Six Hundred and Seventy-Two: The Passing of the King's Scepter (1/5)

Link has never seen Kobe smile since he entered the court today.

If this were Staples, in Los Angeles, maybe Kobe would be smiling when he saw his daughters and his wife.

But unfortunately, this is FedEx Arena, it's Tennessee. Vanessa and her daughters did not travel with Kobe. So there's nothing here to make Kobe laugh anymore.

It's not unreasonable for Kobe to work so hard. In addition to the fact that Link's opponent made Kobe excited, Kobe couldn't accept the fact that the Lakers couldn't make the playoffs.

The last time the Lakers didn't make the playoffs was in the 2004-05 season, almost a decade ago.

At that time, Kobe was still wearing No. 8, and he had not yet transformed into the "Black Mamba". At that time, Kobe was still young, and he had enough opportunities for trial and error.

But now, for a true superstar, and an extremely competitive superstar. Not being able to make the playoffs is definitely a humiliation.

Kobe couldn't accept such a thing, so he would do everything in his power to fight every game. It's like last season, when the Achilles tendon ruptured, it was at all costs.

He's 35 years old, what's left to keep? Bryant couldn't think of any way to get through the end of his career other than to seize the last chance to bloom.

As he warmed up, Bryant looked up at the FedEx Arena dome. For the past ten years, this place has been empty. There is no honorary pennant, nor even a retired jersey.

This team seems to have no history and will never experience glory.

But now what? The three honorary pennants of the division championship, the western championship and the overall championship have been hoisted in the sky.

From nothing, the Grizzlies only waited three years for Link.

Kobe shook his head. He knew from the beginning that Link would succeed, but he really didn't expect such a complete success.

Now, I am challenging the best player of this era!

"Paul".

Before the game started, Kobe looked at Gasol and shouted softly.

"What's wrong?" Gasol responded immediately. This Spaniard may be Kobe's only confidant teammate now.

"Today's game, we are very difficult to play. Can you believe it? We are now in front of the defending champion."

"We've been through a lot of bad games, Kobe. But most of them, we've won." Gasol smiled and patted Kobe's shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll work hard with you. "

Kobe held Gasol's hand on his shoulder and smiled for the first time today.

The game started quickly, and although the game was fired up, the players on both sides greeted each other politely before the game. Only Kobe, he just stood in his position, did not speak to anyone.

Link knew what that meant, and it meant that the game couldn't be played out.

The starting lineup on the Lakers side is a bit shabby. The point guard is Meeks, the shooting guard Kobe Bryant, the small forward Wesley Johnson, the power forward Gasol, the center Jordan Hill...

This lineup looks, not as good as the 04-05 season.

In the 2004-05 season, Bryant had at least Caron Butler and Lamar Odom.

But as long as Kobe is around, the Los Angeles Lakers are dangerous.

Bill Simmons likes Kobe's current expression. He believes that Kobe can completely defeat Link, the "fake vote king"!

The referee threw the ball into the air, and Hill and Gasol's arms intertwined. In the end, Jordan Hill won the ball for the Lakers with his stronger jumping ability.

After Kobe got the basketball, he directly controlled the ball and pushed forward. This lineup of the Lakers has no point guard. Jodi Meeks is on the surface playing the No. 1 position, but in fact, Meeks' style is completely a No. 2 position.

So far in his career, Meeks has averaged the most assists per game in a season, but 1.1.

This lineup really controls the ball is Bryant and Wesley Johnson. Johnson was an all-around forward in college and has certain organizational skills.

As for Kobe, many people may not believe it. Kobe has averaged 6.3 assists per game this season, the highest in his career!

After Bryant slowly controlled the ball after halftime, he handed the ball to Johnson, and then ran away quickly.

In the end, Kobe found that it was not Iguodala who was chasing him, but Link!

Kobe licked his lips, this is the result he wanted!

After Bryant pocketed to the right mid-range position, Wesley Johnson returned the ball to Bryant for the first time.

In the first round of the opening game, Kobe is going to fight Link!

