Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA

In the first round of the 1994 Eastern Conference playoffs, the Cavaliers, who had been waiting for Jordan to play baseball, still couldn't complete their revenge.

And during the Bulls' second dynasty under Jordan's leadership, they once again became the backdrop for the Bulls and Jordan for the fifth time.

Spanning a decade, they faced the Bulls five times in the playoffs and lost all five matches.

Cleveland—a city always failing, a city forever living in someone else's story, from "that shot," "that fumble," to Jordan's "that shot" and then to last season's Qin Yue's "that dunk"...

For decades, they have never succeeded, as if this city is doomed to accept failure time and again.

Therefore, when the Golden State Warriors lifted the trophy again after thirty-one years under Qin Yue's leadership...

This could only evoke envy, jealousy, and even an almost obsessive resentment among Clevelanders, so how could they not hate Qin Yue and his "that dunk"?

November 5th.

Just stepping into the Quicken Loans Arena, Qin Yue immediately felt the full resentment of Clevelanders towards him.

In the stands, Cavaliers fans were holding a variety of signs.

"You don't get our recognition!"

"Steve Nash is the real MVP!"

"You and your team are just nouveau riche!"

"You can't win another championship ever again!"

From these signs that passed the review, Qin Yue fully felt just how sour Clevelanders were.

And that cartoon used to mock him—a young white boy in a James 23 jersey, holding up a cartoon where he is crowning James.

What a lemon-scented arena.

At this moment, Qin Yue, who always took Grant Hill as a role model of a gentleman, could only make a "0" with his left hand and a "1" with his right hand to remind these forgetful Cavaliers fans:

—I am a dignified champion, what kind of champion are you?

What kind of champion are you?

In these decades, what championship does Cleveland have?

At the Quicken Loans Arena, faced with Qin Yue's blatant provocation, the outraged Cavaliers fans responded to him with boos that echoed to the ceiling.

But after the response?

Without a championship, Cavaliers fans are doomed to impotent rage.

Meanwhile, on the Cavaliers' side, O'Neal also noticed the subtle change in James' expression.

"Aren't you going to say hi to him?" Turning his gaze to James, O'Neal asked.

Hearing this, James smiled bitterly and said, "Cavaliers fans won't allow me to greet him."

Do real good brothers really care about the opinions and views of fans?

O'Neal knew very well that James was just making an excuse not to greet Qin Yue.

Obviously, the "brotherhood" between him and Qin Yue isn't as wonderful as the world imagines.

However, O'Neal didn't have the time or energy to delve deeply into the "brotherhood" between Qin Yue and James... because after being exiled to Cleveland by the Heat, this once premier league center had long lost the joy and smile that would always be on his face.

During the pre-game warm-up phase, just before this highly anticipated battle officially kicked off, the two head coaches were having quite a pleasant chat.

From Mike Brown's assistant coach to successfully leading the defending champions, Mike Malone had already become that "destined person" envied by his peers in the NBA coaching circle.

"It must be tough coaching a great player like Messiah, isn't it?" Mike Brown asked.

Malone, feeling that Brown was guessing at his coaching situation at the Warriors based on his own experience, smiled and said, "Not too bad, Messiah has always been respectful to me."

Respectful?

Brown, usually honest and straightforward, found it hard to believe what Malone was saying at that moment.

Because aside from a few players, in the NBA, which lead player isn't a headache for their coach?

Among them, some may be unconventional, some may not follow instructions, some may demand special privileges... In short, there's no lead player in any NBA team who is entirely easy to handle.

For instance, Brown, on certain nights when James snatched the playbook from him, could only smile and listen to James as he set the play.

"Compared to Messiah, I find... dealing with role players is quite mind-consuming." After pausing, Malone complained to Brown.

Seeing this, Brown asked in confusion, "What's hard about dealing with role players? They mostly comply, at most they just grumble about playing time."

At this moment, Malone felt that Brown had no way of understanding his situation and feelings.

He had been with the Cavaliers, he knew very well that the "King's Guard" carefully selected for James by the Cavaliers management were mostly easily agreeable players.

After all, for players willing to play in Cleveland and stay in this "city of failure," how bad could their tempers be? How hard could they be to manage?

"You have a good lineup, I feel you have hope this year." At the end of this chat, Malone commented.

In response to Malone's compliment, Brown smiled and said, "You too."

Quicken Loans Arena.

After the introduction ceremony, James' signature chalk toss in front of the scorer's table fired up the fans on site.

Because soon after, the King's Guard took the court under the King's leadership: Big Z, Gooden, James, Pavlovic, Xiaomo.

Despite James stating in an interview a few days ago that the Cavaliers' lineup still needed strengthening, it had to be noted... amidst various constraints, the Cavaliers' management had already done their utmost this summer.