Chapter 457 Chapter 456: I don’t want to discuss a dog (ask for a monthly ticket!)
As Roger said, LeBron James has become the most famous clown of this era.

With all the Lakers players performing well in the final moments, it is simply incomprehensible that James was distracted and missed someone.

Phil Jackson felt that all his conversations with James throughout the season were in vain, because in the end, James still lost the game in the most unacceptable way.

If he held on to Roger at the last moment and Roger pushed the ball into the goal, he could also be called a hero.

But when the team needed someone to step up the most, he missed Roger, and it was an incredible omission.

Bill Simmons described James’ defense in that round as “inexcusable and incomprehensible, the biggest basketball tragedy of the 21st century.”

James failed to catch up with Roger not because of his ability problems, but because he was suddenly “disconnected” at that moment, as if he suddenly didn’t know what to do.

All the Lakers players were fighting, except James, who had given up the game and was distracted.

He really didn’t understand what James was thinking at the time, just like he didn’t understand why China was spending more money to build more weapons while the United States was spending money to add more toilets for different genders.

James clearly had the opportunity to be a hero, but he gave up again and again.

Whether a star player is considered a hero in a city is not just measured by the number of championships he has won.

Fans will eventually choose those who are loyal to the team, and fans will eventually remember those who are dedicated to the team. The biggest problem with LeBron James is that he has neither of the two.

He betrayed Cleveland in the dumbest way possible.

He missed the opportunity to contribute to the Lakers in the most cowardly way possible.

He avoids all the right answers for being a hero, perhaps because he was never a hero, he just pretended to be one. Most of the time, he can act like one. But when it comes to the real heroic moment, his heart and actions will betray him.

Generally speaking, fans don’t have high expectations for a player who isn’t a hero.

Just like the Lakers’ two consecutive championships in the original timeline, even if Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom did not carry the team at the critical moment, no one would stand up and blame them. Because the whole world knows that these two people are still a long way from excellence.

But LeBron James is different. In Nike’s promotion, LBJ seems destined to surpass excellence.

This leads to fans always having wrong expectations of him.

In fact, even his teammates had wrong expectations of him.

That was the case with Kobe Bryant, who couldn’t believe he had a heart-to-heart with the coward before Game 3.

Looking back now, Kobe feels that his behavior was as stupid as having a relationship with a prostitute after getting drunk.

So after the game, the extremely disappointed Kobe had given the most accurate definition of James: a cowardly little boy who could not withstand the pressure of the game and did not deserve to win at all.

At the press conference, Kobe also publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with James in the most explosive way.

“Disappointed? I’m not disappointed with LeBron at all. I just hope that coward doesn’t f**king show up on the court in the next game!”

LeBron James was sitting next to Kobe when he said this at the press conference.

He is like the powerless President of South Korea, who was publicly impeached by Kobe.

There couldn’t be a more direct scene of quarreling than this. Kobe mercilessly tore James apart in public.

One star player hopes that another star player on the team will not appear on the court in the next game. There has never been a more direct breakup in the entire history of the NBA.

Reporters all turned their cameras to James: “LeBron, what do you want to say now?”

James glanced at the reporters and calmly replied, “As long as we don’t sink, we’ll be fine.”

Beautiful, Kobe almost stood up and applauded James.

Only businessmen and politicians will speak high-sounding words without blushing or beating their hearts after everything has become very bad, instead of admitting their mistakes in time.

Kobe thinks LBJ is an excellent businessman. Look at him. He has never won anything, not even an MVP, but he is treated as a top-tier superstar. Why? Because of his and his team’s excellent marketing strategy.

Kobe thinks LBJ can also be an excellent politician. If Arnold Schwarzenegger can become the governor of California, then James can become the governor of Ohio. No, Ohio is too small for LBJ. If Barack Obama really becomes the first black president, James has a chance to become the second.

But at the end of the day, that bastard is not a qualified basketball player!
After James answered, Kobe got up and left angrily.

He has made it clear that he never wants to play against James again.

Thus, the media carnival began.

The next day, the sports pages of major newspapers were filled with hot news.

Roger’s 65 points in the playoffs and the breakup between Kobe and James caused the sales of all newspapers to soar.

The entire NBA became popular because of this.

David Stern must be very satisfied with this result. This is the traffic war he longs for, and this is the effect that the Super Lakers VS the Dynasty Warriors should achieve.

