The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 298 - 179: What Shaquille Envies

Chapter 298: Chapter 179: What Shaquille Envies

What Shaquille O’Neal hated most being said about him during this period?

Simply six words:

"Three consecutive championships thanks to Kobe!"

That was definitely like stabbing him right in the heart...

Say it a few more times, and he’d probably get pissed off enough to have a stroke.

Sure enough, the next day upon arriving in Indiana, the "Shark" went berserk, openly blasting Su Wan for being able to win the regular season MVP just because he was barely 20 years old: "Everyone wants to witness the birth of history, but he really doesn’t deserve it!"

Su Wan could be sure, at that moment, Shaquille O’Neal was definitely Dallas’s favorite player, even more so than Dirk Nowitzki.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder on the eve of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Kobe stepped in at this time, "That’s Shaquille for you, he always feels he’s the best, but in fact, his time has long passed!"

But he was soon countered, as the Phoenix Suns eventually eliminated them with a 4-2 series win. The Suns, with Little Si on the team, highlighted the Lakers’s weaknesses in the paint to the extent that if Kobe couldn’t score 40 points in a game, they basically had no chance of winning.

After trailing 3-1, Kobe managed to steal a win on the Suns’s home court, but back in Los Angeles, they were still ousted by the Suns, who held two match points.

Shaquille O’Neal sat in front of the TV and watched the sixth game between the Lakers and Suns. After the game, he excitedly posted on Facebook: "This is Kobe and the Lakers for you, without the great Shaquille, they can’t even see what the Western Conference Finals floor looks like!"

But the Los Angeles media, including Kobe, ignored his tirade.

Overall, whether it was the Los Angeles media or the Lakers fans, everyone was satisfied with the Lakers’ performance this season. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

The Lakers’s total salary for this season was about $72.94 million, take away Brian Grant’s buy-out fee of $14.34 million, that left roughly $59 million, slightly above the salary cap but still below the luxury tax threshold.

With such a lineup advancing to the Western semi-finals, what more could anyone ask for!

There was absolutely nothing to fault in Kobe’s individual performance, with his average scoring in the regular season being the highest for a Scoring King in decades. The Lakers making it to the second round was all thanks to his efforts.

Even in the second round, if the Lakers’s frontcourt played even a bit better, they could have taken down the Suns!

This was a team with a future to look forward to.

All they needed was to bring in a good big man this summer.

Of course, if it was Yao Ming, then nothing could be better!

Kobe also looked forward to the next season with anticipation: "I believe Mickey will bring me some surprises, and we’ll soon return to where we belong!"

There was another thing the "Mamba" didn’t say aloud, but roared fiercely in his heart:

I will definitely prove that I can win a championship with someone else, not just Shaquille O’Neal!

With the Lakers eliminated, the two teams for the Western Conference Finals were announced:

Phoenix Suns VS Mavericks!

The grievances between Steve Nash and the Mavericks made this series a must-watch.

Mark Cuban, confirming the Suns as their Western Conference Finals opponent, visited the American Airlines Arena daily, even making a point to be seen by the Mavericks players, as if to tell them:

This match isn’t just any Western Conference Finals, it’s a battle for honor!

You’d better fight the Suns to the death for me!

Only by defeating Steve Nash could he prove to Old Nelson that his decision to let Nash go was the correct one.

Even though Old Nelson had already left the Mavericks for the Warriors, he still had to prove this point.

Don’t ask, because it’s...

The desire to win in a man!

Those who become bosses often have a strong sense of competitiveness.

Before the Western Conference Finals kicked off, the Eastern Conference Finals got underway.

Conseco Arena was bustling that night, noisy as if a storm raged and hammered on the roof.

Especially when Shaquille O’Neal appeared from the visiting team’s tunnel, the booing was deafening.

They already had grievances against Shaquille O’Neal.

They hadn’t forgotten the incident from last year’s Eastern Conference Finals where he had roughed up Su Wan. Now he openly claimed that Su Wan only won the regular season MVP because the League coddled him due to his age.

This is what it was, isn’t it? Deliberately slinging mud?

How could Indiana Natives possibly tolerate his nonsense:

"Fatso, your heart is as small as your ’lower body’!"

"Shaquille, you obese sufferer, you’re going to drop dead in Conseco Arena today!"

"Shaquille, wait for Su Wan to tear through your layers of belly fat and beat the crap out of you!"

...

A barrage of insults aimed below the belt made Shaquille O’Neal’s veins pop.

He glared fiercely at the fan who yelled the loudest at the side of the court, who in turn raised a fist to intimidate him: "Damn it, what are you looking at? Want to get beaten up in Indiana? You fat pig!"

Even though this fan was only 1.72 meters tall, looking like a dwarf in front of Shaquille, his words really intimidated Shaquille.

Because here, a riot had genuinely occurred...

The simple folks of Indiana.

This had already spread throughout the League!

In front of all the fans, Su Wan received the regular-season MVP trophy from David Stern’s hands.

The crowd cheered wildly.

Nearly half a century after joining the NBA in the ’70s, the Pacers finally had their first regular-season MVP!

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