Chapter 228 Conflict breaks out
At around ten o'clock in the morning, Magic Johnson arrived at the hotel where the Lakers were staying.

He made an appointment with Phil Jackson, called Kobe and O'Neal to Phil Jackson's room, and prepared coffee.

"Kobe, Shaq, do you want to lose to Wolverine?"

Magic Johnson began to persuade the Knicks earnestly. He believed that as long as the OK combination really joined forces, plus Payton and the Mailman, they could beat the Knicks.

"He said I did it, too. He betrayed me," O'Neal muttered.

When Magic Johnson heard this, his face trembled, his hands shook, and the spoon fell onto the table with a bang.

"Cough cough cough..."

Phil Jackson just took a sip of coffee, spat out half of it, and choked the other half into his trachea, almost coughing to death.

"There's nothing to talk to each other. I don't want to talk to you." Kobe said angrily, then stood up and left.

"Hey, Kobe, Kobe..."

Magic Johnson quickly stood up and shouted, but Kobe turned a deaf ear to him, opened the door and left.

"Did I say anything wrong? I didn't say anything wrong, it's all his fault," O'Neal said angrily.

"Ugh!"

Phil Jackson and Magic Johnson looked at each other and sighed sadly. It was indeed not fair for Kobe to do that.

"Shaq, do you really want to lose to Wolverine and the Knicks?" Magic Johnson said disappointedly.

Phil Jackson was feeling better, still breathing a little, and said, "Shaq, if you want to lose, it's very simple. I have no problem with that. After all, it's you who are playing the game, not me."

O'Neal said angrily: "What did you tell me? I played according to the tactics. You should talk to him."

"No, Shaq, don't ever say that again." Magic Johnson grunted.

O'Neal said rather aggrievedly: "Don't tell me, do you all think it's my fault? Do you want to trade me like Wolverine said?"

"Shaq, what are you talking about?"

Magic Johnson said helplessly: "I'm not in management..."

At this point, he looked at Phil Jackson. Would the management really want to trade the Sharks?
O'Neal also looked at Phil Jackson. As the head coach, Phil Jackson should know some inside information.

Phil Jackson was holding the coffee cup, and his hands shook a few times, causing some coffee to spill onto his legs.

He quickly put down the cup and wiped it with a tissue. After wiping it a few times, he said, "Sorry, I don't have such news."

Seeing Phil Jackson's actions, Magic Johnson's heart sank.

O'Neal was not stupid. Phil Jackson's reaction was totally wrong. He couldn't help but mutter, "I knew it, I knew it."

Phil Jackson was very unwilling because he supported O'Neal and thought O'Neal deserved it more than Kobe.

He hopes to use his relationship with Jeanie Buss to further seize power in the Lakers and have greater say.

But if O'Neal is traded, it means that he and Jeanie Buss have lost the competition with Jim Buss and Kupchak, and he may also be purged.

However, he and Jeanie Buss are currently at a disadvantage.

Jenny is only responsible for the team's business affairs and cannot participate in the team's construction and management or the team's game affairs.

As the head coach, he has no power to interfere in Kupchak's affairs, as Kupchak keeps a close eye on everything.

……

In the evening, Madison Square Garden was brightly lit and star-studded.

The average ticket price is as high as two thousand dollars, but it is still hard to get a ticket. After the entrances were opened, countless fans poured into the stadium like a tide.

The competition officially started at 8 o'clock, and the seats were full before 7 o'clock.

"Champion! Champion..."

"Wolverine! Wolverine..."

Without anyone organizing, cheers broke out from the fans from time to time, quickly spreading across the entire stadium.

In the visiting team's locker room, Kobe and O'Neal didn't even want to make eye contact. They affected the atmosphere in the locker room, and no one was wrong.

Glove Gary Payton felt so sad that he wanted to slap himself twice.

Were you possessed at the beginning? Why did you want to cling to the OK combination? Wouldn't it be better to go to the Knicks and cling to Wolverine?

In this atmosphere, the G2 battle began.

Kobe and O'Neal worked completely alone and did not pass the ball to each other at all. The OK combination completely lost the connection and had no coordination at all.

How can we beat the Knicks away from home with this kind of play?

At the end of the game, the score was 85:95, and the Knicks lost to the Lakers for the second time at home.