Roger read the news about James and Kobe in the newspaper and felt disappointed with Kobe.

LBJ is undoubtedly an outstanding horse, but Kobe is not a qualified Bole.

At this time, shouldn’t Kobe take the initiative to give up the leader position when James plays so badly?
What right does he have to criticize LBJ so much?

It’s not LeBron James’ fault that he didn’t meet a good brother who is stupid. The responsibility lies entirely with Kobe.

Brandon Roy pointed at Kobe in the newspaper and said, “I’m curious, how will No. 15 end up after saying these words? Will LBJ play in the next game?”

This is exactly the problem Phil Jackson is facing now. He doesn’t know whether he should continue to send James to play in the next game.

Kobe had the guts to say that publicly yesterday because the entire Lakers team was dissatisfied with James. If James were allowed to play, the Lakers might lose their fighting power.

But what if James is not allowed to play? The NBA has never had a precedent of a star player being DNP in a life-or-death playoff game. And will it necessarily achieve better results if Vujacic replaces James in the starting lineup?

Whether to let James play became a decision that Phil Jackson had to make.

Even though the Lakers had little hope, who would be willing to admit that the Super Lakers had failed? Phil Jackson still wanted to find a perfect way to save the team.

After today’s training, LeBron James also tried to save everything.

Of course he knew that this was the biggest crisis in his career, the turning point that would determine whether he would be “great” or “mediocre”, and this was his “Sputnik moment”.

He couldn’t not play, he couldn’t leave the image of a “coward” at the end of the season. He couldn’t leave Cleveland with a bad name and then experience a bigger failure.

If he is DNPed like this, then all the best marketing methods will be useless.

So, after the training, James said in the locker room: “Hey guys, I will work harder in the next game. I know we are behind 0-3, but now we have to win one game at a time. Now we have to focus on G4, that’s all you can think about. Obviously, we didn’t play very well and missed some opportunities. But we just have to take it one game at a time and be prepared.”

Howard looked at James in confusion, and Chauncey Billups smiled and shook his head.

Kobe’s reaction was much more direct. He turned around and told Phil Jackson: “If LeBron plays in the next game, I won’t play. We don’t need him.”

Phil Jackson’s eyes widened; this sentence sounded very familiar to him.

14 years ago, Roger insulted Pippen in the same way. The greatest insult to a star player is that he is not needed.

No wonder people say Kobe is the man closest to Roger.

But what would happen? Roger’s “We don’t need him” became a heroic moment because Roger led the team to win without Pippen.

Can Kobe lead his team to win without LBJ?
James didn’t expect Kobe to be so resolute: “Hey, the most important thing now is that we must unite as one.”

“Yes, we do, but not you, LeBron. Phil, let me emphasize again, if LeBron plays, I won’t play. At least, I won’t play at the same time as him. Of course, this is a democratic country, and we have to be fucking democratic. Who supports my proposal, and who opposes? Those who oppose can raise their hands.”

No one raised their hand, and James was abandoned by the entire Lakers team.

This was LBJ’s bloody election.

Shaq is right, as a star player, a player positioned as a leader, if you can’t lead by example, this is the result.

James looked at his teammates around him in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he would end up like this.

His eyes widened like a gambler who was unwilling to accept the reality after losing everything: “Do you really think you can do better without me!?”

“Who knows if you don’t try?” Kobe answered mercilessly.

Just like that, in Game 4 of the series, when Mike Breen saw Sasha Vujacic fixing his hair near the midfield line, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Wait, LeBron James isn’t starting today?”

The whole world was in an uproar and Nike executives almost fainted.

Their most popular basketball spokesperson has become a substitute in this super Lakers team!

Reebok’s star was in the starting lineup, Adidas’ star was in the starting lineup, but Nike’s star was sitting on the bench. For Nike, this was simply an accident!
On the bench, James looked at the stands. He expected the Los Angeles fans to collectively chant “We want LeBron.”

But no one did it, and some people even shouted “LeBron get out of Los Angeles”.

James wanted to hide his head in his clothes. In a life-and-death battle, as a star player, he was pressed on the bench by the head coach. This was simply a great shame and humiliation.

But James had nowhere to escape, so Roger walked over to the Lakers bench with a smile on his face: “What’s going on, LeBron? Are you going to sit on the bench and beat me out of the league?”

“This is just a strategic adjustment!” James yelled something he didn’t even believe.

