Champions Creed

Chapter 353: Those subtle changes (ask for monthly tickets!)
Phil Jackson was still surrounded by reporters when he left the hotel the day after the game.

Of course, this is not because the reporters are reluctant to part with the Zen Master, but because Eric Spoelstra's ridicule of the Zen Master yesterday made the reporters like a pack of wolves that smelled blood. They surrounded the Zen Master and wanted to ask him what he felt.

"Phil, what do you think of Eric's comments about you?"

"Do you think Eric's performance is qualified to judge you?"

"Phil, are you really not going to coach the Lakers next season? Are you really not going to coach any team in the future?"

Phil Jackson was indifferent to these questions. He was tired and didn't want to explain anything related to this season.

He just wanted to get back to Los Angeles as soon as possible, leave the team and enjoy the longest vacation.

His coaching experience with the Los Angeles Lakers in the past few years has exhausted him both physically and mentally. He enjoys the spotlight of the big city, but he is fed up with the pressure in the locker room and from Jeanie Buss.

He just wants to have a good rest now.

However, one of the reporters' questions completely annoyed the normally calm Phil Jackson: "Phil, were you really making excuses for your loss to a rookie coach yesterday?"

Phil Jackson stopped and visibly entered a red-temperature state.

"Excuses? What excuses did I make? Damn, look at this mess of a season we've had! As a head coach who's long since died, I'm in charge of young people who've spent most of the year bickering, a guy who keeps going back and forth from court to the arena, and two idiots who can't stop bickering during a Game 7. What else can I do? What else can I do!?"

Phil Jackson is angry. The Lakers' problems this season are not limited to the court.

But in the end, the silver-haired Zen master sighed and said, "I don't want to talk about this anymore, ever again."

He suddenly realized that whatever he said would be in vain.

No one really cares how many difficulties the Lakers have encountered this season, no one really cares how much of an asshole Kobe Bryant is, and no one cares how outrageous Spoelstra's strategy is, and how outrageous Roger's ability to execute that strategy is.

It is not surprising for a player to take care of both assisting defense and attacking. Michael Jordan and others did this in the past, but they cannot maintain such energy for three consecutive quarters.

Roger did it, he helped Spoelstra implement a tactic that was almost impossible to execute.

But no one cares about these. In competitive sports, people only look at the results.

For a time, Phil Jackson felt that the end of his career was cruel.

He still couldn't beat Roger, lost to a rookie coach, and the team fell apart again.

From now on, his glory in the 90s will be covered by the dust of time until it can no longer shine.

When Phil Jackson was getting angry at the camera of the reporter, Karl Malone walked past him without saying a word, ignoring all the cameras and questions of the reporter, and got directly on the team bus.

As he was getting in the car, Karl Malone heard a reporter ask, "Karl, are you honored and proud to retire as the second-best scorer in history?"

Even Karl Malone laughed. This was the biggest mockery of him.

If a star player has other honors to show off, he would not use things like total historical points to make up the numbers.

Because there is no direct relationship between accumulated data and victory, there is only one thing that best reflects victory, and that is the championship.

Karl Malone's ending was even more cruel than Phil Jackson's.

This superstar, whose professional career spanned 19 years and whose total career points ranked second in history, ended up with only a humiliating scene of being knocked to the ground by Roger.

He is just like Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley, who were big names in the 90s but were too poor to buy a ring.

After Karl Malone sat down, he looked at the crazy reporters outside the car window and sighed.

He could only accept this cruel ending; he was no longer able to change anything.

He flipped open his phone and read the text message Gary Payton sent yesterday. In the message, Payton hoped that Karl Malone would come to San Antonio to play for another year and continue to fight for the championship.

Malone hadn't responded last night, but now, he had thought it through.

"No, Gary, keep going."

Last summer, Payton and Malone began to contact each other frequently. They were considering whether to join the same team to fight for the championship and put a perfect end to their careers.

In the end, Payton chose the Spurs, but the last bit of pride in Karl Malone's heart made him unwilling to join a team that had just played in the finals, so he joined the Lakers.

Does he regret his choice? No, Karl Malone would rather go to a team that is strong but not that successful. If the team wins the championship because of his arrival, he can at least show a little value.

However, not everyone is as lucky as the Admiral, who can wait for his or her destined person without transferring.

It turns out that Kobe Bryant was not the destined match for Karl Malone.

After the argument with Kobe yesterday, Karl Malone felt extremely tired. He wanted to go hunting and travel around the world, but he didn't want to play basketball anymore.

Of course, he hopes Gary Payton is luckier than himself.

Hopefully, after Tim Duncan saves the Admirals, he can also save the gloves.

At this moment, Gary Payton was looking at the Lakers' ending in the newspaper, feeling very restless.

This season, it feels like Roger is doing a final reckoning with all those "old friends" from the 90s.

Michael Jordan was not immune in the regular season, and neither was Karl Malone in the playoffs.

Gary Payton didn't know what else Karl Malone could do. He had given up his tactical position, gave up the ball, and even gave up the dignity of a superstar to assist a scumbag like Kobe.

