Chereads / NBA: Warrior godfather. / Chapter 156 - I Can Score 40 Points Whenever I Want

Chapter 156 - I Can Score 40 Points Whenever I Want

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The next day, the Warriors took a special flight to Los Angeles. They were set to challenge the Lakers on November 28th.

Due to the intense back-to-back games, the entire Warriors team wasn't in the best shape. Liam decided to give the players a day off to rest and resume training the following day.

Early the next morning, when the light of day began to shine, only a few people were in the hotel gym where the Warriors were staying.

The most noticeable among them was, of course, Butler. Standing at two meters tall with dark skin, he wore only a sports tank top, exposing his muscular frame, which was particularly striking.

From the NCAA to the NBA, Butler had worked tirelessly for years to build a steel-like body that allowed him to compete with stars on the court during his rookie season without falling behind, until he met James.

Butler would never forget the game between the Warriors and the Cavaliers. It was the first time he felt powerless.

Before the game, Ron Adams helped him analyze James' offensive habits and gave him a carefully edited video that included many of James' typical offensive moves to help Butler familiarize himself with his playing style.

Butler knew James would power through, and he even knew which side James would attack and how he would do it, but it was all useless. He couldn't stop James' sheer brute force and was completely overpowered. At all times, even if he had better defenders, the backup defense couldn't protect against James at all.

That was the first time Butler faced a true superstar. His proud defense was shattered, and he truly realized the enormous gap between him and a superstar.

He was fully aware that he was behind James in all physical, technical, and experience aspects. Although he didn't dare dream of becoming a superstar like James, Butler couldn't accept that his strength in the NBA—his defense—had also been criticized. James had crushed him.

He set a goal for himself: someday, he would be able to limit James' offense. He didn't expect to stop James, but if he could lower James' efficiency below his average, he would be satisfied.

To achieve this goal, Butler had never slacked off since that game, even after back-to-back games.

Additionally, on the plane, Liam made it clear that he would give Butler a tough task.

Two days later, he would defend another superstar, the defending champion and number one player in the league: Kobe Bryant!

This season, the Lakers, with the prestige of winning the championship, showcased their kingly team style from the start of the season, achieving an 11–3 record and sitting at the top of the Western Conference.

After winning the championship, they didn't rest on their laurels but brought in Artest and further improved their roster. Kobe remained the most brutal and fierce "Black Mamba," while Gasol was the perfect second-in-command. They believed that defending their title made them the biggest favorites this season.

The other two favorites were the Celtics, last season's runners-up, and the Cavaliers, who had also upgraded their roster.

That meant that by defeating the Lakers, the Warriors would accomplish the feat of facing all three major championship favorites and would be the only team in the league to achieve that.

Butler would also face three stars in succession: James, Pierce, and Kobe, two of whom were superstars.

This made Butler both excited and nervous. He knew that with his current strength, he definitely couldn't handle Kobe.

Although Kobe didn't have the monstrous body of James, his skills had reached an advanced level. Offensively, he was truly omnipotent.

Butler had long been prepared for Kobe to eat him alive, but he was still excited to face off against the league's number one player. Who would have thought that the homeless kid from Tomball would step onto the stage to compete with Kobe Bryant?

Thinking of this, the fatigue from back-to-back games seemed to disappear. Butler lifted the dumbbells with enthusiasm, his mind filled with the scene of facing Kobe Bryant under the spotlight two days later.

Bang!

Gasping for air, Butler placed the dumbbells on the floor, grabbed the towel hanging from his chest, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked toward the next piece of equipment.

There was a ruthless look in his eyes, and his expression was determined, as though he didn't feel any fatigue at all.

Butler knew he didn't have James' talent, Kobe's skills, or Curry's shooting ability, but he had an iron will that supported him on his basketball journey.

...

While Butler was doing his morning exercises, in another hotel room, Curry opened his eyes, influenced by his biological clock.

He glanced sideways and saw that the other bed was neatly made. If it weren't for the two folded t-shirts beside the bed, there would have been no sign that someone had slept there.

Curry knew that Butler had gone back to his morning routine.

Since his second year, he had shared a room with Butler whenever the team stayed at hotels for away games. Even after entering the NBA, he still roomed with him, becoming very familiar with Butler's living habits.

Curry had once tried to join him in his morning exercises, but after a few tries, he felt that the routine didn't suit him and gave it up.

He didn't stay in bed but lay there for another two minutes before getting up, washing up, and heading to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

As Curry left, he ran into Liam, who was also heading out. Liam smiled and said:

"Good morning, boss."

"Good morning, Stephen, are you heading to eat?" Liam nodded in response.

"Yeah."

The two walked together to the restaurant. The haze of just waking up still lingered on Curry. He didn't talk much to Liam and remained silent during the entire walk.

After arriving at the restaurant, they chose their food, found an empty table, and sat down.

Curry looked up and saw Butler walking through the restaurant entrance, with some sweat still on his forehead.

"Jimmy, over here!" Curry shouted, and Butler noticed and nodded at him. After picking his food, he came over and sat down.

"Good morning, boss," Butler greeted Liam, and with a casual glance, he noticed that something was off with Liam's expression.

He looked more closely and saw that Liam's face was slightly pale, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked listless.

"Boss, you don't look well. Are you sick?" Butler asked with concern.

When he said this, Curry also noticed that something was wrong with Liam. He snapped out of his haze from waking up and looked at Liam with the same concern, his face full of worry.

Liam waved his hand nonchalantly:

"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night. I just need to catch up on sleep today, and I'll be fine."

Curry and Butler exchanged a glance and saw the deep helplessness in each other's eyes.

