November 15th.

As the Magic defeated the Bobcats in the last game, extending the season's winning streak to nine games, this undoubtedly made many outside fans feel panic.

Worrying that the Magic will dominate this season, making the originally fun-filled league no longer have suspense.

In fact, before the start of this season, although the Magic have always been the title of defending champion, no one thinks that the Magic can play unparalleled dominance in the new season.

With the start of the new season, Su Jiu and Howard's growth is again, coupled with the Magic's series of signings during the offseason, this undoubtedly makes the defending champion stronger.

Especially Su Jiu's evolution in his mentality has made him more like a leader this season.

A leader who can replace Howard to take over the game at a critical moment is undoubtedly making the Magic even more difficult.

The Magic's status so far is also beyond the expectations of fans.

No one could have thought that the Magic's comeback in the new season would be so fierce.

It's even almost at the point where the league championship loses suspense.

And just as most of the news outside is related to the Magic, there are two teams this season that also surprised the fans.

Among them, the Los Angeles Lakers, who scored 65 wins and 17 losses last season, fell into decline after the beginning of this season.

So far, the Lakers have only been ranked ninth in the West with a record of five wins and four losses.

And from the overall lineup of the team, if the Lakers do not make some trade reinforcements in the middle of the season, then the Lakers are likely to miss the Western Conference playoff stage this season.

The departure of "Little Shark" Bynum is definitely a big trauma for the Lakers.

At least in this short period of time, the Lakers have no way to find an existence that can replace Bynum.

You know, among the center players in the league, there are definitely not many players who can be better than Bynum on the field.

These players are either the leading stars in the team or the key figures in the team. It is obviously very difficult for the Lakers to get such a center.

Maybe for the Lakers this season, if they really want to continue to make a wave of playoffs.

Then, in the middle of the season, I'm afraid you will have to bleed once, and you can trade with all your strength to an inside player with outstanding abilities.

Otherwise, if the inside players like Thomas and Mbenga were just relying on inside players, the Lakers were destined not to go further in the playoffs.

Or maybe it's impossible to even enter the playoffs.

In addition to the Lakers, the Houston Rockets, who ranked fifth in the West last season, also encountered trouble in the new season.

So far, the Rockets have only ranked 12th in the West with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses.

If it comes to the degree of tragedy alone, it may be even more tragic than the Los Angeles Lakers.

You know, although the Lakers lost two generals Ariza and Bynum in the offseason.

But in the end, he won a forward star like Artest, which can completely make up for the vacancy after Ariza ran away.

It will even make the defense ability on the front line stronger.

But on the other hand, the Rockets have not only signed Ariza in the new season, but also weakened their defensive capabilities on the front line.

McGrady's form in the new season has basically deteriorated to a state where she cannot play.

At least so far, McGrady has only 6.2 minutes of playing time per game, and no matter how you look at it, she is on the verge of retirement.

As another offensive and defensive core of the Rockets, Yao Ming simply reimbursed the season and even planned to announce his idea of ​​retiring soon.

Faced with the blows of losing Yao and Mai one after another, the Rockets were able to win three games at the beginning of the season. It has to be said that this is already very rare.

It can be said that the Nets' record in the new season has plummeted because he was preparing to enter the reconstruction stage as early as the offseason.

Therefore, the decline in the record in the new season is completely within the expectations of the management.

But for the Lakers and the Rockets, the blow in the new season is not huge enough.

Not to mention whether the team can still attack the championship, I am afraid that even the playoffs have become a very big problem at present.

…………

Speaking of Yao Ming, on this day, Su Jiu also called Yao Ming, intending to give condolences to Yao Ming's progress in his injury and chat with him.

After Su Jiu entered the NBA, Yao Ming kept cheering Su Jiu.

Whenever Su Jiu goes to Houston away for a game, Yao Ming will politely invite Su Jiu to have a meal, completely like a big brother.

After a while, the relationship between the two of them became more familiar with each other in private. After all, there are very few Chinese people in the NBA.

In addition, Su Jiu's temper and personality are very compatible with Yao Ming, so the two not only exchanged phone numbers with each other, but also had some contact if they had any problems on weekdays.

Including the time when Su Jiu learned that Yao Ming was injured, Su Jiu basically talked with Yao Ming every time he finished the game.