The result? All he got was to drag Roger into a Game 7 in the series.

But who cares which game a loser loses?
There is no difference between losing in the fourth game and losing in the seventh game. You will not be praised for holding on for a few more games. In the minds of fans, there is no middle ground except winners or losers.

The former Seattle totem couldn't help but worry: What if what happened to Karl Malone happened to me?
He didn't know what that would be like and he was nervous about it.

It's not that Gary Payton has not played against the Warriors during the regular season. In fact, the two sides have met four times this season. The former DPOY can no longer pose any threat to Roger in one-on-one defense.

What he can provide is more of a layer of protection, so that Roger can't do whatever he wants on the outside.

But if Payton wants to truly curb No. 14, he still needs the help of his teammates.

And when you need to rely on others for anything, you will feel extremely nervous because you cannot decide your own destiny.

Such uneasiness made Gary Payton distracted during training, and his condition was noticed by Craig Popovich.

In fact, last summer the San Antonio Spurs' primary target was Jason Kidd, and the two sides had already reached a preliminary agreement.

But Kidd's wife didn't want him to go to a remote little city like San Antonio. She thought her husband would have more influence if he stayed in New Jersey, which is close to New York.

So in the second meeting, Kidd rejected the Spurs again.

Twenty years later, Kidd once told reporters: "I regret every day after I turned them down."

But there is no regret medicine in the world. Rejection is rejection. After failing to recruit Kidd, the Spurs could only recruit a weakened version of Kidd, his good buddy Gary Payton.
Therefore, Payton was just a backup option for the Spurs from beginning to end.

In Popovich's view, if Payton is upgraded to Kidd, the Spurs will be able to create a dynasty 100%.

But it was meaningless to fantasize. Popovich would not dwell on such things. Moreover, Gary Payton was barely enough. As an experienced veteran, he would definitely be able to adjust quickly.

Popovich is extremely confident about the next round of the series because he has developed the most targeted defensive strategy.

The biggest change for the Warriors this season is the addition of Dikembe Mutombo and Marcus Camby who returned from injury. In the regular season matchups, he admitted that these two people helped the Warriors a lot, but they were not able to completely change the team.

Can the Spurs be defeated by strengthening the interior defense to contain Duncan?
No, it won't be that simple.

After all, the Spurs are not an offensive team, they win by relying on defense.

Although the Spurs only won one game against the Warriors in the regular season, Popovich is very clear about the difference between the playoffs and the regular season. With this more targeted defensive strategy, the Warriors can no longer win as easily as they did in the regular season.

What's more, the coach of the Warriors is a rookie. Just because he can handle Phil Jackson doesn't mean he can handle me.

The San Antonio Spurs will once again dominate the Western Conference. With the latest targeted defensive strategy, Popovich is convinced of this!
What Popovich didn't know was that Camby and Mutombo weren't the only changes to the Warriors.

Yes, on paper, the Warriors' only changes are Camby and Mutombo. But off paper, the team is changing subtly.

They’re even different than they were during the regular season.

At this moment, in Oakland, Marcus Camby, who was driving to the training hall, saw a huge advertisement of himself.

Perhaps for a superstar like Roger, similar billboards are not uncommon. After all, throughout the Bay Area, no, even in Atlanta, his huge advertisements are all over the city.

But for players like Marcus Camby, such advertisements are particularly valuable.

This means that his ability is recognized, and it also means that he is loved by the fans.

And this is the most unexpected windfall for Marcus Camby so far this season.

For the first time in his eight-year professional career, Marcus Camby felt loved and admired.

In Toronto, no one paid attention to the Raptors before Vince Carter joined.

In the Knicks, he was just a temporary substitute for Patrick Ewing, and New York fans didn't even love Ewing himself, let alone Camby.

Since entering the professional basketball world, he has never felt a sense of belonging. He often misses the time when he played at the University of Massachusetts, where all the fans would stand up and cheer for him as soon as he entered the court.

He is the pride of the fans and is willing to fight for those who support him. He can deeply feel that he belongs to that team.

A poor boy who used to hang a milk basket with a hollow bottom on a clothesline as a basketball hoop, won the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award amid the cheers of all the fans at the University of Massachusetts, and defeated the invincible Duncan who was famous all over the United States. Marcus Camby missed that feeling of realizing his self-worth.

Unfortunately, he never regained that feeling in Toronto and New York.

And now, he has finally found that sense of belonging in Oakland.

Roger told him at the beginning that he would definitely let him win the ultimate prize.

Dikembe Mutombo said the ultimate prize is the championship.

Now, Marcus Camby has a new understanding of the ultimate prize.

The championship is only half, the other half is the fans wearing your jersey and yelling at you, the people affectionately calling you a hero, the kids begging for your autograph after the game, the young people holding their heads high after being inspired by you.

Those moments will make Marcus Camby deeply realize that everything he does is full of value.

"Hey!" A loud shout interrupted Marcus Camby's thoughts.

When he came to his senses, he found someone knocking on his car window angrily.

"Damn, the light has been green for a long time, are you fucking blind!? Wait a minute!" The man outside the car was originally very angry, but when he saw that the person in the car was Canby, his expression immediately changed.

