The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

What should you do if your teammate is a double-dealer?

Waiting online, quite urgent!

LeBron discovered this, and afterward, his interactions with Howard became somewhat uneasy.

Whenever he now looked at Howard, he couldn't shake the feeling that there's a shadow of Diddy behind him.

This made him act a bit strange.

He was somewhat resistant to any physical contact with Howard...

Howard noticed this and assumed LeBron was avoiding him because of the smell of his fart. So he mischievously tried to hug LeBron as a "forced show of affection."

LeBron resisted even more: "Hey hey hey!"

Howard saw that LeBron seemed angry, and finally stopped his antics, explaining to LeBron: "Buddy, I was just joking with you!"

Yet he felt a bit confused.

It was just a joke, why was LeBron's reaction so intense?

He couldn't figure it out!

LeBron kept his distance, regained some composure, and chatted about their cooperation on the training ground: "How was it, buddy? Was my passing okay just now?"

"It was fantastic!"

Howard, speaking, once more attempted to embrace LeBron.

Seeing LeBron's significant reaction and retreat, he awkwardly lowered his hand but continued his praise:

"Buddy, you're really amazing! In my view, you're more like a pure point guard than Jamal; you're the Magic of our time!"

LeBron was quite satisfied hearing this and asked another question: "How did it feel today when running the pick-and-roll with me?"

Howard meticulously recalled that after each pick-and-roll, as long as he rolled, the ball would definitely get into his hands, allowing him to finish the play.

Whenever his whole body was in motion, his athletic talent would manifest to its fullest, making his impact on the basket much stronger than when battling under the rim.

That's when Howard realized...

He wasn't against the pick-and-roll; he was against finishing, without getting the ball afterward.

If he could finish the play, Howard was quite willing to set picks.

LeBron watched his demeanor and nodded along, but inside he smirked:

Hmph!

Didn't you fall right into my trap!

As long as Howard agreed to run pick-and-rolls, for LeBron, he completely controlled the initiative.

Now he could keep passing to Howard.

So in the end, he could choose not to pass to Howard!

That's why he dared to relinquish finishing rights early on.

As long as the ball remained in his hands, deciding who took the shot became his choice, right?

He felt he had mastered the situation.

In the following days, he kept passing to Howard, ensuring he had plenty of shots, making "Magic" extremely happy.

In face of media interviews, he consistently praised LeBron: "He's the greatest teammate I've seen, or rather, now I finally have teammates. Before, during my time on the Magic Team, I was single-handedly carrying the team; they couldn't play basketball! That Magic Team only achieved those results because of me!"

The media was dumbfounded.

Howard's departure from the Magic Team wasn't graceful.

Essentially, he coerced the management, jumping on their "no-go zone," and finally left Orlando.

But these journalists didn't expect Howard to rib his former teammates so much.

His statement quickly sparked enormous discussion online.

Su Wan was also asked by journalists about Howard's comments.

Su Wan wasn't surprised by Howard's words.

Because he similarly expressed such sentiments during this period.

Except originally, he said them while with the Lakers.

Then he refused Kobe's request to crash for dreaded rebounds and run dreadful pick-and-rolls with perimeter players.

This phase, Howard had high aspirations.

He considered himself one of the League's best players, demanding absolute core rights.

Even with 5 championships and 2 finals MVPs, Kobe didn't matter to him, let alone his magic teammates.

Su Wan rated him: "No champions ever say such things, so I understand Dwight, because he's never been in a championship, nor won one!"

Faced with Su Wan's words, Howard was immediately displeased and responded right away: "Everyone has their time without championships; some have won them in the past, and I will win them in the future!"

LeBron also jumped in to help refute Su Wan: "Success doesn't depend on timing, this season we'll prove those who doubted us wrong. We didn't win championships in the past simply because we hadn't found the right partners. Now we've found them, and I believe we won't lose anymore!"

Shaquille O'Neal happened to mock: "The arrogance is the same, back when I didn't win a championship, I also blamed my teammates. But once I won it, I realized I bore a large part of the responsibility. If I could play more dominantly, my team wouldn't lose!"

"If someone keeps losing, especially if their teammates change repeatedly yet still never win a championship, then maybe they should consider if they merely bear the reputation of a Super Star but lack the skills of a Superstar Player!"