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Wang Chong's greatest source of confidence does not stem from how the Heat's strength would improve if Bosh were replaced by Howard, but rather from the Bulls' foundational strength.
The next season will be 2013-14. For the Bulls, Curry has stabilized. He played 78 of 82 games, averaging 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game, shooting 47% from the field and 43% from three-point range. In terms of both performance on the court and assist rate, there's no flaw to be found. Curry can be considered to have officially entered the Curry era by this time, but his teammates, including Thompson, Green, and others, have not yet fully developed. Therefore, the Warriors only managed 51 wins in the regular season and were defeated 4-3 by the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
Gasol also won the Best Defensive Player award during this period, and his personal skills reached their peak. Even though his stats for this season still hovered around 14+7+4, it was due to the division of labor within the team in recent years. As Gasol took on more offensive responsibilities, his personal stats also increased. At his best, he averaged 19.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game.
Of course, compared to these two players who had already made a name for themselves and were known as the Big Three of the Bulls alongside Wang Chong, Jimmy Butler, the team's hard-working player who played conscientiously throughout the season, was the most crucial.
In the season when they won the championship, although Butler had secured his place as the team's starting small forward, his personal performance was not outstanding. He still often played the role of defensive champion on the court. Despite his vigorous defense being eye-catching, his criticism was generally not high.
This was exactly the same experience Butler had during the 2013-14 season with the original Bulls team. After Luol Deng was traded away, Butler became the starting small forward, and his personal stats immediately increased to an average of 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, earning him a spot on the Second Defensive Team after the regular season.
This quickly earned Butler recognition from the Bulls, and he played a central role for the team in the following 2014-15 season. His average per game skyrocketed to 20 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.
Returning to the 2013-14 season, although Butler had not yet reached the peak of his personal strength at this point, his performance was not bad. Otherwise, the Bulls would not have quickly made him the core of their tactical play.
The biggest difference between the current Butler and the original Bulls Butler was the level of attention he received.
Since Butler first joined the league, he had always received special attention from Wang Chong. Not only did he have a dedicated coach to design a training plan for him, but he also occasionally played one-on-one games against Wang Chong to enhance his competitive experience.
This allowed Butler, who worked extremely hard, to rapidly improve his level.
At least from Wang Chong's intuitive feeling, Butler had reached the level of an All-Star this season during the playoffs. This was because, in the Bulls, ball rights were mostly monopolized by Wang Chong and Curry. As long as Butler was given ample opportunities to perform, he would have no problem averaging more than 20 points per game in the regular season.
During the summer off-season, Butler continued to work hard to improve and would only come back stronger for the new season.
With Butler as a strong support, the Bulls won't have a "Big Three" setup next season, but the strength of a suitable "Big Four" setup is not inferior to the five-star Warriors that will soon join Durant. The "Big Three" of the Heat? Why worry about them?
For this reason, Wang Chong expressed that he wasn't panicking about the formation of the new Big Three of the Heat.
During the holidays, Wang Chong spent all his time at the luxury house he had bought in Los Angeles, taking care of his baby and accompanying his wife. He ignored what was happening outside his window, as if the turbulent league had nothing to do with him.
After the shocking trade between Howard and Bosh, the league began to gradually calm down. Although many teams made trades and signings, all of them were trivial and insignificant.
For example, the Lakers made several transactions and signings after completing the deal with Howard, but they were all minor moves, and none of the players they acquired could provoke a qualitative change in the Lakers' strength.
Undoubtedly, this left Kobe very dissatisfied. Just by looking at the lineup, he knew that if this Lakers team could even make it to the playoffs, let alone compete for a championship, it was uncertain.
As a result, he repeatedly pressured the Lakers' management and even expressed his dissatisfaction through the media.
But the Lakers' management, being smart, knew they couldn't prepare a meal without rice. To form the Lakers' Big Three, they had overextended their future and gave away most of the wealth they had painstakingly accumulated. By the time Kobe aged and retired, the Lakers' foundation would have diminished. It would depend on Paul and Howard working together to support him. Who could have expected that, in just two years, Kobe would be on the same level as these two?
Howard was better. At least he left a fortune for the Lakers before leaving, in exchange for Bosh and a first-round pick.
Paul was much crueler—he simply gave a pat on the back and walked away, leaving the Lakers with nothing.
Even when recruiting, at least they should have had some assets on hand!
What the Lakers have now is barely enough salary cap space. After all, the only players on the team with an annual salary in the tens of millions are Kobe and Bosh.
But, in reality, Kobe's salary next season will reach $30.45 million, and Bosh's is $19.07 million. Together, that adds up to nearly $50 million, with other players on the team like Jamal Crawford, Haslem, and others earning more than $5 million annually. This means the Lakers have less than $10 million left under the salary cap, which is insufficient to compete for All-Star caliber centers.
After a complete search in the free-agent market, the Lakers had no choice but to turn around and sign center Andrew Bynum, who had once made a name for himself with the Lakers, for $30 million over three years.
Although Bynum was traded to the Magic a year earlier in exchange for Howard, his career trajectory has returned to its former path.
After leaving the Lakers, without Kobe's paranoid supervision, Bynum, who became the core of a team, quickly fell off track, eager for fun, and even went bowling during an injury, which worsened the injury.
After enduring Bynum for two seasons, the Magic finally had enough. They decided not to renew Bynum's contract after this season and were ready to rebuild the team.
Bynum lost his reputation in just one season, making it extremely difficult for him to secure a decent contract offer in the league.
The Lakers took a huge risk by re-signing Bynum. After all, given Bynum's current poor professional attitude, no one can guarantee that Bynum will regain his competitive form from two years ago, but they had no other choice. There were very few players to choose from in the free-agent market.
