Basketball miracles

Chapter 128 [The Future Is Yours]

The 1984-85 NBA regular season has officially concluded, with 16 of the 23 teams advancing to the playoffs.

The Lakers secured the top seed in the league early on. The teams ranked 2nd through 8th in the Western Conference are the Nuggets, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Jazz, Spurs, and Suns.

The Kings, Clippers, SuperSonics, and Warriors are all out of playoff contention.

The Western Conference first-round matchups are Lakers vs. Suns, Nuggets vs. Spurs, Rockets vs. Jazz, and Trail Blazers vs. Mavericks.

The Celtics are ranked first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 58 wins and 24 losses. Despite Bird's absence for a month, the team's record remains very stable.

Skilled power forward McHale averaged 21.4 points and 9 rebounds per game this season with a field goal percentage of 57%, and his performance in the second half of the season was particularly outstanding.

Xiao Tu found the news very interesting; it seemed to have created a butterfly effect.

With Bird sidelined, McHale's stats are better than his counterpart in a parallel universe at the same stage. Many basketball experts believe he's an underrated power forward, and given enough shot attempts, his scoring ability is no worse than Bird's.

Most fans don't know what roster depth is; they only feel that the Celtics have more stars than the Lakers, and that Bird's leadership ability is not as strong as the media said last season.

Bird put up career-best numbers, yet became the biggest loser of the regular season. Unless he can lead the Celtics to a successful title defense, his popularity will continue to decline.

After the Celtics lost two games to the Lakers, Bird transitioned to starting small forward, starting alongside McHale. This became a running joke, with Lakers fans relentlessly mocking Bird.

Celtics coach KC Jones' explanation that he wanted to give McHale more playing time was useless. Lakers fans all believed that Bird was afraid of Xiao Tu and didn't want to face Xiao Tu in the playoffs, which is why he changed his strategy.

The truth is sometimes unimportant; if everyone thinks Bird chickened out, then he did.

If the two teams meet in the Finals and the Celtics are swept by the Lakers, Bird will be in serious trouble.

The teams ranked 2nd through 8th in the Eastern Conference are the Bucks, 76ers, Pistons, Nets, Washington Bullets, Bulls, and Cavaliers.

The Hawks, Knicks, and Pacers all missed the playoffs.

The first round matchups in the Eastern Conference are Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Bucks vs. Bulls, 76ers vs. Bullets, and Pistons vs. Nets.

The regular season individual statistics leader has been announced, with Bernard King of the Knicks leading the scoring charts with an average of 32.9 points per game.

Bird averaged 28.3 points per game, ranking second on the scoring list, but due to the butterfly effect, his score was 0.4 points lower than his parallel universe self.

肖途是篮板王，场均23.6分15.8篮板3.4助攻1抢断2.4盖帽，投篮命中率59.6%，三分命中率43.2%，罚球命中率84%。

魔术师约翰逊是助攻王，场均砍下20.1分5.3篮板15助攻2.7抢断，投篮命中率52.2%。

Johnson's assists per game and total assists in a single season have both broken NBA records and will likely become some of the most difficult records to break in history. This is because assist statistics for players in this era are often manipulated, with stars frequently recording significantly more assists at home than away. Future scoring methods will need to be more rigorous.

The league leader in blocks is Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton, averaging 5.6 blocks per game. This is also a single-season record, making Eaton a strong contender for Defensive Player of the Year.

The steals leader is Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Mitchell Ray Richardson.

He put up career-best numbers of 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 3 steals, little did he know that his NBA career was about to end.

After Xiao Tu became the rebounding champion, he received a golden treasure chest. The rebounding title is an individual honor that elevates a player's historical standing, and interior players with poor rebounding statistics are often criticized.

In a parallel world, TNT's commentary duo, Barkley, mocked Shaquille O'Neal for never winning a rebounding title in his career. Garnett, on the other hand, won four rebounding titles and was hailed as a tough guy by many. How tough could someone who relied on jump shots and avoided direct confrontations really be?
Xiao Tu has had a good start, and if he wins multiple rebounding titles like Moses Malone, he will be remembered by fans. Now, Malone's status has declined; he won the rebounding title five times, one less than in this parallel world.

Xiao Tu also had his frustrations. He helped the Lakers achieve the best regular season record, breaking historical records, but received no reward. He had expected a golden treasure chest, but didn't even get a silver one.

The Lakers' record-breaking performance wasn't just ordinary; their average of 126.6 points per game also broke the single-season team scoring record. The previous record was 126.5 points, set by the Nuggets in the 1980-81 season.