贺中秋在邮差的头上26投16中，16罚14中，豪取46分15篮板4助攻1抢断6盖帽2失误3犯规的数据，命中率61.5%。

O'Neal's performance was better than in the previous game. He frantically entered the penalty area to take position, but under He Zhongqiu's defense, even if he played pick-and-roll with the Mailman, the effect was average. He only made 13 of 6 shots, with a hit rate of 46.1%, and made 8 of 3 free throws, scoring only 15 points.

Kobe made 26 of 12 shots, with a hit rate of 46.1%. He scored 28 points including free throws. His performance was still at the standard, but without O'Neal's cooperation, he was unable to lead the team to victory.

Although the Knicks won, there was an accident. In the third quarter, Alan Houston was defending Kobe. When Kobe broke through, the two collided. Alan Houston's knee injury flared up and he left the game injured. His current condition is unknown.

Yanjing, NBA Greater China headquarters, Adam Silver’s president’s office.

"The Lakers are such idiots! Useless trash! Trash! The OK combination is trash!"

He turned off the TV in anger, took off his glasses and threw them on the desk, cursing.

He was targeted by Wolverine in China, so he really didn't want to see Wolverine win the championship, and he had to stop him from winning.

At this time, in Madison Square Garden, the Lakers left the stadium, and several reporters chased into the player tunnel, wanting to interview them.

O'Neal was defended by He Zhongqiu for two consecutive games. He performed poorly and was in a bad mood. He was unwilling to accept interviews and directly separated from the reporters and left.

Kobe was also very angry and wanted to vent, so he stayed.

"Kobe, we have three home games next, do the Lakers still have a chance?" asked a Los Angeles Times reporter.

"For sure, we won't lose, absolutely not." Kobe said very firmly, almost confidently.

"What do you think of the Sharks' performance, averaging 1 points in G2 and G14.5?" another reporter asked.

Kobe was immediately furious and said angrily, "He didn't train much during the season. He took a big rest for a minor injury and his body became out of shape. He used to say that if it was a work-related injury, he had to work to recover. This is ridiculous! It's really ridiculous! He has no professionalism at all.

In front of Wolverine, he is just a fat...fat shark that can neither fly nor run, so he was eaten alive by Wolverine. Now, he is not a center of the same level as Wolverine. "

On the Knicks side, Alan Houston's left knee was severely swollen and he was sent to the hospital for examination.

More than an hour later, when the press conference ended, bad news came that Alan Houston's old left knee injury flared up and he was out.

This bad news is very unfriendly to the Knicks. Alan Houston, as the team's sixth man, averaged 14.7 points per game in the first three rounds of the series and 12.5 points per game in the first two games of the finals. He is a very important force on the offensive end.

After receiving the news, He Zhongqiu and his teammates went to the hospital to visit Houston.

When Houston saw them, he looked very depressed and said, "The situation is very bad. The doctor said that this time we can only have surgery, major surgery, oh!"

"Alan, just focus on the surgery and leave the game to us. We can beat the Lakers." He Zhongqiu patted his chest and promised.

"Can we really beat the Lakers?" Alan Houston asked with mixed feelings.

He really hopes that the team can beat the Lakers so that he can taste the championship, but if that happens, he will seem unimportant.

He Zhongqiu comforted him, "It's okay, Alan, just rest assured and recover from your injury. Without you, there are still Josh Howard and Shandon Anderson, they can replace you."

"Ugh!"

Alan Houston turned around and looked to the other side. At this time, he really wanted to kill Wolverine.

Josh Howard, who was standing at the back, looked sad, but was very excited in his heart because his chance had come.

Since Alan Houston entered the bench lineup, his shots have been restricted and reduced a lot. Now it is finally his turn. He needs to perform well in the finals so that he can get a big contract in the future.

……

On the afternoon of the 3rd, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles.

O'Neal returned home, chatted with Shannon, with whom he had a bad relationship, and played with his children at home for a while. At this time, the 3 pm sports news on Los Angeles TV began.

Two minutes later, when O'Neal saw the news that Kobe criticized him in an interview, he was furious, completely furious.

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill Kobe!"

While roaring, he rushed out of the door, ran to the garage, got in the car, stepped on the accelerator and rushed out of the mansion. Shanni couldn't stop him even if she shouted.

