"We are the prison team! Bryant almost went to jail in Eagle County, and reporters thought we should know him well."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The four friends were collectively speechless.

Kobe Bryant is not as popular as he was when he went it alone, but he is definitely a popular Mesozoic superstar. He is famous for... being petty!

What if Kobe hears this...eh? What if he hears it?

The four friends suddenly felt that it didn't matter even if they were heard! Being beaten on the court...it didn't matter!

Fight... emmm...

Just when the four friends didn't know what to say further, Liu Xiu looked at Travis Outlaw, making the high school student and kid very uncomfortable.

"Jace, is there something on my face?"

"No, no, no, I just think you are dragging us down."

"What's wrong?" Travis Outlaw was confused?

"Because of your name! I think we are called the prison team, largely because of your name."

"I'm still a rookie! I just turned 19! I haven't even played a preseason game, it's none of my business!"

Liu Xiu looked at the high school students who stood up and roared, feeling so young and energetic...

…

…

Looking at the present from the perspective of ten or twenty years later, Liu Xiu initially did not feel that the Big Four of the Lakers were so special. After all, they were a failed combination.

When evaluating combinations in history, successful combinations and failed combinations are often used to judge their influence at that time.

There are many failed giant combinations in the history of the NBA, and this combination will always be criticized in the future.

Although the Lakers have dominated the hot news for a long time, and even O'Neal and Payton going for a drink would become hot news, Liu Xiu did not pay special attention to it, but focused on his own affairs.

Other people's affairs are ultimately other people's affairs, and your own affairs are the most important.

but!

Now that they are actually playing against each other, Liu Xiucai clearly feels how huge the influence of the four superstars of the Lakers team is!

Although he is in the Trail Blazers, Liu Xiu actually accepts a lot of interviews.

But when the Lakers came, he truly understood what a super-popular team and super-popular superstars were.

Normally, his teammates would ask for interviews with him, but today, many media who couldn't get interviews with the Lakers came here to interview him.

This feeling is very special... Yesterday, Liu Xiu could hear some envious and jealous remarks in the team. He did not say such remarks, but in fact, he was also bitter.

At 7:40 in the evening, at the Rose Garden Arena, the Blazers' home game against the Lakers was about to start, and players from the two teams entered the court.

Preseason game, live broadcast across the United States tonight!

Time Warner Cable Sports, USA Cable Sports Channel, T.N.T Sports, the three top sports TV stations, all broadcast this game live!

Entering the court, Liu Xiu felt the murderous look from the opposite side. This look came from - Kobe Bryant!

‘Bryant almost went to jail in Eagle County’, what Liu Xiu said during lunch was exposed by the waiter in the restaurant!

When the person involved found out about the bad things he said about people behind their backs, Liu Xiu felt a little bit pained...

However, Kobe responded after learning about Liu Xiu's remarks in an interview - "Jess Liu? Who? Oh, I remembered, the Hollywood actor selected by the Trail Blazers with the 13th pick in the first round

Actor, right? I know the mentality of a player like him who has no strength. He wants to rely on me to get more exposure and sleep in the same bed with more Hollywood female stars..."

The yin and yang, the harsh words, fit Liu Xiu's impression of Kobe at this stage.

Things have already come to this, and Liu Xiu has accepted it. He is not afraid of playing ball or fighting anyway. The win or loss of the former is certain, and the win or loss of the latter is certain.

…

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Trail Blazers started their first preseason game against the Lakers at home.

Lakers starting lineup: Payton, Kobe, Rick Fox, Malone, O'Neal.

Trail Blazers starting lineup: Damon Stoudemire, Ruben Patterson, Travis Outlaw, Randolph, Rasheed Wallace.

In the team's first game of the new season, Liu Xiu was not the protagonist. He sat on the sidelines and watched others play.

The sense of disparity that Randolph was worried about in Liu Xiu's life is now here!

Compared to Randolph at that time, Liu Xiu was more mentally prepared, but this kind of psychological gap was inevitable.

However, as the game started and feeling the manic atmosphere at the scene, Liu Xiu's negative emotions slowly disappeared and he just wanted to play!

Although the Trail Blazers have gradually declined in recent years, the team's strength has declined day by day, and fan support has become lower and lower... But the opponent is the Lakers, so it is different. The fans at the scene are very manic!

