Capítulo 1324: Chapter 533: Final Battle (Part 1)

Early past 6 a.m., in a villa at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

Zhang Yang woke up from sleep, looking at the practice messages for quite some time, feeling tired but not finished!

He got up, poured a glass of water, took a break, and continued to read. As he drank, he suddenly thought of something, pausing his swallowing motion, nearly choking.

Zhang San: Son of the Wind retired? My big teacher just gone like this?

Thank goodness, the Old Ironsmith is still on a tour, and there’s a Finals, to learn from the version of the Ironsmith that has aged two more years… Wait, there’s a long piece of information following!

Zhang Yang returned to the bedside, picked up his phone, May 23, 2017.

Kobe, on August 23, 2015, announced his retirement on his birthday live stream… was that long of a farewell tour season?

Zhang San: Where is my big Old Ironsmith? Where is my big teacher? All retired? Who are my teammates? Reed? Cup Cat? Sakic!

It’s been 17 years, am I going to take on the Tsunami Trio alone? I’m not that strong in this version!

Zhang Yang quickly looked at the subsequent content.

“…In the first battle of the Finals, you led the team to a dominating performance, single-handedly defending Irving, limiting him to just 5 out of 14 shots, only scoring 13 points and 3 assists.

James played against the Toronto Raptors in the second round and Celtics in the East Final, both going to game sevens, playing full halves. Just before halftime, he cramped, continued to play after the half but was visibly affected, played 46 minutes, attempted 31 shots, hitting only 11, including one out of eight from three-point, and five out of eight free throws, getting 28 points, 10 boards, and 6 assists.

Kevin Love shot 6 out of 15, including two out of eight from three, and 2 out of 2 free throws, only got 16 points and 7 boards.

You hit 11 of 20 shots, 4 out of 7 from three, and 6 out of 6 free throws, scoring 32 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals; Bryant hit 6 of 13, scoring 17 points, 3 boards, 7 assists; Gasol scored 17 points, 9 boards, 4 assists. You three led the team, with 12 out of 13 players scoring, to crush the Cavaliers by 34 points, 115 to 81, for an opening win.

The last larger points difference in the Finals was in the 07-08 Finals’ G6, where the Lakers lost 92 to 131 by 39 points to the Celtics.

In G2, you also easily defeated the Cavaliers, 114 to 99.

In G3, back at home, James exploded, hitting 18 of 33 shots, 3 of 7 from three, 12 of 16 free throws, scoring 51 points, leading the team to a seven-point lead after three quarters, 92 to 85, and two-point lead in the last 4 seconds, 114 to 112.

But at the last moment, you received the ball, turned, stepped sideways, and hit the buzzer-beating mid-range shot to take the game to overtime!

In overtime, James, exhausted, didn’t score. You and Yang scored 6 points each through singles and mid-range shots, withstanding the defense, leading to a 12 to 5 overtime score, finally turning the game around to win 126 to 119 against the Cavaliers, making it 3 to 0 in the series.

James gave his all trying to rally the team and almost succeeded, but ultimately fell short. In G4, despite the league seemingly not wanting the Finals to end so soon, with you all receiving 28 fouls throughout, the Cavaliers got 36 free throws in a single game, but they had already lost hope, only hitting 25 of the 36 free throws, with a team free throw percentage below 70%.

James only attempted 22 shots tonight, the first time in this Finals under 30 attempts, hitting 8 out of 22, 1 out of 6 from three, 10 of 15 free throws, scored 27 points, 13 boards, 5 assists.

You and your teammates withstood the torment of whistles, with Gasol fouling out at the first of last quarter, maintained composure, defeated the Cavaliers strongly, 102 to 94, and won the championship on the road!

Bryant’s last dance lasted just 24 minutes, hitting 3 out of 8 shots, scoring 13 points, 6 assists, averaging 14.5 points, 4 boards, 6.5 assists in the Finals, admirably fulfilling his role as the third option.

Gasol averaged 20.5 points, 11 boards, 3.5 assists, as if Love was the seasoned veteran with 15 years in their matchup.

Love imagined himself as you or Curry in these Finals, attempting 36 three-pointers in four games, 2 more than you, but only 11 hits, 4 fewer than you.

You averaged 31.5 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3.5 steals, 1 block, with a 49% shooting percentage, and 44.1% three-point percentage, winning FMVPs for three consecutive years, plus 2012’s FMVP, surpassing Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan, becoming the player with the second-most FMVPs in NBA history!

At the award ceremony, you finally once again took the ‘Bill Russell Cup’ from Bill Russell’s hands, with Adam Silver reluctantly handing the trophy to Russell after being criticized by fans for two years.

At the last moment of the award ceremony, Bryant, holding the championship trophy, surrounded by teammates, opponents, journalists, and cameras, picked up the microphone.

This time capturing the title on the road, by the end of the award ceremony, few people left the site; over fifteen thousand fans remained in the stands because this was Bryant’s last dance.

Bryant, with teary eyes, choking up for quite a while, picked up the microphone and said: It’s time to end, I no longer have any nostalgia for the court, I don’t want to continue anymore, let’s end at this most glorious moment, Mamba out!

‘Boom’

Bryant’s retirement tour was grand and lively, lasting an entire season, ultimately ending his 20-year career in the most glorious fashion as an eight-time champion.