After finishing the game with the Mavericks, the Bulls played against the Celtics, Raptors and Thunder in the following week.

When playing against the Celtics, Xu Yong also met Zhou Qi on the court for the first time.

Zhou Qi starts at the power forward position for the Celtics.

Boozer was amnestied and Brandon Bass is serving as his substitute. Judging from these arrangements, the Celtics still attach great importance to him.

There are many factors involved. The Celtics have just started rebuilding, and Zhou Qi is the only lottery pick;

The Chinese market is now well developed, and they definitely want to get a piece of the pie;

Zhou Qi’s talent is indeed good, especially now that his age has not changed, he is worth training.

And their professionalism can also be seen from their arrangements.

Zhou Qi was called the "Chinese Durant" during the previous draft, but it is obvious that he does not have Durant's flexibility and coordination, and he cannot keep up with the confrontation at the five position. The four position, or the space-type four position, is the direction the Celtics are training him.

The probability of the No. 9 pick in a bad year becoming a star is not very high, but being able to become a starting-level player is a success. From this perspective, the Celtics' training direction is still correct.

Zhou Qi finally played for 25 minutes, scoring 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, which was a normal performance for him this season.

Although it is not particularly outstanding, considering the history that Xu Yong knows, this performance is much better.

And you have to know that he is three years younger than he was then.

This week, the Bulls had a record of 3 wins and 1 loss, and Xu Yong won the Player of the Week award.

However, half of this week's player of the week award goes to Butler, who averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 48%, and performed very well.

Because the results of the first round of voting for the All-Star Game had already been released, his performance plus the support of Chinese fans put him in third place among guards, only behind Wade and Irving.

If this trend continues, Butler is likely to be selected for the All-Star Game, and as a starter.

This also caused Butler to fall into huge controversy.

After all, in terms of his hard power, he is obviously inferior to DeRozan and George behind him.

Of course, Chicago fans are also defending him, because Irving's statistics are not much better than his.

Amid such controversy, Butler's attitude is naturally the focus of outside attention.

On this day, the Bulls finished training and Butler was sitting on the sidelines with Xu Yong chatting about the game when a reporter came over to him.

"Do you expect to be selected as an All-Star?"

"No, I'm not paying attention to that," Butler replied simply.

The reporter seemed surprised by this answer, because being selected as an All-Star is a great honor for a player.

Moreover, according to the new labor agreement, if Butler is selected as an All-Star starter for two consecutive years, he can trigger a super maximum salary.

"I mean, you have the potential to be a starter in this year's All-Star Game," the reporter reminded.

"It's all the same, I'm only proud of the defense and the effort that I put in, and that's not there (at the All-Star Game), so let me stay away from it and let me and Kwame (Brown) go on vacation."

Xu Yong couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Butler has high IQ and EQ, but sometimes he just likes to speak bluntly.

However, Butler's answer put an end to the outside controversy.

After all, the real person doesn't care, so there is actually no difference between being elected and not being elected, so naturally there is nothing to argue about.

But not long after that, the Bulls received bad news.

Just as the team was preparing to travel to Los Angeles to start a new round of road trip, Brown suffered an injury and the situation was not optimistic.

His right leg has been injured since the beginning of the season and he has been receiving conservative treatment, but the effect has not been good. He has persisted until now and has reached the point where he has to undergo surgery.

If he had surgery, that would mean the end of his season. 【Note 19】

Now Brown has no chance to go on vacation with Butler.

This is also the second player in the team to be ruled out for the season after Rose.

Moreover, Rose and Brown were both starters for the Bulls at the beginning of the season, but before the season was even halfway through, two of the starting five were gone.

The Bulls have been somewhat unlucky this season.

But this is the NBA, no one knows what will happen until the season is over.

Thibodeau's response this time was the same as Rose's before, and he didn't have many options. He promoted Anderson to the starting lineup, put veteran Muhammad into the rotation, and activated rookie Steven Adams.

Of course, the management also started to operate at this time.

Brown is different from Rose. Brown has only one year left on his contract with the Bulls, and it is not a big one.

So after Brown was confirmed to be out for the season, they had already planned to cut Brown and then seek to add someone in the free market.

Of course, this will take some time. For the next away trip, the team can only count on these three inside players on the books.

The next day, the Bulls arrived in Los Angeles.

