Champion Creed

Charles Barkley once said: "As long as Kobe Bryant is in the game, 90% of fans hope he loses."

The Eagle, Colorado incident dealt a devastating blow to Kobe's social image, making him a demon in the eyes of fans, and most brands have canceled their partnerships with him.

The brands' reactions weren't excessive; after all, Mike Tyson's precedent wasn't too distant. Once the evidence is conclusive in these matters, it's impossible to solve with money.

Though as per the current progress of the case, the likelihood of Kobe Bryant being imprisoned is minimal. Yet, under media influence, Kobe's image has still been greatly affected.

Now, Kobe is simply a target of universal scorn; few people want to see him win.

Most people, facing this kind of pressure, would likely have already crumbled.

But Kobe Bryant still leads the Lakers to this point.

No one knows how he adjusts his mindset, nor how he manages to switch back and forth between court and basketball.

The only thing people know is that Kobe Bryant is now more dangerous than ever.

In the first round of the game, Roger felt this danger.

After Roger broke through in the first round and faced a joint siege from George Lynch and Karl Malone, he planned to pass the ball to the open Stademeyer.

But at the instant Roger passed the ball, Kobe suddenly appeared beside Stoudemire, grabbed the ball, and caused a turnover mistake for Roger!

Kobe's influence is by no means limited to the offensive end. Even though he's now the mainstay of the Lakers, needing to focus more on offense, he hasn't entirely abandoned defense.

After completing the steal, Kobe wanted to counterattack, but "Little Prince" Prince clung to him at the first moment, not allowing Kobe to charge ahead.

The Lakers' offense was forced into a half-court setup. Kobe handed the ball to Steve Nash. Seeing Roger defending him, Nash called Karl Malone for a screen.

This is the latest killer move from the Lakers this season, the pick-and-roll between Nash and Karl Malone, with power comparable to Stockton + Malone.

Nash knew of Roger's strong ability to navigate screens, and his height and arm span advantage.

But depleting Roger during defense was also one of Nash's responsibilities.

After the pick-and-roll, Marcus Camby blocked Nash for Roger. As fast as Roger can navigate the screen, he couldn't leave no room for the Canadian.

Though Roger rushed through the screen and caught up to Nash, Marcus Camby moved as fast as possible, still giving Karl Malone an opportunity to cut inside.

The passing gap was small, but that's precisely Steve Nash's specialty.

After breaking the screen, Nash immediately executed a bounce pass, stuffing the ball into Karl Malone's hands.

At this moment, Theo Ratliff had already firmly blocked Stoudemire for Karl Malone, who just needed to perform a powerful slam like Stephen Curry.

Malone grabbed the ball with both hands and decisively jumped with his still-strong legs for a dunk.

As Malone forcefully smashed the ball downwards in the air, Marcus Camby arrived just in time, extending a big net in the air, causing Malone's dunk to slam into his raised hands.

Camby successfully captures the Mailman!

Karl Malone, one of the four-position players with the strongest fast break ability in NBA history, would certainly be surprised by this defense.

In the past, when he successfully penetrated or broke through, basically no one could catch up to him.

But now, Marcus Camby easily accomplished this.

He's aging, while Marcus Camby is advancing.

"Didn't I say? You're not qualified to talk to the King yet—first, defeat his Knight!"

Marcus Camby roared passionately, making an impact from his first round of defense after moving to the four position.

Fans cheered for him in the stands. On the bench, teammates went wild because of him. Dikembe Mutombo gave him a thumbs up, smiling with gratification.

All these energized Camby.

This place saved his career.

He's going to give back with crazier defense than during the New York period!

Karl Malone didn't retort; he immediately returned to defense. Generally, Karl Malone would only use practical actions to retaliate against opponents.

Warriors' attack, Roger saw Stoudemire moving to the right mid-range position with a chance, so he immediately passed the ball.

But at the instant Stoudemire caught the ball, Karl Malone tightly pressed him, continuing to disrupt Stoudemire's rhythm with his strong body and hard confrontation.

Stoudemire, seeing this, lowered his center of gravity, dribbled to break through, and then flew straight towards the basket.

But Theo Ratliff fearlessly stepped up to intercept, forcing Stoudemire to miss the layup in a hard confrontation!

This season, the Lakers' interior defense is very effective against Stoudemire. Karl Malone can use harsh confrontation and pressure to limit Stoudemire's mid-range jump shot, and he is not afraid of being broken, as Theo Ratliff can suppress Stoudemire's attacking attempts.

In fact, Stoudemire had the opportunity to pass the ball to Camby, who was left completely open during the breakthrough.

However, this is Stoudemire's biggest shortcoming on offense—his ability to coordinate and his passing awareness are far inferior to MVP-level power forwards like Duncan. Offensively, Stoudemire can't act as a pivot; he can only be used as a pure scoring point.

The game still hasn't seen a basket; in these opening rounds, both the Lakers and Warriors have raised their defensive intensity to the maximum.