“Yes, I understand. This is just an optimization of the lineup. Every qualified coach must learn to kick out the garbage players from the starting lineup. Phil, although you have never beaten me once, at least you did a good job on this point.”

“Shut up, Roger! Shut up!” James almost went berserk, his dignity had been trampled into pieces.

“I’m afraid not, LeBron. Even if I shut up, the fans will always remember that you never defeated me. Sorry, this is the fate you can never defy.”

You know what, the Lakers played really well in Game 4 of the series. Sasha Vujacic was in great form today, hitting consecutive three-pointers.

His appearance gave the Lakers better offensive space.

Eight minutes into the first quarter, LeBron James came on the court.

Phil Jackson didn’t plan to freeze James directly, but he didn’t want to make Kobe angry, so he demoted him to the bench.

He hopes James and Kobe can have some impact during their rotation time.

This is his last chance for redemption. If he plays well as a substitute, Phil Jackson will gradually increase his playing time, and he believes Kobe will not say anything more at that time.

However, the guy who kept saying he would take it one game at a time and work harder didn’t do anything as a substitute.

To be honest, do we really expect James, who has been relegated to the bench, to

Mike Breen shook his head and said sarcastically: “Heh, LeBron is quite adaptable to the substitute role.”

In the end, LBJ only scored 7 points, 4 assists and 7 rebounds, Kobe scored 37 points, but the Lakers still lost the game by 3 points.

The Western Conference Finals ends here, 4-0, Roger continues his undefeated record in the playoffs this season!

Almost all fans in the United States cheered at the end of the game because the biggest villain in the basketball world got the ending he deserved.

LeBron James, the traitor, the one who desecrated the sense of competition, the guy who always made promises but never fulfilled them, became the biggest loser in this round of the series.

At that moment, LeBron James completely lost the opportunity to be compared with “greatness”.

At the end of the game, he rarely showed any grace, turned around and left the court.

Instead, Kobe, who always liked to leave directly, shook hands with Roger because he knew this was the last time: “Go away, bastard, get out of here, and never come back.”

“Don’t worry, this is the last time you shake my hand as my opponent on the basketball court.”

“There’s nothing much to say. You won, go get the damn championship.”

“I’m surprised you don’t want to talk about LeBron.”

“I’m not one to make excuses, and I didn’t stop him from joining. At the end of the day, we all have to pay the price for our choices.”

“Goodbye Kobe, I will miss you. Apart from MJ, you are the only one who can give me a little challenge.”

“Goodbye, asshole.”

Hug, turn around, and the story of No. 14 and No. 15 came to an end. Roger completed his absolute domination over Kobe – he did not let Kobe beat him even once in the playoffs.

But soon, Roger turned around again: “Oh no, it’s not time to say goodbye yet.”

“What? You still want to treat me to a meal? Forget it, Roger.” Kobe waved his hand.

“No, good luck to you in the Olympics this summer, Kobe.”

At that moment, Kobe felt a chill down his spine, more frightening than Sadako crawling out of the TV. For the first time since he started playing basketball, he didn’t want to play against someone so much.

At the press conference after the game, reporters almost all asked questions related to the finals.

Currently, the New York Knicks are leading the Orlando Magic led by Nash and McGrady 3-0, and they have remained undefeated so far.

It is foreseeable that the Magic will not have any good way to deal with the Knicks in G4.

Therefore, the upcoming finals will most likely be a showdown between undefeated teams and undefeated teams.

Amid a flurry of questions related to the Finals, a reporter suddenly asked, “Roger, do you think LeBron will stay in Los Angeles next year? If not, where will he go?”

Roger was puzzled by this: “At this point, why are we discussing a dog with its tail between its legs? We know Kobe has tried his best, Dwight has tried his best, Chauncey has tried his best, and even Sasha Vujacic didn’t care about his hairstyle until the last moment. What about LBJ? He is a coward who can only run away with his tail between his legs at the critical moment. Discussing him here is the greatest disrespect to other Lakers players.”

“Is this your final word on LeBron?”

“Believe me, I can’t think of a better word.”

The next day, the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated featured Roger again. He was wearing a Warriors jersey and holding a dog leash with a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.

The title is unconventional: An Apology? Yikes.

This was in response to the incident in which James asked Sports Illustrated to apologize when the newspaper said that those were LeBron James’ last words.

(End of this chapter)