The Whip of the God of Basketball

Minnesota has entered a cold night in December. Fortunately, the blizzard has not yet hit the city. Although the temperature has already dropped below zero, the good weather at night still allows all the city's fans to go to the Target Center to watch another NBA regular season game. . Tonight's game is a bit special. Timberwolves fans will see a familiar friend at home, Kevin Garnett.

This was the first time Garnett returned to Minnesota after being traded to Boston. After arriving at the arena on the team bus, he was frantically chased by reporters in the tunnel, but Garnett remained silent all the way. He walked into the team locker room in the arena expressionlessly.

This was the first time in eight years that Garnett was preparing for a game in the away locker room at Target Center. He seemed a little dull, which was different from his usual self. Usually Garnett is the rhythm master in the Celtics locker room. He will dance with big headphones, joke with young people, and laugh. But he couldn't do it tonight, in the center of the target, as an enemy.

Garnett's silence seemed to affect others. Everyone was silent. At the same time, the head coach was not around, and everyone felt unsure. Although Rick Carlisle is also a good coach, his overly straightforward and lack of finesse character is difficult to convince the public. He scribbles on the tactical whiteboard with an oil-based pen and gives pre-match tactical instructions, and everyone listens to it. Seriously, but there was no discussion.

Carlisle also wanted to say something to encourage everyone like Leon, but the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them out. In the two years he was with the Detroit Pistons, he still didn't learn to say those inspiring words. He felt that he could tell the players straightforwardly. What they should do, the players just follow his instructions and do it.

"Everyone, try your best. I hope our away trip will have a good start." Carlisle said in the end without being salty. With less than an hour left before the game starts, the players are getting ready to take the field to warm up.

"Will Fox come tonight? I don't know what the outcome of the trial will be." Dave Cowens asked Rick Carlisle. Carlisle shook his head and said, "I don't know either. He said he would Come here as soon as possible, but who knows how long the trial will last. And he has been in court for two consecutive days. Facing these messy questions must be a big headache. I hope he can have a good rest. "

Indeed, head coaching is a very energy-consuming job. Both Carlisle and Cowens have been head coaches and know the pressure and hard work involved. Neither of them believed that they had to attend court hearings for two consecutive days and face such high pressure from public opinion. , Leon will come to Minnesota. Besides, the game is about to start and the players have already entered the stadium to warm up.

When Kevin Garnett appeared on the floor of the Target Center wearing a green and gray Celtics jersey, there were bursts of cheers, and a large number of fans stood up and applauded Garnett. Shouting, with only sporadic boos mixed in.

Garnett looked expressionless, as if he hadn't heard anything and was just doing warm-up exercises on the court normally.

Then when the scene began to enter the player introduction session, the Celtics adjusted the order of the players' appearance, allowing Garnett to appear last among the five players. When the DJ at the scene shouted "Kevin Garnett from South Carolina" in the tone of introducing the home players, the cheers of the audience reached the peak in an instant, drowning everything.

Garnett pursed his lips vigorously, waved slightly to the surroundings, and then lowered his head deeply. The cheers lasted for a long time, one minute or two minutes, and for Garnett, it was a year, two years, until eight years. These applause and cheers contain the feelings of Minnesota fans and him for eight years. He was the first real superstar here. He was the pride and hope of this place. He should have brought more warmth and glory to this cold city, but in the end he had to succumb to reality, fate and desires that were colder than ice and snow.

Garnett's heart at this time contained repentance and happiness, wavering and determination, as complicated as the lakes dotted in Mingzhou.

This is not good news for the Celtics. Although Garnett is a very dedicated player, he will never let go when facing his old club. On the contrary, he will play harder. But for a high-level athlete, mentality is very important. In a basketball game, players must maintain their hunger for victory, and even a little hatred for their opponents.

Now it is difficult for Garnett to hate his opponents. In the past, his inexhaustible passion in the game came from his desire to win and his hatred. Now that he is wearing a green jersey, it cannot be seen on the target. The center beat his chest and could not spread magnesium powder beside the technical stage. He changed from a wolf to a human, from a monster to a poet.

But the opponent is on the contrary. In the Timberwolves' formation, someone is burning with a blazing fire of revenge.

Compared with last season, after adding Cassel and Sprewell and trading Garnett to get a lot of chips, the strength of the Timberwolves without Garnett has increased instead of falling. They have successfully formed a very good team. Talented, strong lineup.

Darko Milicic, this young man from Serbia has become the new favorite of Minnesota. He has received sufficient playing time. He has the opportunity to shape his own style of play according to his own ideas. He wants to be like Toni Kukoc. All-around warrior. In this regard, Sanders is a tolerant mentor. He treats this young man who came to a foreign country just like he treated Garnett.

But it seems that Milicic is not ready to forgive the Celtics who drafted him and then sent him away. Young people are like this. For those who look down on them, they want to show them the future and prove the past. It's you who are blind. Milicic is no exception.

Antoine Walker became a sacrifice for the Celtics to become stronger. He was considered the second Cedric Maxwell, and was traded for better chips when the team no longer needed it—— Maxwell was sent to the Clippers that year and got the No. 5 of that year, Bill Walton. But at least Maxwell has two championships and a Finals MVP, while Walker has nothing.

Walker doesn't hate the Celtics, nor does he hate Leon. He doesn't hate anyone. He doesn't rely on hatred and desire to win to play. These are just incidental emotions. But facing his old owner, he has to prove that the Celtics' choice was wrong no matter what. Even if 10,000 people say that this deal is good, he has to stand up and say no.

With such emotions, the two sides began a war. The Celtics currently rank first in the league with a record of 19 wins and 5 losses, while the Timberwolves have an equally good record. They have achieved a record of 14 wins and 9 losses in the more powerful Western Conference, second only to the Lakers and Kings in the Western Conference. Division rule reasons ranked second in the West.

This is undoubtedly a strong dialogue, and sparks are flying because of the summer transactions between the two parties.

……………………

At the same time, Leon arrived at the Minneapolis International Airport by plane with Khomeini at 8 o'clock in the evening. Just after getting off the plane, the two of them did not even find a hotel to settle down first, but went directly from the airport. Take a taxi to the Target Center.

In the car, Leon wanted to call the Celtic staff, but found that his mobile phone had run out of battery. The same was true for Khomeinis. After running around all day, the two of them didn't even have time to charge their mobile phones. .

In the taxi, Leon asked the driver to turn on the radio. He wanted to hear the results of the evening game.

"Milicic hit a three-pointer! Unbelievable, how many three-pointers is this tonight? He is showing people his all-around skills...Kevin Garnett, Garnett turned over with the ball Jump shot! The ball went in... It's still so accurate, it's still the signature shoulder shake, the fans at the target center miss you..." A live broadcast from the local radio station came from the radio, from which Leon knew that the game had already progressed to the second In the first quarter, the game was quite intense. The Timberwolves players were in excellent condition, and Milicic felt hot in his hand.

The Celtics' defense was weak and they relied on Pierce, Reid and Arenas to ensure that the Timberwolves would not open the score.

Leon only felt anxious and urged the driver to speed up the accelerator. He knew that the team needed him and needed him as the head coach to stabilize the morale of the army and formulate targeted plans and measures.

As long as you arrive before the end of the third quarter, it's never too late.