The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 482 - 216 The Most Promising Episode of LeBron! _3

Chapter 482: Chapter 216 The Most Promising Episode of LeBron! _3

The contrasting attitudes of the media and fans on both sides were so stark, those unaware might have thought the Cavaliers were sixth and the Pacers third.

The Eastern Conference’s fourth-seeded Heat Team ultimately clashed with the Eastern Conference’s fifth-seeded Magic Team.

To outsiders, their matchup seemed to be filled with the most suspense.

In the Western Conference, the Western first-seeded Lakers faced the eighth-seeded Warriors; the second-seeded Hornets faced the seventh-seeded Nuggets; the third-seeded Spurs faced the sixth-seeded Mavericks; and the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz were up against the fifth-seeded Phoenix Suns.

In terms of excitement, perhaps only the "Mavs-Spurs Battle" held some interest. To the media, the rest of the matchups seemed to have little to no suspense.

Including the Jazz and Suns’ game.

The Suns were clearly on the decline this season; other teams had figured out their playing style, leading to increasingly clunky offense. More importantly, both Steve Nash and Little Si were plagued with injuries.

The Suns owed their playoff berth mainly to Shaquille O’Neal.

This time, the Suns had not made that Dan Keli trade, but their overall form was lacking.

In contrast, the Jazz were on the rise, with Deron Williams and Bozer creating the "New Utah Double Kill," reviving Salt Lake City’s enthusiasm.

The meeting of teams, one ascending and the other descending, had already determined the outcome in terms of spirit.

Of course, this was the media’s perspective.

On April 16th, the day after the regular season ended, the league announced the "Rookie of the Year."

Though it was a strong draft year, similar to 2004, most players needed sufficient time to develop their potential, including Kevin Durant. Nonetheless, even in his developmental stage, Kevin Durant averaged 20 points per game with a 43.2% shooting percentage.

That was somewhat higher than LeBron’s rookie season average.

Interestingly, many years later, a lot of fans said that Kevin Durant was the "Iron King" during his rookie season, grateful that the SuperSonic Team wasted two seasons letting him swing wildly.

They then referred to LeBron James as the "third greatest rookie in history."

I truly don’t understand why...

However, Kevin Durant, despite winning "Rookie of the Year," wasn’t very happy.

Because the buzz around that award was completely overshadowed by Su Wan winning the "Scoring King" title for the second consecutive season.

This was the first time since McGrady that the league had seen a player repeat as "Scoring King."

Of course, Su Wan’s two "Scoring King" titles were much more valuable than McGrady’s.

After the first "Scoring King" title, he led his team to the championship finals.

Now, despite a lackluster regular season, the second "Scoring King" title posed no threat in the second playoff round.

As for McGrady, when he won his first "Scoring King" title, he faced the toughest competition and suffered the harshest defeat.

And the second "Scoring King" title...

It was more about stat padding than actual winning.

NBA players whose teams finished last in the league standings despite winning a "Scoring King" are rare, and McGrady was one such case. It shows how hollow his victory was.

Considering Su Wan was only 23, the media began to speculate if he planned to continue dominating as "Scoring King."

Su Wan’s answer was simple, "When the team needs me to win and get the ’Scoring King,’ I’ll do it!"

After that, the league announced the winners of "Best Sixth Man" and "Most Improved Player."

Manu Ginobili and Tekeglu each won these awards.

On April 18th, the 07-08 playoff season officially began. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

The Pacers headed to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers.

It felt a little awkward that the first round of the playoffs wasn’t starting at Conseco, but since they were playing against the Cavaliers... the Pacers got over their discomfort.

The Cavaliers hadn’t had any more locker room turmoil since LeBron’s and Vince Carter’s conflict.

A big part of that was because Vince Carter had "given up."

His resignation was clear not just off the court, but also during the game.

Just look at this game; when Vince Carter wasn’t getting the ball, he just stood on the wing. He might as well have put his hands on his hips and taken a break. His demeanor was strikingly similar to LeBron as Su remembered.

Similarly, when Vince Carter was on offense, LeBron’s reaction was almost the same, standing outside at the three-point line, pretending to be ready to cut to the basket to confuse his defender.

However, he feigned his cuts so often that his defender soon became immune.

So, when Vince Carter had the ball, the Pacers’ defense didn’t bother to watch out for LeBron cutting to the basket or making a catch-and-shoot play. As soon as Vince Carter started his drive, locking in his defender, the player guarding LeBron on the wing would immediately ignore him.

And Vince Carter rarely passed to LeBron in that spot.

He knew that LeBron was unlikely to take the three-pointer from there.

More likely, he would hold the ball, feign an attempt to break through, then redirect his teammates to reposition themselves before he attempted to initiate the offense again.