NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 535 The Real Purpose of Running Man Coming to the Lakers

The Lakers are a historic powerhouse, Los Angeles is a big city, and the Running Man actor has already gone there. The Lakers also have assets to trade for him. He has already informed the team through his agent that he will not renew his contract with the team, which is clearly a way to get the team to trade him to the Lakers.

The Lakers also went to negotiate a trade, offering Ingram, Ball, and a bunch of other so-called "team futures" as their bargaining chips. However, the negotiations ultimately failed, and the trade deadline has passed. This means that Anthony Davis will not be joining the Lakers at least this season.

This has had a lot of negative impact on the Lakers' internal team dynamics, with everyone losing focus on playing. Many fans, not wanting to let things get out of hand, will chant things like "LeBron will trade you" when the Lakers play on the road. This is a huge blow to young players, making them feel that the team doesn't value them and only wants to use them as trade bait for superstars.

This is why some NBA teams have a history of over a dozen championships, while others have never won one. Even with today's strict luxury tax regulations, many teams can still take this "shortcut." If the Lakers had followed their initial goal of signing the "Running Man" and "Paul George" without any assets, and then going all-in on rookies and draft picks to acquire "Anthony Davis" (or some other star), they would have had a perfect "Big Three," and a terrifying team would have been born.

That's how the Heat did it back then: clear salary cap space, sign a superstar, and successfully rebuild. But some teams have nurtured their star players for so long, only to have them leave for nothing after becoming free agents, leaving their original teams with nothing but watching helplessly as they go to other teams.

But when their contracts expire, you can't stop them from leaving, otherwise it would be no different from the CBA. So there's no such thing as a completely fair professional league; it's all relative. Just like the top five European leagues, Real Madrid and Barcelona can buy superstars because they have money, while smaller clubs have to survive by selling players.

Under these circumstances, the Lakers' record has declined further, and they are now two games behind the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

The Lakers' situation is not surprising at all. The "Running Man" is still the same old "Running Man," and he's indeed incredibly shrewd. The reason he joined the Lakers is now clear—it wasn't simply for the sake of good school districts. The Lakers are indeed a wasteland, but this team has a ton of draft picks and rookies—in other words, resources. He signed the Lakers without giving anything up, so he went all in on a superstar, signed some role players, and the team's rebuild was complete; he can now contend for a championship again.

This game was a disappointment for Lakers fans. Facing a Lakers team whose mindset had shifted, the Clippers easily defeated their opponents, securing their 25th consecutive win and officially taking third place on the league's all-time winning streak list. They are now only two games away from the Heat's 27-game winning streak.

For the Clippers, the upcoming schedule is also very favorable for their record-breaking run. They will face a six-game home run, and the opponents are not particularly strong enough to warrant a grueling schedule, giving them a great opportunity. Of course, there are no truly weak teams in the NBA; many seemingly weak teams can be quite formidable when they play exceptionally well, and anything can happen in a single game.

In an interview, Jia Fei said, "Breaking records is certainly a wonderful thing, but we won't force it. If breaking records results in serious injuries to any of our players, we'd rather not do it. Our ultimate goal is the championship, not so-called records."

过往数据对快船非常友好。本赛季他们主场还没有输过球，而接下来是连续6个主场。假设这6个主场都拿下，那么他们将是31连胜，距离1971-72赛季湖人的33连胜那真的就只是一步之遥了。

Jia Fei's laid-back attitude helped the Clippers take a more relaxed approach to the matter. They continued training and playing as scheduled, strictly adhering to the season's game plan, avoiding overexertion and playing with injuries. Injured players focused on recovery, while those requiring load management rested, avoiding excessive playing time.

贾飞知道2015-16赛季的勇士为了破公牛72胜10负的历史常规赛记录是球队主力打满82场的，多少有些透支了，使得他们在后来的总决赛出现了伤病问题。

History doesn't simply repeat itself, but what we can do is learn from past experiences and lessons to avoid doing things we'll regret.

A crucial reason for the Clippers' excellent performance this season is Paul George. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's perfect attendance and outstanding performance are undeniable; he's one of the league's strongest offensive forces. However, relying solely on him isn't enough. George's performance this season is also the best of his career, showcasing his all-around game on both offense and defense, easily rivaling Kevin Durant. Moreover, George has played every game this season, a stark contrast to his past tendency to rest frequently. It is precisely George's phenomenal attendance and excellent form that is the fundamental reason why the Clippers have been able to achieve such outstanding results even with injuries to role players.

On November 8nd, the Clippers will host the Thunder.

The Thunder's road record this season has been consistently poor, and since Durant's departure, everyone has seen the ceiling for Westbrook leading the team. Westbrook is certainly capable, and his stats are impressive, but the team's ceiling seems to be capped at the first round. Further advancement is impossible without acquiring a star player or Westbrook improving.

Bringing in star players is easier said than done, and Westbrook is already 30 years old. Hoping for his improvement is less likely than hoping for a miracle from General Manager Putin's draft picks!

In Jia Fei's previous life, Westbrook also started a nomadic career and still hasn't won a championship (to date). But the statement that "only Durant can lead Westbrook to the Finals" is indeed very unfair to Westbrook.

Objectively speaking, Durant is indeed a good fit for Westbrook, one excelling at jump shots and the other at driving to the basket. But Westbrook was never carried to the Finals by Durant. Westbrook with the Thunder was never weak; he was always very strong. He only lost his accuracy with his jump shot after his major injury, and his finishing ability also declined after his explosiveness subsided. However, when he was with the Thunder, his zombie jump shot was still reliable, and opponents didn't give him as much space as they did later in his career.

Durant is indeed a strong scorer, but he has never proven that his leadership abilities are top-notch. In fact, his team leadership has always been inferior to that of Stephen Curry or James Harden. His greatest strength is scoring, indiscriminate one-on-one play, not controlling the game or being a leader.

When Jia Fei was with the Thunder, he felt that Durant wasn't like a team leader. Durant was too much of a homebody, not good at speaking, and didn't know how to communicate with coaches and teammates. He was more like a class monitor than a student leader.