The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

Just wait and see!

Now he continued, "Don't get excited, don't get excited, LeBron, I was really just joking!"

At this moment, LeBron also realized that his reaction was a bit too much. He didn't say anything more and walked towards the sidelines. However, when he passed by Howard, he nervously glanced to the right.

He didn't quite understand why Howard would suddenly ask him these questions.

Could it be that he found out something?

It shouldn't be!

This matter should only be known by diddy, him, and jay-z...

He immediately sent a text to diddy, asking if he had contact with Howard?

Diddy replied with a message:

Dwight? Is that your new partner? No, I've never met him. What's up?

Confirmed that Howard hasn't met diddy.

It's even more impossible with jay-z!

LeBron gradually believed that Howard was just joking.

Because he knew Howard went to that kind of place last night.

This made him wonder:

Am I on some unavoidable "must-eat list" among men?

Why is everyone interested in me!

After initially determining that Howard was joking by "accidentally hitting the mark", LeBron still felt somewhat uneasy. So, in the following time, he probed indirectly, eventually confirming that Howard indeed just made a casual joke. He then put the matter out of his mind.

Howard also sensed his indirect probing. — He wasn't someone with meticulous thoughts, but he couldn't help it because this was a question he wanted to understand! So, when LeBron probed indirectly, he became even more certain that maybe LeBron did have similar experiences.

That man's really brave...

Who is it!

His curiosity was intense.

And at this time, the league erupted with this blockbuster trade:

The Lakers sent out 2 first-round picks plus some expiring contracts to acquire Al Jefferson from the Jazz, launching their final push for this season's championship.

As for the Jazz, after sending away Deron Williams in the summer, they now also sent away Al Jackson, officially announcing a rebuild.

The Lakers won greatly in their first game after acquiring the strong asset:

Al Jefferson filled the Lakers' ability to strongarm under the basket, and also the ability to rebound and block defenses under the basket.

Originally, Al Jefferson was too short to defend the five position and too slow to defend the four position.

But now, in the league, there is only one person over 2.16 meters in the five position, and that's Tyson Chandler; the others have all retired.

Therefore, Al Jefferson's height of 2.08 meters is not considered too short for the five position.

Especially now, as the "small ball era" has arrived, it's even more so.

Originally, he was to go to the Bobcats next season, leading them into the playoffs, and even made the "All-NBA Third Team", for which Michael Jordan specifically bought an ad to thank Al Jefferson.

It could be said that during the time when Michael Jordan owned the Bobcats, bringing in Al Jefferson was one of the few trades with noticeable positive feedback among his many operations.

From this, you can understand why he was so excited!

However, this time, just by "selecting" Lillard, it was enough for him to feel elated.

Additionally, it's worth mentioning that the Lakers also got Tucker as a "sweetener" in this trade:

Don't forget, Ariza, and Chris Paul were already on the Lakers at this time, and with Kobe, as long as there was a mobile four position, it would be a replica of the "2019 Rockets".

However, at the time, only Su Wan noticed this point.

Whether eventually it can be discovered that Tucker is actually very suitable as Jefferson's "five position" to play "Death Five Small", is something time will have to prove...

But the good news is that due to the unsatisfactory team performance during 2009, Phil Jackson wasn't aiming for any higher position and was still sitting on the bench as a coach. In his mind, there was indeed a "Death Five Small" concept.

You only have to look at the "1996 Bulls" to know.

At that time, his favorite lineup was: Harper, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Rodman, and Kukoc.

More importantly, Steve Kerr was on that Bulls team that year.

Because...

Rather than saying the "Death Five Small" is him using someone's old ideas, taking Jack's success, it's better to say this question for him was an open book; he had seen with his own eyes the terrifying similar "Death Five Small" lineup.

That Bulls team could limit opponents to around 81 points per game, it was a team that won championships through defense!

And it was this incredible chemistry of the lineup that won the Bulls their second "three consecutive championships" of the 1990s...

So if Phil Jackson does move Tucker to the 5 position, Su Wan wouldn't be too surprised.

But it's clear that will take time, anyway, in the "Christmas game" where the Lakers challenged the New York Knicks away, Phil Jackson hadn't thought of using Tucker in that manner, instead, he placed Tucker in the four position for a period, during which Tucker successfully restricted Dior.

Tucker is not very tall, only 1.96 meters, but the issue is his base is extremely stable, and against Dior's "post-up" single acts, it's simply not enough to push him away.

And for this reason...

Tonight, Dior more often had to face Tucker "post-up", defending against his hand reach stealing the ball.