The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 623 - 244: 6 Years, 5 Titles_4

Chapter 623: Chapter 244: 6 Years, 5 Titles_4

This advantage was not something the Lakers could make up for through their perimeter shooting.

Although Afflalo and Billups had poor shooting performances and Ariza had a god-like game hitting five three-pointers, the Lakers’ perimeter only managed to outscore the Pacers by seven points.

In the end, the Pacers won by 20 points, 109 to 89.

You have to understand, this was on the Lakers’ home court.

Losing the first home game made the Lakers’ situation even more difficult.

In the second game of the series, Phil Jackson put all his defensive focus on the Pacers’ frontcourt and placed all hopes of victory on the duel between Kobe and Su Wan.

Rick Carlisle, seeing his team’s frontcourt being aggressively targeted, immediately countered by having his men help Su Wan limit Kobe.

In the second half, both teams executed their strategies; Kobe was limited to only 4 out of 13 shots, and the performance of Zach Randolph and Shaq Jr. was also not very good for the Pacers.

Yet Su Wan made 10 of his 15 shots in the second half, was perfect from the free-throw line with 5 free throws, scored 27 points in the half, and ended the game with 42 points, leading his team to a smooth victory in the second championship game, 109 to 88.

A commanding lead of 2-0!

The media in Los Angeles had never missed Yao as much as they did now.

If Yao had been in the game, the Lakers could definitely have won.

No, not just this game, but the first two games, the Lakers might have won them both.

The combination of Zach Randolph and Shaq Jr. did not demonstrate the strength it had last season with Zach Randolph and Shaquille O’Neal.

At least this year, the Lakers could contain the Pacers’ "Twin Towers" frontcourt, whereas last year, the Lakers had no answer at all.

Although Shaquille O’Neal was still sitting on the bench.

But from his poor performance of 2 out of 6 shots tonight, it was clear that Shaq’s tank was truly empty.

He was just going through the motions this season...

That statement was both right and wrong.

Shaquille O’Neal was indeed not in form for the finals.

However, the reason for his poor condition was his excessive exertion in the Eastern Conference Finals.

He played so hard because he knew that without Yao, the Lakers stood no chance against the Pacers, and once they got past the Celtics, the Pacers could win the championship.

That was why he exerted himself and demonstrated his effectiveness against the Celtics.

Had Yao not been out for the season, he might have saved some of his efforts for playing against the Lakers.

So even though he performed poorly, he faced the media cameras unapologetically after the game claiming, "The biggest regret this year is that I couldn’t raise the Championship Trophy in front of the ungrateful Lakers fans!"

Watching him boast like this, the Los Angeles media felt a fire building up inside.

But looking at the current situation...

They knew it was extremely difficult for the Lakers to win an away game.

What else could they do?

They could only watch as Shaquille O’Neal metaphorically defecated over their heads.

Two years ago, they would never have imagined that a beaten down Shaq could still make a comeback against the odds.

Su Wan...

Was he really that godlike?

Alright!

That was something the media in Los Angeles had not anticipated.

Such a small city as the Pacers’, managing to overcome "Dynasty fatigue," was also thanks to him.

Of course...

Larry Bird’s trade was crucial...

In that case, in recent years, the Pacers not only had one of the best players in the League but also the best general manager!

It could only be said that in these past few years, Indiana indeed had the fortune to create an era.

Even the Los Angeles media was somewhat envious.

In fact, even the Lakers, after the 1980s, hadn’t had moments of championship frequency like the Pacers.

The only recent comparison could be the eight championships in six years created by Michael Jordan in the 1990s.

And considering the current momentum of the Pacers, they had the potential to break this record...

Achieving an exaggerated six championships in seven years.

Well, now, that hope didn’t seem so big.

Everyone could see that the new owner and Su Wan didn’t get along.

A proud person like Su Wan was unlikely to stay.

More importantly:

The new owner was clearly someone who highly valued returns.

This was a common issue with Wall Street owners.

Compared to a Championship Trophy, they preferred seeing a solid financial statement.

Put simply, between a Championship Trophy and twenty million dollars in revenue, they would definitely choose the twenty million!

Moreover, since the new owner was not from Indiana, he was even less likely to consider the glory of the city.

If next year the Pacers offered Shaq Jr. a max contract and Su Wan continued with his third-year contract, the total salary combined with luxury tax would definitely exceed ninety million.

A harsh reality, even if the Pacers won the championship, their income wouldn’t reach ninety million.

First off, Conseco Arena had the cheapest tickets in the entire league; you could buy back-row seats for just a few US dollars.

Then endorsements, during the "three consecutive championships," Pacers’ highest annual endorsement earnings were just twenty to thirty million.

This isn’t to say Su Wan had no market appeal.

From his collaboration with ESPN on "Su Wan’s Prediction," each episode brought in twenty million dollars in sponsorship, it’s clear his commercial value was evident.

It’s just...

In Bolis, Su Wan couldn’t support many more brands.

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