The epidemic began to invade the league, and it was covered up at the beginning. Some players on the team would miss the game due to injuries, and then they would return to the court in about a week.
The impact of the virus on the human body is related to physical fitness, and the physical fitness of NBA players is very good.
However, as the epidemic spread, more and more players were absent, and the records of many teams began to be affected.
It was at this time that a sensational incident attracted the attention of the outside world.
After a two-month stalemate, the Cavaliers finally agreed to send Anthony Davis to the Lakers.
Let’s go back in time a little, to the summer of 2019.
Shortly after changing his agent to Rich Paul, Davis, who still had a two-year contract with the Cavaliers, took the initiative to apply to the management through Rich Paul, hoping to be traded to the Lakers.
Davis thus became the first person in the NBA to request a trade and specify his next team.
But Gilbert was no pushover and he flatly rejected Davis' request.
After all, Irving has left the team now. If Davis also leaves, the Cavaliers will not be able to support their record or sell tickets relying on Love alone, and they will be forced to rebuild.
Then Davis began to learn from Carter's deeds and started playing in a punch-in style.
No one knows if there is a master behind the scenes directing this, but the situation is that the Cavaliers' record has declined significantly and there are big problems with the atmosphere within the team.
Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, Love was infected and the Cavaliers fell directly out of the playoffs.
With no hope of making the playoffs, reconstruction became the only option and Gilbert finally had no choice but to admit defeat.
However, the Lakers paid a great price to get Davis. They not only sent away the center Okafor, who the team had worked hard to train for many years, but also sent away last season's No. 2 pick Ball, power forward De'Andre Hunter selected with the No. 4 pick in this year's draft, two future first-round draft picks, and two first-round swap rights.
It can be said that the Lakers have gambled all the talent they have accumulated in recent years and their entire future into this deal.
Of course, even so, the deal still attracted a lot of controversy.
After all, the agent's power to force the two teams' management to make a complete deal in this way is greater than many people realize, just like a player forcing a trade in 2K.
Moreover, as Davis is the strongest power forward player in the league, this has also caused Paul and James to fall into a huge wave of public opinion.
"You can't play basketball without superstar teammates, right? I remember that James in the Cavaliers 1.0 era wasn't like this either."
"Dude, that was more than ten years ago. Go find a classmate from elementary school or high school and see how similar they are to the one you remember."
"Why, you are allowed to have superstar teammates like Jokic, DeRozan, and Rose, but I am only allowed to play with a group of rookies?"
"Rose... were you the ones who said DeRozan had a garbage contract last season? How about swapping these superstar teammates with Davis?"
"According to your standards, what are the Lakers' Rondo and DeAndre Jordan? You really have double standards!"
"James should stop playing basketball and become a general manager. Not being a general manager would be a waste of his talent."
…
The arrival of Davis is like a person suddenly having a thick thigh for the Lakers, whose record has not improved this season. He could stand up instead of kneeling.
Especially after the epidemic has affected the strength of each team to varying degrees, the Lakers' record is expected to continue to rise.
Originally, the Western Conference was just a competition between the old three powers of Thunder, Warriors and Mavericks, but now the Lakers have suddenly rushed into this group.
Putting aside other things, at least this year's Western Conference semifinals will be randomly paired in pairs, which is bound to be exciting.
When the second hand passed the last second of 2019 and the New Year's bell of 2020 rang, people gathered in churches or squares as usual to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
Especially in the context of the increasingly serious epidemic, many people made New Year wishes, hoping that the epidemic will pass soon.
But for basketball fans, the beginning of the year suffered a heavy blow.
On the first day of the new year, former league commissioner David Stern died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 79.
Stern's death caused a shock to the league.
Jordan, Kobe and others have expressed their condolences on social media.
"Without David Stern, the NBA would not be what it is today. He led the league through a turbulent period and developed it into an international phenomenon, creating opportunities for many people that were unimaginable in the past. Without David, I would not be who I am today." - Jordan;
"The game has changed in so many ways under David's leadership and vision. He demands the best from everyone because he demands the best from himself." - Kobe Bryant;
"My biggest regret is not being selected as the No. 1 pick in 2007. For me, taking over the No. 1 pick basketball from David Stern would be the coolest thing in the world." - Durant;
…
After learning the news that day, Xu Yong stared at his phone in a daze for a long time.
He also wanted to write something to mourn Stern's death, but he didn't know what to write.
This is the first time an important person around him has passed away since he entered the NBA.
Although for him, this should have been expected.
Recalling the past between him and Stern, it started with the coffee shop meeting after the draft and ended with...
He has forgotten the last time he met Stern, who has basically disappeared from the public eye since his retirement.
He was a little dazed throughout the day, and it was not until the evening that he came to his senses.
Time is, most of the time, the best medicine to heal the pain.
He took out his cell phone and posted a status on social media.
"God wants to watch the NBA, so David went to heaven, which is the greatest recognition."
After posting the status, Xu Yong suddenly thought of another person.
He called Kobe, just to chat briefly.
"Take care of yourself, Kobe. I'm still waiting for you to present me with the award at the championship ceremony." Xu Yong reminded before hanging up the phone.
Before that, through his communication with Tatum, the league selected Kobe as Russell's successor, and Kobe chose to accept the position.
During the following period, Xu Yong would call Kobe every day to ask about his schedule.
After a week, Kobe couldn't help but smiled and said, "If you really miss me, I can come to you."
This was originally just a joke, but Xu Yong said, "Okay, my child Hao just needs a basketball coach. If the legendary player Black Mamba is willing to be his coach, I think it would be his greatest honor."
"It's my honor, but I need to accompany Gigi to the Mamba training camp in a week, and then I will definitely come to Dallas."
