Chapter 642: The final five minutes of James' Heat career

The magician's words left Jordan passive, but Jordan would never come out to respond to the magician.

This kind of thing is not up to him to decide.

When most people have nothing to say, hogging the position is useless.

…

Wade got injured, he announced the season was over… He once again fell on the Finals stage; these five years, he seems to be fighting injuries every year in the Finals.

Some James fans say, if it weren't for Wade's frequent injuries, if it weren't for Wade's rapid decline, James would not have come away empty-handed.

This is passing the buck.

Fan Xi's fans sometimes intervene, asking them: James at least still has Wade; who did Jieke have around him before?

At this point, James fans will start counting on their fingers, saying how strong Fan Xi's teammates are… they'd love to put Nowitzki as the greatest forward in history, and Nash as the greatest point guard in history…

These arguments are completely different from the earlier claim that Fan Xi's surroundings were all old, weak, sick, and disabled.

People on the internet are like that; where you sit determines your thinking, different stances lead to different words.

Even if the premise doesn't match the conclusion, one must stick out one's neck and say: the spatiotemporal environment is different.

…

June 14.

2014-2015 NBA Finals Game 5.

Clippers fans frenziedly poured into Staples Center, the scalper ticket price peaked this afternoon. Because everyone knows the Clippers will win the championship again tonight, who wouldn't want to witness Jieke Fan lifting the Finals MVP trophy for the fifth time? This is a historic moment.

This is why some people spend 4000 to buy a courtside ticket, then resell it for 8000.

Any fan who snags a ticket through official channels ends up pocketing a tidy sum, as long as they agree to sell.

After all, this is the season's final game; who would think the Miami Heat could escape tonight?

Wade got injured.

Howard is causing trouble again.

LeBron James' team announced they were stopping discussions with the Heat about a contract extension.

Everything points to tonight being the end.

Fan Xi arrived at the arena early as usual, greeting every staff member, and everyone gave him the warmest response.

Someone still asked him: Jieke, when will you win the championship?

That's a question asked knowing the answer.

Fan Xi laughed and said: Aren't you all already wearing championship T-shirts?

Such remarks drew loud laughter from everyone; Fan Xi always manages to win people's affection.

He walked into the locker room, changed clothes, stretched, then went to see the therapist.

His pre-game preparations are always meticulous, whether it's the first day of the season or the last.

Then Fan Xi went to the arena, as usual ran a lap, then returned to half-court to practice shooting.

On every home game day, he does the same.

Ku Pu Qie Ke would stand on the sidelines at this time, discussing operational matters with Fan Xi during his practice—including promotional activities, ad revenue, work expenses, and so on.

Fan Xi is the team owner; this is also part of his job.

Now, Ku Pu Qie Ke is discussing this year's draft issue with him. Although this season is about to end, the next season is coming soon.

Everyone knows the Clippers will undergo a new round of roster turnover this summer; the draft is Fan Xi's most important source of reinforcements.

Fan Xi has been listening to Ku Pu Qie Ke talk about the 2015 draft prospects; Ku Pu Qie Ke reads out the scouting reports.

The biggest difference between Fan Xi and other team owners is that other owners are more willing to follow scouts' advice, picking players best suited for their teams from scouting reports and staff evaluations.

Fan Xi, however, has his own set of draft criteria.

This standard has been fully proven over the past few years; even the sharpest scout in front of Fan Xi wouldn't dare claim his eye is better than Fan Xi's. Moreover, they'd like to ask Fan Xi how to pick players like Leonard, Butler, Jokić, Antetokounmpo… who look unimpressive but explode in the NBA.

Fan Xi actually has no standard answer, but he has a few judgment points.

These are his secret tricks he won't tell anyone.

About half an hour later, the players arrived one after another.

The Clippers' pre‑practice atmosphere was excellent; all players were enjoying the joy of victory.

Fan Xi's words still carried weight; everyone's attitude tightened up.

Fan Xi's words still carried weight; everyone's attitude tightened up.

The Clippers have become a disciplined team; whether tactical proficiency, combat coordination, or mental fortitude, they can be called an iron army.

Looking across league history, perhaps no team has ever been as obedient as this Clippers squad.

After all, it was built by Fan Xi himself.

Even as strong as the former OK combo, their internal situation was unstable.

