The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 469 - 213 He Didn’t Expect the Indiana Dynasty to End in This Way_5

Chapter 469: Chapter 213 He Didn’t Expect the Indiana Dynasty to End in This Way_5

Until he was seated in a wheelchair, young O’Neal still wore a "Painful Mask."

His departure left a huge gap in the Pacers’ interior lineup.

It had a significant impact on both offense and defense.

Young O’Neal was extremely important to the entire Pacers team...

Offensively, he was responsible for cutting to the basket, maintaining aggression towards the hoop, and "Second Attack."

Defensively, he helped with shot blocking and defending the rim.

Without him, on the defensive side for the Lakers, they no longer needed to focus on the inside and could simply concentrate on marking Su Wan.

As the game continued, Su Wan experienced the treatment Kobe had received in the last season’s finals.

The entire Lakers team closely guarded him alone.

Fortunately, the Pacers’ perimeter shooting was strong that night. Even without young O’Neal, their firepower from the outside kept them biting closely at the score and even forced Phil Jackson to give up the heavy trapping on Su Wan because of Pacers’ energized three-point shooting.

Su Wan then began to power up. In "The zone" mode, he scored 13 points in a streak and then activated "Full Power" to add another 9 points, making a total of 25 points in the second half with drives and free throws.

Don’t think the Lakers’ defense on him was less intense in the second half.

It was still Kobe along with Paul Gasol and Yao Ming targeting him.

Thus, Su Wan’s second-half performance left the on-site Lakers fans somewhat "dumbfounded," but that was his limit.

While Su Wan kept scoring, the Lakers were also consistently scoring.

Especially in the interior, Paul Gasol together with Yao, they handled the Lakers’ last 8 points.

Eventually, the Lakers won 109 to 101 over the Pacers, completing what they termed "revenge."

In this "Christmas Battle," Yao Ming scored 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, Paul Gasol had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Kobe scored 30 points with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Su Wan was the brightest star of the game, scoring 25 points in the half and a total of 41 points for the game, plus 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.

With 7 minutes and 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he scored 7 points and made 3 steals, helping the Pacers narrow the gap to 5 points. The entire Staples Center could be described as silent; they truly thought the Pacers might win the game with Su Wan alone.

Fortunately, Phil Jackson recovered from his "trance" state and began constantly looking for opportunities in the interior, widening the gap again.

At that moment in Staples, Kobe’s brightness was nothing compared to Su Wan’s dazzling performance.

But a loss is a loss...

Su Wan left the court expressionlessly. He didn’t respond to the reporters first but went straight to young O’Neal to inquire about his injury.

The preliminary diagnostic phase was already out:

A knee sprain...

But that wasn’t the most important thing.

"The team doctor mentioned that young O’Neal’s calf might have a stress fracture..."

On hearing this from the assistant coach, Su Wan felt a "thud" in his heart.

He was quite familiar with this problem.

Yao was out for consecutive seasons precisely because of stress fractures.

As for explaining this issue, let’s just say...

Too many games!

Originally, young O’Neal was essentially a "Glass Man."

After successfully battling with Artest for the leadership position on the Pacers, it wasn’t long before he faced injury issues, sidelining him for the season.

In the following nine seasons, only two seasons had him playing up to 69 games, while the others had attendance at only forty to fifty games. The lesser ones had him playing merely in his twenties each season.

Various injuries forced him to spend his prime years sitting on the bench.

Originally, Su Wan had young O’Neal reduce weight, not only for better coordination between the two but also to lessen the burden on O’Neal’s knees.

Over the past two years, young O’Neal had been very healthy, maintaining full attendance in both the playoffs and the regular season.

But because of this, just like Su Wan, he was among the players with the most games played over the past three seasons.

Given his "Glass Man" condition, experiencing a stress fracture this season was really...

Su Wan’s expression turned sour.

This season was tough enough already, and now with one being sidelined for the season, the upcoming games were likely to be even more challenging.

However, Su Wan knew well that the one more disheartened now must be young O’Neal.

But at such a time, he didn’t know what else to say except to pat his shoulder and have him maintain the right attitude to face this issue, "Take good care of your injury, and you’ll come back healthy next season, Jermaine!"

Young O’Neal said, "I’m not upset about this, but that I can’t help you win this year’s championship!"

Once again, Su Wan patted his shoulder, trying to appear relaxed, "Buddy, compared to the championship, I’d rather you recover sooner!"

The next day, early in the morning, the news that young O’Neal’s calf fracture would sideline him for the season, preventing a return even for the playoffs, spread across the entire League.

Barkley sighed deeply; he hadn’t expected the Indiana Dynasty to end in such a way.

However...

For the Pacers, the troubling matters were far from over.

On January 1, 2008, the Simon family hosted the New Year’s Eve party as they did every year.

Herbert specifically sought out Su Wan, speaking sternly, "Do you remember our conversation? Su, you once said that if a day comes when I can no longer fully support this team, to let you know first..."

"I never thought that day would come."

"But Su, I regretfully inform you that the Simon family is soon to face a trial, and to ensure our cash flow, we might not be able to fully support the team in the coming period, and I can’t assure you when this might end..."

Su Wan suddenly remembered.

In 2008, the United States was about to face a financial crisis.

This crisis was triggered by the bankruptcy of New Century Financial Company, America’s second-largest subprime mortgage company.

Consequently, this crisis is also known as "The Subprime Crisis."

This crisis directly led to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and caused 50% of the world’s stock prices to evaporate.

And the primary business of the Simon Group...

Was real estate!

Herbert continued, "Of course, we’re eager for you to continue with the team. My honesty is intended to convey that this is your city, and we all know losing you would be an irreparable loss for the Pacers."

"We will still offer you a max contract, the biggest top salary, but I can’t guarantee we can keep the other players..." fгeewebnovёl.com

"What I can do now is, while ensuring the stability of the Simon Group, give you the utmost support!"