The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 975: The Game Is Set Up

As April arrived, the NBA entered its final stage.

The situation in the East is gradually becoming clear, with the Boston Celtics standing out as the dominant force in the entire Eastern Conference.

They are the fastest team in the league to reach 60 wins. On April 2nd, the Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets in a strong Eastern Conference matchup, bringing their record to 60 wins and 15 losses.

At this time, the Nets, ranked second, had not even reached 50 wins, and the trio of Duncan, Nash, and Pierce were becoming increasingly mature.

Among the teams ranked lower, only the Nets pose a real threat to the Celtics. Other teams such as the Pacers, Heat, Bucks, and Hornets are not capable of posing a substantial threat to the Celtics.

The situation in the west is much more complicated.

The top four teams remain neck and neck, with their records still very close.

It's not because the competition is fierce, it's just that the number one position is too hot to hold, and no one dares to sit on it.

Whether a strong team in the West can become number one depends on the performance of the eighth-place team.

Currently, the Glory team's record is comparable to that of the San Antonio Spurs.

They have opened up a three-game lead over the sixth-ranked Seattle SuperSonics.

Therefore, the Glorious Team will either be seventh or eighth, and the best-case scenario would be dropping to ninth, which would put everyone at ease.

Because everyone had their own agenda, the situation in the West was extremely complicated, and even actuaries in Las Vegas couldn't figure it out.

Because you don't know what each team is really thinking, every win or loss will have a different impact.

The outcome of this Western Conference battle will likely only be decided in the penultimate game of the regular season, or even the final game.

Now, teams at different levels have different thoughts when facing Glory.

For the top four teams in the West, facing Glory is a tough situation – neither winning nor losing is a good outcome.

If I win, I'll be ranked higher, and I'll even beat Forrest Gump. But if the eighth-ranked player faces the first-ranked player, I'm bound to get beaten up.

Even if they win the playoffs, they'll probably be in serious trouble.

Losing means Glorious moves up to seventh place, while I'm in second. It doesn't feel good either.

In this situation, you can only close your eyes and shoot randomly.

On March 29, the Mavericks went all out in their game against the Glorious, not caring about the outcome and just playing for the win.

After defeating the Glorious, they moved up to first place in the Western Conference, while the Glorious dropped to eighth, leaving Dallas fans on edge for a while.

But after the game, Don Nelson said, "When you don't know whether to win or lose, just win."

Because later on, it's easier for you to lose than to win.

Needless to say, the teams at the bottom of the Western Conference are just trying to push Glory up; the top eight will be a spectacle.

Teams in the upper half of the Eastern Conference shared the same mentality. The Glorious won relatively easily against the Heat and the Celtics in one game.

The Celtics, in particular, have secured the top seed in the East and hope that Glorious will cause trouble in the West.

Before the game, Bobby Bellman cited Duncan's hip injury and Nash's finger injury as reasons for the absence of two key players.

The Celtics lost to the Glory on April 4th, and the Heat didn't play as blatantly as the Celtics.

In their match on April 6th, they fought Glorious to the very end.

But Riley, with two timeouts in hand, didn't call a timeout when trailing by 3 points, letting the players take their own timeout.

Rasheed Wallace attempted a tough three-pointer, but missed. Brad Miller grabbed the rebound, and the Heat committed a tactical foul, widening the gap to 5 points and costing the team the victory.

But when the game ended, Riley didn't seem upset at all; instead, he hugged Gan Guoyang.

This victory helped the Glory solidify their position in the top eight of the Western Conference and widen the gap with the ninth-placed Jazz.

The Glorious and the Spurs are tied, with the same head-to-head record, but the Spurs have a higher winning percentage against their division rivals, ranking seventh.

At this point, in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers surpassed the Dallas Mavericks to take first place, the Portland Trail Blazers were third, and the Sacramento Kings were fourth due to their divisional affiliation.

Many teams are happy with this situation, especially Riley.

It wasn't that he wanted to see his former team lose, but rather that he was keeping an eye on Shaquille O'Neal.

Riley still has connections within the Lakers organization, and according to him, O'Neal doesn't get along well with McGrady and Jackson.

While they weren't exactly irreconcilable enemies, they certainly didn't see eye to eye. In fact, O'Neal and McGrady were quite similar in personality, but they just couldn't see eye to eye.