Bynum's three-year, $30 million contract seems like an average annual salary of $10 million, but the details of this contract are quite specific. The first and second years are only $8 million, and the salary in the third year will increase to $14 million, but in the third year of 2016, the Lakers had a team option to decide whether to execute the final year of the contract.
Obviously, this was to take advantage of Bynum and warn him to perform well with the Lakers; otherwise, he would only receive half of his salary for this contract.
Thus, since Bynum was selected as an Eastern Conference All-Star starter at his best and averaged 20+10 stats per game, even if his current status is unknown, an annual salary of $8 million is considered a reasonable price.
It's just that, after this contract is signed, the Lakers are left with very little salary cap space, and the few remaining millions are only enough to select some role players from the free-agent market to complement the lineup.
The Lakers' starting lineup for the new season has basically been determined. The main starters are Kobe, Chris Bosh, Andrew Bynum, and Jamal Crawford.
Just by looking at this lineup, Lakers fans feel extremely desperate. Some are even starting to wonder if five championships might be the highest peak Kobe can reach in his career.
After all, Kobe will turn 35 next season. No matter how good his competitive form is, he will inevitably decline. At most, he has two or three more years in his peak period to form a sufficiently strong lineup to win the championship. These may be the only honors Kobe will eventually receive.
Although he won the same five championships as before, the reality is completely different.
Originally, between Kobe's five championships, at least two of them were won with Kobe as the unquestionable number one core. Kobe, who won two consecutive FMVPs, was also the undisputed number one player in the league at that time. He was a player who could win FMVP again, alongside Jordan and O'Neal.
But now, Kobe only has one championship after leaving Shaq. Although he has five championships in his career, he only has one FMVP and one MVP. His historical status is bound to be heavily affected.
But there's nothing to be done. Kobe is the least affected by Wang Chong compared to all the other stars, but all the other stars of the same era as Wang Chong have been more or less suppressed by Wang Chong.
It's hard for James to win a championship, as Nowitzki, FMVP, and MVP were all snatched away by Wang Chong, and he doesn't even have a scoring title yet.
In comparison, Kobe only lost one FMVP and two scoring titles, and he is already among the stars with the least losses.
By the way, many players have benefitted from Wang Chong.
The greatest beneficiary is undoubtedly "The Big Ticket" Kevin Garnett. Garnett originally only had one championship in his career, but with Wang Chong and the Bulls, he won four championships, tying his former rival Tim Duncan. Although Duncan's two MVPs and three FMVP trophies are something Garnett will never match, at least now, when it comes to the greatest forward in NBA history, Garnett can compete with Duncan, although people still consider Duncan to be stronger. However, "The Big Ticket" Garnett will no longer be crushed without any suspense.
The same goes for Billups. Although he lost his only FMVP, he won four championships in return. This has earned Billups great praise among point guards, and his historical status has risen.
In early July, Billups officially announced his retirement, ending his 17-year career.
As soon as Billups announced his retirement, the Bulls' owner promised to retire Billups' jersey number. Even though he had only played for the Bulls for a few seasons, Billups would definitely be one of the four championship players for the Bulls.
After Billups retires, there's no doubt that he will be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame and become one of the stars whose name will remain in NBA history.
Wang Chong's compatriot, Yao Ming, known as the "Mobile Great Wall," is undoubtedly one of the players influenced by Wang Chong's brilliance. Although the two never played together in the NBA, Yao Ming and Wang Chong teamed up to help the Chinese national basketball team win Olympic gold and silver medals, achieving a historic breakthrough from zero to one for Chinese basketball.
And it was precisely thanks to the butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong that Yao Ming did not suffer a serious injury in 2009, allowing his career to continue until the present. This allowed Yao Ming to earn many more personal honors than before.
Just a few days after Billups announced his retirement, Yao Ming also held a press conference to officially announce his retirement.
Although Yao Ming did not suffer any major injuries due to the butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong, the high-intensity competition in the NBA still left him with physical scars, especially in the shortened 2012-13 season. The compact schedule caused Yao Ming great suffering.
This season, Yao Ming's attendance rate is less than half, and his average points per game have dropped to the lowest of his career. Obviously, his enormous and heavy body can no longer endure the intense confrontations of the NBA.
Retirement has become a natural decision.
Although Yao Ming's achievements in the NBA are far less than Billups', his influence is incomparable to Billups'. As the number one Chinese draft pick in the NBA, Yao Ming's impact when he entered the league a year after Wang Chong's draft was much greater than Wang Chong's. This is also evident in the violent reaction and repercussions caused by Yao Ming's retirement.
Yao Ming specifically mentioned Wang Chong in his retirement speech.
"Unfortunately, I never had the chance to team up with Wang Chong in the NBA; otherwise, my number of championships might have surpassed Shaq's (Yao Ming laughed). But I'm very lucky to have partnered with Wang Chong on the national team and realized the dream of generations of Chinese basketball players by winning the gold medal at the Olympics. At that moment, I felt my career was already perfect!
"Thank you, Wang Chong, you are the best, most talented, and gifted player I've ever seen in my life. Now it seems your journey is truly filled with stars. Although you've retired, I'll still pay attention to your performance in the game! You are the pride of our Chinese basketball people!"
Yao Ming's heartfelt words brought tears to thousands of Chinese fans.
Suddenly, many fans realized that Yao Ming, who participated in the 2002 draft, only entered the league one season before Wang Chong, who was drafted in 2003.
Fortunately, although Yao Ming has retired, they still have Wang Chong! Wang Chong is still playing in the league and has been the number one player in the league for many years. Considering Wang Chong is now only 28 years old and will turn 29 next season, this position may last for a long time.
End of this chapter
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