Philadelphia.
Wachovia Center.
This is the home court of the 76ers.
Once upon a time, there were glorious moments here that excited countless fans. The city's most recent highlight season undoubtedly dates back to the 2000-2001 season, which belonged to Allen Iverson.
The little man with an official height of only 1.83 meters led the 76ers all the way to the finals, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers with an "OK combination" with almost single-core power.
Although they lost 1-4 in the end, this season will undoubtedly go down in team history for Philadelphia fans.
Unfortunately, since then, the 76ers' record has gradually declined.
Especially when they decided to trade Iverson, the ten-year golden years belonging to AI and the 76ers came to an end.
Since then, the 76ers have entered a long period of failure.
Of course it's bad to mess up and it will hurt your own fans, but it also allowed the confused 76ers to finally turn a corner.
In the 14th season of the draft, the 76ers selected No. 3 overall pick Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in the first round. Two years later, in the 2016 season, they got the No. 1 pick again and selected Ben Simmons as the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Then, in the 2017 season, they won the No. 1 pick again and selected No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz in the draft.
From a certain perspective, the 76ers and the Cavaliers are quite similar.
The management of both sides is not very good, and both sides have good luck. One got the No. 1 pick three times in four years, and the other got the No. 3 pick once and two No. 1 picks in four years.
Such luck is the envy of other teams throughout the league!
However, unlike the 76ers management, although the Cavaliers management always likes to mess up, they will ride on the opportunity once they seize the opportunity.
Even if LeBron's return consumes the future of the Cavaliers, at least LeBron has brought a championship to this small-market team. At least in those few years, the Cavaliers' exposure has been very good. .
And what about the 76ers?
Spending most of the time showing off! Even after selecting so many outstanding young people, the 76ers' record has not ushered in a qualitative transformation.
The only thing that makes fans happy is that although the 76ers will always fall in the first round of the playoffs, at least they have been able to make the playoffs in these seasons.
At any rate, this seems to be a very obvious progress!
Before the start of this season, the 76ers' management finally waited for a suitable opportunity. They signed 29-year-old Jimmy Butler.
Perhaps in terms of talent, Butler is not as good as Simmons, Embiid and other young people, but if we compare in terms of effort, Butler can leave these two far behind.
There are several different types of players in the NBA, and two of them stand out in particular contrast.
The first type is players who treat playing as a business. Compared with championships, they care more about personal honors and whether they can obtain greater benefits from their playing career. The most representative of them is Carmelo Anthony. players.
Anthony has top-notch skills and is known as the "offensive kaleidoscope." He was once a top star comparable to LeBron James.
But his desire for victory is obviously not as good as LeBron's. Even though LeBron has always been criticized for being "a team", no one doubts his persistence in winning and his paranoia about championships.
The second type of players is completely different. Of course they don't care about profits, but they care more about victory and championships than profits.
In order to win and win the championship, they can sacrifice many things, even if they suffer infamy.
Such players are relatively aloof, after all, they are easy to offend others, and in many cases players do not like such "crazy involution" teammates.
The typical representative is Kobe Bryant.
No one will doubt his persistence and desire to win, and it is precisely because of his paranoia that he, who is not top-notch in talent, stands out among a group of superstars.
Coincidentally, Butler is also such a player.
He was born in a slum and had a not-so-good background. He was abandoned by his biological parents when he was a child because he was "too ugly." If his friend Jordan Leslie's parents had not taken him in, Butler might not have been able to grow up smoothly.
The difficult environment also tempered his will, making him a tough guy on the court. Even if he did not have such outstanding talent, he grew up step by step through his own hard work.
Because of this kind of growth experience, he seems incompatible with talented players such as Embiid and Simmons.
Even though both sides are already well-known players in the league, even if they stand together, there always seems to be an invisible wall between them.
In the evening, there was a ball game at the Wachovia Center.
The one who came to challenge them was the Miami Heat. The Heat had an average record last season and their performance at the start of this season was not very good either.
The team's lineup cannot be compared with them, but tonight they played the 76ers in a very embarrassing situation.
The score between the two sides was fixed at 100 to 109.
After the game, the 76ers players all walked towards the tunnel.
Most of the players looked quite frustrated. After all, losing to a weaker opponent was somewhat undeserved! But Embiid and Simmons didn't have much disappointment on their faces, and the two even discussed the night's party while walking.
