Chapter 577 The New Supersonic Death God!

The Sonics actually performed well in the NBA this season.

Under the leadership of Hanamichi Sakuragi, the team had a record of 59 wins and 23 losses in the regular season, ranking fourth in the Western Conference.

Lin Dong's departure weakened the Sonics' overall offense and defense, especially on the offensive end, which often made the Sonics lack the ability to attack.

Although the space ball tactics are already mature, and the Sonics' three-pointers from the outside are still sharp, that only refers to the time when things are going smoothly. When someone needs to stand up and score to save the team in an adverse situation, it seems that they are willing but unable to do so.

Fortunately, the foundation of rotation defense is still there, which makes this year's Sonics look more like a team that uses defense to win the game, similar to the Pistons.

It is pure abuse against weak teams, no problem against ordinary strong teams, and can also fight back and forth against top giants, but it seems a bit powerless to say that they can win against a team of the level of the Lakers.

The first in the Western Conference is the Lakers.

The Lakers, who retained the F4 combination of Kobe, Yao Ming, Nash, and Odom, are quite domineering this season.

Not only did they win the highest record of 73 wins and 9 losses in the regular season, and advance to the playoffs as the first in the West, but they also showed absolute dominance throughout the playoffs.

First, they defeated the Grizzlies 4:0, and then defeated their arch-rival Supersonics 4:1. Finally, they gave the legendary Lakers and the Los Angeles fans who were suppressed by the Supersonics for four seasons a good vent. They went back and forth and ended the feud between the two teams.

In the end, they met the Spurs, who have a mature GDP combination, in the Western Conference Finals.

Duncan's performance this season is still strong. With the French sports car and the demon sword, the GDP combination can be regarded as a combination of NBA history.

In the Western Conference semifinals, they met the Mavericks led by Nowitzki. They were once regarded as equal opponents, but they were swept 4:0 by the Spurs in this series, showing super competitiveness.

Unfortunately, they met the more powerful Yao Bi combination... This pair of partners who are in perfect harmony from personality to desire to win, from the court to the training ground, have long surpassed the OK combination, another famous painting in NBA history, and have become the third combination with Jordan's Big Three and the god of the Supersonics.

What's more, the Lakers have a ball-handling master like Nash who can suppress Parker, and an all-around player like Odom who can limit the demon sword.

In the end, the Spurs were defeated 4:2, and only lost two of the three Spurs' home games. The New York Lakers' home courts have maintained an unbeaten record in the playoffs, and the score difference is about ten points. The overall strength is indeed better than the Spurs.

In the East, it is a situation of three strong teams.

The Cavaliers sent Artest away, and LeBron retired, and their overall competitiveness actually declined significantly.

But O'Neal's courage after knowing shame, and Dwyane Wade began to get into the state, also made this Cavaliers, who got rid of the salary burden, glow with new vitality.

The regular season 68 wins and 14 losses ranked first in the East.

Following closely behind is the Celtics, who formed the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen, ranking second in the East with only 67 wins and 15 losses.

Finally, the Pistons, who recruited Artest, showed strength on the defensive end, which was no weaker than the new defensive lineup of the Western Supersonics, and was even a stronger front line that could be seen with the naked eye, ranking third in the East with a record of 64 wins and 18 losses.

The three teams were in full swing in the playoffs, and more people were optimistic about the Celtics. It was a pity that in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics played against the Pistons. The two sides once fought to the point that Pierce was injured in the leg by a brutal pull-up action of Ben under the basket.

Due to the LeBron incident in the finals last year, Stern's whistle on the foul this year was unprecedented in the NBA. Ben was directly punished with a 5-game suspension, resulting in his absence from the next few games against the Celtics, which greatly reduced the Pistons' strength and morale, and they lost to the Celtics 2:4.

However, the Celtics also lost Pierce's fighting power and lost to Wade and O'Neal in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The final finals was decided between the Cavaliers and the Lakers.

Both sides staged a wonderful game 7 for the whole country.

Wade played against Kobe. Both of them were hailed as the new No. 1 in the NBA after Lin Dong. Kobe won because he was more experienced and had a stronger desire to win, while Wade won because he was younger and faster. They were always in a state of mutual explosion throughout the seven finals, and the competition between them also felt that their strength had reached a new level. Except for their matchups, whether O'Neal wanted to defend Kobe or Yao Ming wanted to stop Wade from getting into the inside, it was almost impossible to do so.

This made many fans feel that after Lin Dong left, Wade and Kobe reached the so-called highest level, and seemed to be as strong as Lin Dong.

Even many famous coaches made similar comments, believing that after losing Lin Dong's suppression, the two finally showed a domineering attitude and took the crucial step towards invincibility.

