Paul and Kobe are essentially the same type of people, both highly competitive and arrogant.
It's just that in comparison, Kobe is more dominant. Whether it is his way of life or his playing style, Kobe is more self-confident and assertive.
Because of his upbringing and his position on the court, Paul seems to be more sharp and restrained, more united and friendly.
But in fact, this 183-cm little man has an out-and-out controlling personality on and off the court. This is understandable, after all, he is a point guard.
If the two of them work together like this, if the team can keep winning and winning championships, then there won't be any problems with each other.
In the first season of their cooperation, the two got along very well because the Lakers' momentum was very good.
They have been winning in the regular season, and the most important thing is facing the rising Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers suppressed the Clippers in the regular season.
Every time, the two stars in the backcourt played, Kobe and Paul, using their super personal abilities to break up the young Clippers, which reflected the superstar strength of the two.
At that time, the Lakers looked like the kings of Los Angeles, and Paul and Kobe were also the kings and superstars of Los Angeles.
But in the playoffs and reaching the Western Conference Finals, as the series progressed, the situation changed significantly.
The Lakers showed their age, especially in the crucial battle at Tianwangshan, where they were defeated by the Clippers at Staples Center.
The Lakers couldn't even drag the game into the final decisive moment, and a fragile defeat caused the balance of the entire series to tilt toward the Clippers.
After the game, there was some dispute between Paul and Kobe, but it was quickly suppressed by the Lakers.
The reason for the dispute is simple. Paul believed that Kobe no longer had the ability to make the final decision at critical moments, but he still dominated the ball in the final stage.
Kobe believes that the reason why he is like this is because Paul cannot support the team's scoring at critical moments and can only force it by himself. Why do you blame me in turn?
The contradiction has been planted at this moment, and it is just waiting, fermenting and growing slowly.
Game 6 was still at Staples Center. The Lakers were completely unable to parry the Clippers' stormy attack.
What makes Lakers players feel most sad is that the last time the two teams met in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Derby, almost all fans at Staples Center supported the Lakers.
At that time, the Lakers led 3:0 and were dragged to the sixth game by the Clippers. From about that time, there were more and more Clippers fans.
It's just that the Lakers were the championship in 10 years, and they are still the king of Los Angeles. Although changes have come, they are so subtle that no one really notices.
Just a few years later, almost all young fans in Los Angeles favored the Clippers. The red and blue completely overshadowed the purple and gold in Game 6. The Clippers defeated the desperately resisting Lakers in Game 6.
Lakers players, especially Kobe, felt for the first time that Staples Center was no longer their home and that Los Angeles was abandoning them.
In the summer, the Lakers experienced a lot of turmoil. Bynum was traded, Iguodala arrived, and many veterans who came here because of their reputation left.
The 2011-2012 season is like a grand dream for Lakers players and fans. Here are all the old guys who yearn for championships.
Phil Jackson successfully brought them together. The team is very united. Everyone has a common language and strives for a common goal.
Many fans are also looking forward to the 2012 season belonging to the Lakers, just like the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, when the old boys collectively realize their dreams.
But it's a pity that dreams are just dreams after all. Under the wave of the new era, they were shattered and the Lakers fell apart.
Without a championship, everything is in vain.
This season the Lakers took a more pragmatic route and invited D'Antoni to build an offensive system.
Iguodala is welcomed into the third position, and McGee and Jordan Hill are added to the inside. The overall strength of the Lakers has not declined significantly.
On the contrary, from some perspectives, this year's Lakers are more modern than last year and can better keep up with the league's trends.
It's a pity that this kind of Lakers is not Kobe's Lakers, not the Lakers that won five championships in 10 years.
Pragmatic, tough, trendy - these words have never been associated with the Lakers team.
What they want is magnificence, what they want is a flashy feeling, what they want is overflowing talent, what they want is to take the opponent's head in a dream.
Therefore, the Lakers this season feel awkward. From the coaches to the players to the fans, everyone feels that something is wrong.
Until the death of Jerry Buss this year, a long and glitzy era for the Lakers came to an end.
Kobe can feel that this league, this team, and even Los Angeles are becoming more and more unfamiliar.
