The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 372 - 194: From now on, when the Cavaliers lose, LeBron has to take all the responsibility on himself_3

Chapter 372: Chapter 194: From now on, when the Cavaliers lose, LeBron has to take all the responsibility on himself_3

Perky, elastic, well-rounded... these qualities really can’t be missing... if he were more famous, then he could afford to loosen his standards a bit.

He went to bed early and, upon seeing the other Pacers at the stadium the next day, noticed that each looked as if the Black Mountain Demon had sucked their energy dry.

In the first game of January, Su Wan staged a "lone savior" performance with 45 points, leading his team to a victory over the Clippers, avoiding an "upset in the gutter" against the ninth seed in the Western Conference. The team that made history last season had become dim again, for the same reasons as before: Elton Brand was injured.

As the Western Conference’s power forward on the first team last season, his injury was a fatal blow to the entire Clippers.

The Clippers had once again become a sinking ship.

Su Wan realized belatedly that the tradition of the Clippers losing their absolute core for the season had started so early?

Could there really be truth to the saying, "Only one team can thrive in the same city"?

It’s no wonder Su thought this way; the Clippers were always so cursed.

To say their current owner is stingy is one thing, but the future owner of the Clippers, Ballmer, is not stingy at all, pouring money into recruiting players year after year with a team that on paper is championship calibre, yet they still haven’t won a championship by 2024. freēNovelFire.com

And it’s always because of those damn injuries!

Have the Lakers really absorbed all of Los Angeles’s good fortune?

The next day, alongside Su Wan’s headline-grabbing "45-point lone savior" performance, the comments Shaquille O’Neal made after losing the previous night’s game also made headlines:

"Some people feel that only when they have the most outstanding stats and win a victory, can it be considered a true victory. Can’t stand seeing a teammate leading the team to a win? Everyone knows there’s tension between Su and me, but from my few months at the Cavaliers, I think some people need to be taught how to play the game!"

Although he didn’t publicly name the person he spoke of, everyone knew he was referring to LeBron.

It was only after digging deeper that Su Wan understood why Shaquille was so angry.

The Cavaliers’ last opponent was the Sacramento Kings.

Since trading away Chris Webber, the Kings had Peja serve as the core for about a season, only to find that Peja was not up to the task, and so they traded him as well, fully embracing the tank, and with Adelman’s dismissal, the once "Beautiful Kings" became a thing of the past.

Considering the Cavaliers’ recent winning streak of four games, it shouldn’t have been a problem to take down such a team.

Yet in that game, for some reason, LeBron’s desire to attack was very strong, insisting on isolating and calling for the ball.

Ultimately, his stats looked good; he scored 33 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

But the team lost the game 90 to 100, a 10-point deficit to the Kings.

Dennis Gibson, who had recently been putting up first-rate point guard stats, reverted to a complete rookie with no sense of direction, practically invisible and ending with just 7 points, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers.

This was the main reason for the Cavaliers’ loss.

Shaquille O’Neal himself scored 19 points and 8 rebounds, nearly reaching his season average, and it was clear he was voicing his opinion for the rookie, Gibson.

Barkley couldn’t resist joining the fray; he’d been bickering with Shaquille all season. This time, however, he sided with Shaquille: "For the Cavaliers, they need a point guard like Gibson, who can step up and lead the team when LeBron is being contained!"

"We’ve seen the impatience in LeBron’s last game. This impatience comes from his struggle in the past few games, and we all know his stats have dipped during the Cavaliers winning streak. We understand his eagerness, but he evidently doesn’t know how to coordinate with his teammates!"

Bill Walton also said, "LeBron lacks off-ball skills, and when he’s without the ball, he seems unsure of what to do!"

New York Times: "We are pleased to see LeBron has shifted from point guard to small forward; obviously the suggestion was effective, but it seems he only watched video highlights of Scottie Pippen’s on-ball attacks. He hasn’t observed what Scottie does off the ball, and how to play without it!"

Erin also joined the commotion—not by writing herself, but by having a colleague write a piece: "Dennis Gibson’s performance over the past week has proven that he’s effective with the ball in his hands, now it’s up to Mike Brown to coordinate the ball-distribution issues between LeBron and Dennis!"

The article was like "oil on the fire," focusing public attention squarely on the Cavaliers’ backcourt’s ball-distribution issues.

The situation now was that Gibson had the ability but needed the ball; LeBron was clueless without the ball.

How to balance the ball distribution between them was really a test for Mike Brown.

Su Wan’s comment on Twitter pushed the whole situation to a climax:

"Don’t expect LeBron James to cooperate with other ball handlers; his favorite play style is to have four shooters around him, covering his defense, grabbing rebounds, then letting him play as he pleases. This mode of play started in his freshman year of high school, honed over so many years from 2000 to 2007, how could he possibly change now?"

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