NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 143 Clay Mon

In the center of the court, Meng Jin held the AMVP trophy high. Some fans cheered, saying that Meng Jin had given them a wonderful performance. Some fans booed, thinking that Meng Jin had ruined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's farewell performance.

Although it is said that this is the era of Magic and Bird's dominance, if you have to vote for a Goat, most people will still vote for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not because his total score is the first in NBA history, nor because of his long service, but because he is indeed dominant on the court, and his dominance is recognized by his opponents, not just spoken out by himself.

After retiring, Dr. J admitted that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did leave him with a psychological trauma, and that he had always been the person who preceded him.

A truly great player is not judged by statistics or media hype, but by the heartfelt praise from his opponents, because those who have played against you know your abilities best.

Meng Jin's acceptance speech was simple. He thanked the coach for his trust and his teammates for their concerted efforts.

After the award ceremony, Jabeur walked up to Meng Jin. The broadcast camera gave them a close-up, and the two were whispering something.

The media and fans began to speculate whether Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was upset about losing the last All-Star Game and was giving Meng Jin a verbal lesson.

In fact, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn't mention the All-Star Game at all. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar advised Meng Jin not to do more yoga. Although Meng Jin's physical coordination is excellent among big players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar observed the game carefully. He felt that if Meng Jin's flexibility could be better, he would be able to make more exaggerated movements on the court, and yoga could help Meng Jin reduce injuries.

Meng Jin listened carefully. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had such a long career and his advice was very convincing.

That night, Meng Jin asked Falk to help him find a yoga teacher. Falk was his nanny and he could go to him for any needs outside the court. Falk joked that he would get two beautiful yoga teachers for him, but Meng Jin refused with a serious face because he was afraid that the practice would turn into other sports.

After the All-Star Game, Karl Malone immediately flew back to Salt Lake City, because Houston had become his sad place and Malone didn't want to stay here for even a second.

The next day, Karl Malone got up and asked his girlfriend Kay to throw away all the newspapers of the day's team.

Kai said confusedly, "Why? These are new newspapers."

Karl Malone: ​​"Do as I say!"

Kay had no choice but to throw away all the newspapers. Karl Malone didn't want to see any news about the All-Star Game in the newspapers, which would affect his mood for the day.

Karl Malone's approach was wise because all media were discussing Meng Jin, who was the most prominent person in this year's All-Star Weekend. He not only won the Slam Dunk Contest championship for the second time but also won the AMVP.

The media are no longer satisfied with discussing Meng Jin's winning of the All-Star MVP. Some media have even begun to predict whether Meng Jin can win another MVP trophy this season - the regular season MVP. He is currently the league's scoring leader, and the Bulls' record ranks second in the league, second only to the Pistons.

Why did the Pistons not get picked for MVP? Because they are such a great team!

None of the Pistons' five starters averaged more than 20 points per game, no one performed particularly well, and their playing style was low-key. Based on past experience, media judges would not give too many votes to the Pistons players.

Meng Jin's biggest competitor is his teammate Jordan. This season, Jordan's average points per game have decreased, but his average assists and average rebounds per game have increased. Many people believe that Jordan is the primary contributor to the Bulls' current record and he is the engine of the team.

These reports did not upset Karl Malone, but rather Magic Johnson. The media ignored him when discussing the MVP. Magic Johnson did not like this feeling very much. You know, he has been the center and the C position in the spotlight for ten years since he entered the league.

Hidden beneath Magic Johnson's warm and sunny smile is an extremely competitive spirit. Of course, without this mentality, there would be no Magic-Bird rivalry in the 80s. Magic Johnson has been competing all his life, and there is no way he would admit defeat to a second-year rookie.

After the short All-Star Weekend, the teams returned to the regular season.

On February 2, the Bulls slaughtered the Eagles again.

The Bulls have almost learned their lesson in beating the Hawks this season. When playing against them, they just target Wilkins, Meng Jin and Jordan take turns beating him.

Wilkins would practice his left-handed techniques if he had difficulty scoring in a game, but he would never practice defense. This was not his basketball philosophy.

If Wilkins is replaced by Barkley or Meng Jin, the strength of the Hawks' lineup will be improved to a higher level. It is not because Wilkins' offensive ability is not good. On the contrary, he attaches too much importance to offense and scoring. In the fourth quarter of this year's All-Star Game, Wilkins did not have a single minute of playing time. The reason was that he did not defend. It was okay in regular time, but when it came to the final whistle, having an unguarded player in the lineup would cause the team's entire defense to collapse.

