are completely different.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Lin Tian and Kobe are both angry even when they're not talking; when they play practice games, their teamwork is incredible.
Lin Tian's pass, Kobe's run and finish, Kobe's back-to-the-basket move, Lin Tian's three-pointer – these two are a match made in heaven. When they play together, there's absolutely no adjustment period; they immediately create a strong chemistry.
Two leaders who don't talk much, but have an incredible understanding and pass the ball to each other a lot.
This strong sense of disconnect has left many Lakers players completely bewildered.
What is this?
Regardless of the issue, aside from some bickering and disagreements about whether or not to practice extra, the two big shots never confront each other, never pick fights, and never form cliques or small groups.
In this respect, the Lakers' team atmosphere is surprisingly harmonious, as if there is no power struggle or competition for status among them.
Even as training camp progressed, the players were still unsure about one thing: who exactly was the leader of the team?
You can't have two people in charge, can you? That would prevent the team from organizing group activities like fishing.
What do you do when there's only one person left after fishing?
Fortunately, as time went on, the Lakers' role players, who were initially trembling with fear, gradually realized that the tension between Kobe and Lin Tian was just part of their game, and that the two actually had a good relationship!
As a result, everyone gradually adapted to this atmosphere, practiced like crazy, and worked hard to play the game. Jackson also constantly instilled his tactical concepts, core ideas, and system of play into the team.
It wasn't until the last day of training camp, when all the training had officially ended and the team was about to start the new season and compete in the preseason after a three-day rest, that Phil Jackson finally gathered the entire team together.
In the past month, he had only gathered people together like this on the first day of training camp, and had not done so again.
Even on the first day of training camp, Phil Jackson only said a few simple words.
"Welcome to the Lakers, let's work together, okay, disband."
It really is just two sentences.
So, in fact, this was Jackson's first formal speech of the season.
This would be quite rare or even impossible for other teams.
If you switch to a coach who loves to give pep talks and motivate players, they'll give these kinds of pep talks and speeches at least three times a day. Even coaches who don't really like doing this will still have to encourage the players' morale and praise and summarize the day's successes before and after training every day.
But Jackson just wouldn't do those things.
If you ask him why, his reason is very simple: "My team has Kobe and Lin Tian, it would be too much for me to do this kind of thing myself."
That would be a slap in their face!
We must give the team's core players enough opportunities to develop and adapt to their positions. In case they want to become coaches after retirement, this is a necessary course for any coach, so consider it as a preview for them.
Yes, that's how it is.
All of the above is just Jackson's own nonsense.
So, as I said before: when it comes to shamelessness, Phil Jackson is no less shameless than Lin Tian.
But no matter how lazy or slacking off they had been before, on the last day of training camp, Phil Jackson still had to gather the players together and say a few words.
At the very least, he should give a preview of the new season and his goals for the new season, right?
Otherwise, the players will feel like they have no goal and can't find their direction when they play.
"We only have one goal this year, and I think everyone can guess it, right?" Jackson got straight to the point, without resorting to his signature cryptic and cryptic tactics.
"Champions! We have Kobe, Kevin, Andrew, Lin, and all of you, and an absolutely perfect team!"
"With this roster, I really can't think of any possibility of not winning the championship. If we lose this season and fail to win the championship, it would be an absolute failure!"
"The owner paid so much luxury tax when we built this team, he didn't want to see us lose again. I've lost enough over the years."
"Of course, a large part of the failure of my career is due to someone on our team who eliminated me more times than I was rejected by girls."
"But thankfully, that person is now on our team! The only person who could possibly stand in our way has become our buddy, our teammate."
"This year, let's do everything we can, let's crush all our opponents and become the champions!"
"All of you, those who are looked down upon, those who are ranked outside the top five by idiotic media like ESPN, those who can't find suitable contracts and can only tearfully accept minimum salaries here, those who want to prove that they can still play, that they are not here for fun but to dominate the league again, and of course, those losers who have played for more than ten years but have never won a championship."
"Everyone, I believe we can do it! Because we are..."
"Championship! Championship! Championship!"
They had been suppressing their emotions for almost a whole month, and had hardly shouted any slogans during that time, but that didn't mean the Lakers players lacked passion and enthusiasm.
On the contrary, they were all incredibly repressed! Their passion and enthusiasm were bursting forth, and they couldn't wait to unleash it!
They have made all the preparations and are ready to give the entire league a good show, starting with the very first game of the season!
This season, we Los Angeles people will be the champions! (End of Chapter)