"Ben, I'll pick you up at your door in two hours and take you to our secret base... The game is so tiring, why don't you relax?"
"Joel, don't be the same this time! It's okay to relax, but you can't be photographed by the media... If things leak out, the image of both of us will not look good... ."
"Don't worry! If you're worried about something going wrong, we can meet at another place..."
Butler heard all the conversation between the two.
Although he also understood that it was necessary to relax, the two guys seemed to have no introspection about the loss of the game, which made Butler feel a little uncomfortable in his heart.
As a star who was only signed by the 76ers this season, his arrival is just the icing on the cake for the 76ers management.
Even though the 76ers management has been saying nice things to the outside world, in fact he cannot affect the entire team's decision-making.
Embiid and Simmons have long been established as the two cores of the 76ers. The two of them, one inside and one outside, and not too old, are simply the perfect combination in the eyes of the 76ers management to build the team.
They are the players who really determine the future of the 76ers!
That's their position on the team.
Even if their performance in today's game was not good enough; even if Embiid held the ball at the critical moment but did not rush to the basket to kill, but instead ran to the outside as a center player to shoot three-pointers; even if Simmons was on the outside The three-point shooting percentage is so low that it is difficult to look directly at it!
All this style of play makes Butler increasingly dissatisfied.
After only playing 8 games here, the expectations Butler had before coming to the 76ers disappeared!
"well!"
Butler sighed deeply.
Then all the players entered the locker room. Embiid and Simmons went to take a shower, but Butler sat there and rested for a while. After the two of them finished washing and came out, Butler just changed into training clothes.
"Jimmy, what are you doing?"
"Could it be that you're going to the training gym to practice more? Come on! Man, the game has just ended...your body needs to rest..."
Teammate Tobias, who was changing clothes beside him, said.
"When the game is played like this, there's no reason to indulge yourself?"
Butler replied helplessly.
His words immediately attracted surprised looks from Enbi and Simmons.
Perhaps feeling that these words were a bit harsh, Embiid was the first to speak, "Jimmy, save it! You still have to rest when it's time to rest! Of course hard work is useful, but in the face of talent, no effort is worth mentioning... ..."
Simmons on the side obviously agrees with this truth.
"Jimmy! It's just the beginning of the season! In addition to playing basketball, we have to learn to enjoy life. Otherwise, what's the use of making so much money?"
"Man, there's no need to practice anymore, it's just that I lost a game..."
The two people's indifferent attitude made Butler's face look very ugly.
It also made the pent-up unhappiness in his heart burst out instantly.
"Damn it! It's because of your indifferent attitude that we lost the whole game... It's not that I can't accept defeat, but losing to a weak team that's not as good as us is simply ridiculous... .This kind of upset game happened to us is simply a shame for every 76ers player..."
Butler said angrily.
As soon as he finished speaking, Embiid and Simmons' expressions suddenly darkened. Embiid was the first to question Butler, "Man, are you blaming us?"
Simmons also said unhappily, "Jimmy, I have to remind you that you are here to assist us... Please figure out your position! You are not qualified to dictate to us..."
Although the two of them put on a tough attitude, who is Butler? He is a tough guy who has struggled from the bottom, and he has no intention of giving in to the attitude of the two.
"Joel, Ben, shut your mouth!"
"This is the hardest part of your body... It's better to save it for bragging in front of the media later! You two poor guys, go ahead and indulge as much as you want! I don't bother to argue with weaklings... ....."
"It's great to have great talent, but I've never heard of anyone winning a championship just by relying on talent..."
After saying these words, Butler slammed the door and left with a dark face.
His anger also caused silence in the locker room. Even though there were not many players in the locker room at this time, those who saw this scene couldn't help but sweat.
Simmons, who was sprayed, originally planned to chase after him, but Embiid heard that he was going to the training hall and immediately stopped him!
"Damn it!"
"Ben, do you have to compete with him on the court? What's the point?"
"We are talented rising stars! Our future achievements will only be higher than his, so why waste time on him? Not to mention that we have to change clothes when we go to the training hall, which is really troublesome..."
"That's true."
Simmons' newly ignited "fighting spirit" was instantly extinguished.
The two also walked out of the arena while cursing.