Xu Yong went to see Kobe again, but not at Kobe's home, but at the training hall of Staples Center.

Kobe returned in late December and has played in five games so far.

Although his condition was average, averaging only 13.6 points per game with a shooting percentage of only 42%, he still seemed to be in a good mood.

When he saw Xu Yong, he immediately asked for a duel.

The result was not too suspenseful. Xu Yong knew that Kobe didn't like others to give in, so he went all out and beat Kobe.

He could feel that Kobe was not fully recovered yet.

This can be seen from the fact that Kobe consciously landed on the forefoot of his left foot when he landed, which was obviously to protect his torn left Achilles tendon.

"Now you are the new sheriff of this town." After the duel ended, Kobe sat there and said with a smile.

There was a hint of bitterness in that smile.

Xu Yong was slightly surprised. This was the first time he heard Kobe admit defeat.

Although, he could actually understand it.

Just like he was able to persuade Rose before, no one knows their body better than the players themselves.

When he was injured, Kobe thought he could still come back, but now after playing so many games, he should know that he can't go back.

If he still insists on competing with Xu Yong, it is not being competitive, but deceiving himself.

But after saying that, Kobe immediately said: "But in tomorrow's game, I will be the winner."

Xu Yong burst into laughter after hearing this. Kobe is still Kobe after all.

…

The game between the Bulls and the Lakers has not started yet, but fans on social media have been embroiled in debate over Howard's remarks.

In an interview with team reporters on training day, Howard said he had fully recovered from his back injury and that he was still the league's top center.

He had a reason to say this. The league made changes to the All-Star voting system this year, eliminating the center position and replacing it with two backcourt players and three frontcourt players.

This adjustment is the general trend. With the retirement of O'Neal and Yao Ming, and the injury of Howard, the league no longer has a dominant center. Instead, it is replaced by a heyday of forwards, with many talented small forwards and power forwards.

Then Howard became a victim. In the first two rounds of All-Star voting, he was left behind by Durant, Griffin and Love, and the vote gap was very large. There was a high probability that he would not be selected as a starter.

This made him feel particularly uncomfortable. He had been completely suppressed by Yao Ming in the Eastern Conference. He did not expect that in his first season in the Western Conference, he would miss the starting lineup again because of the system reform.

How could this baby not feel bitter?

There are basically three types of arguments on social media now.

The first one is that the league has abolished the center position, so even if you are the No. 1 center, you can’t make the All-Star team.

The second type is to not be like Dampier and wait until Yao Ming retires before speaking to the media.

The third possibility is that Howard is no longer a beast and has no dominance in the interior.

That’s right, this probably shouldn’t be called a debate, it’s just fans complaining one-sidedly.

Since Howard played one season with the Pacers, his fan base has been woefully sparse.

Especially after Kobe Bryant returned to the Lakers this season, he was unwilling to set screens for Kobe, which naturally aroused dissatisfaction among Kobe fans.

As a player who is disliked by both Comey fans and James fans, Howard is unique.

The next night, the Staples Center was packed, with Hollywood celebrities gathering in the front row.

Of course, there was no Scarlett.

Scarlett is now Xu Yong's past tense.

After all, physical contact is new, but when the newness wears off, it's time for each of us to live our own lives.

Among the female stars on the sidelines at this time, the most eye-catching ones are Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie.

There is no need to say much about Charlize Theron. She is the American version of the national goddess. She is recognized as a beautiful and bubbling type. She is 38 years old this year, and she is still charming.

As for Robbie, he recently became famous for co-starring with "Little Leo" Leonardo Dicaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street".

Of course, Xu Yong also has some impression of Robbie, because she will also play the role of "Harley Quinn" in the movie "Joker" in the future, and her figure is quite invincible.

During the warm-up, there were frequent shots of players from both teams, especially the split shots of Xu Yong and Kobe, which made people feel like they were in a different year. Many fans couldn't help but cheer and applaud after seeing this.

After the warm-up, the phenomenon entered into the opening ceremony.

The Bulls are in the front, with Hinrich, Butler, Xu Yong, David West and Anderson.

The Lakers are behind, with Howard, George Hill, Dio and Ariza.

"Eighteen All-Stars, five-time NBA champion, four-time All-Star Game MVP, two-time Finals MVP, one-time MVP, from Lower Merion High School, No. 24, Kobe Bryant!"

