Chapter 850: The End of the Era

The series between the Lakers and the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals came to an end in this somewhat sad speech.

The outcome itself is not particularly important to Lakers fans, because Kobe is leaving.

To be able to complete the last battle of his career at Staples, even if he loses, is not a kind of satisfaction for Kobe.

On November 3, 1996, 20 years ago, Kobe played the first game of his career at Staples against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He only played 6 minutes in that game, did not score any valid data, and only got 1 turnover and 1 foul.

As of 2016, in 20 years, Kobe has accumulated 33,000 points in the regular season, 6 championships, 2 regular season MVPs, and 2 FMVPs, becoming one of the greatest stars in NBA history.

And he is the spiritual idol of a generation of young people.

After he finished his speech, the audience and the famous Lakers stood up and applauded, and the applause lasted for a long time.

Li Liang walked up to Kobe and hugged Kobe tightly.

Although they only cooperated for one season, that season was definitely the most memorable in Li Liang's career.

"Go kid, create greater brilliance, you deserve it all." Since the two became rivals, Kobe spoke words of encouragement to Li Liang for the first time.

Kobe finally admitted that the Chinese young man in front of him was a man with power beyond God.

Li Liang accepted the last blessing from Kobe, and then left the court with his teammates and went back to the locker room through the tunnel.

The stadium at this time should be reserved for Kobe, his family, his friends, and his fans.

The game is over, but his new life has just begun.

...

The Thunder players returned to the locker room to celebrate the series win.

There is not much cheering, after all, it is only the semi-finals.

The teammates high-fived and hugged each other. Donovan delivered a short speech, hoping that the players will continue to work hard. After all, there are more important games and stronger opponents waiting for them.

On another field, the Golden State Warriors are in a bloody battle with the San Antonio Spurs.

The young and mature Spurs showed amazing combat effectiveness in the semifinals.

It can only be said that Popovich is still scheming, and Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker are also young.

The Warriors, the league's second-ranked team, were actually stolen by the Spurs at home in the first game of the semifinals.

One of the reasons is of course because Curry did not appear in this game due to injury.

In the first round, Curry's ankle sprain still affected his health.

So to be on the safe side, Cole chose to let Curry rest.

As a result, the Spurs seized the opportunity to win a victory and grab home court advantage.

The competitiveness of the Warriors without Curry did drop significantly. In the second game, Curry had to come back from the line of fire to help the team win a difficult home victory and tie the score.

Fortunately, Popovich is Cole's teacher, and he has targeted many of Cole's strategies to death.

It was quite difficult for the Warriors to win the second game. The two sides played until overtime to decide the winner.

Returning to San Antonio in the third game, the Warriors regrouped and showed the strength of a 70-win team despite being looked down upon by the outside world.

A 20-point victory was given to the fans of the Holy City, regaining the initiative in the series.

But in the fourth game, the Spurs once again showed their extremely sophisticated side.

Popovich used the two young men Booker and Wiggins very well, and kept using Booker to attack Curry.

Curry was affected by injuries and his ankle was not very agile. As a result, he was attacked by Booker at critical moments.

The Spurs successfully won the fourth game and evened the big score, 2:2. The two sides will go to Oakland for the battle of Tianwangshan.

At this point, the Thunder had already swept the Lakers and were waiting for an empty seat in the Western Conference Finals.

With the performance of the Warriors in the semifinals, the outside world thinks, can the Warriors survive four rounds under the Thunder?

Even, can they cross the deep ditch of the Spurs?

On May 12, the two teams competed for match points at the Oracle Arena.

The two sides entered overtime again. In the critical overtime, Klay Thompson scored two three-pointers in a row to help the Warriors widen the point difference.

Then, Duncan was called an offensive foul in the offense, and the Spurs still ruined the chance to win the game.

The Warriors also did not expect that the series against the Spurs would be so difficult.

The young couple Wiggins and Booker really have unlimited potential.

Wiggins' physical fitness, Booker's shooting ability, and their defense have all been well developed.

Popovich used to be a "rookie destroyer". In the era when Duncan carried everything, he made good use of veterans and was not very good at cultivating rookies.

Now, he has already started his own transformation, concentrating on cultivating the next generation of successors for the Spurs.

For the Spurs, Leonard's departure may not be a bad thing.

Back in San Antonio for Game 6, at the AT&T Center, the Spurs made their last ditch effort.

However, the Spurs' routines have been figured out by the Warriors. At the end of their efforts, they are at their wit's end, and there is no way to pose a threat to the Warriors.

The Warriors, who regained their sense of the game, defeated the Spurs again with a 20-point victory. At the same time, they eliminated their opponents with a big score of 4:2 and joined the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

Like the series between the Thunder and the Lakers, this round of the series also sent away a great player, that is Tim Duncan.

Before the game, no one knew that this would be the last game of Duncan's 19-year career.

After the game was over and after waving goodbye to all the Spurs fans at the scene, Duncan said in an interview after the game that this will be the last battle of his career and he will retire.

The way Duncan handles retirement is exactly the same as his style of play and personality.

Low-key, as if nothing happened, just an old man left the stadium and went home to enjoy life.

No speeches, no farewells, no tour, no gifts, not even a chance to cry.

There are only 19 years of hard work, never missing the playoffs in 19 years, the legend of 50 wins in 19 years, the record of a single team with a thousand wins, countless honors, championships, and that always faceless expressive face.

19 years ago, for the sake of this young man, several teams performed crazily, and his arrival can be described as vigorous.

After that, he spent 19 years in the black and white city of San Antonio, Texas, and became a symbol of this place.

Many people may think that Duncan is very suitable for the Spurs. The small city, black and white jersey, conservative and calm team style are exactly the same as his personality and style of play.

In fact, many people have turned it upside down. It is not that Duncan is suitable for the Spurs, but that the Spurs have adapted to Duncan, and it is Duncan who shaped the Spurs.

Leonard looked like a good fit for the Spurs, but he left anyway.

Duncan could have left, tried to, but he stayed.

He made the basketball of this city, and he is the most well-deserved person who has the title of "cornerstone".

In 2007, the TV station once commented on the No. 1 pick of the Spurs in 1997, 10 years ago.

"They got a good draw and enjoyed it for 10 years."

Now, this 10 years can be changed to 19 years.

Unfortunately, this number cannot be increased.

Stone Buddha retired, and the Spurs were no longer the Spurs.

An era came to an end with the retirement of two superstars.