694: 241: Not the ending they wanted (thanks to the landlord patron for the 5000 reward, I am deeply grateful!) 694: 241: Not the ending they wanted (thanks to the landlord patron for the 5000 reward, I am deeply grateful!) Kobe no longer wanted to wear the number 8.
There were two reasons why he chose the number 8 after entering the NBA.
One was because Kobe’s number at the Adidas ABCD Camp was 143, but the NBA only allowed two digits on the jersey, so they had him add those three digits together, which resulted in the number 8.
Another reason was that Kobe’s first basketball idol, Mike D’Antoni, who was playing in Italy for Milan at the time, wore the number 8.
So, Kobe chose the number 8 as his jersey number.
But Roger’s words, “8 points for Kobe, to the number 8, that’s his worth,” made him never want to have any entanglement with the number 8 again.
Looking back on Kobe’s career, nearly every one of his “milestone sorrows” was related to Roger.
In his rookie season, a feverish Roger managed to make Kobe embarrass himself with three consecutive failed attempts.
During his sophomore and junior years, after Shaq joined the team, Kobe thought good times were coming.
With that big guy assisting him, he was sure he could exact revenge.
But after Shaq joined, he ended up getting beaten even worse!
Last season, Kobe even experienced a physical beating in the literal sense.
This season, Kobe finally looked like a star, and O’Neal put on an MVP-level performance for the first time since leaving the Magic.
But the Lakers still couldn’t beat that guy.
Kobe was deeply hurt.
Tonight he didn’t just lose the game, he also lost the coach’s trust and his teammates’ respect.
Phil Jackson said publicly that he was like a lamb to be slaughtered.
O’Neal yelled at him in the locker room.
Even Rick Fox stood up and made remarks, “How many times have we experienced this situation?”
How many times indeed?
The Lakers had only lost their first game of the season.
In other words, it was the first time Kobe had failed in the fourth quarter.
But that’s what they call “everyone pushes a falling wall.”
This situation almost cured Kobe’s paranoia.
Kobe couldn’t help asking himself, “Do I really have to defeat Roger?”
After all, all this sorrow stemmed from his desire to challenge Roger.
Roger was originally his big brother, the foundation for his early fame.
But ever since entering the NBA and starting to compete with Roger, their relationship changed.
If Kobe had been like Kevin Garnett, never angering Roger and helping him light his cigars off the court, then all these tragedies wouldn’t have happened.
Do I really have to defeat Roger?
In Kobe’s view, Roger was the greatest player of his era.
What was the point of playing basketball if he didn’t sort him out?
Kobe stood up again, the cries in his heart growing stronger.
No matter what he experienced, he would never give up, he had to win over Roger!
The strong-willed Kobe managed to regroup in a short time, but most people couldn’t do that.
Very few people could soften for less than a minute and then harden up again.
The Lakers fans were still immersed in fear and disappointment.
Disappointment is understandable, Lakers fans had reason to be disappointed.
They had been looking forward to the Lakers’ rise since the summer of ’97, day after day, year after year, but the Lakers had made no substantial progress.
In ’98 they were swept by the Jazz, in ’99 by the Spurs.
One season after another, another season after another, and it was almost the millennium!
Fear is also understandable, the power of the Angel Envoy was too strong.
When Roger needed to focus on defense, the Hawks had a second player who could step up and take on the ball-handling responsibilities.
Paul Pierce’s reputation started to turn around after this game.
Before that, when people mentioned Paul Pierce, the first thing they recalled was his criminal-level performance in the previous season’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Then came the 35 seconds of infamy.
But against the Lakers, Pierce proved that he was a formidable attacker.
His combination with Roger was extremely competitive.
But a comment by Shaquille O’Neal at the press conference made some Atlanta fans feel fear amidst their happiness:
“Paul is indeed strong, if I didn’t know Roger, I might give him the nickname ‘The Truth.’ He is really great, very precocious and cunning on the offensive end, few players in history can match that.
No matter how good he is, he won’t win any honors with the Hawks.
Roger will consume him like a vulture, eat him up, and steal all the attention and individual awards.
This is the miserable life Paul Pierce is about to face; no matter how outstanding he is, people will say it’s Roger’s team.
No matter how good a player is, they’ll be treated unfairly by Roger’s side.”
In the end, O’Neal shrugged, “Paul Pierce will understand sooner or later.
The best helpers by Roger’s side always leave him.
It’s a curse that has run throughout his entire career!”
O’Neal’s words made the Atlanta fans feel disgusted, he was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden that tempted Eve, the origin of original sin, trying to get Pierce to break the taboo.
Perhaps Paul Pierce hadn’t thought so much, maybe he just wanted to play well.
But after the Shark put it that way, who knew if ripples would appear in Pierce’s heart?
Luckily, Pierce remained in good form in the following few games.
He seemed to be unaffected by the Shark’s words.
On December 4th against the Clippers, Pierce scored a season-high of 33 points.
But after the game, people were focused on Roger’s duel with his old teammate Stevie Smith.
Against the Utah Jazz on the 8th, Paul Pierce continued to break records, scoring 36 points.