Ultimately, regular season record is a team achievement. When evaluating a player's historical standing, no one would mention that players like Jordan, Magic Johnson, or James had multiple first-place finishes in the regular season.

Lucky role players who play for strong teams throughout their careers can achieve multiple best records and numerous championship rings. These players don't have historical significance. For example, Robert Horry, who has seven championship rings in a parallel universe, was just a benchwarmer who consistently scored in double figures.

Leading a team to a championship as a core player is essential for elevating one's historical standing and is a significant individual honor. The number of championships is a crucial indicator of a player's historical status, with the Finals MVP (FMVP) being even more important. Xiao Tu believes that leading the Lakers to a championship will bring a major award.

Xiao Tu is determined to win the Finals MVP, and he is more likely to rack up stats than Magic Johnson when facing the Celtics.

Xiao Tu became the Lakers' leading scorer in his rookie season, and he has reason to take more shots than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the playoffs.

Because of that 60+ point triple-double, Xiao Tu's stats skyrocketed, eventually surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's average of 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2 blocks per game. He was more efficient in scoring and had a stronger presence in the paint than Abdul-Jabbar.

Xiao Tu averages 8.5 free throw attempts per game, slightly better than Jordan, ranking fourth in the league.

Xiao Tu frequently created a butterfly effect, impacting other rookies. Michael Jordan averaged only 8.4 free throw attempts per game, 0.7 fewer than his parallel universe counterpart, ultimately averaging 27.8 points per game and ranking fifth on the scoring list.

Jordan is no longer the league's top prospect, and while he still gets a lot of free throws, Stern believes he shouldn't have more than Xiao Tu.

Without Xiao Tu, Jordan would have ranked fourth in the league with an average of 9.1 free throw attempts per game in the regular season.

Even so, many Chinese Jordan fans still claim that Jordan was targeted by the entire league during his rookie season, and then he managed to win over the entire league. In their view, many people didn't call fouls on Jordan, and although NBA games were only broadcast in China in the 90s, many of them wished they could go back in time to argue with the American referees.

Now, Jordan's record leading the Bulls to the playoffs is nothing compared to Xiao Tu's. To put it bluntly, the Bulls' winning percentage was less than 50%, at 38 wins and 44 losses.

There are only 11 teams in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers started with a 2-19 record, but because they didn't tank and played well, they all made the playoffs. The three eliminated teams all tanked outright, not wanting to win at all in order to get a high draft pick.

After checking the data, Xiao Tu realized that he wouldn't fail to consider Jordan a rival during his rookie season.

平行世界，乔丹1985-86赛季重伤只打了18场常规赛，公牛队30胜52负照样打进季后赛，排名第8。

Jordan's status at Nike is far lower than in this parallel world, and his shoe sales are suppressed by Xiao Tu. Adidas signed a more popular spokesperson, and with similar marketing strategies, the sales gap is significant.

Both players wore shoes banned by the league, and Xiao Tu's purple and gold shoes were also a better style than Jordan's red shoes.

Teams that made the playoffs were given two days off to prepare for the playoffs. Magic Johnson hosted a party at his villa for the entire team to celebrate and express his gratitude.

Because Xiao Tu is relatively inexperienced, Johnson's regular season MVP award is already a sure thing, as he has never won this award since entering the league.

In the 1979-80 season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the regular season MVP with the Lakers. This was followed by Julius Erving once, Moses Malone twice, and Larry Bird last season.

Johnson said it's impossible for him not to care about the MVP award, but compared to some other players, his scoring ability is somewhat lacking, making it harder for him to win. This is only the second time in his career he's averaged 20+ points per game, but fortunately, his high number of assists compensated for this deficiency.

Xiao Tu's girlfriend wasn't in Los Angeles; he came alone. He ordered some buffet food and chatted with his teammates.

After everyone else had gone elsewhere, Johnson spoke privately to Xiao Tu: "Seb, the person I want to thank the most is you. Not only did you cooperate with me the most, but you also gave me a sense of urgency and made me stronger."

"What sense of urgency?" Xiao Tu asked with a smile.

"Your progress is too fast. I know that if I don't win an award this year, even if the Lakers have the best record in the future, I won't be the one to win. I had this feeling after the All-Star Game. The future belongs to you."

Xiao Tu shook his head and smiled, "The future belongs to us. We will win many championships together. The Lakers can't do without your organization. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to play so comfortably in my rookie season. I am even more grateful for your help."

"You'll be more comfortable in the playoffs. Riley has already spoken to me and asked me to pass you the ball more. He thinks you have a lot of room to improve your scoring. What do you think?"

"I think he's right."

(End of this chapter)