This season, O'Neal is playing extremely hard, eager to win another championship and an MVP, to prove his status as the best center, and to show Los Angeles who the king of Los Angeles is.

But most of the spotlight in the City of Angels was focused on McGrady, this trendy playboy who thrived under the Hollywood lights and was very popular with young fans.

His number 1 jersey sold very well in the market, far outselling O'Neal's number 34 jersey.

McGrady's shoe sales were far superior to O'Neal's. From the moment he joined the team, McGrady never regarded O'Neal as the team's leader.

The reason is simple: the Lakers had Kidd at the time, and McGrady followed Kidd. In his eyes, O'Neal was a mercenary, someone who came in midway and couldn't be compared to those who came through the draft.

Later, Kidd didn't want to stay in Los Angeles anymore, so he was traded to New Jersey in exchange for Pippen and Richmond.

McGrady and Pippen had a good relationship, which allowed him to gain the support of veteran players, while his relationship with O'Neal was more of a facade.

Shaquille O'Neal was a rather awful teammate in private. When you didn't treat him like a leader, his many pranks and petty behaviors made it hard for people to like him.

Of course, O'Neal's performance on the court this season has been nothing short of outstanding.

But Riley knew that if the Lakers were blown out in the playoffs, especially if they were blown out again by Agan, the Lakers would definitely collapse internally.

The cunning Riley was once again prepared to eat the whale carcass.

The roster previously assembled, consisting of Rasheed Wallace, PJ Brown, Rice, and Mallley, is aging rapidly.

Wallace was excellent, but he wasn't an MVP-caliber superstar like Olajuwon or Drexler.

Riley needs superstars, the kind who can change the landscape of the league; he doesn't care about ordinary All-Stars.

Riley still held the Memphis Grizzlies' 2003 draft pick, a perk he got from the Grizzlies in the 2000 offseason trade of Mashburn and Tim Hardaway.

The Grizzlies had no choice; due to insufficient attendance, they could no longer stay in Vancouver and moved to Memphis.

They had to sacrifice the future and quickly acquire a few star players, even those past their prime, to bolster the team. Besides draft picks, the Heat also acquired guard Damon Jones and took on the massive contract of Doc Rivers.

It's impossible for Riley to suffer a loss in a trade.

The Grizzlies will soon realize that Mashburn, though only 28 years old, is in the prime of his career.

However, his body was already severely overworked, and not long after he turned 30, he couldn't hold on any longer and had to retire.

Tim Hardaway, now 33, is past his prime and can only play as a substitute; he's no longer the invincible Beetle he once was.

In short, Lai is truly adept at using people and ruthless in his dealings. He uses them and then discards them, like an iron camp with ever-changing soldiers, with the next one always waiting.

His sights were already set on 2003, that fertile land of talent shows.

He guessed that after Forrest Gump finished this season, and then played another season in 2002-2003, he probably wouldn't be able to keep up and would have to retire.

At that time, the Heat will be able to rise again and strive for their second championship in franchise history.

Gan Guoyang was actually aware of Riley's scheme. Although the NBA had changed, people's nature and fate would not change easily, and Riley's method of poaching players was consistent.

But he didn't care; he just wanted to see what kind of trouble this guy could cause.

On April 17, the last day of the competition, the Eastern Conference remained calm.

However, the Western Conference cannot determine the final matchups until the last game is over.

On this day, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Boston Celtics.

Both teams rested their starters. The Celtics, with a record of 62 wins and 19 losses, had secured the top spot in the league. Winning or losing didn't matter; in fact, losing would be better, as it would guarantee the Lakers the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Las Vegas Glory's final game is against the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Spurs play against the Kings.

The Glory team has the same record as the Spurs, and ranks eighth in terms of win percentage against Western Conference teams.

If the Spurs lose and the Glorious win, the Glorious will be seventh, and the unlucky ones will be the Portland Trail Blazers, who will be second.

Gan Guoyang didn't want to play against the Trail Blazers, but he also didn't want to rest, so he still played with the team in the Philadelphia game.

They play first, and the Kings will definitely seize the opportunity. If Glory shows any signs of losing, they will immediately throw the game. The Pacific Division games are always played last.

If the Kings lose their final game, they will be fourth. If they win and the Lakers lose, they will take first place, which is unacceptable. Therefore, the Kings will most likely have to give up their title.