Especially the Lakers. After completing three consecutive championships from the 1999-00 season to the 2001-02 season, no matter where they go to play away games, there will be a bunch of fans grabbing away tickets and cheering for them in the away game...even causing

There was a post-game brawl between fans at the North Shore Garden Arena, which irritated the Trail Blazers fans. As much as the visiting Lakers fans cheered for the Lakers players, the fans at the scene would boo the Lakers players even more violently.

Even the enthusiasm for their own team was picked up by Trail Blazers fans tonight. The enthusiastic cheers of the fans brought great encouragement to the players!

This made Liu Xiu, who was about to step onto the real NBA stage for the first time, feel excited. The fighting spirit on his face even infected his teammates sitting next to him!

The Trail Blazers are an interesting team. We can’t even say that there is discord within the team. The relationship within the team can be described as chaotic, but! On the court, everyone works hard.

Moreover, no matter how much conflict there is off the court, even if it reaches the point where a fight is necessary, on the court, one will never deny the opponent's strength.

This must be praised for Maurice Cheeks’ unique coaching style...

Liu Xiu doesn't have a likable image in the team, but he has never done anything really bad. Liu Xiu's passionate fighting spirit has made some teammates understand that this rookie is not as lazy as he seems, at least on the court.

Yes, this rookie should be quite motivated.

The reason why the Trail Blazers can be arranged by the league to be the opponent of the Lakers' Big Four in their first show is because the stars of the Trail Blazers can match up with the Lakers!

The strongest opponent the OK team faced for their first championship was the Trail Blazers.

If you change another team, you may be directly shocked by the Lakers' four superstars.

It is indeed very possible when the Big Four of the Lakers have not played a game yet.

Kobe played full attendance in the 2002-03 season, averaging 30 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, playing in a double team.

O'Neal played 67 games in the 2002-03 season, averaging 27.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 2.4 blocks per game, playing first and second defense.

Payton played 80 games in the 2002-03 season, averaging 20.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, making him an All-Star.

Malone played 81 games in the 2002-03 season, averaging 20.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

The combined scoring average of the four of them last season ranked sixth in the league!

If Jackson coaches a weak lineup, he will only use the stars to death.

But coaching a superstar lineup is really awesome.

Before the start of the season, although the Lakers' F4 was touted to the sky, there is a theory that has been very popular - the Lakers may have a bad run-in situation.

Because neither Payton nor Kobe are masters of pick-and-rolls.

In the first game of the preseason, this problem seems not to be a problem...

In later generations, some people criticized this lineup for having too much internal strife, some criticized Kobe for not respecting veterans, some criticized Malone for molesting his teammates' wives, and some criticized Payton for refusing to put down his posture because of his personal grudge with Kobe... But no one really said that their lineup tactics were good.

No, the running-in is not good.

However, even if the Lakers lineup looks scary, there is not much of a running-in problem. The Lakers stars played very well in the first preseason game... but the Trail Blazers did not give up and played well with the Lakers.

There will be a return!

Randolph was not afraid of O'Neal's iron elbow and actively charged.

Rasheed Wallace, who is usually not active in defense, was impressive in the low post defense tonight. After Dale Davis replaced Randolph, Rasheed Wallace was once with Dale Davis.

Davis completed the strangulation of O'Neal's single.

It's just that the Lakers are really strong. After the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were 19-23, 4 points behind the Lakers.

The Trail Blazers clung to the situation, relying not on offense, but on defense, hand-to-hand combat, and confrontation... It has been like this from the beginning. Therefore, Travis Outlaw, who was also a rookie like Liu Xiu but got the starting opportunity.

, he only played a few minutes at the beginning and was replaced.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Liu Xiu was still not replaced.

There was a trace of depression, but Liu Xiu still sat on the bench obediently, watching his teammates on the court struggle against the Lakers.

Liu Xiu can better avoid the blow to his fighting spirit caused by not being able to play by focusing on the game itself.

Obviously, after the start of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' disadvantage became even greater.

The Lakers felt quite unorganized at first. After playing for a few minutes and feeling the Trail Blazers' rough confrontation and fierce style of play, they started to play seriously. At this point, the Trail Blazers couldn't hold it anymore.

In the second quarter, the Lakers' body movements also became more intense.
To be continued...