The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 165 - 123 Bruce Bowen Hurts Someone Again!_2

Chapter 165: Chapter 123 Bruce Bowen Hurts Someone Again!_2

Humiliated in such a manner by Su Wan, Shaquille O’Neal kicked over a trash can in the opponents’ player tunnel as he passed through.

This scene was captured by reporters and became the headline news in the sports sections of many media outlets the next day:

"Defense broken, ’three consecutive championships’ Overlord feels what it means to be a fading hero!"

"Dragging down the team, even the most dominant superstar in history can’t escape fate!"

"Did Pat Riley make a mistake? This is Shaquille O’Neal’s first year of his big contract!"

Major media outlets unanimously predicted a bleak future for Shaquille O’Neal and the Heat Team, even starting to worry about what the Heat Team would do with Shaquille O’Neal’s massive contract.

After all, the Pacers had demonstrated to the whole league how to target the current Shaquille O’Neal. As O’Neal aged, these issues seemed destined to become even more difficult to resolve.

The Los Angeles media popped the champagne.

Even though the Lakers didn’t make it to the playoffs this year, they had no problems with salary cap space, and Kobe’s performance was explosive.

They had a bright future.

Whereas for the Heat Team, because of Shaquille O’Neal’s ever-increasing age, things were only going to get tougher year by year.

Unless...

Shaquille made a significant change!

But was that possible?

The Los Angeles media seriously pondered this question and thought back to his refusal to have surgery during the summer in order to have fun. They finally concluded:

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

The series score reached 3-1, and although the next game would be held at the Heat Team’s home ground, in the eyes of outsiders, this was likely to be the Heat Team’s last game of the season.

An even worse piece of news emerged at this time:

Having returned to Miami, Dwyane Wade suddenly felt discomfort in his knee during extra training.

A checkup revealed a significant amount of effusion in his knee, and the inflammation was also very severe.

The team doctor’s opinion was:

Dwyane, you’re going to have to miss the next game!

These issues wouldn’t ordinarily be a big problem for a typical athlete.

But for Wade, it was a very serious matter.

Because he lacked the meniscus cushion, once effusion and inflammation were discovered, if he continued to play, the risk of serious consequences was much higher than for the average athlete.

He was still young, and the team didn’t dare let him risk playing a game that they already had little chance of winning.

Su Wan wasn’t surprised when he heard the news.

The injury history of some players, along with their playing style, meant that injuries were bound to plague their NBA careers.

One of them was Derek Rose.

Then there was Wade.

He was originally injured in the "King Mountain Battle" of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat Team and the Pistons, missing the sixth game of the following series. Ultimately, because of his absence, the Heat Team was reversed by the Pistons.

Otherwise, Wade could have made it to the finals in his first year of partnering with Shaquille.

Miami wailed in agony; after the first four games of the series, Wade was averaging 30.5 points, making him the Heat Team’s sharpest "blade," and even Su Wan couldn’t stop him. His presence was the only thing that kept the Heat Team from completely crumbling.

Now that he wasn’t playing in the fifth game of the series, one could only imagine the consequences awaiting the Heat Team.

The next day, as scheduled, the fifth game of the series between the Heat Team and the Pacers took place.

But on the day of the match between the two teams, the media’s news had little to do with them.

Bruce Bowen had stolen all the hot search spots.

He...

Had injured someone again!

In the third game of the Western Conference Finals, with the Spurs leading 2-0 as they moved to Houston, McGrady, who had been lackluster in the first two games, hit "two in a row" right from the start, then fully opened fire, scoring 20 points by himself in the first half.

He scored more in tonight’s first half than he had in both previous games’ first halves combined.

The Rockets were leading by 8 points.

At that time, Popovich had no reaction, but as McGrady kept scoring in the second half, the shadowed Popovich couldn’t sit still any longer and called Bruce Bowen over, "I don’t care what method you use, just shut that guy down!"

Then, not long after, Bruce Bowen kicked McGrady’s knee while playing defense.

McGrady clutched at his knee, falling to the ground in pain.

The post-game examination revealed a fractured knee for McGrady, ending his season, and it was feared that, including the recovery period, it might also impact the following season.

Unlike Ray Allen, McGrady was a bona fide "league superstar."

Bruce Bowen had messed with him and it was like kicking a steel plate.

The league officially added a "Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two" on him and suspended him for two games.

From the league’s perspective, that was a severe punishment.

It was the level of punishment usually reserved for physical altercations.

But compared to the loss suffered by the Rockets, such a punishment really wasn’t painful at all.

And from the perspective of the "beneficiary," the Spurs...

They must be laughing, is this called a punishment?

After the game, Tim Duncan repeated his previous statement, "Bruce is a good guy, he didn’t want this to happen, but we all know the intensity of the playoffs, anything more fierce, so anything can happen!"

Popovich also said, "We need to stop Tracy, it’s impossible without physical contact, and accidents like this just happen. We hope Tracy can return to the court soon, he’ll be fine!"

Yao’s answer to the incident was more aggressive than usual, "Bruce Bowen made a move that doesn’t comply with court rules, and this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this, which makes us angry."

But just that attitude alone left some of McGrady’s fans disappointed.

And compared to Su Wan’s previous stance, even some Rockets fans weren’t too pleased with Yao’s statement.

In their view, Yao lacked the leadership qualities that Su Wan exhibited.

How different the national conditions are!

If this had been in China, Yao’s answer would have been seen as more composed and revered.

Of course, there’s another thing: Yao’s aspirations weren’t limited to just being an athlete, and his attitude was bound not to be as aggressive as Su Wan’s.

Even if he wanted to be, his team behind him would have advised him against it.

Looking over "Yao’s team" throughout his entire career, all decisions aimed for no major mistakes, to smooth things over, to take a step back for a wider view. Forget the McGrady incident, even when it came to Shaquille O’Neal’s "racial discrimination" incident before, Yao’s team resolved it as soon as Shaquille O’Neal apologized.

With such a team, what could you expect Yao to say about the McGrady incident?

When reporters once again asked Su Wan for his opinion on the matter, "It now seems that you will meet the Spurs in the finals, what would you do if a similar situation occurred?"

Su Wan said, "Indiana’s way has always been, if the opponent gives me a stab, I’ll return the same stab. If the opponent strikes our artery, we will definitely pierce their heart!"

The reporter was stunned for a moment.

He thought what Su Wan meant was:

If Bruce injured a Pacers player, we would definitely make Bruce get injured.

But pondering over the subtleties of Su Wan’s words, he could sense that there was more to Su Wan’s statement.

The reporter wanted to ask in detail, but the interview time was over.

Returning to the American Airlines Arena, not only had the booing before the game decreased, but even the cheers for the home players during their entrance were not as loud as before.

No wonder, with Dwyane Wade in street clothes sitting on the bench, and the cameras repeatedly focusing on him, how could the Miami crowd get excited?

O’Neal’s face was also filled with solemnity.

Without Dwyane Wade, the Heat’s strength dropped significantly that night, and if the Pacers continued to toy with them on the court like in the previous two games, his fate was easy to guess.

Where was there room for laughter?

Looking at the Pacers side, their morale was sky-high.

Wade’s absence was a good opportunity for them!

A perfect chance to nail Shaquille O’Neal firmly to the pillar of shame.

And to show everyone what offending Indiana truly meant...

Don’t give us a chance, because if we get it, we will serve you a ruthless humiliation!