Everyone is talking about the Clippers, the role of the three-pointer, Curry and Harden, the pick-and-roll, and the Clippers' Super Arena that can accommodate 25,000 spectators.
Times have changed. In fact, the changes have already started. When they reach their peak, it often means they begin to decline.
It's just that this process is always very long, so long that it always gives people the illusion that they are still climbing up.
By the time he felt the weightlessness of falling, it was already too late.
The conflict between Kobe and Paul that was planted in last year's Western Conference Finals has gradually grown this season in this oppressive and unspeakable atmosphere.
The death of Jerry Buss left an elder who could soothe Kobe's heart, and the conflict between the two gradually began to intensify.
The Clippers' massacre against the Lakers at Staples Center near the end of the playoffs became a trigger for the public conflict between the two.
Paul made no secret of his disappointment at the press conference, although he did not say by name that it was Kobe's performance that caused the team to lose so miserably.
But looking at the statistics, we know that Paul played very normally tonight, with 22 points, 11 assists and 4 steals, standard star statistics.
Kobe Bryant made 10 of 37 shots tonight and scored 27 points with a poor shooting percentage. He wasted a lot of shooting opportunities and forced shots.
He tried to turn the tide in the third quarter, using his scoring performance to narrow the point difference and encourage his teammates to continue chasing points.
But it is a pity that he is not the same person as he was in 2005 and 2006. The so-called continuous scoring finally turned into a continuous blacksmithing performance.
And it gave the Clippers opportunities to counterattack again and again, how could the Clippers waste it.
George and Leonard took turns performing dunk performances, completely shattering the Lakers' confidence.
Paul no longer wanted to hide his dissatisfaction off the court. He did not make eye contact with Kobe during the timeout, nor did he high-five Kobe.
Kobe did not attend the post-game press conference. By the time Paul returned from the interview, Kobe had already taken a shower and left the arena, not wanting to have more contact with Paul.
Both of them are people with very tough personalities, not to mention Kobe, and Paul, despite his small stature, has a big temper at 183cm tall and never lets anyone touch his head.
If anyone touches his head, he will be in a hurry. From this, it can be seen that he is definitely a person with a very strong personality.
Once two people with strong personalities don't deal with each other, they will definitely be dissatisfied with each other.
Both of them are reasonable. Kobe has been with the Lakers since he entered the league. It has been almost 20 years. He has won 5 championships, has many honors, and is a historical superstar.
Even if there is a conflict between O'Neal and Kobe, it will be O'Neal who leaves in the end, not Kobe. What does an outsider like Paul count?
But Paul has his advantage, which is youth, which is also an important reason why Kobe was able to squeeze out O'Neal.
Just imagine, if Kobe was 32 years old and O'Neal was 25, who would the Lakers keep?
Now the situation is reversed, Kobe is 34 years old, and the decline in condition is visible to the naked eye.
It is estimated that in two to three years, the situation will decline off a cliff.
And Paul is only 27 years old. For a point guard, he is still on the rise.
For at least the next five years, Paul will remain one of the best stars in the league.
Therefore, Paul has the capital to be more serious than Kobe, and he can make the Lakers his own team.
After the game, the conflicts between the two sides gradually became public.
Although later, with the mediation of the team owner, the two quickly issued a statement saying that their relationship was stable.
But neither Jenny Buss nor Jim Buss has the ability to convince both parties.
The so-called persuasion is definitely not just talking. Everyone knows the truth, do you need to say it?
The key is to see who takes the lead, whether they have prestige and the ability to suppress both parties.
Only the advice of such people is powerful and effective.
The Lakers had such characters in the past, and there were quite a few.
Owner Jerry Buss, head coach Phil Jackson, general manager Jerry West.
Regardless of personal prestige or adjustment ability, they are all top-notch.
As a result, the old Buss is dead, Jackson was purged because he coveted the Buss family's equity, and Jerry West was also purged and is now retiring in the Clippers.
There is no one who can speak.
Therefore, the so-called peace talks between the two parties are just to save face for everyone to see.
Whether the two sides really reconcile, just look at the Lakers' record.
After losing to the Clippers, the Lakers have 5 games left in the regular season.