Kobe was the last to take the stage, and he was greeted with thunderous cheers.

Despite his poor form since his comeback, he is still a favorite among Los Angeles fans.

Kobe waved.

When Xu Yong saw this, he was also touched.

One person, one city is difficult to achieve in competitive sports, especially in commercial leagues like the NBA, but its charm lies in that when you overcome numerous difficulties and achieve success, this city will be labeled with you, which may be the greatest significance.

And listening to these introductions, Kobe's career has actually been complete. Six championships would be better, but if Kobe were asked to curry favor with someone like O'Neal for the sixth one, it would be superfluous.

After the opening ceremony, players from both sides came on stage one after another.

When Kobe came on the court, he took the initiative to greet Xu Yong with a smile, and it was obvious that his mentality had indeed changed.

Howard jumped high and pushed the ball back to the Lakers' half, and the game officially began.

As soon as he came on, Kobe held the ball and back-attacked Butler in the high post.

Butler's defense is very active, and as he said before in front of the media, effort and defense are what he is proud of.

Kobe was a little staggered by the defense, and it can be seen that he has not recovered well.

Finally, he turned around with difficulty and shot backwards despite Butler's interference.

This ball is very difficult.

"when!"

The basketball hit the front line and bounced out.

But at this moment, Howard jumped high to grab the offensive rebound, then bent down and exerted force, directly pushing Anderson away and making a powerful two-handed dunk.

A huge muffled sound came through the loudspeaker, instantly causing cheers in the Staples Center.

Howard started the game pretty well.

In the Bulls' turn, Butler held the ball in the frontcourt and rushed directly towards Kobe. Kobe couldn't keep up with the first step and was pressed to one side. However, just as Butler passed the ball, he kicked the ball out of the court.

Although his feet were slow, his hands were still moving very fast.

However, when the ball was passed again, Kobe was still passed by Butler. His left ankle was unable to exert force, and his puppy gait was basically useless.

Butler blocked Kobe, and when he saw that there was no help defense, he broke into the paint and made a quick shot.

However, his shot did not go in because Howard came out from the side and blocked the ball with a volleyball-style block, sending the ball flying out of the court.

The Staples Center was boiling again.

"Pay attention to Dwight's position." Xu Yong walked to Butler and reminded him.

After two rounds, it can be seen that Howard's previous remarks were not self-boasting. The back injury this season has indeed had little impact on him, and he feels a bit like the Howard of the past.

There was not much time left for the attack, so Butler directly passed the ball to Xu Yong for a one-on-one shot.

Xu Yong held the ball and played against Ariza, and made a quick stop and dry shot after a sideways drag step.

The Lakers attacked in the frontcourt, and Kobe held the ball and signaled Howard to play a pick-and-roll.

Howard came out reluctantly, and after symbolically blocking it, he went inside to dismantle it.

However, what he didn't expect was that Kobe took a few steps forward and threw the ball directly into the air above the basket.

He reacted quickly, jumping high and grabbing Kobe's pass in mid-air, directly passing Anderson.

“Bang!”

He performed an explosive alley-oop dunk.

After completing the alley-oop, Howard performed a Superman celebration.

The fans at the Staples Center were completely unable to sit still, and many of them stood up and pumped their fists and cheered.

Howard was very different tonight!

When Xu Yong saw this scene, he somewhat understood what Kobe said yesterday, "I will be the winner." He thought Kobe wanted to compete with him in points like before, but now it seems that Kobe has changed his mindset.

He should have thought of it earlier. From Kobe saying he was the new sheriff to him greeting him with a smile before the game, these details all illustrate this point.

On the Bulls bench, Thibodeau stood up with a frown.

Howard's desire tonight is indeed strong, but the more important problem is the Bulls' weakness in the interior.

Anderson has excellent running and jumping abilities, but his confrontation and strength are much worse than Brown, making it difficult for him to match up with inside players like Howard.

On the court, Xu Yong backed up Ariza, observed the defense, then turned around and made a layup with a low center of gravity.

Howard's reaction was still quick, but his quick shot only hit the rebound.

The Lakers played very lively at the beginning, but the score was tied.

Xu Yong deserves Kobe's evaluation yesterday, the new sheriff of the town.

Howard returned to the frontcourt and asked for the ball directly in the low post.

