Garnett quickly smiled and let go of Lin Fei, calming down his mood a little, and nodded:
"Well, Lin, you are right, now is not the time to celebrate!"
"But there is no doubt that your performance tonight saved the team and saved me!"
"Really, thank you!"
Seeing the "Wolf King" showing his true feelings, his eyes even sparkling, Lin Fei was also a little moved.
No one really knows how panicked Garnett was and how heavy the pressure was when the Timberwolves trailed by 12 points in the last eight minutes of the final quarter.
This season, in order to build a three-headed monster, Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor has spent the team's total salary on the team exceeding $70 million.
Ranked fourth among the 30 teams in the league.
The NBA salary cap for the 2003-04 season is 43.8 million, and the luxury tax line is 50.23 million.
According to league regulations, for every dollar a team's salary exceeds the luxury line, it must pay a dollar's worth of luxury tax.
Therefore, the luxury tax paid by the Timberwolves owner this season is as high as 20 million US dollars.
The biggest reason for this is Garnett's sky-high contract.
As we all know, during the 1998 offseason, Garnett signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Timberwolves.
How can I describe the impact of this contract? It can be said to be so terrifying that it directly led to the league's suspension and season reduction in the 1998-99 season.
This season is also the last year of Garnett's six-year contract. His salary increase has reached US$28 million, ranking first in the league.
Even "Shark" O'Neal's salary this season is only more than 24 million.
With a salary that exceeds half of the team's salary cap, if the team is swept by the Lakers 4:1 in the Western Conference Finals,
The "Wolf King" is really not worthy of his sky-high contract, and he is also not worthy of the tens of millions of luxury taxes paid by his boss.
Although the direct reason for the Timberwolves' 1:3 deficit in the Western Conference Finals was Sam Cassell's injury,
But the "alien" Cassel only received an annual salary of more than 5 million this season, but he has performed as a point guard worth 15 million. He is worthy of the boss and fans both emotionally and rationally.
The reason why the Timberwolves have no one on the back line after Cassell's injury is that in the final analysis, Garnett's big contract restricts the team's reinforcements.
But tonight, with Lin Fei's unexpected outburst, the Timberwolves escaped from danger, continuing the suspense of the Western Conference Finals.
Kevin Garnett's 31 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals, especially the key steals and defensive rebounds at the last minute, are worthy of being the true leader of the team.
At least judging from tonight’s game,
The little-known Lin Fei is the well-deserved savior of the Timberwolves and his "Wolf King".
"Lin, the super long three-pointer you just made was so cool. You shot it at your will from 12 meters away. How dare you?"
"Madman", Szebiak and others also rushed forward excitedly. Although the team was still lagging behind in the series, the situation of qualifying was still very unfavorable.
But tonight's big reversal really boosted the team's morale, especially the Timberwolves' main players, who all saw hope of reversing the series.
"Latrell, you have already passed the ball to me, and you still ask me why I dare to shoot?"
Everyone burst into laughter, and the straight-tempered and nervous "Madman" touched the back of his head and said awkwardly:
"I don't know why I passed the ball to you at that time. I always feel that if I give you the ball, you can score immediately!"
"I admit that I gambled, but I was right!"
Sizebiak rushed up from the middle, put his arms around Lin Fei and "Madman" respectively, and said with a smile:
"You two are really a perfect match, one dares to pass and the other dares to shoot!"
The official height of "Madman" is 1.96 meters. But at this time, Lin Fei was standing next to "Madman". He was about the same height, only 2 centimeters shorter at most.
According to the body side data of Lin Fei who participated in the draft last year, his height was 1.90 meters barefoot and 1.92 meters wearing shoes.
But now it has obviously grown a bit, and I am about 1.94 meters tall when I wear shoes.
Lin Fei is naturally quite satisfied with the fact that he is still growing taller, and it would be even better if his wingspan could increase even more.
Jordan and Kobe are both 1.98 meters tall. Lin Fei's ideal height is naturally around 1.98 meters.
Any higher is not good and will seriously affect the coordination of the body.
Fortunately, Lin Fei has a system by his side. I believe that with the accumulation of free attribute points and the gradual improvement of basketball attributes,
Lin Fei can also transform his dynamic attributes, physical fitness, jumping, explosive power and coordination through harder training and the help of system props.
[Ding, congratulations to the host, he scored 7 three-pointers in a row in the final quarter of the game, helping the team reverse the victory and obtain 50 free attribute points]
[Ding, the system randomly rewards: a ten times speed training card, a ten times endurance training card, and a ten times strength training card]
Listening to the series of rewards from the system, Lin Fei's eyes shone with light. It seemed that the system was still very conscientious.
Winning a game will give you a 50-point free attribute reward, but I don’t know how much it will increase if you add it to the basketball attributes.