威尔金斯今天拿下34分6助攻，老鹰依旧难从公牛手上拿下一场胜利，孟进今晚19投15中拿到35分，乔丹14投11中拿到30分，对上威尔金斯两人都打出了超高效率。

After the All-Star Game, the Bulls enjoyed a 6-game winning streak. On February 2, they once again faced the Hawks. This time, the Hawks finally beat the Bulls, but the protagonist was not Wilkins.

道格-里弗斯拿到22分6助攻，摩西-马龙拿到22分8篮板，威尔金斯只拿到全对第三高的20分4助攻4篮板。

Wilkins reducing his shots is not the Hawks' winning secret. There are two reasons why they won tonight. The first is that the main players are efficient, and the second is that the substitute players performed very well.

道格-里弗斯今晚12投7中，摩西-马龙11中8，雷杰-瑟乌斯13中9，替补出场的莱温斯顿拿到14分14篮板，安托万-凯尔10分10篮板。

Although they won the game, there was no smile on Wilkins' face. The Hawks could only narrowly beat the Bulls with such a performance. The strength gap between the two sides was still obvious.

On February 2, the Bulls defeated the Spurs 28-124 on the road. The Spurs were still in a bad stage during this period. In this game, Meng Jin got a big double-double of 100 points, 30 rebounds and 17 blocks. Various media joked that Meng Jin was about to win the regular season MVP, and the Spurs' future star David Robinson had not reported yet.

After the game, a group of high school students from San Antonio Cole High School rushed into the visiting team's locker room. During this period, the management of the player channel was not so strict, and some people often sneaked in. Meng Jin did not drive these high school students away. These people were all children who loved basketball, and they entered the locker room just to ask for autographs from their favorite stars.

The most popular players in the away locker room are Jordan and Meng Jin. He was in a bad mood today and ignored the high school students who asked him for an autograph.

Several high school students who came to ask Jordan for his autograph were left alone, looking a little embarrassed.

"Hey! Come here, guys."

Meng Jin called them over and signed autographs for these high school students.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you."

Meng Jin looked up at the young face in front of him and felt that it looked familiar, so he asked, "Big guy, what's your name?"

The big guy in front of him said shyly: "O'Neal, Shaquille O'Neal."

Meng Jin took a closer look and found that O'Neal's facial features had not changed much during this period, but his figure was very different from what he remembered. He was now a thin guy.

Meng Jin and O'Neal did not have much communication. After signing, the group of high school players left the locker room.

"Why, are you in a bad mood today?"

Meng Jin was sitting next to Jordan and he could see that something was wrong with this guy.

Jordan: "Juanita and I had a fight. She heard a rumor from somewhere that I had invited a bunch of porn stars to a party a while ago."

Meng Jin: "Michael, I don't think this is a rumor because you did invite him."

Jordan got angry when he heard this: "But I didn't do it!" Meng Jin: "It's no use telling me that. You should tell Juanita."

Jordan: "You think I didn't tell her?"

Meng Jin: "She doesn't believe it?"

Jordan: "Of course, no woman would believe that."

Meng Jin: "When you go home, tell her that it was all Meng Jin who did it. If necessary, I can testify for you."

Jordan waved his hands after hearing this: "Forget it, this won't work. She will definitely think we are in cahoots."

Jordan shook his head as he walked out of the locker room: "Damn it, I should have done it then."

Time quickly came to March, the day of the NCAA finals.

This year's NCAA champions are the University of Michigan Wolverines. Their championship is very legendary. What is legendary is not the process, but the fact that the University of Michigan Wolverines did not have a head coach throughout the entire March Madness.

Former head coach Billy Fried accepted a job at Arizona State before the tournament began, so the athletic director chose to fire him immediately.

Intern coach Steve Fisher took over his position temporarily. He had no experience and his tactical skills were similar to those of the players. No one thought that such a team could achieve anything, even though they were the third seed in the Southeast Division.

Yet it was this team that beat Xavier University, South Alabama University, North Carolina and Virginia University to reach the Final Four.

Meng Jin remembered the day when the Michigan Wolverines eliminated North Carolina, Jordan went crazy and yelled in the locker room: "Damn it! Can you believe it? North Carolina was defeated by a team without a coach!"