Hill fed the ball in and he forced Anderson to commit an early foul.

Just then a short whistle sounded from the sidelines and Muhammad came on to replace Anderson.

Thibodeau's substitution was decisive enough.

The Lakers sent the ball out from the sideline, but Howard did not continue his low-post attack.

Although Muhammad is old, he has been playing blue-collar work for many years and his physique is there.

Howard then took the initiative to screen for Kobe, and it was a continuous screen, until he forced Butler to go around the back before going down.

Kobe's reaction was also quick, and he hit the ground ball in time.

Of course Kobe can pass the ball well, provided he wants to pass it.

A very classic cooperation between him and O'Neal was the key dunk when he broke through the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals and passed the ball back to O'Neal.

And during the Lakers' two consecutive championships, he fed Gasol a lot of similar passes.

Before, he was reluctant to pass the ball to Howard because he looked down on him, but after changing his mindset, he made changes.

After Howard got the ball, there was an open space in front of him. He took one dribble and once again performed a violent two-handed shot.

“Bang!”

This time he was obviously more ruthless, and the entire basket was shaking.

The cheers at the scene exploded. This was Howard's third dunk tonight!

This is the Warcraft they want to see!!

Butler's jump shot failed to score due to Kobe's interference. After Howard scored consecutive points on the offensive end, Kobe became more committed on the defensive end.

And looking back, Kobe directly fed the ball to Howard in the low post, and Howard attacked Muhammad with the ball, and scored a layup after a jump step confrontation.

He scored 8 points in a row at the start!

After scoring the goal, Howard smiled and took the initiative to find Kobe to high-five, showing his signature sunny smile. He was unstoppable in the Bulls' interior tonight, playing the role of a "happy beast."

Thibodeau reached out and called a timeout.

Anderson lacks strength and confrontation, and Muhammad's speed cannot keep up with Howard's rhythm.

"Chicago used to have Yao and me, you know, we could let Dwight stay on the court quietly for 48 minutes, but now, they don't even have Kwame Brown."

Just as O'Neal lamented in the commentary booth at this time, Thibodeau was unable to cook without the ingredients tonight.

Xu Yong also looked up at the scoreboard at this time.

Although the Bulls are still in a stalemate with the Lakers, if they cannot limit Howard's performance in the interior, they will always be in a passive situation.

He glanced at Adams at the end of the bench. He was the only one of the Bulls' three centers who was not on the field.

After the timeout, Xu Yong challenged Ariza and scored a goal to stabilize the situation.

When he retreated to the defensive end, when Howard was positioning himself in the paint, he also retreated in advance.

This was the adjustment Thibodeau made during the timeout. The Bulls have two defensive players in Xu Yong and Butler, so this is completely doable.

However, Kobe took a decisive shot from the outside with the help of Ariza's screen.

“Swish!”

With a crisp sound, Kobe scored his first goal of the night.

The training he insisted on doing during his recovery was effective, and there was no problem with his touch. The only problem was that his ankle injury made him lack explosiveness, making it impossible for him to break free from the defense. However, in these two rounds, he obviously no longer paid attention to his ankle.

In the next few minutes, it was time for the retrospective segment where Xu Yong and Kobe scored points.

After Butler's series of highlights, his performance tonight was obviously a bit "hit a wall", and the Bulls' ball possession was transferred more to Xu Yong.

On the Lakers side, after Howard was double-teamed, Kobe took more shots.

Thibodeau was the first to get restless.

His adjustments during the timeout were largely based on Kobe's average condition, and this kind of scoring scene was obviously not what he wanted.

He turned to the end of the bench again and called Adams up.

The Bulls' three inside players took turns to play. Even if they couldn't defend Howard, they would still put him on the defensive tonight.

Adams was already ready to go. The young man quickly took off his training suit and then trotted to the technical desk.

Just as Thibodeau said in his previous conversation with Xu Yong, the Bulls did not have many training opportunities for the championship this season. Although Adams performed well in the preseason, he did not get many opportunities after entering the regular season.

After all, Brown starts, Anderson comes off the bench, and Muhammad fills in the remaining time. This rotation is the safest.

However, all this changed with Brown's season-ending injury. Anderson's characteristics made him more suitable as a substitute, and Muhammad was too old, so Adams got his chance.

Kobe's offense caused Butler to foul, the game entered a dead ball, and Adams came on to replace Muhammad.