But only Wade and Kobe knew that they still had not defeated the imaginary enemy that they had simulated countless times in the training field... But it doesn't matter, there is still time for them to continue to improve before the 2008 Olympics!

Although the two did not decide the winner, O'Neal and Yao Ming did.

O'Neal has indeed entered the end of his career, even older than when he helped Wade win the championship for the last time in another world. His condition has indeed declined. He can't run or jump. Only the skills under the basket and a pile of meat are left.

But... Yao Ming plays your skills under the basket.

In terms of skills under the basket, there are few centers in this league who can compare with Yao Ming. Whether it is the unsolvable small hook or the big block, whether it is the pressure under the basket or his agile footwork, Yao Ming has achieved the extreme of a center. The only one in this league who can compete with Yao Ming in this position is Duncan of the Spurs. It's a pity that the upper limit of the Spurs in a small ball market is only GDP. Facing the current super Lakers, there is no overall competition.

The Lakers defeated the Cavaliers with a score of 98:92 in the seventh game. Yao Ming and Kobe won the championship together, and also won Yao Ming's first championship in the NBA.

When Kobe asked Yao Ming to raise the trophy with him during the photo session, the lights of the whole world were focused on these two guys with tears but smiles.

Whether it is for Kobe or Yao Ming, this championship has been waiting too long...

At the same time, the Lakers are still in full swing with the Cavaliers in the finals, attracting the attention of the whole country.

Seattle, Supersonics God Arena...

"Didn't Lao Lin say he would come today? Why hasn't he come yet?" In the God Arena, except for a few guys who have been on vacation and travel, most of the Supersonics have come to the arena, and Iguodala is looking towards the door with a beautiful girl.

Family members are generally not allowed to enter the training hall, but today is not training, and secondly, the news that Lin Dong is going back to the arena was heard by Iguodala's girlfriend. She is Lin Dong's number one fan and insisted on coming, and Iguodala has no choice.

Frankly speaking, he loves and fears his girlfriend, a model. He loves her beauty and super independent personality, but he also fears her personality.

Do you think this girl came to the gym just to see Lin Dong? No, she just enjoys the way Iguodala carefully protects her when facing Chandler.

Fortunately, the boxing champion was in a good mood today, probably because of the news that Lin Dong was coming back. He was not angry when he saw Iguodala with the girl he once liked.

Lao Qian's salary has increased significantly this season, and the boxing champion's nickname and figure make him look particularly powerful. He has been lucky in love recently. In fact, the boxing champion is no longer interested in the model who once provoked him and Iguodala to be jealous.

In fact, Lin Dong had returned to the United States half a month ago. After all, the Champions League started earlier and ended earlier.

He just didn't return to Seattle directly, nor did he go to Memphis where Yuya was, but went to Texas.

These days, there are countless fans who follow Lin Dong's whereabouts, but this time he hid his trip from Spain to the United States from all fans and reporters, and only the Sonics knew about it.

Why go to Texas? See our boss Yang's past business? Reminisce about the past?

The Sonics players were confused, only Payton said calmly: "Go find our new members for next season."

"New members?" Everyone's eyes widened.

What awesome players in Texas are worth Lin's personal trip?

Nowitzki of the Mavericks? Wait, isn't Battier already back on the team? Who else can he find?

"A rookie."

"Rookie? Haven't they started submitting their draft picks yet?" Sakuragi Hanamichi asked in surprise.

"He will participate in this year's draft, and he will definitely be our No. 1 pick!" Payton smiled pretentiously, looking mysterious, which made a group of people eager to find him.

Since becoming an assistant coach, he now enjoys teasing these young people.

Any random nonsense is enough to make these guys speculate for a long time, and then he hides aside and watches secretly.

MD, it turns out that being a coach is like this?

In fact, Payton is already very familiar with this rookie that Lin Dong has been paying attention to for a long time.

When Lin Dong mentioned this person last year, he made a special trip with Lin Dong to the University of Texas to see him once. In fact, the team had already started planning for this guy when Lin Dong left last season.

Lin Dong acted as a matchmaker, and the Supersonics paid a full 30 million US dollars to buy this year's No. 1 pick from the Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, who was at the bottom of the list this year, just to strengthen the Supersonics' offensive vacancy after Lin Dong left.

Frankly speaking, selling a No. 1 pick for 30 million is a deal that is absolutely not worthwhile for Michael Jordan, who hopes that the Bobcats will perform well.

But there is no way, Boss Joe's assets have shrunk... Nike's collapse last year caused Jordan to lose a lot of Nike stocks.