She was afraid that the matter would get out of hand. It would be terrible if Shaq really killed Kobe, so she quickly grabbed her phone and notified Kupchak.

"what?"

Kupchak was overwhelmed after hearing the call.

He quickly notified others, including Phil Jackson, Mailman Malone, Glove Payton, and Cobra Grant, and asked them to rush to the stadium to mediate the fight.

Then I remembered that Brian Shaw and O'Neal had a good relationship, so I contacted them quickly.

But after the call was connected, Brian Shaw, who had switched careers to become a Lakers scout, was far away in Miami and couldn't get back for a while.

"Brian, O'Neal has threatened to kill Kobe. This is very serious. You must take the fastest plane back immediately. Do you understand?"

"God! Okay, I'll book the ticket right away." Brian Shaw on the other end was shocked.

Kupchak thought about it and decided to notify Jim Buss.

He and Jim Buss are one and the same. Jim Buss was his and Jerry West's apprentice back then. Old Buss also hoped that the two of them could cooperate to control the Lakers and suppress Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson.

Old Buss wanted Jim Buss to take over and did not want to see the power-hungry Phil Jackson become more powerful in the Lakers.

But he and Jim Buss had some disagreements that affected their relationship.

However, today's matter is too important and Jim Buss, Vice President of Basketball Affairs, must be notified.

Old Buss supported Kobe because Kobe was younger and had more commercial value, while O'Neal was acquired through a trade and was old.

Because of old Buss's attitude, he and Jim Buss also support Kobe.

Where there are bankers, there are players. Phil Jackson chose to support O'Neal and asked the management to trade Kobe twice. Jeanie Buss was influenced and also chose to support O'Neal.

O'Neal knew that Kobe was a training maniac and must be at the training base at this time, so he drove to the Lakers' training base.

However, when he arrived, Kupchak, Phil Jackson, Jim Buss, Jeanie Buss, Karl Malone, Payton and others had already arrived, and they had also called a team of security personnel.

"Kobe, you bastard, I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you..."

When he rushed into the stadium, he was hugged by several burly security guards, and he pointed at Kobe's nose and cursed angrily.

"Am I wrong? O'Neal, you are that kind of person, you are the bastard!" Kobe also pointed at O'Neal's nose and started cursing.

"You're a violent woman!"

"Asshole! Fuck you! I'm not, I'm not..."

The postman Karl Malone, who came to mediate the fight, was almost going crazy, breathing heavily, his head was still dizzy, and he was on the verge of a stroke.

He was not a good-tempered person. He came to the Lakers just hoping to fulfill his dream of winning a championship before retiring, but he did not expect to meet such an OK combination.

Kobe and O'Neal were still cursing at each other fiercely. The postman finally lost control and shouted angrily while waving his elbows:
"Enough! Enough! I've had enough! Shut up! You two idiots, shut your stinky mouths!

Damn it, fuck you! I tell you, I didn't come here to play basketball for that little money to suffer like this.

This is so stupid. Why am I here? Why did I choose this place? Why am I so stupid?
I should have chosen New York, damn Wolverine, why didn't you call and recruit me? Why? Damn it! "

Everyone in the stadium shut their mouths as they looked at the furious and out-of-control Postman. The OK combination was also frightened and dared not curse anymore.

Payton was also extremely disappointed. He could have clearly chosen the Knicks. If he and the Mailman had chosen the Knicks, they would have been celebrating the championship now instead of listening to the OK combination's quarrel.

"Let's go, Gary, let's get out of here, let's get out of the damn Lakers! Fuck the Lakers! Fuck the Purple and Gold! A bunch of idiots! A bunch of idiots! The OK combination is shit!"

Not long after, Buss also arrived at the arena. Facing the end of the game, he was powerless and called Kupchak to his office and said:

"Mitch, try to keep O'Neal. I hope to see him renew his contract. But if that doesn't work, if it really doesn't work, then keep Kobe."

"It's a pity that the Knicks are unwilling to trade Wolverine. Otherwise, under the pressure of Wolverine, our locker room would be like the Knicks now, as calm and full of vitality as a lake, and would not be torn apart like it is now."

Kupchak just complained in his heart, Boss, if you can kick Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson out of the Lakers, I think the situation will improve.

But he only dared to think about it in his heart and didn't dare to say it out loud.

(End of this chapter)