Adrian's greeting made Kobe stunned for a moment before he reacted.
The Adrian in front of him is still so young, but he has undergone tremendous changes from a year ago.
A year ago, Kobe Bryant remembered Adrian as a smart, calm, yet somewhat shy teenager.
Now, the wisdom is still there, the calmness is still there, and the shyness is no longer there.
What replaced it was overwhelming confidence.
A year ago, Adrian was Kobe's little brother. At that time, he and he were called the Los Angeles Twin Stars and were considered the hope of the Los Angeles Lakers' revival.
A year later, due to some ugly struggles that were unbearable to mention and unforgettable, Adrian was sent to Orlando in exchange for Orlando's superstar Dwight Howard.
In fact, Kobe Bryant was secretly happy about Howard's arrival. 'Warcraft' Dwight Howard's reputation as the number one center in the United States is not false. He firmly believes that Dwight Howard's arrival can
It has greatly improved the strength of the Lakers, and winning the championship is like picking something out of a bag.[
But after arriving in Los Angeles, Howard showed a great degree of acclimatization. It was not because Howard became frail and sick because he could not adapt to the Feng Shui of Los Angeles, but because Howard was obviously unable to adapt to the triangle offense that Los Angeles had formed. He was in
The power exerted by the triangle offense system was not as good as most people imagined. This even led to the Lakers' tactical chaos for a period of time and the ups and downs of their record. Later, the tactics stabilized and the record also stabilized.
Now, Howard has become an ordinary center who can only grab rebounds on the court and perform explosive jump dunks.
When the Finals failed, Kobe Bryant couldn't help but regret a little. He regretted that he had supported Buss Jr. and supported this seemingly good deal.
And Adrian, who left the Lakers, is like a tiger returning to the forest, a dragon returning to the sea, bursting out with a more dazzling light than when he was in Los Angeles. With only half a season left, the leader lost
The core of the team, the Orlando Magic, entered the playoffs in second place in the Eastern Conference with a winning percentage second only to the Celtics, and successively eliminated the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, and the eventual champion Celtics met in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Although they suffered a disastrous defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers, who reached the Finals, also lost to the powerful Celtics on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals. In terms of playoff record, the Los Angeles Lakers are not even ahead of the Orlando Magic.
There is no lead that is too small, and all of this is attributed by the media to Adrian's performance.
After a very successful year, Adrian has transformed from the league's top star into a well-known superstar. His identity has also undergone a huge change, from the little brother next to Kobe to the leader of Magic.
The 'magician' who brought about the revival.
Now Adrian's status in the NBA is gradually catching up with his own. What he lacks is a weighty honor and a championship ring.
"Yes. Long time no see." Kobe couldn't help but feel a little sad because of his deep thoughts and memories. However, as a typical obsessive-compulsive disorder patient, Kobe Bryant would never remain silent in the memories of the past for too long. After such a sentence
, Kobe already raised his head: "But it seems that you are not much different from the past. I will still beat you to a pulp tonight."
"Oh, then I'm really looking forward to it."
Adrian responded with a smile. That smile made Kobe quite dissatisfied. It was an indifferent smile, and that look was the most serious denial.
"Then you have to be well prepared." Anger simmered in Kobe's heart: "I hope your confidence will not be lost after tonight."
As the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson sat calmly on the coaching bench. The exchange of words between Adrian and Kobe all fell into his eyes. Looking at the arrogant Kobe and Yun Danfeng
Young Adrian, Phil Jackson secretly sighed in his heart.
In the eyes of Phil Jackson, Adrian is definitely a more suitable core candidate than Kobe Bryant. He has all the qualities needed for a core player: calmness, wisdom, generosity, not greedy for the ball, and
He has a desire for honor. In the last period of his coaching career, Phil Jackson lamented more than once how lucky he was to be able to meet such a young superstar who was growing at a terrifying speed.
However, God always likes to play with the world.
After chatting with Kobe for a while, Adrian greeted the other Lakers players skillfully. In the current Lakers lineup, there are not many players that Adrian is familiar with and has a good relationship with. Only Manovich
There are only three of them, Fisher and Odom. Although they have left Los Angeles, the relationship between Adrian and these people is not that important.
