Chapter 245: MVP Gathering

"You're quite knowledgeable about basketball, huh~"

Wade Dong tilted his head, pointed his left hand at Coach Lue, and winked at him.

This long timeout was called by Coach Lue to give Wade Dong a chance to enjoy the cheers from the fans.

The fans all stood up and clapped.

On the day the league announced Wade Dong as the 2012-13 season's MVP, Wade Dong also broke the record for most three-pointers made in a game.

Amidst the fans' applause and cheers, Wade Dong walked towards the bench.

After the timeout.

Wade Dong and Curry didn't return to the court, and Coach Gentry sent out the Suns' highest-winning lineup: Varick, Whiteside, Green, Middleton, and Tucker.

Paul and Griffin also didn't return to the court, indicating that the Clippers were giving up on this game.

After all, they were on the road, facing the league-leading Suns, and losing the first two games was understandable. They could still win back two games at home.

...

Yao Ming and Wei Hua were sitting together and chatting. After Wade Dong came off the court, Yao Ming gave him a thumbs-up, acknowledging his performance.

Wade Dong sat on the bench, and someone handed him a bottle of drink from behind.

Wade Dong took it and said, "Thank you."

However, the person who handed him the drink remained standing behind him, with his hands on Wade Dong's shoulders, giving him a shoulder massage.

"Huh???"

This was a friendly gesture between friends, and Wade Dong turned around to see Kobe.

"Hey~~~ Old Kobe!"

Wade Dong stood up and hugged Kobe.

Kobe said, "Congratulations, brother. You won the regular season MVP."

"Haha..."

Wade Dong laughed, "Who hasn't won the regular season MVP? There's nothing to congratulate."

"For the next two games, you'll be in Los Angeles, which is also my home court. I'm planning a gathering, and I'd like to invite everyone to get together."

"Who's coming?"

"An MVP gathering!"

Kobe smiled mysteriously, "It depends on everyone's schedule. I've invited all the players who have won the regular season MVP this century, including Duncan, James, and Rose. I've also asked them, and if they have the chance, they'll come too."

After 2000, the regular season MVP winners were:

99-00 season: O'Neal.

00-01 season: Iverson.

01-02 season: Duncan.

02-03 season: Duncan.

03-04 season: Garnett.

04-05 season: Nash.

05-06 season: Nash.

06-07 season: Nowitzki.

07-08 season: Kobe.

08-09 season: James.

09-10 season: James.

10-11 season: Rose.

11-12 season: James.

12-13 season: Wade Dong.

Among these players, James won the regular season MVP three times, Nash and Duncan won it twice, and among them, O'Neal and Iverson had already retired, so they had more free time. Iverson also came to watch tonight's game.

Nowitzki didn't make the playoffs, and Garnett's Celtics lost to the Bulls in the first round. They both had free time, and the only uncertainty was James, Duncan, and Rose.

"It's great to have an MVP gathering."

Kobe had a bit of a loner personality, and Wade Dong didn't want to disappoint him, so he readily agreed.

On the court, they were opponents, but off the court, they were brothers! This was the culture of basketball... For the sake of winning the game, they would fiercely compete and trash-talk each other, and even get into physical altercations. But after the game, they could still be friends.

...

The last half of the fourth quarter passed quickly.

Beep!!!

The referee blew the whistle, and the game ended.

Game stats:

Wade Dong: 49 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

Curry: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks.

Paul: 31 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks.

Griffin: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks.

...

The night after the game, the Clippers flew back to Los Angeles.

They needed to make some adjustments and then welcome the Suns' challenge at home.

The second round of the playoffs had begun.

The Suns led the Clippers 2-0, while the Heat led the Pacers 3-0, the Bulls led the Knicks 1-1, and the Thunder led the Spurs 2-1.

Besides the Suns and the Heat, who had a dominant advantage, the other four teams were still in a tight battle.

...

Two days later, the Suns flew to Los Angeles.

Kobe had already invited Wade Dong to a private gathering after the fourth game, regardless of whether the Suns swept the Clippers.

It was certain that Duncan and Rose wouldn't be able to make it, as they had games on that day.

Whether James could come depended on the outcome of tonight's game. If the Heat won against the Pacers, they would sweep their opponent and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, so it wouldn't be a problem for James to take a day to come to Los Angeles for the gathering.

The Suns weren't very popular in Los Angeles.

After all, last year in the playoffs, the Suns defeated both the Clippers and the Lakers to advance to the Finals.

When the players entered the arena, the Suns didn't receive cheers from the away fans, and only a few fans were wearing Wade Dong's number 7 jersey.

Before the game.

Griffin was interviewed and said, "The Suns are a very strong team. We can only try to limit Wade Dong's scoring, but as you can see, Wade Dong always manages to score 40 or 50 points easily."

Beep!!!

The referee blew the whistle, and the game began.

Four minutes into the first quarter, Coach Lue made a substitution.

He replaced Butler with Obry, which surprised the fans.

...

In the Chinese live broadcast room.

Yu Jia said, "Obry is a player that many people aren't familiar with."

Coach Zhang commented, "Obry entered the NBA in 2009 and played in the D-League for a while. In one game, he had 37 rebounds and 16 blocks, an unusual double-double, but this player has almost no scoring ability."

Yu Jia said, "He's very tall."

Coach Zhang said, "He's 2.29 meters tall, three centimeters taller than Yao Ming."

...

Obry's specialty was his height and long arms. At 2.29 meters tall, his arms could reach his knees when hanging down. He was skilled at grabbing rebounds and blocking shots, but due to his thin body and lack of scoring ability, he hadn't received much playing time.

After coming on the court, he didn't go into the paint but instead defended Wade Dong on the perimeter.

"This substitution tactic..."

Coach Gentry opened his thermos, took a sip of his goji berry water, and said to Nash, "Coach Lue is trying to use Obry to limit Brother Dong's three-pointers."

"That's right."

Nash nodded, as it was obvious to everyone.

Coach Gentry wasn't worried and calmly said, "Brother Dong isn't just a three-point shooter."