The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 134 - 109 Crazy Season_2

Chapter 134: Chapter 109 Crazy Season_2

But now, the Pistons had easily crushed them.

Because...

"The Pistons are the defending champions!"

Su Wan’s response was strong and powerful, "After this playoff series, no one will call the Pistons the defending champions anymore; we will overturn them!"

Ben Wallace immediately responded, "That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. It seems this kid is even more humorous than Yao."

Su Wan laughed, "Every time you end up getting pounded into shit by Yao, when would you even have the mood to care about whether Yao is humorous or not?"

This "dagger" directly pierced Ben Wallace’s major artery.

In the League, the three big men Ben Wallace least wanted to encounter included Yao Ming, with the other two being Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal.

Their vocal sparring intensified the already smoke-laden pre-game atmosphere, and the League added fuel to the fire by announcing this season’s "Best Lineup":

First was the "First Team" roster:

Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal.

There was hardly any controversy.

Iverson was this year’s "Scoring King" with an average of 31.4 points per game; Steve Nash was the League’s "Assist King" and the frontrunner for this season’s regular season MVP; Nowitzki had the best performance of his career with averages of 26.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks, and it was truly thanks to him that the Mavericks’ "freak lineup" ranked fourth in the Western Conference at the end of the season; Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal need no explanation, the only way these two wouldn’t be in the "First Team" would be:

If they were eating shit!

Unfortunately, it was still their era.

"Second Team":

Dwyane Wade, Su Wan, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire;

When the media saw Su Wan’s name in this position, they were "shocked, bro."

Little did they know, the last NBA rookie to be selected for the "Best Lineup" was "Tim Popovich" back in ’97.

Although the "Stone Buddha" made the "First Team" in his rookie season, Su Wan was only in the "Second Team". There seemed to be a gap, but could that gap... be bridged in 4 years?

After all, Tim Duncan was already 23 years old when he grabbed the "First Team," while Su Wan was only 19 now!

At such an age, achieving the "Second Team" was indeed more difficult than what Duncan faced back then.

The ’97-’98 season belonged to the "Twilight of the Gods," with a large number of outstanding forwards at the end of their careers, such as Barkley, and Dominique Wilkins; the competition wasn’t fierce.

At the very least, at the start of the 20th century, among the "Four Great Forwards," Kevin Garnett and Nowitzki were still in their developmental stages, and Tim Duncan’s competitors were 37-year-old Karl Malone and Chris Webber, who had just arrived at the Kings.

Su Wan was different; beyond the "Four Great Guards," there were players like Ray Allen, mid-career Steve Nash, and rising stars like Gilbert Arenas, Michael Red, and Dwyane Wade.

About ten "peak players" vying for six slots.

That was like fighting for meat in the jungle.

And yet...

He really did snatch it!

But shock aside, Su Wan’s stats and the Pacers’ performance were there for all to see, he could withstand any scrutiny.

Well, there wasn’t much scrutiny to begin with.

Some of the exaggerated doubts sounded more like astonishment.

Moreover, he had the media backed by Nike to safeguard him, showing no signs of vulnerability.

Hmm...

Now, it really has become "LeBron"!

"The Best Third Team" list is as follows:

Gilbert Arenas, Ray Allen, McGrady, Little O’Neal, Ben Wallace.

The Los Angeles media, already restless, were now completely unable to sit still:

"Last season’s Best First Team selection fell short of this year’s Best Teams, what on earth are you doing? For the sake of deliberately creating hype? A guy averaging 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 6 assists per game doesn’t make the Best Teams? This is the biggest joke of the season."

Just as outraged were the Cleveland media. LeBron James had disappointed them, but after disappointment, they still expected more, so they continued to protect LeBron James, "the city’s son":

"When a player averages 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists and still doesn’t make the ’Best Teams,’ I can only say, this list has no credibility!"

Immediately, the media, led by Barkley, hit back at the comments from Cleveland:

"When he isn’t facing Su Wan and only scoring 7 points in three quarters, then we can talk about his qualifications for the list and it won’t be too late!"

"LeBron is just a ’stat padder,’ and excuse my language, but if a player who didn’t make the playoffs makes the Best Teams, it sets a bad example for the league and only leaves us to exclaim, oh—Nike!"

"If LeBron had made this year’s ’Best Teams,’ that would have truly discredited the list!"

...

As for Kobe, most media reasoned:

"This year’s competition was just too intense; it’s been a crazy season!"

"You can’t exclude Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Su Wan, Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, Ray Allen from this list, that would be disrespectful to their season-long efforts!"

"Kobe has his issues; he only played 66 games, plus... the Lakers ranked twelfth in the Western Conference, these are all problems, especially in a fiercely competitive time."

In fact, as far as Su Wan knew, originally Kobe and LeBron James had both made the "Best Teams."

Kobe was "Best Third Team," and LeBron was "Best Second Team."

But due to his arrival and the resulting "butterfly effect," the Pacers, originally ranked sixth in the regular season, moved up to third. A team like that, featuring a power forward with 20 and 10, would have been disrespecting him if the media ignored his existence.

Adding on the emergence of Su Wan, a "phenomenal rookie." free𝑤ebnovel.com

Therefore, numbers 23 and 24 both had to pack their bags and fell out of the "Best Teams."

Oh, another undeniable reason for LeBron’s drop from the "Best Teams" was his poor performance facing Su Wan in the "do-or-die game"—so poor that the media are still ridiculing him. This can be seen from how the media retorting to Cleveland has referred to LeBron as a "stat padder," indicating the sizeable impact.

That was an absolute disaster for LeBron.

In addition, Little O’Neal was also selected for the "Best Defensive Second Team."

As for Su Wan, the Indiana media were quite upset that he didn’t make the "Defensive Array": "These official people really should open their dog eyes and take a good look at the Pacers’ games, see Su’s defensive contributions, then they wouldn’t have any doubt about him making the Best Defensive Lineup!"

However, while Su Wan didn’t make the "Best Defensive Lineup," he did make this year’s "Rookie of the Year First Team." Of course, this was a matter of course—if the "Rookie of the Year" couldn’t make the "Rookie First Team," that would only mean the officials were asleep when making the list.

Overall, Su Wan was very satisfied with the harvest at the end of the season: "Rookie of the Year," "Best Second Team," "Rookie First Team," he’s received all the honors he should, and none that he shouldn’t.

It’s just that this has caused dissatisfaction among the Detroit media.

The Pistons, being the second in the Eastern Conference, only had one person making the "Best Teams," and he was only in the "Best Third Team."

And the Pacers?

Ranked third in the East, but with two players selected for the "Best Teams," and the highest of them made the "Best Second Team!"

Is there no justice left in this world?

"Just watch, the truth will show everyone just how foolish the officials’ rankings are!"

On May 2, storms loomed over Detroit, and the Detroit Pistons, who were already in a frenzy, finally faced off against the Indiana Pacers for the first game of their series.

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