In these five games, the Lakers had 2 wins and 3 losses, resulting in their regular season record being surpassed by the Nuggets and ranking fifth in the Western Conference.
Although there is not much difference between fourth and fifth, we still play the Nuggets anyway and the Clippers in the second round, but after all, we lose a home court advantage.
Moreover, the Nuggets are quite strong this year, and the Lakers may really overturn in the first round.
At this time, the playoff spots for the Eastern and Western Conferences have been announced.
With a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, the Clippers successfully won first place in the Western Conference and also ranked first in the league.
Ranked second is the Oklahoma City Thunder with 59 wins and 23 losses, and third is the Spurs with 56 wins and 26 losses.
Fourth to sixth are the Nuggets, Lakers, Grizzlies, Warriors and Jazz respectively.
Among them, the winning margin of the Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, and Grizzlies is very small.
The Grizzlies are ranked sixth, but have a record of 54 wins and 28 losses, which would rank third in the Eastern Conference.
Because there are only two truly strong teams in the East, the Heat with 58 wins and 24 losses, and the Cavaliers with 56 wins and 26 losses.
Although the Knicks, who followed closely behind, had a regular season record of 53 wins and 29 losses, Stoudemire was reimbursed for the season, leaving the Knicks missing a corner in the lineup.
Anthony alone cannot compete with the Heat's Galaxy Battleship and the Cleveland Twins.
After the regular season ended, Min Congda looked at the regular season record and playoff lineup and sighed deeply.
In the past two days, the Lakers have lost games one after another, and the conflict between Kobe and Paul has become a hot topic in Los Angeles. Min Congda feels a little bitter.
He didn't understand that he just used a little trick against the Lakers, but they were in trouble internally.
Once eliminated from the playoffs, one of Kobe and Paul may have to leave.
By then, the Buss family's life with the Lakers will definitely not be easy.
Looking at the Lakers' mess, how could Min Congda not be envious.
He was "full of clever ideas" for the Clippers. He racked his brains and thought of many bad ideas.
It has been four years, and there has been no movement at all within the team. There is no conflict among the players.
Previously, Mike Malone put Harden on the bench as the sixth man. Min Congda was thinking about making some noise, right?
As a result, Harden was so happy to play on the bench that he was very happy!
He's content with his sixth-man role.
Look at this guy, he's so promising!
Not to mention Curry, who has no competitive spirit at all off the court and doesn't care whether he is the boss or not.
After training all day, he was laughing and joking, but he was not in shape. How could he look like a team leader?
Other young players, such as George, Leonard, Davis, etc., are not motivated at all.
Don't you want to be the boss of the team? Don’t you want to be the number one guy on the team? Just do whatever the coach tells you to do.
What about the vigor and fighting spirit of young players?
Each and every one of them at such a young age has no motivation to strive for the first place.
They just want to play well and don't want to gain honor and status for themselves.
No more data? Don’t want to win MVP? Don’t want to be in the All-Stars? First formation or second formation, doesn’t it matter?
How come everyone is so willing to play hard for the sake of the championship?
With Min Congda's below-average intelligence, he naturally couldn't figure out that he himself was the initiator of everything.
And he is the real boss of this team, which is absolutely different from other teams.
Moreover, these young people have basically been with the Clippers since they entered the league. They all grew up together and have a deep relationship.
Some of the bad habits of many players are actually developed by some old players or a bad team atmosphere after entering the league.
Think about it, they are all young people in their early 20s or even younger. They suddenly have a lot of money and are with many people of the same age. They are not easily affected by the environment.
In this regard, the Clippers, under the absolute authoritative management of Min Congda, can be said to have a clean and upright atmosphere. Everyone just has fun and will not bring evil spirits into the team.
During the transition from the regular season to the playoffs, the Clippers took a final rest and then determined the twelve-man roster for the playoffs.
Curry, Harden, Randolph, Gasol, George, Leonard, Butler, Dragic, Milicic, Bonner, Livingston plus Anthony Davis.
PJ Tucker, Ricky Davis and Bazemore did not make the roster.
It's not that they didn't play well enough in the regular season, it's just that the Clippers have too many players to play with.
(End of chapter)