The Chicago Bulls dynasty, although the players' internal structure was stable and they looked to Jordan as their guide, the wrangling between management and the locker room was common knowledge.

At seven o'clock in the evening, most of the excited Clippers fans had already entered the venue.

The TNT commentator there joked: "One thing is certain, the wealthy class of Los Angeles has all gathered in Staples Center."

That's certainly a joke.

But when the camera pans over a few rows in the stands, who isn't a multi‑millionaire to start with?

The Clippers have become a check‑in hotspot for West Coast elites; if you don't have a Clippers season ticket in your pocket, they look down on you as low‑class.

Thus it's clear the Clippers are taking over the Lakers' aristocratic label, inevitably moving toward the wealthy class.

Dwyane Wade didn't come to Los Angeles; years of injuries have destroyed his prime. His condition is deteriorating quickly, and some media speculate that LeBron James chose to leave because Wade's decline is severe.

Tonight, Ray Allen entered the starting lineup.

James, Chalmers, Ray Allen, Bosh, Howard make up the Heat's starting lineup.

The starting lineup of the Kuaisuan is: Rubio, Fan Xi, Leonard, Antetokounmpo, Jokic.

In the game he played, Antetokounmpo performed excellently in defending Bosh; his height of 208 is very suitable for the power forward position, although he is also now playing a ball-handling style.

At the start of the game, the Xile Guai Shou and the Mo Shou jumped for the ball.

Xiao Guai Shou defeated the former Mo Shou.

After Howard left Orlando, although he did not suffer any major injuries, minor injuries have persisted. His condition has also been declining.

Although he is still nominally the first center, in reality many young centers are able to punish him.

Jokic is one of them.

Moreover, Howard has a serious problem: he does not like to set screens.

In today's increasingly fast-paced league, a center who lacks much independent offensive ability and does not like to set screens goes against the trend.

During the last glorious era of centers, he was shunned by traditional centers.

Now that we have entered the small-ball era, he actually brings out the traditional center's set, thinking that running out to set screens for others loses the face of a super center.

This is just a lack of self-awareness.

Rubio brought the ball upcourt, Fan Xi started moving quickly… Fan Xi is a superstar who can pick up and put down, he can play with the ball and is willing to play off-ball; even if he doesn't receive the ball, he still runs.

Allen pursued relentlessly, but he is old after all.

He has reached the age to retire.

How could he possibly keep up with the young, strong, tireless Fan Xi?

Fan Xi ran to an open spot in the corner, and Jokic passed the basketball over.

Fan Xi shot as soon as he caught the ball… Swish!

It went in.

Allen looked at Fan Xi, his eyes full of the image of himself at 23.

Allen even saw a hint of the University of Connecticut's style from Fan Xi.

As everyone knows, the University of Connecticut is renowned for producing shooters; Allen, Hamilton, Bengood… these are all outstanding alumni of the University of Connecticut.

"How is this off-ball movement?"

On his way back to half court, Fan Xi also chatted and laughed with Allen.

Allen is a gentleman; his style is completely different from the rough-and-tumble styles of Garnett and Pierce. Although he already got his girlfriend pregnant while still in college.

"Very good, very spirited." Allen said.

"Come join the Kuaisuan next season. I'll give you a fully guaranteed minimum salary." Fan Xi extended an invitation to Allen.

Very direct, very blatant poaching.

But the contract he offered is really somewhat stingy.

You should know that Allen's current contract with the Heat is a full mid-tier deal.

But Allen did not feel any humiliation.

After all, he is now at the age where retirement is imminent.

He himself had also thought that going to the Kuaisuan to mentor the youngsters wouldn't be bad. Salary is something that to Allen hardly matters anymore; does he lack over one million?

He definitely does not lack it.

He is not one of those players who squander recklessly and don't know how to manage finances.

Returning to half court, Qianmos passed the ball to James. James went one-on-one against Leonard, adopting a post-up style; his post-up technique is now quite solid, lacking aesthetics but possessing strength. After bumping Leonard, he stepped back and released a jump shot, but it missed.

Jokic protected the defensive rebound.

He passed it to Fan Xi, and Fan Xi went on a fast break.

James came in pursuit.

However, when Fan Xi rushed up to dunk, no one threw him an alley-oop.

It is evident that James's enthusiasm tonight is not high.

