The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

As soon as he entered the bar, Howard, who was quite familiar with the place, sat down at a spot next to the bar and happily introduced the bar to LeBron.

LeBron, ever since entering the bar, had been on edge, instinctively distancing himself from any man who got close.

The good news was that as soon as Howard sat down, he found his target.

Watching Howard chat animatedly with another man, LeBron quickly left.

"Your friend is gay!"

As he was leaving, the man chatting with Howard looked at LeBron's back and said this to Howard.

It was the second time Howard heard someone say LeBron was gay, and already somewhat suspicious, his doubts grew even more.

"He's resistant, but if it happens again, things might be completely different..."

Listening to the man's analysis, Howard's eyes were filled with intrigue.

He thought...

Let's give it a try!

Howard is the type of person who loves doing curious things!

Like now, at least two gay men have said LeBron is gay, how could he not want to verify this?

Meanwhile, the playoff journey continues.

After the Clippers knocked out the Forest Wolf 4-2, the New York Knicks awaited their semifinal opponent:

The Chicago Bulls!

They defeated the Hawks 4-2.

Once again stopped at the first round of playoffs, it was reported that the Hawks' management is considering rebuilding.

Mainly because Joe Johnson is already 32 years old.

It's a rather awkward age, core players at this age often start to decline. And in the situation of being stopped at the first round, the Hawks indeed had no reason to stick with this current lineup.

Might as well start rebuilding early.

While the key players like Horford are still young, build a second core lineup!

As for the Bulls who advanced to the second round...

They were all full of fighting spirit!

Last season, they wanted to meet the New York Knicks in the playoffs, but they were eliminated by the Pacers and didn't get the chance for revenge.

This time, they finally meet again in the playoffs.

And...

"We have our issues, but the New York Knicks also have theirs, we all know this season's New York Knicks is a team that can be targeted!" Joakim Noah talked confidently about the semifinal against the New York Knicks.

He bluntly stated that this season's New York Knicks had vulnerabilities to be exploited.

But when the reporters asked him to trash-talk Su Wan, his face instantly flushed, and his mouth moved for a long time, eventually not uttering a single word.

He still couldn't forget what happened to the whole team after he trash-talked Su Wan.

After losing that series, some media even believed that his single trash-talk destroyed a whole season's effort of the Bulls.

So...

Even though he confidently believed that this season's New York Knicks had weaknesses, he still dared not trash-talk Su Wan.

Or rather, he wanted to say something but decided to wait until they beat the New York Knicks to speak!

Before that, facing Su Wan, he had to be silent!

Soon, the series between the Bulls and the New York Knicks officially began.

The first game of the series kicked off at the home court of the New York Knicks.

Just like the last game, the venue quickly turned into a "sea of red," but compared to the Bucks, the Bulls seemed much calmer.

They are also a team that once played in the "Eastern Conference Finals!"

Not something that a "rookie" team like the Bucks could compare to...

The big screen at the venue displayed the starting lineups for both sides:

The New York Knicks maintained their regular lineup.

As for the Bulls, their lineup was:

Point Guard Derek Rose, Shooting Guard Hamilton, Small Forward Joakim Noah, Power Forward Bozer, Center Joakim Noah!

The original Bulls managed to put together this starting lineup this season.

But originally Derek Rose suffered a season-ending injury last season, and Hamilton quickly got injured, so even though the Bulls put together this lineup. As a result, the five never showed their full potential or chemistry as a unit.

This time, it's different.

Derek Rose was not injured, and Hamilton maintained his form throughout.

The five gradually developed their rhythm together.

The current Bulls team has both a fierce offensive force and a quite decent defensive capability.

It's arguably one of the most well-rounded teams in the league right now...

The local media in Chicago believe that this Bulls team has more offensive adjustments than the New York Knicks.

Compared to the Bulls, the New York Knicks this season have been too reliant on three-point shots, leading many media to think they would face big trouble in the playoffs.

This includes the Bulls.

Before the first game of the semifinals officially started, Chicago's media kept emphasising how the Bulls should target the New York Knicks' three-point shooting.

Interestingly, the New York Knicks' coaching staff predicted the Chicago Bulls' approach, and Tyronn Lue directly said: "I know very well that the Bulls will heavily target the New York Knicks' perimeter three-pointers, but I want to say that if the Bulls focus too much on the New York Knicks' three-point line, they'll pay the price!"

However, Tyronn Lue's words, in the eyes of Chicago and other major media, were just a "smoke screen," trying to make the Bulls hesitate in their actions.