The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 283 - 171 "Chosen One" LeBron, Face Your Destiny!_2

Chapter 283: Chapter 171 "Chosen One" LeBron, Face Your Destiny!_2

The big screen at the venue still flashed his image from time to time.

Every time the camera panned away from him, the next second would surely cut to LeBron James on the other side.

The language of the camera:

If Su Wan were still with the Cavaliers, how bright the future of this team would be!

It’s almost unthinkable!

Clevelanders once again felt a tightness in their chest.

But this time, it wasn’t just because of Su Wan, but also because of Jose Calderon.

Having returned to Cleveland, he played more aggressively tonight. Facing the guards of the Cavaliers who had once kept him off the court, he finally scored 15 points and 7 assists throughout the game, displaying a steady style of play, like a machine that never errs.

And this machine was originally "Made in Cleveland"!

But last summer, Danny Ferry had sent him to Indiana.

Does this guy have some dirt on Larry Bird’s hands?

A thorough investigation is a must!

After the match, LeBron faced the cameras, his expression extremely grave, "(Sitting on the sidelines watching the team lose) was terrible. Tomorrow, I will have another MRI. I hope I hear some good news this time. I think I saw my importance to the Cavaliers, I must get back to the team as soon as possible!"

Early the next day, the Cleveland media also made a heartfelt plea:

LeBron, come back quickly, the Cavaliers can’t do it without you!

Barkley felt disgusted and immediately reposted the Cleveland report on Facebook, commenting, "If my memory serves correctly, Su Wan’s record against LeBron is 4-0! Since being traded, Su Wan has not lost to LeBron!"

What’s all this "the Cavaliers can’t do it without you" and "importance to the Cavaliers" actually about?

Yet his statement was automatically hidden.

At this moment, all of Cleveland was focused on LeBron James’ latest wrist injury report.

The final results were reassuring:

LeBron’s wrist injury was not severe; he was expected to make a comeback in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on April 3 at the earliest.

Cleveland fans finally felt a huge weight lift from their hearts.

Two days later, LeBron, despite the sporadic mockery from the outside world, faced the fifteenth-ranked Trail Blazers in the Western Conference and put on a powerful post-injury performance, scoring 36 points with 9 rebounds and 10 assists, a near triple-double.

In the final minute, he sat back down on the bench.

After the game, a reporter arranged by Richie Paul asked him why he didn’t grab one more rebound: "That way you could have had a triple-double!"

LeBron responded, "I don’t live for the stats, a triple-double means nothing to me."

Barkley couldn’t hold back anymore, "Then you should have left the game earlier! By the third quarter, the Cavaliers were already leading the Trail Blazers by 20 points, and your stats were already 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists, yet you still played 11 minutes in the fourth quarter!"

Are you trying to play ’the guilty party protesting their innocence’ with me?

Barkley, having seen people who truly don’t care about stats, couldn’t help but criticize LeBron’s interview.

Seeing Barkley firing at him again, LeBron looked distressed: "Seriously, is this guy sick? Why does he always have to pick on me?!"

It was mainly because LeBron saw that Su Wan had created a persona of "not liking to break records," which he thought was very prestigious, so he tried to create a "not stat-padding" title for himself, hence the arranged question.

Everything was perfect, as the Cleveland fans all believed him.

Yet Barkley jumped out at this moment.

He just couldn’t understand, where he had offended that guy.

But the worst was yet to come:

The Cavaliers were currently eighth in the Eastern Conference, only two wins behind the seventh-ranked Bucks. After defeating the Trail Blazers, they were just one win behind the Bucks. However, if they moved up to seventh in the Eastern Conference, they would face the second-ranked Pacers.

This was not what LeBron wanted to see.

He found it easier to play against the Pistons than against the Pacers.

Mike Brown thought the same, and the season had seen the Cavaliers with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss against the Pistons. If they faced the Pistons, there was a possibility of an "underdog victory."

For the current "depleted Cavaliers," pulling off such a feat would definitely boost the team’s cohesion and confidence.

Of course, as the head coach, especially LeBron James would reap a wave of top-tier public opinion, which would cleanse his previously bad image when he broke down at a press conference.

A man who could lead a team to an "underdog victory" was definitely a "tough-spirited" guy.

After the two agreed, they deliberately lost the next game against the Seattle SuperSonics.

But just then, the Pistons and the Pacers had their third season game.

Rick Carlisle continued experimenting with a small lineup.

Having been inspired by the previous victory against the Heat Team, he decided to shift the command from Calderon’s hands to Dior’s this time.

If it didn’t work this time, he would completely abandon the idea of competing with a small lineup against the Pistons.

But unexpectedly, the Pistons rested Ben Wallace and Billups for this game.

One "offensive core," and one defensive core, neither on the court, Rick Carlisle, unable to gather intelligence, quickly switched back to the "traditional starting lineup," and comfortably defeated the Pistons 91 to 80 with an 11-point difference.

After this victory, both teams were tied in their record, with the Pistons still pressing down on the Pacers based on their head-to-head record.

But at this point, variability increased...

What if the Pistons lost another match? Then wouldn’t the Pacers take the first position?

The Cavaliers hastened their efforts, but it was too late. On April 8, they lost to the Mavericks, and that match saw the Bucks locking the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons showed their ferocity at this time:

LeBron James was indeed not easy to handle. To prevent being "Black Eighted," they targeted the Bucks from the start.

After confirming the seventh position in the Eastern, the Pistons decisively lost their next match, leaving the first position in the Eastern to the Pacers.

After all, whether it was home or away, the Pistons had the experience of defeating the Pacers. For a well-established powerhouse that fought with spiritual power, having home court advantage was not crucial. As long as they had won on that court before, they felt confident they could conquer it again.

However, this left Mike Brown and LeBron James completely stunned. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Already locked in as the eighth in the East, they had no choice but to bravely head to Indiana to challenge the first in the Eastern, the Pacers.

It was LeBron James’s first playoff journey in his professional career, and it turned out he faced Su Wan.

On April 15, the Pacers easily defeated the Bobcats at home, ending their regular season journey, and their season record froze at 62 wins and 20 losses, not only first in the Eastern but also higher than the Mavericks’ 60 wins and 22 losses, making them the best-performing team in the league.

This led many media outlets to think that Su Wan was likely the regular season MVP.

After all, the MVP assessment considered multiple aspects, and Su Wan, believing that he lost the match against the Mavericks, thought the regular season MVP should belong to Dirk Nowitzki. The "German tank" believed that they were not at the same level as Su Wan during the fourth quarter.

But they felt it was not useful.

The key was still what the media thought.

The Pacers, who ranked third in the Eastern in the last season, climbed to first in the league after losing Reggie Miller and Stephen Jackson over the summer, and with a starting season record of 1 win and 5 losses, Su Wan’s return immediately got the team back on track, all reasons supporting Su Wan’s claim to the regular season MVP.

More importantly, if Su Wan was indeed elected, he would be the youngest NBA regular season MVP in history.

As journalists, who wouldn’t want to cast their key vote to witness history?

Su Wan didn’t respond too much to this issue, having said all he needed to say.

The media then brought up the topic of the first-round playoff opponent, and Su Wan became talkative, "I hope LeBron can take good care of his wrist; a series isn’t just one game."

The implication was:

There’s no escaping it, so don’t try!

The Indiana media’s headline was even more eye-catching:

"Chosen One" LeBron, face your destiny!