He did not become colder, and kept in touch on the phone frequently. He said hello to the three of them, and after chatting for a while, he found that Phil Jackson's eyes fell on him. Adrian nodded towards Phil Jackson.
After smiling, Phil Jackson nodded and smiled in return. There was no need to say anything else between the two.
Back in the Magic's half, Adrian called out to Michael Pietrus who was trying to get a shot.[
"Michael, be careful with Kobe during the game later. I feel like this guy is not easy to mess with tonight."
"Did you provoke him?" Michael Pietrus turned to look at the Lakers half, and then asked Adrian.
There are many rumors circulating in the league, and there are also many about Kobe. One of them is really magical. "If you want to guard Kobe, then provoke Kobe and let him shoot randomly. Then you pray to God that he will shoot at random today."
It's cold to the touch at night, so you can freeze him. If God happens to be out today, he's going to blow you away."
There is some basis for such rumors, and Adrian also knows that if Kobe is really angry because of provocation, then his burst of energy will definitely be much greater than usual.
"No, but he is very good at provoking himself." Adrian replied seriously. Regardless of the inexplicable look on Michael Pietrus' face, he patted him on the shoulder: "Anyway, there is nothing wrong with being careful."
After the warm-up, the official game time finally arrived.
Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat stood in the center circle, ready to wait for the referee to throw the ball. Marcin Gortat, this little substitute who was originally penniless in the Magic, quickly changed his mind after Dwight Howard left the Magic.
He has grown up and now has quite steadily occupied the starting center position of the Magic. Marc Gasol
Although he is considered to have great potential, he is not yet qualified to challenge Marcin Gortat for the starting center position. I don’t know that Dwight Howard sees his former younger brother now competing with him in the position that once belonged to him.
What kind of psychological activity will there be? At least Dwight Howard's face was livid.
When the whistle sounded, the basketball was thrown high from the hands of the referee. Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat took off almost in no particular order and jumped towards the basketball that had risen to the commanding heights in the sky.
Although Marcin Gortat has a certain advantage in height, Howard's explosive jump makes up for his height disadvantage. With his terrifying jumping ability, Howard is the first to move the basketball towards the Lakers.
halftime.
The basketball was obtained by Derek Fisher. After dribbling the ball to the three-point line, Fisher quickly handed the basketball into the hands of Kobe. Fisher was not a point guard with strong organizational skills, so Fisher
It is simply difficult for Fisher to organize the Lakers' offense, but it is precisely because of this that Fisher has become the most suitable point guard for the Lakers.
After handing the basketball to Kobe, Fisher took Adrian and started running circles.
Adrian did not defend Kobe. If it was in the past, Adrian would definitely take on the task of facing Kobe at this time, but now there is no need. The Magic already has a defensive strongman in the forward and guard lineup.
Michael Pietrus. This task of defending the opponent's sharp offensive knife was naturally transferred to Michael Pietrus.
Kobe controlled the ball and dribbled a few times, followed by a fake move to the left and right. Michael Pietrus, who was highly focused, was not fooled by Kobe Bryant's fake move and still kept up with Kobe's move.
Pace. Seeing that he could not get rid of Pietrus, Kobe suddenly stopped and immediately pulled up a fadeaway jumper.
The pull-up fadeaway jumper has now become Kobe's signature offensive method. Different from the general pull-up fadeaway jumper, Kobe's pull-up fadeaway jumper appears to be particularly coherent. From the pull-up stop to the fadeaway jumper, it is almost a seamless transition.
The defender had no time to react, allowing Kobe to easily find a shooting opportunity.
This time was no exception. Although Michael's body coordination was very good, he still couldn't keep up with Kobe's movements this time. When Pietrus stopped and jumped to try to block Kobe's shot, Kobe had already shot the basketball in his hand.
go out.
"Bang!"
Kobe, who had just come on the court, seemed a little cold. The opportunity for the ball had already appeared, but in the end he missed it. The basketball hit the edge of the basket and fell. Love, who was fully alert, immediately took a big step and got into position to hit Paul.
- With Gasol stuck behind him, the three giants of Kevin Love, Marcin Gortat, and Dwight Howard flew off the ground and pounced on the basketball in the air. (To be continued...)