The boss used to do this when he coached the Bulldogs. Sometimes, he would drag Coach Stevens with him, and the two would stay up all night on the same interests.

They could only pray silently for Silas, hoping that the boss wouldn't wake him up in the middle of the night to discuss tactics...

Liam ignored the small movements of the two. He slowly cut his omelette in the bowl with a knife and fork, but instead of eating it, he gradually chopped the omelette into tiny pieces.

He suddenly looked up, hesitated as he glanced at Butler, and then said as if he had made up his mind:

"Jimmy, if I leave you to face Kobe's relentless barrage without any help, will you be able to withstand it?"

"Huh?" Butler heard this and looked at Liam with a confused expression. He tightened his left hand, and the fork with bacon fell back onto his plate.

...

At 9 a.m., the entire Warriors team arrived at a training facility near the hotel. The players had recovered after a day of rest, chatting and laughing among themselves as they awaited the next training session.

Liam was at the front of the group. He looked much better, but Silas beside him looked haggard. He yawned every ten seconds, his eyelids drooping heavily, as if he could fall asleep at any moment.

He glanced at Liam, his eyes filled with resentment.

Liam had dragged a middle-aged man with him and had stayed up all night watching game footage and discussing tactics until 3 a.m. Silas felt like he could fall asleep standing.

Liam clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and said slowly:

"In one day, we'll face the defending champions. This is going to be a very tough game, but we have no chance. If we do this, you'll get the chance to defeat the Lakers..."

...

After the morning practice, the Warriors were interviewed. A reporter asked Liam what he thought about the upcoming game. Liam replied:

"There's no doubt we're going to win this game, I don't see any possibility of the Warriors losing."

Once he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

The reporters looked at each other, wondering if they had heard him wrong.

Listening to Liam's tone, it seemed like the Lakers weren't the top team in the West, but the Warriors were the defending champions. What gave him the confidence to think the Warriors were the winners?

"The Lakers are the defending champions. Why do you have so much confidence in the Warriors?" one reporter immediately asked.

Liam smiled and said:

"The Warriors beat the Cavaliers, and that was with James' full firepower. Kobe's old. I don't think he has the same strength as James. Since the Warriors can beat the Cavaliers, they can definitely beat the Lakers."

"But Kobe has scored over 40 points three times this season and is still number one in the league!" a local

Los Angeles reporter shouted.

Liam didn't flinch and still smiled:

"Really? We'll see tomorrow night if Kobe can score 40 points."

"Can I take that to mean you're provoking Kobe?"

"Provoking? I'm the coach. I don't have to play. I'm just stating a fact," Liam calmly responded, then stood up and walked away.

In the afternoon, a reporter asked Kobe Bryant about Liam's response.

After hearing the question, Kobe asked in surprise:

"Are you sure he said I can't score 40 points?"

After receiving a positive response from the reporter, Kobe smiled and said:

"I can score 40 points whenever I want."

"Then will you score 40 points tomorrow's game?" a reporter with yellow skin asked, her tone vaguely provocative.

Kobe looked at the unknown reporter and asked:

"Excuse me, who are you?"

"I'm a reporter from the Warriors team," said Yan Shu.

Kobe's smile faded, revealing a unique sense of coldness and oppression:

"You'll know the answer tomorrow."

After saying that, he stood up and walked away, just like Liam had done the day before. However, the reporters felt that Kobe's departure was much more dominating.

One journalist already thought of the headline for the report: "The King of Los Angeles Declares War on the Warriors!"

...

The next morning, Liam looked at the piles of newspapers in his hand and slowly smiled.

"The King of Los Angeles Declares War on the Warriors, Kobe Bryant Promises to Defend the Staples Center" – Los Angeles Times.

"The Number One Player in the League Responds to a Rookie Head Coach's Challenge, Promising to Score 40 Points to Defeat His Opponent" – USA Today.

"Kobe Bryant Avoids Answering Questions, Lakers May Lose to the Warriors" – ESPN.

The last report was seen by Liam on ESPN's official website and was written by Yan Shu.

He put down the newspaper and his phone, stretched, and felt refreshed.

He had gone to bed early last night to make up for all the lost sleep and to prepare for tonight's game.

Silas had finally escaped from Liam's grasp and got some good sleep. He saw how Liam's earlier anxiety had faded and he now appeared relaxed, saying:

"Ronan, are you sure this method will work? This method of provocation is too obvious, and Kobe isn't as young and energetic as James, so he shouldn't fall for it, right?"

Liam smiled faintly:

"Kobe isn't James. You have to do this to deal with him. He'll definitely take the bait. You don't understand Kobe. He's too paranoid."

"But you were so direct. Phil Jackson must have seen it," Silas said, uncertain.

Liam shook his head:

"Don't worry about Phil Jackson. This is just a regular season game. He won't interfere with Kobe. He'll just sit back and watch in silence, letting Kobe score or miss."

Silas thought about it carefully and realized that was probably how it would go with Phil Jackson. He would never whisper in Kobe's ear:

"You need to play rationally, pass the ball, control the number of shots..."

He was eager to see Kobe play one-on-one across the floor. The purpose of the triangle offense was to create individual opportunities for stars. Phil Jackson would just let Fisher bring the ball to Kobe after half-court, and then watch Kobe operate.

He'd done that in Chicago twenty years ago, and he was still doing it in Los Angeles twenty years later.

Times had changed, but Phil Jackson was still the same.

Many people underestimated Phil Jackson, saying all of his championships were won thanks to superstars, but they didn't understand why only Phil Jackson had won so many championships by relying on superstars.

Zen Master had his own merits and deserved the title of a legendary coach: Jordan, O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant all praised him, while Anthony quietly left the live broadcast room.

End of this chapter

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