Seeing Adams come on the court, Xu Yong took the initiative to reach out and high-five him to encourage him. He is the person on the Bulls who knows Adams' strength best.

But Howard's reaction at this time was particularly interesting.

To put it nicely, his personality is that of a sunny boy, but to put it bluntly, he is immature.

He was very happy when he scored consecutively at the beginning of the game, but he became unhappy again when he was double-teamed and couldn't get the ball.

And now when he saw the Bulls replace the player with a handsome, fair-skinned guy, he immediately became happy again.

This kind of white inside player is simply his favorite.

Especially when Adams came on, Thibodeau signaled to adjust the defensive strategy on the sidelines and switched back to single defense in the interior.

He couldn't wait to take a position in the low position, like a man who had been hungry for a long time.

Hill lobbed the ball in.

Howard got the ball and started to exert force with his back against Adams.

Bullying rookies is easy for him.

But soon he found that the situation was very different from what he had imagined.

He hit Adams twice, but he didn't move at all!

Why is there something wrong with this guy's power?

For a moment, he even wondered if his back injury had come back to him.

Howard refused to believe it and used all his strength, finally managing to get the upper hand and push Adams away.

But after the collision, he discovered something very embarrassing: he no longer had the extra strength to jump up and complete the attack.

And when he readjusted himself, he found Adams on top of him again.

He pushed again, but this time he couldn't move it!

Just then the baseline referee blew the whistle, calling Howard's three-second offense.

Howard took the ball with a helpless look on his face, then shook his head. Finally, when he retreated, he looked at Adams with an extremely strange look, as if he was looking at a monster.

Xu Yong was so amused by what he saw.

Adams' strength is his trademark. During his peak period, he had a nickname called "The Unshakable Thing", which meant that there was only one result when opponents bumped into him during a breakthrough: the player would be bounced back, but he would remain motionless.

Before Xu Yong was reborn, he had seen two of his classic animated pictures. One was a direct pass from the backcourt to assist Morant in completing the buzzer-beater in the front corner, which became the longest assist in NBA history; the other was a casual throw with one hand, just like an ordinary person throwing a small stone, and directly threw a three-pointer from the backcourt.gif.

In fact, there is a description that will make it easier to understand, that is, a more than ten kilograms lighter but more flexible version of Battelle.

Although Adams has not reached his peak yet, he is still enough to make Howard uncomfortable.

Thibodeau was also quite surprised at this time.

He knew that Adams was strong. After all, the coach had estimated data. However, since he had not played much, he had no reference and his impression was not strong. This time, he refreshed his impression.

During the Bulls' attack, Xu Yong's shot was blocked and missed.

After gradually realizing that Butler was not in good shape, the Lakers began to press their defense towards Xu Yong.

Howard turned around and was about to grab the rebound.

But at this moment, he felt a strong force coming from behind, and he was pushed off his balance.

When he regained control of his body and wanted to grab the rebound again, he looked up and saw a white and tender hand.

Adams swung his long arms and successfully grabbed the frontcourt rebound.

The fans at the scene were also stunned. This rookie who came out of nowhere actually completed the [picking the melon off Howard's head]!

Moreover, Adams was very self-aware. After getting the rebound, he did not force an attack. Instead, he turned around and looked for Xu Yong, and then waited for Xu Yong to come over before passing the ball to him.

Howard reacted at this time, feeling humiliated and furious, he wanted to stop Xu Yong, but he soon found that he... couldn't get through!

Adams was like a huge rock blocking his way, holding him back.

“Bang!”

Xu Yong jumped lightly and easily completed a dunk with his left hand. After landing, he high-fived Adams.

There was a commotion at the scene, with people talking about it.

"Who is this guy? This strength, this front plate, and this position, it makes me wet."

“No.”

"Rookie? I remember the Bulls didn't have a draft pick this year?"

"It seems that the Raptors' draft pick was traded to the Bulls. It seems to be a lottery pick named Adams."

"Yeah, I just checked, Steven Adams, from New Zealand, No. 12 pick, damn, why do the Bulls always draft such strong players?!"

…

The game on the field continues.

Howard screened for Kobe and then received the ball and attacked the basket, trying to move and play.

But Adams' mobility was not bad, and he kept blocking in front of him. As a result, he finally shot against Adams's resistance... but it didn't even touch the basket!