After finishing his phone call with Kobe, Xu Yong suddenly remembered a classic American movie, "Final Destination".
Does God feel that establishing a league is not enough and wants a player to play for him? Perhaps only time will give the answer.
On January 26, after Xu Yong and Kobe had a phone call, they knew that they would take a private plane to the game venue today.
He was a little absent-minded during the training session that day, and wanted to check his phone but hesitated.
After the training was over, he picked up his phone and called Kobe. He calculated the time and thought that if Kobe hadn't encountered any accident, he should have arrived.
The phone was dialed, and the voice of waiting came, and Xu Yong's heartbeat quickened a little.
If we really compare them, he and Kobe have much more interactions than he has with Stern, from their first meeting in Olajuwon's training camp, to the one-on-one match in Los Angeles, to the subsequent puppy steps, etc. They are opponents on the court, but also friends off the court.
If Kobe really leaves, he will not only be in a daze for one day, but will lose an important part of his life as Jordan said.
No one answered the call in the end, and Xu Yong's head was buzzing.
He tried calling again, but still no one answered.
He began to get a little anxious.
Although he didn't want to, he took out his phone and started refreshing the news.
"Boss, are you okay?" At this moment, Jokic saw that Xu Yong's reaction was a little strange, and couldn't help but walk over and ask with concern.
Xu Yong looked up at Jokic, and Jokic was startled by his eyes.
Because Xu Yong's eyes were red at this moment.
"It's okay." Xu Yong said, picked up his phone and went to the bathroom.
After washing his face, Xu Yong took a series of deep breaths.
Having experienced countless occasions on the court, he found that no moment was more stressful than this one.
He took out his phone and checked the news again, but still nothing.
He finally put his phone away.
No news is the best news.
He returned to the locker room and started taking a shower. When he came out of the shower, he picked up his phone and saw a missed call.
When he picked it up and saw the other person's name, he felt his breath catch.
He called while holding his breath, and soon the call was connected.
"You called me again."
A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone, and Xu Yong breathed a sigh of relief.
Kobe is still alive.
Kobe, he's still alive!
"Why are you answering the phone now?" Xu Yong couldn't help but blame him.
"It's not my problem. They said it was foggy and the flight was delayed. I was half an hour late. If it was a helicopter, I could have caught it." There was a hint of complaint in Kobe's words. After all, it was his daughter's game.
However, Xu Yong was not angry at all. Instead, a smile finally appeared on his tense face.
"We said, if you get tired of me, you can come find me in Dallas," he said with a smile.
"Tomorrow, I'll come over tomorrow." Kobe was helpless. He probably never thought in his life that he would be entangled to this extent by a man.
After hanging up the phone, Xu Yong first smiled, then couldn't help laughing.
This attracted the attention of others in the locker room.
Looking at his teammates, Xu Yong immediately announced that he would have someone send a box of the latest STX sneakers over tomorrow.
Don't ask, I'm happy just asking.
After Xu Yong's comeback, his sneakers were sold out for a while, especially the latest models, which are still rare items today.
This instantly caused the team's locker room to cheer.
The next day, Xu Yong met Kobe as scheduled in Dallas.
Although he had many complaints on the phone yesterday, when he actually met Xu Yong, there was only a smile on Kobe's face.
Come to think of it, the two haven't seen each other since the end of the World Cup.
"Let's go, let's have a game first?" Looking at Kobe, who was already pregnant, Xu Yong asked with a smile.
Kobe laughed, and then the two hugged each other.
Then, when they returned to Xu Yong's house, they had a competition with 2K.
In the end, Kobe won the game. After retiring, he has been running basketball training camps and his understanding of the sport of basketball has become deeper and deeper.
Xu Yong suddenly felt that what he had just made up as an excuse might really be the best mentor for little Michael.
It’s the end of January and the voting results for the 2020 All-Star Game are out.
Xu Yong was unsurprisingly elected as the top vote-getter for the first time since his comeback, and once again broke his own personal record.
However, Jokic ultimately lost to Davis and failed to be selected as an All-Star starter.
The good news is that he was subsequently selected for the main game as a Western Conference reserve All-Star along with DeRozan.
This result is also a full recognition of their outstanding performance this season.
This year's All-Star Game is held in Chicago.
Although it had been a season, when Xu Yong appeared in the All-Star Game, Chicago fans still cheered him loudly.
Xu Yong also found his feeling in the familiar venue and led the Xu Yong team to win the final victory, winning his first AMVP trophy after his comeback and the fourth in his career.
It was during this MVP acceptance speech that Xu Yong announced something very important.
He will set up a special foundation to provide people with some necessary epidemic prevention supplies.
He doesn't know if the NBA will be shut down as he knows it will be, but he can only delay it as much as possible.
Time flies and it is already early March. People continue to leave due to the epidemic, including people related to NBA players. For example, Towns' relatives died one after another, which hit him hard.
The NBA was forced to start considering playing games in empty stadiums. This plan was initially opposed by some players led by James, but eventually became a compromise.
However, just before this decision was officially implemented, on March 12, the fetus was aborted due to a stupid move by Rudy Gobert.
No one knows the reason for Gobert's behavior. Perhaps it was to express his disdain for the epidemic, or maybe something suddenly went wrong in his brain. After the interview, he violated the league's temporary regulations and touched the microphone with his hand. That microphone was then used by many people.
Just the next day, Gobert was diagnosed, which made the NBA's prevention and control measures completely ineffective.
"Ignorance is not an obstacle to survival, arrogance is. He is a fool." Xu Yong then gave his evaluation of the Gobert incident in front of reporters.
But no matter what, the NBA has entered its sixth lockout in history.