The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 185 - 131 We are the Champions!

Chapter 185: Chapter 131 We are the Champions!

There were no complications.

"Water Dispenser" is called "Water Dispenser" because to some extent, there’s not much difference between them and a ball boy—some marginal positions can’t even play in the team’s practice games.

Only players with unique body types would sometimes be involved in tactical drills as the core players of the opposing team who needed to be focused on.

For instance, Bartel had previously played the role of "O’Neal" in the Spurs.

Only he was role-playing "O’Neal", and this guy truly started acting like he was "O’Neal", strutting around all day.

If he couldn’t even play in practice games, let alone actual game time, such a player’s first reaction on the stage of the finals would be diarrhea.

The Pacers smoothly built up a 15-point lead and maintained it until the end.

There were only 30 seconds left in the game.

The atmosphere of the venue hadn’t been affected by the previous "Conseco incident", and from five minutes remaining, the cheers came in waves, growing louder and louder, filling the entire arena.

Su Wan stood up in the last minute of the game and started clapping.

In the moment he stood up, everyone else sitting on the bench, including little O’Neal, stood up one after another, clapping non-stop.

"Congratulations, Reggie, lifting the O’Brien Cup in your last professional year, you’re lucky, buddy!"

The last round wasn’t played.

Reggie Miller was standing next to Su Wan.

Su Wan congratulated him early.

This shouldn’t count as opening champagne mid-game, should it?

After all, with a lead of more than 10 points and less than 20 seconds left, even calling McGrady over would be too late!

No, the "McGrady moment" only applies to regular seasons, he’s more often underperforming in the playoffs, and this year seemed like his most hopeful.

But this time, he still fell at the stage of the Western Conference Finals. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Of course, if he’d made it to the Western Conference Finals before Su Wan traveled back in time, fans would have said this was a mere daydream.

McGrady...

That was just the kind of image he projected!

The score difference they wanted to catch up would require at least two "Miller moments".

But exactly, the one leading now was Miller himself, the creator of the "Miller moment".

Listening to Su Wan’s early congratulations, Reggie Miller’s eyes were filled with unusual emotions.

Since beginning the NBA in 1987, nearly every year for 17 years he hoped to hear those words in June.

But it never came true.

Before this season started, he somewhat resignedly told himself:

One last year, try it one more time, whether it can be done or not, as long as there are no regrets.

But when the Pacers experienced that night at the Auburn Palace, Miller felt all the pent-up frustration, realizing he wasn’t resigned at all.

Indeed, after 17 years striving for that Championship Trophy, how could he leave resigned without having won it?

That was the darkest moment of his career; despite numerous setbacks in the ’90s, he always felt alright, just start over again! Perhaps because back then he knew he still had a chance.

But this time, he had no more chances!

Unexpectedly, things took a turn from that moment.

The Pacers suddenly found their rhythm, gradually got back on track; the whole team’s spirit returned, the fans’ support came back, even the team’s intensity returned.

They became one of the teams with the strength to compete for the championship again.

Until tonight, which finally culminated perfectly.

And all these changes started with the rookie of the year, Su Wan, the 10th first-round pick of ’04, a phenomenon in the League.

"Su..."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, congratulations to you too, for winning the championship in your rookie season." Reggie Miller wanted to say, my biggest fortune in my professional career was meeting you in my last season, but that was too cheesy; he couldn’t even say such words to his wife, let alone Su Wan, another man.

Su Wan shrugged, indifferently saying, "Isn’t this thing just given to everyone who joins the league?"

"..."

Alright!

That was also what Reggie Miller worried about.

Getting emotional with this rookie would mean giving him material to joke about him for a lifetime.

Miller could be sure, if he really said what was on his mind, Su Wan could laugh about it for a lifetime.

The buzzer sounded, the final score 87-67, the Pacers won the fifth game of the series.

In the ESPN studio, Bill Walton announced with a smile, "Let’s congratulate the Pacers for winning their first Championship Trophy in team history, the 2004-2005 season belongs to... the Indiana Pacers!"

He understood very well the feeling of breaking the team’s first championship.

The Blazers’ first championship was also the one he and his teammates had won together.

And the process of lifting the Championship Trophy was quite legendary.

Starting off 0-2 down, then winning 4 games in a row, they claimed the 1977 NBA Finals.

Afterward, they tasted the champagne of victory.

But in Bill Walton’s memory, the moment symbolized by the buzzer as they officially secured the Championship Trophy tasted hundreds, even thousands of times sweeter.

He believed the Pacers players surely felt something similar.

The game hadn’t even ended, yet the Conseco Arena, already deafeningly loud, has now become the liveliest place on Earth.

Various cheers resounded one after another.

The local Indiana audience seemed to forget their fatigue, continuing to strain their throats.