Although he had already sold in advance, the disaster came too quickly after all, and he couldn't sell too much at once to cause an early collapse. As a result, he lost a lot of money in his hands, which led to the Bobcats' operation in the past two years.

It's just a first-round pick. At most, he can play badly for another season and exchange 30 million for a small team to make a small profit. More importantly, Lin Dong gave him some original shares of Under Armour. Everyone knows that this is a profitable business, enough to help him stop the loss of Nike, so he went with the flow.

The No. 1 pick obtained at such a huge price is enough to prove Lin Dong's appreciation for this newcomer.

After watching the guy's game at the University of Texas, Payton also thought that this guy was definitely the best reinforcement for the Supersonics at present.

So much so that Greg Oden, who was about to participate in the draft this year, was hailed as the No. 1 high school student in the United States and the most valuable player in the NCAA this year. As long as he participates in the draft this year, he is destined to cause a frenzy among various teams. In Payton's eyes, he has become insignificant.

After all, for this league, the most valuable rookie is undoubtedly Oden, the center.

But for the Supersonics with Sakuragi Hanamichi...

Payton was thinking about something.

Wow...

The door of the stadium was pushed open, and Lin Dong appeared at the door of the stadium with a tall and thin young man.

A dark-skinned black man with arms hanging above his knees like a gibbon.

He was still very thin, so thin that it even looked like skin and bones, with no fat on his body. His expression looked a bit honest and a bit nervous, so that his immature black face looked red. When he stood behind Lin Dong, he was obviously taller than Lin Dong, but he looked stiff, grinning with an awkward smile.

All the players who were about to rush up to Lin Dong and give him a bear hug were stunned.

This... rookie? Big fool?

Who is this!

Payton walked over with a big laugh, first touching elbows with Lin Dong, then pulled the skinny black guy out from behind Lin Dong: "Hey, hey, hey, Kevin, don't be shy, this is your favorite Supersonics, show the same momentum you used to fight those idiots with me online, oh! How did you curse that bastard who slandered me the day before yesterday?"

Payton made a fierce expression, pulled the hand of the young and nervous boy, and said viciously to the air on the other side: "Get away from me! You bunch of bitches without balls! What do you know about basketball!"

The black guy was stunned.

When he first followed Lin Dong in, whether it was because of his idol Lin Dong or because of this god arena that has been hailed as the most glorious in the NBA, or a legendary player like Sakuragi Hanamichi, stepping into this place really made him extremely nervous.

But Payton's words startled him suddenly. He forgot the nervousness when he entered the dream stadium just now, and looked at Payton with surprise: "Are you Alexander the Great?"

"Yes! Dear Quel Sultan!"

The black man was surprised and happy to hear that. When he played at the University of Texas, he was often attacked and slandered by some guys with ulterior motives. The team coach did not allow them to make all kinds of Internet troubles that would be reported in the newspapers. He himself did not have the courage to fight in reality, so he opened a small account called Quel Sultan and cursed with these people on the official website of the University of Texas. Of course, he would also speak for his favorite Supersonics and idol Lin Dong in various forums.

Since it was a curse, there were naturally enemies and allies, and "Alexander the Great" was his most loyal ally on the Internet.

Before today, he only knew that 'Alexander the Great' was a fan of the Sonics, and he happened to be one too. So when someone cursed the Sonics in several well-known Internet forums, there would definitely be a rebuttal message from him and 'Alexander the Great'. After getting to know each other, they would pay attention to each other's replies. He would help Alexander the Great curse people, and whenever someone said 'that guy from the University of Texas' on the Internet, which caused him to respond, it would inevitably attract Alexander the Great's full support. As a result, he would even fight with him and various netizens in a post all night long, cursing everyone until they went to sleep and left!

Tsk tsk tsk, this friendship, although they haven't met yet, is definitely ironclad.

"Hahaha!" The big black guy and Payton laughed together, leaving everyone stunned.

This... this, this, this...

Is this the guy that Lin Dong abandoned everyone to go to Texas to invite, or the guy that Payton said the Sonics needed to spend 30 million to buy the No. 1 pick to sign?

Why does it feel like a cheap meeting with netizens?

Moreover, he is tall enough, and his wingspan is also quite good, but he is so thin that he looks like he can be blown down by a gust of wind...

No. 1 pick? Is that old man Payton right? Is Old Lin right?

With this rib rice-like body shape, can this guy be stronger than this year's Greg Oden?

"Introduce him."

Lin Dong smiled and introduced the team's famous players such as Sakuragi Hanamichi, Iguodala, Chandler, and Rukawa Kaede to the boy, and finally smiled and said the boy's name to everyone: "Hey, guys, welcome our future scoring champion of the Sonics, Kevin Durant from the University of Texas!"