Author: Autumn Leaves Orange

Denver.

Pepsi Center.

Li Ran was wearing the No. 0 jersey and stood quietly on the field.

Next to him are Anthony, Nene, O'Neal and Billups.

Opposite him, in the other half, Kobe stood at the front of all the Lakers players, wearing a purple and gold Lakers jersey.

The number 24 on his chest is originally a symbol of the NBA in a sense.

By Kobe's side are his teammates who accompanied him on the campaign this season.

Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher.

On May 19, 2009, the NBA Western Conference Finals of the 2008-09 season began!

Countless people's eyes are focused on this game, because the winner of this series is likely to be the championship this season.

The biggest attraction of this series is undoubtedly No. 32 standing in the middle of the other four Nuggets players.

Shaquille O'Neal.

This super center who played for the Lakers for eight full years and brought her three championship trophies, after traveling east to the Heat, bounced around many teams and met his old team for the first time in the playoffs.

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There were many Lakers fans wearing O'Neal's No. 32 jersey on the sidelines. They traveled thousands of miles to Denver just to see this player who had brought countless glory to the team they supported.

And who can win this series between him and Kobe is also concerned about the hearts of countless people.

The two people are in different situations now. O'Neal has entered the end of his career and is just an ordinary main force playing beside Anthony and Li Ran.

Kobe Bryant is now at his peak and can be called the best player in the entire league. The Lakers he leads are also one of the most powerful teams in the league.

The two people who were once at odds with each other have settled their differences in the All-Star Game, but they are still rivals on the court.

O'Neal looked indifferently, as if this was just an ordinary playoff game.

But Kobe's eyes were sharp and his whole body exuded a strong aura that kept strangers away.

Kobe wanted to prove to the world that even if he left O'Neal, he could lead the Lakers to a better place.

But O'Neal didn't have so many ideas.

With few years to play, he just wants to get another ring in these last few years.

That's all.

As for other honors, O'Neal has already won enough.

His current mentality is like a climber who has climbed to the top of the mountain and is now stumbling down the mountain step by step.

The scenery on the mountain has been engraved in his heart, and now he is paying attention to the different scenery he passed when he went down the mountain.

Li Ran was smart enough not to compete with O'Neal for the ball.

Although he said he didn't care, no one had ever seen O'Neal with such a correct attitude during training.

He is the most active in all dirty work, fighting for board position, and pick-and-roll screens.

George Karl takes all of this into consideration, and he knows that O'Neal's performance in this series will not be bad.

After the referee's whistle blew, O'Neal moved the ball behind Bynum before he could.

Li Ran controlled the ball and, following George Karl's arrangements before the game, accelerated towards the Lakers penalty area.

Lao Yu stood in front of Li Ran, but he made a neat change of direction and passed by him.

Bynum also jumped up and vowed to avenge a "past" in the regular season.

Li Ran was not afraid and fought fiercely with Bynum in the air.

How can the waist and abdominal strength of a wash, cut, and blow blow be compared to that of the nagging Li Ran?

Li Ran pulled a lever, bypassed An Zhu and prepared for a layup.

However, a pair of long arms suddenly appeared in the air, with their big hands spread out, blocking Li Ran's path.

You can tell it's Gasol just by looking at his skin color.

Li Ran had no time to distribute the ball, so he could only forcefully increase his shooting arc.

The ball he picked out with his fingers floated high. Although it successfully passed Gasol's fingertips, it also lost its normal goal path.

The ball hit the outside edge of the basket and bounced upward.

When Li Ran took the shot, he knew that the ball would not go in, so the moment he landed, he tensed up the muscles in his calf, preparing to jump again to grab the rebound.

However, it was useless for Li Ran to take action. A figure as big as a mountain appeared above him, Gasol and Anzhu.

"Bang!!!"

Accompanied by a huge noise, the basket was pulled almost out of shape.

O'Neal hung on the rim, grabbing the rim with both hands, just like he had been doing for so many years.

Many fans wearing O'Neal jerseys almost cheered subconsciously when they saw this scene, but they immediately realized that O'Neal was now opposite the team they supported and was using his full strength to defeat his team.

O'Neal came down from the basket, and the humiliated basket let out a squeaking cry of pain.

Instead of making that classic dominating move to celebrate, O'Neal just lowered his head and silently ran to the backcourt.

Standing outside, Kobe lowered his head and bit the collar of his jersey, looking at O'Neal who was running towards the frontcourt with complicated eyes.

Once upon a time, this was a big mountain that stood in front of him and protected him from the wind and rain, leading him to get three championship rings that countless people would never be able to reach in their lifetime.

However, two extremely talented people are not destined to live in harmony forever.

Just like two hedgehogs, they subconsciously wanted to hug each other for warmth, but they were stabbed all over by each other.

Those good days came to an end with Kobe's eloquent "O'Neal did it too", and Kobe became the sole owner of this brilliant team as he wished.

Now, the day has finally come when the two represent their respective teams and meet on the playoff stage.

This encounter is a life and death fight.

He took the ball from Fisher and slowly walked towards the frontcourt.

O'Neal is standing on the inside, blocking position with Anzhu.

An Zhu was a little confused. The fat man behind him was almost too old to run. Why was he still so strong?

He was trained as O'Neal's successor, so he naturally has arrogance in his heart.

I am your successor, but you are already old.

Now this alliance is my world.

Full of honey and self-confidence, Anzhu finally worked hard to get into position. He reached out and asked without hesitation.

Kobe's pass was delivered immediately.

It is said that Kobe is unique, but his organizational ability is definitely above the league level. The 5 assists per game in his career are the best proof.

His pass was very comfortable, and Anzhu caught the ball with just one flick.

After dribbling the ball, Anzhu used all his strength to knock it back.

However, what surprised him was that O'Neal didn't move at all, still standing there with his hands open, as if he was mocking him silently.

A little embarrassed, Anzhu continued to hit him from behind, and finally squeezed out a little space to take action.

He turned around and hooked without hesitation, ready to show off his inside skills.

At this moment, O'Neal showed flexibility and jumping that was incompatible with his age and size.

He jumped up high and swatted An Zhu's shot out of the court with his big hands like swatting flies.

This match was already in mind when I was planning this year's playoffs.

If I remember correctly, O'Neal has never played against the Lakers in the playoffs since he left the Lakers.

There is another chapter. I have been very busy recently and have spent all my free time updating it. I will definitely continue to write code as long as I have time.
Chapter completed!