Even Su Jiu was the first to know about Yao Ming's idea of ​​retirement.

No, to be precise, I'm afraid the first one among the NBA people to know about it.

Su Jiu still remembers how disappointed he was when he learned that Yao Ming wanted to retire.

Even if Yao Ming continues to stay in the NBA to play, they are not teammates, and they still have very few times to meet on weekdays.

But for Su Jiu, Yao Ming is simply synonymous with the Chinese men's basketball team, and his retirement will undoubtedly be a huge loss for the Chinese men's basketball team.

Similarly, it will leave too many regrets in Yao Ming's career.

In fact, Yao Ming chose to retire at this golden age, which has never been because his strength has begun to decline.

But because he could no longer bear this pain from his body.

It can be said that since Yao Ming entered the NBA, he has never played for a whole season.

Especially in recent years, Yao Ming has been enduring double torture from his knees and ankles.

You should know that Yao Ming's height is already larger than others, so when there are problems with his knees and ankles, the pain Yao Ming has to bear is definitely something that others cannot imagine on the field.

Originally, Yao Ming was struggling to support the Rockets and his belief in wanting to win the championship.

But this time the injury obviously caused Yao Ming's heart to completely collapse.

However, after learning about this, Su Jiu not only tried to enlighten Yao Ming as much as possible on weekdays, but also talked about this matter with Stan Van Gundy in private.

"If Yao Ming is willing to join the Magic, then will the team be willing to sign him?"

Faced with Su Jiu's question, Van Gundy was obviously very surprised, because Yao Ming is currently in a state of close to the season's reimbursement.

And according to rumors, Yao Ming already had the idea of ​​retiring, so how could he come to Magic for no reason?!

However, when Van Gundy saw Su Jiu's very serious appearance, Van Gundy, who was already in two positions, promised Su Jiu with great certainty:

"If Yao Ming really doesn't plan to retire and is willing to join the Magic, then I promise the team will sign him."

"In addition to your reasons, this is also because I like players like Yao Ming very much."

After receiving the affirmation from Stan Van Gundy, Su Jiu called Yao Ming again today.

He planned to persuade Yao Ming to continue to stay in the NBA for war again.

Even if Su Jiu knew that this possibility would be very low, if you just watched Yao Ming face retirement at his golden age, it would obviously make Su Jiu feel a pity.

So before things really didn't turn around, Su Jiu was trying hard to keep Yao Ming.

Staying with him to attack the championship is also a great effort to make Yao Ming’s career more regret-free.

"Hey, Xiao Su, why did you call me again today? Could it be that I want to share with me the joy of your team's victory? Haha."

On the phone, when Su Jiu heard Yao Ming's voice, he obviously breathed a sigh of relief.

Because judging from the voice of his speech, Yao Ming's mental state should be quite good.

"I'm so aware, what's there to share with you? Isn't it just winning? I'm used to it."

Yao Ming: “…”

"Haha, I'm not poor with you. How is your health feeling recently? Have you improved some time?"

When Yao Ming heard the inquiry from Su Jiu, he still responded with a smile:

"It's okay, it's still like that, it's not going well. I guess if it's not been half a year this time, it's probably not going to be very quick, hey."

As Yao Ming sighed helplessly, Su Jiu chatted with Yao Ming about the phone again.

Finally, Su Jiu saw that the time was almost the same, and he advised Yao Ming again:

"Yao Yao, stop retiring. Don't you think it would be a pity to retire now?"

"Although you will have to be reimbursed for the season this season, you will only be 30 years old next year. This age is the golden age of a player. It's a pity that you retire at this time."

"If you want me to tell me, you might as well take care of your injuries this season, and then after your comeback next year, we will work together to launch an impact on the championship."

"By the way, I have another thing to tell you this time. I have already communicated with Stan before. If you are willing to join the Magic, then he is willing to sign you at any time, even this season."

"Stan now has two positions: head coach and operation president of the team, so what he said must be counting."

After saying this, Su Jiu paused for a moment and added another sentence.

"At least this is what he said to me. He must do the number, otherwise this is a deception to me."

"From the current situation between me and the Magic, Stan will definitely not offend me in such a thing."

When Yao Ming heard Su Jiu's long speech on the phone, this time, did not directly express his rejection, but instead fell into silence.
To be continued...