The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 365 - 193: Shaquille O’Neal’s "New Leader" Plan

Chapter 365: Chapter 193: Shaquille O’Neal’s "New Leader" Plan

Shaquille O’Neal was an old pro in the world.

Once the media opinion came out, he realized he was being set up as the Cavaliers’ "scapegoat."

From the Magic Team to the Lakers, and then to the Heat Team, he had his highlights and his lows, but he had never been pulled out to "take the bullets" like now.

LeBron James...

He really was ruthless!

Upon thinking further, if in the second half he really did as LeBron James suggested, constantly going high to coordinate with him in the game, then if LeBron ended up with better stats and his own were utterly terrible, and the team lost by a wide margin...

Then he truly would be...

utterly defenseless!

No wonder Su Wan fell out with this guy!

Thinking about how he nearly fell for the trick, the "Shark" felt a tingling sensation in his 300-pound body right now.

After all, if he was really going to pay for this loss, it would undoubtedly be another "fatal blow" to his reputation value, even though he was a "Blood Bull", and after this hit, he would have to switch from being a mere All-Star to a "bench puzzle!"

What did that entail?

He had been eliminated by Su Wan twice while with the Heat Team and had even become a drag on the team, holding back their tactics, but he only downgraded from a "Super Star" to a regular All-Star...

It seems Su Wan was just a "minor annoyance," whereas LeBron James was indeed a "severe internal threat"!

No, it wasn’t right...

He had to quickly find allies!

Otherwise, on the Cavaliers’ turf, it was all LeBron James’ people, making the situation too passive.

The next morning, he acted as if nothing had happened and greeted the other members of the Cavaliers.

At the same time, he analyzed the situation.

The Cavaliers had gone through a big trade in the summer, even "Big Z" had been traded away, which was a favorable situation.

Because they were all newcomers, they didn’t have much connection with him, Shaquille, nor with LeBron James.

Then let this 2003 "No.1 Pick" see how a "92 No.1 Pick" who joined the league 11 years before him manages to win over the locker room!

Isolating teammates, he was all too familiar with that...

As the Cavaliers had just experienced a 58-point debacle, everyone’s morale on the training ground wasn’t high.

Mike Brown didn’t forcefully try to lift their spirits.

Such an awful defeat indeed needed time to recover.

Didn’t you see that even LeBron James wasn’t in good shape today?

He simply didn’t organize any practice matches but let the players train on their own.

During this period, Shaquille O’Neal approached Gibson.

He had long recognized that Gibson was a guard who could only perform well when he had the ball in his hands. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

It was just that at the time he needed to maintain a good relationship with LeBron, even if he had noticed, he didn’t talk much about it.

However, now that he was pulling together an "alliance," Gibson was the first strong support he needed to find.

After the Cavaliers lost to the Pacers, most of the media’s headlines were about the issues between him and LeBron. Besides their reports, some media also analyzed that the Cavaliers lacked others stepping up to ease the pressure on LeBron when he encountered a heavy defense.

Since the media were all saying this...

Then Shaquille O’Neal would present Cleveland with a point guard who could hold the ball!

Next game, the Cavaliers would face the weaker Bobcats team and then head to Los Angeles to play this year’s "Christmas Big Match" against the Lakers.

What a stage that was, needless to say!

As long as Gibson could produce dazzling stats on that stage.

He would then have secured his footing in the Cavaliers.

And when he had a younger brother to respond to him on the outside...

He could naturally also play a standout performance!

Shaquille was very clear about his condition, and by bringing out a serious attitude, he was still able to dominate 80% of the league’s interior players.

Of course, all these premises were built on the basis that the team could win games; otherwise, having good stats alone, LeBron could easily take back control of the ball.

Then he would have to let Gibson ignite "Ah Q" and Channing Frye, giving them space to perform as well.

Actually, just copying LeBron James’ set would do.

"Ah Q" and Frye were not masters of "Off-ball Movement"; their positions were often fixed, just remember their "sweet spots"!

80% of LeBron’s role could be replaced by other team members.

Shaquille O’Neal named this "New Leader Plan!"

In his mind, various thoughts flew, and it wasn’t until he faced Gibson that he put aside these swirling ideas. Everything he was thinking about was for later, whether it would work depended on whether he could convince Gibson to dare to take the ball and play!

However, the "Shark," after all, had spent five long years with Phil Jackson; coaxing a rookie was a piece of cake.

Not to mention, he had been observing Gibson, he knew very well that since joining the Cavaliers, Gibson had been under immense pressure every day, forcing himself to progress.

Just for a player like him, without his preferred way of playing as support, it was impossible to perform well.

After losing 58 points to the Pacers, he was dubbed by Cleveland media as "the worst starter in the whole league!"

He was desperate to perform, eager to prove himself, and at that moment, Shaquille O’Neal asked him, "Buddy, want to make a name for yourself on the stage of Christmas night, and get rid of the negative media comments?"

Gibson was stunned for a moment, his eyes left only with Shaquille’s friendly smile...

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