Seven Hundred and Eighty-Seven: "Became the Villain" Again

A day after the Grizzlies eliminated the Spurs, the Heat eliminated the Pacers. So, after the Grizzlies and the Heat continued last year, they met again in this midsummer.

This is the first time since the Bulls and Jazz in the 1997-98 season that two teams have met in the NBA Finals for two consecutive years.

In NBA history, there are not many examples of two teams meeting in the finals for two consecutive years. In the past 30 years, it has only appeared four times, and this is the fifth time for the Heat and Grizzlies.

In the 81-82 and 82-83 seasons, the shoti Lakers led by "Magic" and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar faced off against 76 in the finals for two consecutive years with Moses Malone and "Dr. J"! The Lakers took the lead and won a championship, but the 76ers completed their revenge the following year, and the two sides were considered a tie.

Later, the Shoti Lakers established their dominant position, relying on 5 championships in 9 years, rather than two duels with the 76ers.

After that, it was the classic era of "black and white hegemony". In the 83-84 season and the 84-85 season, the Celtics and the Lakers also met in the finals for two consecutive years. "Magician" vs "Big Bird" was the most beautiful landscape of the NBA in that era. This is also the matchup between the two greatest stars before Jordan came along.

The end result is also that the Lakers and Celtics won once each, of course, the Lakers met the Celtics in the finals again in the later 86-97 season and defeated them. However, due to a gap of one year, the two sides did not create a record of meeting in the finals for three consecutive years.

Later, the Lakers and the "Bad Boys" Pistons divided the world. The result was the same, with the Pistons and Lakers winning a championship each.

Finally, the two years of 96-97 and 97-98, the battle between Jordan and the Jazz. But this time, the "tradition" of each winning a championship was broken by Jordan. Jordan defeated the Jazz for two consecutive years and completed his second three-peat. At the same time, it also established its own unshakable historical position.

Karl Malone and John Stockton have become two of the biggest supporting roles in NBA history.

Facts have proved that if one of the two teams that meet in the finals in a row wants to not be eliminated in this era, it must at least win a championship.

The Heat already lost once last year, so for James this year, he has no way out!

He knows that if he loses again this year, he will become the second Karl Malone!

Is Karl Malone great? Without a doubt, he is one of the greatest players in NBA history.

Selected to the All-NBA First Team for 11 consecutive years, selected to the All-Defensive First Team for 3 consecutive years, 14-time All-Star, 2 regular-season VP, one of the top 50 NBA superstars, and second in the NBA's historical scoring list!

Karl Malone has won countless honors, and his story can't be told for three days and three nights.

However, even so, Karl Malone is still not the greatest. The reason is very simple, he lost to Jordan in the finals two years in a row, he did not create his own era.

His honors exist more like to set off Jordan's greatness!

James doesn't want people to mention himself in the future, and the first reaction is Link's number one background board.

In any case, James has to fight for victory this year. Even if the Heat complete 3 years and 2 championships, it is a very remarkable achievement!

But if it turns into 4 finals and only 1 championship, then it has nothing to do with greatness.

So, James will definitely not let the Grizzlies succeed again!

After the division finals, James seemed to have evaporated from the world. Except in the training hall, the reporters scoured the entire South Coast to find Miami upside down, but James could not be seen.

It's not hard to see James' determination, James won't let himself go before winning the O'Brien Cup for the second time.

There is no doubt that what James has done has given the Heat fans great confidence. They believe that once James, who is still the first player in the league, is 100% committed, no one on this planet can stop him, even if it is a unanimous VP!

Bill Simmons also seemed to see an opportunity to come back, so he hurriedly stood up and publicly expressed in his column that he was more optimistic about the Heat winning the championship.

"Many people think that LeBron's strength is already under Link. For this kind of person, I feel deeply sorry. Because as long as you know more about LeBron, you will not appear so ignorant."

"Since the start of the playoffs, James has an efficiency rating of 3,122, the highest in the league! His true shooting percentage is also as high as 664, the highest of any starter who has played at least 30 minutes per game. He ranks second in scoring with 55 on opponent turnovers, fourth in fast-break points per game with 49, and fourth in paint points per game with 117. In addition, James is shooting 813 from the three-second zone. No. 1 player with at least 50 shots in the second zone. On offense, James is not only efficient, but also deadly."

"It's a pity that the NBA only has regular season vp and finals vp. Unfortunately, they don't have the playoff vp award. If there is, believe me, the winner must be LeBron!"

Bill Simmons' style is as always, he's a black man, but he's never blind. All the data he listed are true. It turns out that James is indeed still one of the most dominant players in the league.