The man pointed excitedly and covered his mouth, then ran to the car behind and opened the back door: "Hey, Kanter, Kanter! Get out of the car! It's Marcus, Marcus Camby!"

A child ran out of the car excitedly. The admiring look in his eyes made Marcus Camby smile. "Sorry, I was distracted just now."

“No, no, no,” the child’s father waved his hands quickly. “I should apologize. I shouldn’t be so rude. Marcus, can you sign an autograph for my child? He’s a loyal fan of yours!”

Camby jokingly asked, "Is there anyone in the Bay Area who isn't a fan of Roger?"

"There are enough people who love Roger," the child replied innocently, "The rest of the Warriors deserve love, too. Your defense on Karl was great."

Camby signed the autograph for the child with satisfaction, then drove away from the intersection.

In the last round of games, because he was fully focused on defending Karl Malone, Marcus Camby's statistics were not outstanding, averaging 7+8 per game, that's all.

The result? He gained more love and respect from people.

The last round of games not only allowed the Warriors to win, but also gave Spoelstra confidence and Marcus Camby recognition of his self-worth.

And they will contribute more wholeheartedly to the team.

These are changes Popovich couldn't see on paper.

There were even some changes that the Warriors players themselves didn't notice.

After arriving at the training ground, Marcus Camby began basic training, and then conducted one-on-one offense and defense exercises with Amar'e Stoudemire as usual.

Camby needs a good enough offensive player to hone his defense, and Stoudemire needs a high-level defender to hone his offense.

The two people were like a divorced young woman meeting a single young man, and they perfectly solved each other's needs.

They have been practicing like this with each other for a long time, but today, Camby felt that something was wrong with Stoudemire's training status.

The young high school sophomore rookie played extremely ferociously, as if he was going to tear Camby apart on the training ground. He simply brought the playoff-level confrontation to the training ground.

When Stoudemire once again used his elbow to push Camby away and complete a layup, Camby covered his chest.

"Damn it Amare, do you really have to do this? You hurt me just now!"

Stoudemire smiled apologetically: "I was so excited about playing against Tim that I couldn't control my strength. Sorry, Marcus."

"Is this worth getting excited about?" Camby shook his head. No inside player in the entire league would be excited when meeting Tim Duncan.

He was the MVP last season and is also one of the top three players in this season's MVP rankings.

Unlike Roger, Tim Duncan will destroy you without showing it. But in the end, you will be destroyed.

Marcus Camby is not afraid of challenges, but he will never be excited about facing similar opponents.

But Amar'e Stoudemire was as happy as if he was about to face a non-threatening rookie: "Of course, I've been waiting for this for a whole year!"

It was indeed a whole year of waiting. In the playoffs last season, Amar'e Stoudemire was completely defeated in the duel with Duncan, which ultimately led to the team's loss.

For this reason, he practiced hard every day, just for that moment when he could regroup.

This season, the coach trusts him and gives him a higher tactical position.

Roger trusted him and never hesitated to feed him the ball, even letting him play alone in some rounds.

The fans trust him, and even though he is only in his second year, he is already considered the Warriors' No. 2.

He didn't want to betray such trust, especially Roger's trust.

People say that distance creates beauty. LeBron James originally regarded Michael Jordan as his idol. However, after they really became teammates with Jordan, the relationship between them fell apart. They went from being as close as father and son to being a family of revenge.

But this did not happen between Stoudemire and Roger. After becoming teammates with Roger for two years, Stoudemire even admired Roger more.

That man never complained, never gave in. He just led the team and defeated one strong enemy after another.

He'll give you the power you need, but when things get tough, you don't have to clean up the mess or take the blame for the best player on the team.

Being around such a leader, Stoudemire doesn't allow himself to fall behind.

"Keep your head up and be confident. I believe you can gain a foothold in the NBA, provided you practice your defense well. Just being able to score goals doesn't make you a great player. Come on, you will succeed."

Stoudemire decided to make this sentence a reality this year!

Amar'e Stoudemire is also changing. He is becoming stronger and more confident.

He is no longer Tim Duncan's exclusive plaything.

Craig Popovich arrogantly believed that the Spurs could continue to dominate the Western Conference. However, the changes in the Warriors far exceeded his expectations.

However, he would notice these changes sooner or later.

The day before the Western Conference Finals began, Popovich and the entire Spurs team appeared in Oakland.

The Admiral was as friendly as ever: "I will do my best to hit the second championship of my career, but the Warriors are not easy to deal with. They are opponents worthy of respect."

Tim Duncan, as always, told a joke with the most serious expression: "Fighting the Warriors again, what's the difference between this year and last year? The only difference is that Tony Parker's head is balder."

And Craig Popovich, as always, loves to mock.

"Craig, Eric Spoelstra is a bold young coach. Have you studied his game?"

Facing the Warriors who are favored by the whole world, Popovich, who pulled Roger off the throne last season, wanted to express his disdain.

"No," he said, deadpan, "I've never watched a Warriors game tape."

(End of this chapter)