"Boy, do you remember the first time we practiced back attacking one-on-one?" Kobe started talking to Link after catching the ball.

How could Link not remember? That night, Kobe let him go to practice in the early morning, not to mention, and abused himself to the death on the training ground. For the first time, Link felt so powerless in front of a star.

The second person who made Link feel this way was James. In his rookie season, Link was simply slaughtered in front of these two guys.

But in the past less than three years, Link had already crushed the two people who had beaten him so much that he couldn't find the North.

"Remember, what happened?"

"Just remember, so you can prepare yourself mentally in advance." Kobe said, pushed back twice, and then turned over and made a jumper!

Link thought Kobe would do a fake, so he didn't force it too hard to avoid being shaken away. As everyone knows, seeing that Link did not force him up, Kobe shot decisively!

Link was caught off guard. The guy's rollover was still so terrifying, you couldn't judge his next move at all.

"brush!"

There is no suspense, Bryant made a good start for the Lakers. In the opening game, he used his signature rollover jumper to score on Link's head.

The Lakers cheered and Thackeray waved the towel like a cowboy.

The Lakers need this kind of goal too much. They have played very poorly this season, and they have not looked like a giant. Consecutive losses and injuries also made the morale of the Lakers players very low.

And Kobe scored a goal on the opponent's superstar, which will undoubtedly increase the confidence of everyone in the Lakers!

After beating the Thunder and Durant a few days ago, the Lakers players are ready to follow Kobe to solve the next strong enemy!

Link shook his head, Kobe was in really good shape. It's hard to believe that this is the power of a veteran who has already suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.

If he was still a fan now, he would definitely support Kobe Bryant very much. Kobe's spirit deserves all respect.

But unfortunately, Link is now Kobe's opponent. Moreover, just because of losing to the Thunder, because of breaking the 20-game winning streak and angry.

He will never allow anyone to do anything in FedEx Arena again, not even Kobe!

As soon as Bill Simmons applauded Kobe, he found that Link jumped out with the ball and quickly entered the Lakers team!

"The Grizzlies sent a quick baseline ball, Link rushed up quickly, and he seemed impatient to respond to Kobe!"

Hubie Brown didn't react to what was going on. He was just stunned when he saw Link suddenly rush past the half court.

Link plunged into the penalty area before the Lakers' defensive formation took shape. Many Lakers players didn't realize what happened, and just watched Link hit the basket.

Kobe tried his best to stay on Link's side. At the same time, Gasol also tried his best to get back to the penalty area, hoping to complete the attack with Kobe.

But just as Kobe and Gasol were about to complete the encirclement, Link suddenly jumped without warning and threw the ball lightly to the basket.

The basketball crossed Gasol's fingertips and fell into the net when everyone was confused!

Until Link scored, many fans looked at each other in dismay, "What just happened?"

"A 5-second counterattack! It only took Link 5 seconds from receiving the baseline ball to making a successful shot! Just 5 seconds after Kobe scored, Link responded! It can be seen that Lin Link is not far behind today. After losing the last game to the Thunder, Link was waiting for an opportunity to vent. Today, the opportunity is here!"

Hubie Brown cheered on the commentary stage. It was obvious that Link didn't want to be behind even one round!

"It's not three years ago anymore, Kobe. You don't think I'll be as helpless as I did that night three years ago?"

After Link scored a goal, he blinked at Kobe, and then quickly returned to defense.

Kobe gritted his teeth, he didn't like being provoked!

Once, Jordan said to Kobe in the last game of his career with Kobe, "Even if I leave, you will never replace me."

As a result, this sentence, which is somewhat like a joke between friends, made Kobe Bryant finally score 55 points on Jordan's head.

Almost all NBA superstars will not challenge Kobe because it is too dangerous.

But Link doesn't think so. More than a decade ago, Kobe took over the scepter from Jordan with 55 points.

So today is the moment when he took over the scepter of kings from Kobe!

Link took a defensive stance and raised his trouser legs.

Today, he will show no mercy!