Lin Fei's consciousness clicked on the three reward cards in the system's backpack, and the system's explanation immediately popped up:
[Ding, three ten-fold training cards can help the host increase the training effect tenfold on the three attributes of speed, strength, and endurance. They are valid for one month]
Lin Fei was suddenly pleasantly surprised and glanced at the system panel. Currently, his three personal attributes of speed, endurance, and strength were unsatisfactory.
They are speed 59, endurance 48 and strength 50.
You must know that if these three basic attributes can be significantly improved, it will be a transformation in talent.
Especially when facing tougher defenses, improvements in speed, endurance and strength will help Huang Tian run into a better position during confrontations, making it easier to catch the ball and score.
Lin Fei's unexpected outburst in this game can be said to have caught the Lakers and "Zen Master" off guard.
But then we return to the Lakers’ home court in G6 of the Western Conference Finals.
The "Zen Master" coaching team will definitely carefully study Lin Fei's off-ball movement characteristics and formulate a more targeted defensive strategy.
Lin Fei's black hole attributes on the defensive end are likely to be targeted by the Lakers on the offensive end.
Although they lost the game, the Lakers players still walked to the tunnel with high spirits.
Kobe smiled like a gentleman and waved goodbye to the Timberwolves fans on both sides of the tunnel who shouted and provoked him:
"Thank you, see you next season!"
Kobe's words couldn't be more clear. The series will not return to the Target Center Arena, and the Lakers will end the battle in the next game.
O'Neal also lazily patted his belly and smiled at a white fan wearing Garnett's No. 21 jersey next to the tunnel:
"Hey man, I think you should wear No. 22 instead of No. 21!"
The meaning of "Big Shark" is also very obvious. If No. 22 Lin Fei hadn't scored 7 three-pointers tonight,
Their Timberwolves hero Kevin Garnett can now squat on the floor and beat his chest.
To be honest, O'Neal's performance tonight was not outstanding. He only scored 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 fouls.
Far inferior to the Wolf King's 31 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
But O'Neal only took 11 shots tonight and had no intention of competing with Kobe for the ball. Overall, he played more like a Buddha. This is also a potential factor in the Timberwolves' reversal.
But when he returns to home in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals the day after tomorrow, O'Neal knows he must shoulder his responsibility.
If you want to defeat the Wolf King, O'Neal, who is 32 years old and in his prime, still has to have the skills.
He has always been the boss of this Lakers team, not the arrogant No. 8!
After Lin Fei celebrated a little with the players, he also got the official ball for tonight's game from his teammates.
And he walked to the technical stage and negotiated with the referee team.
This was Lin Fei's famous game on the NBA court. He scored 7 consecutive three-pointers in the final quarter and scored 21 points, directly helping the team complete a great comeback.
Therefore, Lin Fei must collect the official ball for this game.
Joey Crawford, the referee who was officiating tonight's game, also smiled and agreed to Lin Fei's request to collect the game ball. At the same time, he patted Lin Fei on the shoulder and said:
"Kid, you played great. I feel lucky to be officiating this game tonight!"
"Keep up the good work and look forward to your better performance in the future!"
I have to say that bald Crawford is still very kind outside the game.
Lin Fei was not good at polite negotiations in public, but he still understood basic human ways, so he flattered the old man against his will:
"Mr. Crawford, your whistleblowing is very fair! God bless you with good health!"
Offending a famous NBA referee of Crawford's level is not a wise choice for a player.
Duncan sat on the bench and laughed for less than three seconds before he was directly kicked out by Crawford. This operation was really a bit crazy.
ESPN's beautiful anchor and reporter Erin Andrews was also holding a microphone at this time, twisting her sexy waist and walking up to Lin Fei with a bright smile.
"Lin, it's a great honor to interview you!"
"Without a doubt, you are the hero of the Timberwolves and Target Center tonight!"
As for Erin Andrews, a famous beauty reporter from ESPN, Lin Fei, as a die-hard NBA fan in his previous life, had naturally heard of her deeds.
During this period, Erin Andrews had just entered ESPN, and her career would reach its peak around 2007. She was elected the most beautiful anchor in America for two consecutive years.
Andrews, who is 1.78 meters tall and weighs only 56 kilograms, has a curvy figure and a very slim figure.
Tonight, Erin Andrews was wearing a white shirt with hot denim shorts, long wavy golden hair, and long legs with fair skin.
Coupled with black strappy high heels, the altitude is already close to 1.90 meters.
Standing next to Lin Fei, he was only a little shorter.
Under the lens of the cameraman, the two actually looked very good together, like a couple.
The 26-year-old Andrews is definitely a royal sister to the soon-to-be 20-year-old Lin Fei.
"Ms. Andrews, I am honored to be interviewed by such a beautiful woman as you!"
After two lifetimes, Lin Fei has a more mature and stable mentality. Even if a sexy beauty is by his side, he is still calm and elegant, and his conversation is calm and calm.
