708: 244: No, there’s a battle tonight!
(Requesting monthly votes!)_3 708: 244: No, there’s a battle tonight!
(Requesting monthly votes!)_3 This was an argument that made the reporters unable to hold back their laughter.
The words they said were shocking, but they made one feel the harmony in the Hawks’ locker room.
At the same time, people also began to understand why Pat Riley thought the Hawks, who were only slightly behind the Lakers in the standings come Christmas, were the best team in the league.
The depth and strength of the Hawks’ roster, their star quality, locker room cohesion, and that still-mysterious passion…
every aspect was flawless!
The Los Angeles Lakers had great records, but they lacked that depth, and the relationship between the OK duo wasn’t as tight as that between Roger and Pierce.
Even the Lakers recently burst out a ridiculous news story, retold to journalists by John Celestand, who had just been cut by the Lakers.
“When I first joined the Lakers, Shaq offered me ten thousand dollars in the locker room to hit Kobe Bryant during practice.
Honestly, I thought these guys were crazy.
Considering that doing so could cost me my job, I didn’t go through with it.
If I had known I was going to get cut, I might as well have earned that ten thousand dollars, haha.”
Although this was just John Celestand’s side of the story and no one knew if it was true or false, all these news still reminded everyone – the OK duo was like a ticking time bomb.
They were far from as stable as the ‘Prophet’ and ‘Angel Envoy’.
It was only a matter of time before the Hawks surpassed the Lakers in the standings!
With such an atmosphere and passion, Roger and the Hawks kept winning until January 15, boasting a 15-game winning streak.
On the 15th, after defeating the Dallas Mavericks, Mavericks forward Cedric Ceballos helplessly spread his hands at the press conference:
“We stood no chance against these guys, their starting lineup is nearly flawless, and their rotation is just as perfect.
Even when nothing else works, they still have Roger.
From the moment the game started, I felt we stood no chance.”
After the battle with Dallas, the Hawks’ current record of 30 wins and 5 losses had already caught up with the Lakers.
Pat Riley’s prediction was coming true, step by step.
This Hawks team had too many anomalies, some things even the Hawks players themselves couldn’t explain.
For instance, Roger was also puzzled by the so-called sustained passion: “I can’t quite put my finger on it.
We just want to win, and this passion naturally accompanies us.
Yes, we won the championship in 1998, but the whole team has some kind of, how should I put it?
Everyone is hungry for victory as if we’ve never won the championship before.”
Lenny Wilkens was equally at a loss for words: “Why bother about that?
The most important thing is, we can beat Phil Jackson’s Lakers!”
That’s right, the competition belongs not only to Roger and Shaq.
It also belongs to Pierce and Kobe.
It belongs to Lenny Wilkens and Phil Jackson – Like most old-school coaches, Lenny Wilkens didn’t have much regard for the Zen Master.
Eventually, it was Bill Simmons from Yahoo Sports who explained the secret source of the Hawks’ passion with an article.
“The Hawks have switched on ‘Kill-you-all’ mode this season, and the conditions to activate this mode are very stringent.
You need a superstar in their prime, a competitive roster around them.
Plus, the team must have secured a championship before but just happened to experience a disappointing loss last season.
After the loss, the superstar didn’t flee, and most of the roster remained intact.
With this, you can switch on ‘Kill-you-all’ mode.
A team knocked off their throne will save all their rage for this season, and they know how to win, how to throttle the opposition, how to climb to the top.
The experience of championship success combined with the hunger of the defeated is enough to make that team unstoppable!
Have there been similar teams in history?
Of course, the legendary ’86 Celtics were such a team.
They won the championship in 1984 but lost to their most hated rivals drenched in purple and gold in 1985.
Then in 1986, the Boston Celtics started their reckoning with the entire league.
At the Banknorth Garden, combining regular season and playoffs, they had a record of 50 wins and 1 loss.
Even Michael Jordan, who scored 63 points, couldn’t walk away with a victory from the Garden.
They were season’s Atlanta Hawks, brimming with passion in every game, never weary of any match.
Every time they stepped on the court, they smelled blood and then ripped open their opponents’ wounds.
So Pat was right, the ’99-’00 Atlanta Hawks are the strongest team in the league.
In fact, I will give you an even bolder prediction: they have the chance to become one of the greatest teams in history!
I know, the crap-talking Shaq will definitely come out and say something after reading this article.
And my response is: Shaq, let’s just wait and see.
Roger will win this competition, I am staking my career as a writer on it.”
Bill Simmons, the new wave sports columnist who began to emerge in the internet era, was becoming increasingly popular.
His writing style was humorous, but his insights into basketball were profound, and he didn’t shy away from teasing any star players.
His articles were quite influential in NBA circles.
He knew Shaq would definitely see his article, but he wasn’t afraid of offending the superstar center.