And what about Link? While James was preparing for the battle, reporters took pictures of Link and the mysterious woman shopping in the mall

In the photo, Link, wearing sunglasses and a peaked cap, is strolling leisurely in the mall with a slender woman who also wears sunglasses. In this situation, it was as if the Grizzlies had been eliminated and Link had started his vacation.

After the photo was leaked, it caused an uproar among fans.

Link's "lazy" state before the finals undoubtedly made his villain's image more popular.

It is self-evident who has a more positive image between a player who prepares seriously and is active and sunny, and a player who runs around without working hard before the game.

"I think this kid is floating? Does he think he will definitely win the championship?"

"Hahaha, so it seems that the Miami Heat are winning. Come on LeBron, give this kid some color!"

"Heroes are sad for Beauty Pass. No matter who this woman is, Link will destroy her. Look at the players who interact with the women of the Kardashian family, and you will know what will happen to Link."

"The Grizzlies are simply self-defeating, come on LeBron, it's time for Link to suffer!"

On the Internet, Miami fans cheered. Link went out for a walk, they were like a holiday, and they almost set off fireworks on Miami Street.

And those fans who want the Grizzlies to roll over are also happy to see it. They are very willing to see that Link pays the price for his laziness and underestimation.

Grizzlies fans are naturally trying their best to protect Link, the city hero, but to be honest, Link's leisurely state before the finals also made Grizzlies fans a little worried.

It's just that Grizzlies fans didn't complain.

Link looked at the comments about himself on the Internet, and he wanted to cry without tears. Well, now, I have been "villain" again.

"I'm obviously very obedient, why am I a street rat again?" Link sat on the sofa and couldn't help but complain.

The reason why he came out to relax these two days is because Ms. Judy Saito, the chief physical therapist of the Grizzlies and also the "secret weapon" Kobe gave Link last summer, said that Link's muscles have been too much recently. Nervous, it should be related to the intense game in the playoffs.

This year, because the Grizzlies are going to break the record of 72 wins, Link played in full attendance in 82 regular season games and did not miss a game. Even in the last moments of the regular season, Link didn't get a chance to rest.

After 82 games, Link immediately tried his best to fight for 13 games in the playoffs.

Don't look at the Grizzlies losing only one game in three rounds, it seems to be a particularly easy win. But in fact, if Link hadn't tried his best every game, the Grizzlies wouldn't have been able to play such a devastating offensive.

This seemingly easy score was built on the hard work of everyone.

In this way, Link has not had a good rest for almost the entire season. Even All-Star weekend, Link participated in the dunk contest and the main game.

So, Saito suggested that Link take a good rest before the finals. Otherwise, in the more intense finals, there is likely to be a risk of injury.

As soon as he heard the word "injured", Jogel waved his hand and canceled all of Link's additional training and special training.

In addition to the team's basic recovery training and tactical drills every day, Link is not allowed to participate in any high-intensity training.

And these few days, Jogel himself has not arranged heavy training tasks. If a team is cramming before the Finals, it's really screwed.

Therefore, these days, the Grizzlies basically finished training at two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

Therefore, after training each day early, Link has nothing to do. He was still depressed about this. This time it's good, I have been associated with the word "lazy" on the Internet again.

"No way, who made your bad guy's image go deep into your bones?" In front of Link, the "Sunglasses Girl" deity Rachel Demita couldn't help laughing.

Rachel, who came to Memphis with the TV station, will appear in the first two games of the Finals as a sideline reporter this year.

Therefore, this year, Rachel can finally be with Link before the holiday starts. For the past two days, she lived directly at Link's house.

After training yesterday, she and Link went out for a walk. As everyone knows, there is such a big storm.   "Am I that bad?" Link threw down his phone. If he read more of the comments about him on the Internet, he would almost feel that he was inexorable. "It's not like."  "Then I will be scolded even if I go shopping."  "Because they are afraid of you, so they can only find psychological comfort from this aspect. They comfort themselves, Link is not training seriously. They comfort themselves , Link is underestimating the enemy. To put it bluntly, he is just looking for a possibility that can beat you.”   “As expected of a famous hostess, she speaks with skill. But it doesn’t matter, the finals still have 3 days to start. 3 days After that, they'll know if I'm being lazy."   Link pouted, instead of worrying about it, he might as well enjoy the short leisure time before the finals. Following the instructions of the physiotherapist and head coach can be considered serious preparation.  Link believes that Kobe's "secret weapon" will definitely not be fooled.