As for the second and third ranked teams, the Trail Blazers and Mavericks, they certainly hope to remain unchanged and not go for first place.

With the current record, if they lose the last game, they will definitely not be in first place. If they win and the other teams lose, whoever wins will be in first place.

The Lakers are in the worst position because they lead in head-to-head records and winning percentage against Western Conference teams.

Therefore, they have the highest probability of winning first place. Moreover, in the last game, they face their arch-rival, the Celtics, who seem to be throwing the game. It feels like they've been set up, and they have no choice but to win first place!
If they take first place, it wouldn't be bad for Glorious to go to seventh, then it depends on whether the Philadelphia 76ers are willing to throw the game.

But what are you thinking? The Philadelphia 76ers just battled the Lakers in the Finals last season, and the two teams are historical rivals. They certainly won't let the Lakers win easily.

Moreover, it is highly likely that the Philadelphia 76ers will not be able to return to the Finals for revenge this season.

After miraculously making it to the final round last season, the fragile system built around the skinny Allen Iverson collapsed rapidly in just a few months.

Many people believed that the 2001-2002 season should have belonged to Philadelphia. Iverson was still so young, the All-Star Game was held in Philadelphia, his popularity was incredibly high, and his playing style could have been maintained for several more years. He shouldn't have fallen so quickly.

But its rise was swift, and its fall was sudden.

The 76ers' management has encountered some problems, and Larry Brown has also considered retiring altogether and no longer pursuing a championship.

Brown stayed, but team executive Pat Cross resigned due to a conflict with the owner.

He was the key figure in the management team, he had influence with Iverson, and he facilitated a series of trades that brought together this roster.

Now that their soul is gone, the 76ers are struggling to build their team; they have no direction and no clear strategy.

Mutombo's performance declined, previously outstanding players were gradually traded, morale collapsed, and after a brilliant season together, everyone went their separate ways.

This is common in NBA history; some teams, from top to bottom, don't even know how they achieved their success.

Anyway, they achieved pretty good results, but the following season, everything changed suddenly, and the situation collapsed irreversibly.

Such consistent stability, consistently reaching the finals and winning the championship, is very rare.

The constant changes are part of the NBA's appeal.

After an MVP season, Allen Iverson has entered the next phase of his life.

Shortly after the 2001 finals, he got married, at which time he was at the height of his fame.

He just signed a multi-million dollar contract with the 76ers, and Reebok is about to sign him to an unprecedented lifetime contract, making him one of the most famous and richest people in sports.

So, just before the wedding, Iverson's fiancée received a call from Iverson's lawyer, who said he wanted to talk to her and sign a prenuptial agreement.

This is something many celebrities do: plan ahead for their existing and future enormous wealth before marriage to prevent marriage from becoming a tool for their partner to plunder their wealth.

The agreement was drafted, and Iverson took it to his fiancée Tavana the night before the wedding. Then, as she was about to sign, he took out a lighter and burned the agreement to ashes. He then took out another copy, lit it, and the two watched the flames burn. The wedding took place the next day.

This is Iverson's attitude towards wealth and life: irrational, unrigorous, following his heart, and pursuing fleeting moments of brilliance.

It's hard to say whether it's right or wrong. In short, a person's destiny is determined by themselves, and Reebok's 10-year, $5000 million contract and lifetime retirement fund will prove to be the right decision in the future.

In the game against Philadelphia on April 17, Gan Guoyang did not get a rest, nor did he go off to rest early.

He gave it his all as always, leading his team to victory over the 76ers in Philadelphia, securing their final win of the regular season.

Given this, the other teams certainly didn't hold back. The Kings, Celtics, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers all pulled their starters and lost the game.

The Spurs don't want to fall to eighth place to face the Lakers; seventh place to face the Mavericks or Trail Blazers would be a good option.

A person's fate is determined by themselves, but a team's fate is not so certain. The Lakers, for example, were unable to decide their own fate.

Finally, the Lakers gritted their teeth and crushed the shameless Celtics at home. What business is it of the Eastern Conference teams to do with us in the West?

Thus, the Lakers finished the 2001-2002 season with an excellent record of 60 wins and 22 losses, and would face the Glory in the first round.

The Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Kings all finished second through fourth with a record of 59 wins and 23 losses, successfully avoiding defeat.

The biggest stunt in NBA regular season history has just happened.

(End of this chapter)