In the semifinals, the University of Michigan Wolverines continued their winning streak, relying on forward Sean Higgins's near-game-winning shot to defeat the University of Illinois of the Big Ten Conference.

It was not until they reached the finals that fans dared to believe that a team without a head coach might actually have a chance to win this year's NCAA championship. If they really did it, it would definitely be one of the most legendary stories in NCAA history.

The final opponent of the University of Michigan Wolverines is Seton Hall University, which is not a traditional basketball school. They entered the NCAA tournament for the first time last year. This year, they defeated the powerful Indiana University and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Blue Devils Duke to advance to the final.

In the final, Glen Rice played a historic scoring performance, scoring 31 points, but this was not the highest score of the game. The opposing guard John Morton overshadowed Glen Rice, scoring 35 points, including two crucial points to help the team lead 67-66 with two minutes left in the game.

Glen Rice also helped the team to overtake with a three-pointer with one minute left, and finally John Morton pulled the team back from the brink of death with a three-pointer with 25 seconds left.

In overtime, John Morton scored his last goal of the game with 2:40 seconds left, helping the team lead by three points at 79-76. In the final seconds, the University of Michigan finally froze John Morton and scored two more points. In the last ten seconds, the University of Michigan was still one point behind at 78-79. The team's guard Robinson's breakthrough with three seconds left in the game caused the opponent to foul.

This call is also regarded as one of the most controversial calls in NCAA history. In slow-motion replay, there was no obvious violation of the law.

In the end, Robinson, who had a free throw percentage of only 57% throughout the tournament, made both free throws. He killed the game, became the hero of the University of Michigan, and helped the University of Michigan win the first NCAA championship trophy in team history.

Glen Rice was elected the Most Valuable Player of this NCAA Championship. Thanks to his crazy performance in March Madness, his draft pick has also risen. In addition, this year is a weak year for the draft, and the outside world predicts that he is likely to be selected in the top three.

John Morton gained the attention of scouts with his heroic performance in the finals. Before March Madness, his draft prediction was outside the second round. After the finals, many scouts became interested in this big-hearted player.

Bulls head coach Krause is also paying attention to March Madness, but unlike other general managers, Krause is not focusing on the players but the championship experience of the University of Michigan Wolverines. The move of the University of Michigan Wolverines to fire head coach Billy Fred gave Krause inspiration. Changing coaches midway does not mean giving up on winning the championship, and he wants to find an opportunity to fire Bulls head coach Collins.

However, Collins has been performing well recently and the team's performance has been steadily improving. Krause has been unable to find a reason. He cannot fire a head coach who has always led the team to victory.

On March 3, after beating the Bucks, Meng Jin accompanied Madonna for a prenatal check-up. The results showed that both children were healthy. Although Meng Jin had no plans to marry Madonna, he would still fulfill his obligations as a father. After all, he is not black.

After the prenatal check-up, Meng Jin returned to his Chicago apartment. At the door of the apartment, he saw Julie Thompson, Michael Thompson's wife.

Meng Jin was surprised that she came to see him, but he still took Julie into the room like a gentleman.

Julie: "I know you and why I'm here."

Meng Jin: "How are you and Michael Thompson doing lately?"

Julie: "We are separated and are preparing for a divorce. I am fighting for the custody of the child."

Meng Jin smiled and said, "So you plan to move in? Or are you planning to start another marriage with me?"

Julie: "No, I'm just telling you something. I'm pregnant."

Meng Jin: "Mine?"

Julie: "I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't yours."

Meng Jin: "How do you know it's not Michael Thompson's?"

Julie: "He hasn't touched me since my first child was born."

Meng Jin: "This is such a sad story. No wonder you reacted so strongly that night. I thought you were acting."

Julie: "Don't mention that night. It's all in the past."

Meng Jin: "How can you be sure it's not someone else's?"

"You can do a paternity test when the baby is born."

Julie's eyes were determined, and it seemed that she had only had sex with herself during this period.

Meng Jin: "If it's mine, I will be responsible and give you child support, but I have to state in advance that I am a non-marriageist."

Julie smiled and said, "Do you think I'm here to marry you?"

Meng Jin nodded: "Very good, I like your attitude."

After seeing Julie off, Meng Jin sat in the living room in a daze for a while. It seemed that Klay Thompson really disappeared in this time and space. However, in order to commemorate this lost life, Meng Jin would name his child Clay Meng.

(End of this chapter)