Champion Creed

LeBron James' legendary narrative for this season ends here, and Nike's promotions have come to a temporary pause. The good thing is, Roger no longer has to watch Dave McMenamin spew extremely foolish ideas just to gain LeBron James' favor.

Honestly, Roger can somewhat understand a man talking nonsense to win over a woman, after all, the need to procreate is written in a man's genes.

But a man talking nonsense to win over another man's favor is truly incomprehensible.

Dave McMenamin always tries to portray LeBron James as a superstar chased by opponents for autographs every time he steps on the court, just like how Isaiah Stewart from the Pistons frantically chased LeBron for a signature in 2021.

But because James' current popularity and strength simply don't reach that level, his articles essentially amount to a middle-aged man fawning over a young man without any bottom line, which causes extreme physical discomfort.

Fortunately, this discomfort has temporarily come to an end.

After this humiliating defeat, Nike also knows that LeBron James should disappear from the media for a while, hoping that fans will completely forget about this game in a month.

So, that nauseating columnist probably won't be publicly writing love letters for LeBron James in the coming month.

Rich Paul looked at his good friend's career, which was just picking up again, getting suppressed by Roger, and became even more determined to implement the "decision plan".

LeBron James is Nike's only weapon against Reebok, and he is the key to the success of this small circle.

LeBron James represents far more than just himself, so Rich Paul will not allow him to fail.

If everything goes smoothly, in the fifth year of LeBron James' career, he will become a true championship contender.

No rush, trust the process.

The end of the Cavaliers-Warriors battle marks the fun of the NBA going offline at the end of November. But the NBA is always like this, one focus follows another, one fun continues another. After the Cavaliers-Warriors battle ended, fans didn't get bored because the league quickly introduced new amusements.

To be specific, it was an unprecedented new amusement.

The cause of this amusement was again the unfortunate Detroit Pistons, who seemed to have become the tragic backdrop of this season.

In the game against the Miami Heat, the team that once dominated the East during the Dark Defense Era lost again.

Although the Detroit Pistons' regular season record has always been mediocre, it's the playoffs where they genuinely fight their way forward. But this season, they've lost too many games.

The reason for the loss was Larry Brown's suggestion to Rick Carlisle, allowing him to resolutely defend the inside since the Heat's breakthroughs and cuts made it hard for the over-extended Pistons to defend.

Larry Brown even took it upon himself to warn the entire team: "Whoever goes beyond the three-point line, sit down!"

And now this Heat team boasted the likes of Gilbert Arenas (after leaving the Rockets to sign with the Heat), J.R. Smith (with different draft results from the original history), and Lamar Odom, three volatile players.

Under the Pistons' strategy of leaving the three-point line undefended, all three of them started hitting their shots.

Also hitting their stride was Caron Butler, who was in his third year of his career.

The Heat's continuous three-point barrage directly pierced the once indomitable defense of the Detroit Pistons, resulting in a loss.

Larry Brown was slapped in the face once again; his flawed strategy shamed the team and lost him the trust of Rick Carlisle.

Back in the locker room, this coach, deemed "traitorous" last summer for leading the most disastrous Dream Team in history, tried to defend himself: "Listen, guys, back in the '80s..."

And Big Ben cut him off brusquely: "Shut up, this isn't the '80s! Roger was right, you damn idiot!"

Of course, Larry Brown's ordeal isn't the real focus; the focus is on the Heat team.

In the final moments of the game, Gilbert Arenas was just 1 point short of achieving his first 40-point game of the season. But when he raised his hand for the ball, Caron Butler didn't notice and took the shot himself, which cost Arenas his chance to hit 40 points.

The Great General was furious, stopping Caron Butler in the player tunnel post-game and unleashing a tirade of the most vile insults imaginable, more obscene than saying "you're a LeBron," demanding an apology from his teammate.

Caron Butler tried to defuse the situation, repeatedly explaining it wasn't intentional; he simply didn't notice Arenas' stats and gesture for the ball.

But the Great General wasn't buying it, remaining relentless, and even poked Caron Butler on the forehead during the argument.

Caron Butler initially wanted to endure, but Arenas kept escalating the conflict, and Butler finally erupted too.

How could he be an average Joe? Although Caron Butler has worked hard to curb himself since entering the league, shining in charity work and trying to stay low-key on the court, he's not genuinely a goody-two-shoes.

This guy from the streets of Wisconsin, who had been arrested 15 times by age 15, and mingled with robbers and murderers in prison, had had enough of Arenas confronting him face to face.