Not only him, other Heat players also performed rather blandly.

They seemed to already know that tonight would become the Kuaisuan's championship ceremony.

Adam Silver sat in a relatively forward position, and he and his assistant were whispering.

He originally hoped the Heat could win this year's championship, and he even engaged in some partiality, for example, in the promotional materials the league produced before the Finals began, the Heat were featured more prominently, and the media also actively promoted that the Heat should win a championship.

Such talk reached its peak after the Heat won an away game against the Kuaisuan.

However, as Fan Xi led the Kuaisuan to victory in Game 3 in Miami, winning by a large margin, it immediately dissipated.

In Game 4, the Kuaisuan further consolidated their victory.

Now it is Game 5.

The Heat themselves have lost their fighting spirit.

Over these five years, the protracted struggle between Fan Xi and the Heat is like a long Hollywood drama film.

Fan Xi went from an unbelievable counterattack buzzer-beater, to an unprecedented comeback from defeat, to a dominant sweep like breaking bamboo, and now to an ordinary, unremarkable kill.

This process is the process of Fan Xi's strength surging, and it is a microcosm of the first half of his legendary career.

Without a doubt, Le Bu Lang Zhang Si and his Heat were the strongest opponent in the first half of Fan Xi's career.

Without them, Fan Xi's greatness would lose its most important backdrop.

Perhaps someone else could take their place, but who could replace the Heaven's Chosen Son?

The continually evolving Le Bu Lang Zhang Si had long achieved the level everyone expected when he entered the league, and even exceeded those expectations.

But he ran into Fan Xi.

He could dominate any team in the league, but the only team that would give him trouble is Fan Xi's team, which would trounce him.

His Heat career is about to turn the page.

He wants to go back to Cleveland to pick up his loose ends.

These five years were also a kind of metamorphosis for him; he reached unprecedented heights in the pursuit of fame, and found his true self in setbacks.

His basketball skill level is far higher than five years ago—back then he couldn't do post-up moves, couldn't defend them, often traveled on layups, and would get his three-pointers contested by two defenders… Now he has almost no technical flaws, though his form isn't very graceful.

Looking back at the past five years, Fan Xi actually enjoyed sparring with James.

Without James, how boring it would be.

The game continued.

But the game's action was indeed somewhat dull.

Because James tonight played a purely technical style; although his offensive efficiency was high, it lacked entertainment value.

The Kuaisuan's offensive efficiency was very high, because the Heat had given up.

Howard was just as listless as he had been in every Finals before.

In the 2009 Finals, he was with the Magic; it was his first time reaching the Finals, and he smiled broadly even after losing. Back then everyone said he had limitless potential, the future belonged to him. He himself believed it, and was overjoyed.

In the 2014 Finals, he was with the Rockets; this was his second time reaching the Finals. But he was numb, like a bystander, as Harden and Paul feuded internally, and he said nothing. Fan Xi dropped 58 on the Rockets, and he just wanted to sit on the bench and watch the drama.

In the 2015 Finals, he was with the Heat. Before the game he was full of ambition, saying he wanted to avenge his past defeats. When his team was playing well earlier, he also rode on their confidence. Now that the team has faltered, he walks like a zombie, his eyes lifeless.

Essentially, he merely looks like a superstar.

He has only physical talent, only defensive gifts, yet he indulges in decadence, just getting by.

His so-called hatred for Fan Xi was nothing but his own imagination. Fan Xi beat him to a pulp right in front of him, and he didn't dare utter a word.

In the future, he will surely receive another lucrative contract.

But he will never earn Fan Xi's respect.

Nor could he get a single cent from the Kuaisuan.

Even if he were to ask the Kuaisuan for a minimum-salary contract in the future, Fan Xi would just sneer at him.

There's no other reason; he simply looks down on him.

After the game entered the fourth quarter, all suspense was completely gone.

James remained on the court, and Fan Xi also remained on the court.

James brought his substitutes, and Fan Xi brought his substitutes.

When there were still five minutes left to play, the Kuaisuan led by 19 points.

At that moment, James suddenly lifted his head and said to Fan Xi, "Let's go one-on-one."

"Sure."

Fan Xi readily agreed.

James wanted to use the final five minutes of his Heat career to measure himself against the opponent he respected most in his heart.

…