The referee blew the whistle, but did not call a foul. Instead, he signaled out of bounds, giving the Bulls possession of the ball.

Howard was stunned when he saw the referee's gesture, and he seemed a little autistic.

Although he is now stronger than rookie Adams, the problem is that he is not much stronger.

When his strength is not enough to suppress his opponent, he will struggle due to his lack of skills.

In particular, Adams' mobility is not as clumsy as a wooden stake, but very flexible.

This is truly meeting his nemesis.

Without Yao Ming, there is still Brown. Without Brown, there is Adams. Like James, he is unlucky every time he meets the Bulls.

When Xu Yong saw this, he was more than just happy, he couldn't help laughing.

If we really compare who is worse, Howard is still much worse than James.

James' shooting has at least become stable in the past two years, but Howard really hasn't improved at all.

And the key is that they have no self-awareness.

So don’t blame O’Neal, Kobe and others, or even James fans for looking down on him. He has basically pushed himself to the bottom of the contempt chain step by step.

Once Howard loses his spark in the paint, the Lakers are basically finished.

Although Kobe played hard despite his injury in the later stages of the game, without the inside advantage, the Lakers still have a gap in strength with the Bulls.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Lakers 96-84 on the road.

According to post-match statistics, Kobe of the Lakers scored a team-high 21 points. He made 7 of 15 shots and had as many as 7 assists, playing his best game of the season.

Howard scored 8 points in a row at the beginning, but he only got 14 points and 11 rebounds in the end.

For the Bulls, Xu Yong had 31 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, West had 17 points and 7 rebounds, and Butler had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Adams played the role of a surprise player tonight. He played for 28 minutes, scored 2 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block, including 3 offensive rebounds.

Looking at the statistics, his performance is not impressive, but if you watch the game, you will find that many things really cannot be quantified by statistics.

Because defense, confrontation, and positioning are all considered "dirty and tiring work", most of them will not be reflected in the data.

But everyone who watched the game knows that if it weren't for him, the Bulls' inside line would have been broken tonight.

After the game, Xu Yong and Adams attended the post-match press conference together.

Logically, David West should have been brought in today, but West chose to give this opportunity to Adams.

"I think Steven changed the situation of the game. He stood up when the team was in the most difficult time. Without him, we might not have won the game." Thibodeau praised Adams.

"I think after this game, the position of the league's top center will change." Xu Yong made a joke about Howard's pre-match remarks.

This made Adams feel a little embarrassed.

"I just do what I should do. I want to thank Coach Thibodeau for giving me the opportunity, as well as Xu and other teammates for their trust." Unlike the "toughness" he showed on the court, Adams was very gentle and in line with his appearance in front of reporters.

Xu Yong turned his head in surprise at this time.

Because Adams doesn't have many opportunities to perform and is very low-key, his understanding of Adams is more focused on his strength.

But Adams' state, or contrast, at the press conference successfully attracted his attention and reminded him of an old friend he hadn't seen for a long time, James Johnson.

It seems that truly “tough” people tend to have better tempers (it may also be because the cost of their actions is greater than that of ordinary people).

"Jimmy's performance was poor tonight. Is there something wrong?"

Of course there are praises, but there are also doubts, and the one who is questioned is Butler, who performed poorly tonight.

Although Butler scored 11 points, he only made 3 of 13 shots tonight.

The first person to be asked a question was Xu Yong.

"Everyone goes through nights like this, but that's not a problem." Xu Yong's answer was very affirmative. Just as he said to Thibodeau at the beginning, it is unrealistic to expect Butler to play well in every game. Growth requires a process.

"He's fine, he just hasn't had a good touch, and he will adjust soon." Thibodeau's answer was similar to Xu Yong's. He accepted Butler's growth and also accepted Butler's poor performance.

After the Bulls finished their press conference, the Lakers arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Kobe and Howard attended with head coach Brown.

The expressions of the three looked very serious. After all, no one could be happy after losing the game.

"We struggled on the offensive end. We need to play tougher and I need to score more points to help the team." Kobe analyzed the game carefully when summarizing the game and also talked about his responsibilities.

But at this time Howard's eyes were evasive and he seemed a little restless.

He had been reluctant to come to tonight's press conference, as he was bound to be criticized after the game.

