So, are the NBA's highest honors the championship ring and the FMVP trophy? In fact, there is an honor more precious than these, and that is the affirmation from competitors.
Durant and James' Short Stories
20 12 finals, thunder vs heat. At that time, James was recognized as the first in the league, and Durant has grown into the scoring champion in the regular season for three consecutive years. It was from then on that the battle of old enemies kicked off. In the end, the Heat with more experience and deeper lineup took away the victory, but absolutely no one would laugh at Thunder and look down on Durant.
James has not fully immersed himself in the joy of winning the first championship in his career. Shortly after the finals, James took the initiative to invite Durant to train with him during the offseason, and the two began to form sincere friendship, compete with each other and achieve each other. This is the real opponent.
Short stories by James and Green
When James defeated the Thunder, he met the Golden State Warriors on his way back to the Cavaliers to win the championship. Curry is the star of the Warriors. However, it is Draymond who directly competes with Lao Zhan. Green.
When the two men confronted each other many times, they had verbal conflicts and physical conflicts, and they were quite angry. Green's grumpy temper became the fuse of the whole anti-explosive riding brave war. However, 20 16 staged a scene that no one expected.
16 There are 7 races in the Battle of Riding the Brave, which is the fiercest battle between the two sides. Disputes and conflicts are frequently staged, the confrontation intensity is strong, and the players have a big temper. Every game makes the audience sweat. However, in the end, the Cavaliers won the championship. From a psychological point of view, the Warriors should return to the locker room in frustration. However, Green, who was most angry with James, returned to the stadium from the dressing room again, walked through the crowd, found James hugging each other and sincerely wished him well. I think on the one hand, Lao Zhan's outstanding performance conquered Green, on the other hand, it also reflected Green's sportsmanship as a champion.
The Short Story of Kobe Bryant and Allen
Kobe is a unique offensive player in history, so every team wants an excellent defender to limit Kobe, even if he doesn't attack on the court. Where's Tony Allen is such a role-player.
At that time, in a game, rookie Allen volunteered to defend Kobe. However, the fact that he scored 6 in 8 minutes made Allen deeply feel the cruelty of NBA and Kobe's incomprehension. Allen was an incompetent defender for anyone at that time. However, day after day's study and progress have made Allen obsessed with defense. He became more agile and strategic, and was selected as the best defense several times, but these were not Allen's highest honors.
20 16 On February 27th, Kobe Bryant led his team to Memphis Grizzlies for the last time. After the game, Kobe took out his signature shoes and gave them to Allen, a defender who had been bombarded by himself for eight minutes, but now he has become a defense master in the league. On the sneakers, Kobe also wrote a sentence: Dedicated to Tony, the best defender I have ever faced.
From this point of view, no matter how many trophies and good data are, can they be compared with an affirmation from the opponent?