In fact, even Brown acquiesced to him, but in the end Kobe forced him to come.

"Dwight, we saw you start the game well, but when the Bulls brought in Steven Adams, you went silent. Can you tell me what happened in the game?"

As expected, what is coming will come. The Los Angeles media does not know what politeness is.

Everyone's eyes were focused on him, including Kobe who turned to look at him.

Howard is now the ant on the hot pot. He took the microphone and said after a moment of silence: "They adjusted their defensive strategy and began to shrink their defense. I didn't get a good chance. That's what happened. Yes, that's it."

After hearing his answer, the reporters in the audience were a little confused, because the reporter was asking about the matchup with Adams, but Howard was talking about the Bulls' defensive strategy at that time. But in fact, the Bulls gave up shrinking after Adams came on.

Howard had no intention of continuing to explain.

After all, he was defended to death by a rookie. How else can you explain it? You can't just say that you can't beat a rookie, right?

Kobe exhaled heavily through his nostrils at this time, obviously a little disappointed with Howard.

He felt that Howard was not mature enough, so he wanted to use such occasions to let him learn to accept failure and stand up from failure.

Because this injury made him realize that he can't go back, he hopes that Howard can grow up quickly to take over from him and continue the Lakers' glory.

But it turned out that he shouldn't have had such illusions.

The reporter did not intend to give up and continued to ask: "Do you think you can improve tonight? After playing such a game."

This question was even more impolite than the previous one, and it was obvious that the author was dissatisfied with Howard's evasive way.

Howard was immediately unhappy when he heard this. He had already played hard enough for the Lakers!

Kobe has been unable to play this season, and it is he who has kept the Lakers' playoff hopes alive!

Why do these people criticize him just because he didn't play well in a game?

"At the end of the day, we didn't win the game, but the performance that I performed in the minutes and the things that I did, I think I played effectively. My game plus-minus value was plus-7 and I didn't turn the ball over. I don't know what you mean by a game like this."

Howard's words made everyone quiet.

Kobe's face suddenly became extremely ugly.

Basketball is a team sport, not an individual sport. Such remarks that the team lost but I did not lose are not just disappointment, but an insult to basketball.

He thought Bynum was immature enough before, but he didn't expect Howard to be a plus version.

He finally picked up the microphone in front of him and said directly: "We will win back."

After saying that, he didn't seem to be in the mood to stay here with Howard. He stood up with his hands on the table, then got up and left.

It was at this moment that everyone noticed that Kobe was limping.

Obviously, after ignoring the injury outbreak, his injury, which had not yet fully recovered, was likely to relapse.

…

"My plus-minus value is +7?"

After taking Adams to a local mall in Los Angeles for shopping and buying him a gold necklace as a reward, Xu Yong returned to the hotel to rest. When he turned on his phone, he saw these overwhelming comments.

He was a little dazed for a moment, and thought... this was what James said.

But upon closer inspection, I realized it was Howard.

Theoretically, Howard shouldn't be able to say such a thing.

But he changed his mind and seemed to find it understandable.

After all, Howard was teammates with James for a year in Indiana.

They didn't get along very well in the first half of the season, but the second half was pretty good.

James is quite capable in influencing his teammates. If you don't believe me, just look at Austin Reeves' fadeaway jump shot.jpg.

Then, he saw some news about Kobe.

Kobe will be out for about six weeks, or one and a half months, due to a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau of his left knee.

Seeing this, he had a deeper understanding of Kobe's condition.

Kobe probably saw that the team's record was not good, so he returned to the game early before his injury was fully healed.

This is what his character will do.

Then after several consecutive games of poor performance, he even forced himself to adjust his mentality and play with Howard.

As a result, Howard did this.

This is not a recurrence of injury, it's giving up.

Seeing this, he sent a text message to Kobe.

"Take good care of your injuries. I look forward to fighting you next time. You said you would win back."

After sending the text message, he continued to read the news on social media.

Adams performed well, especially in defense and offensive rebounding, and some people have begun to compare him to Rodman.

There is nothing he can do about it, after all, he is on the Bulls now.

Then some people are more proactive.

When Butler performed well before, Kenny Smith compared Butler to Pippen.

Well, now we have Xu Yong, the Jordan, already, and now Pippen and Rodman have also arrived.

This new Bulls team is going to awaken the dead memories of some old fans.