Chapter 528

Chapter 528: Despair and Ridicule.

The next day, the Lakers lost their last regular season game as expected.

And it was by a full 20 points gap.

It really disappointed the Lakers fans.

They were wondering whether this bunch of trash would be a good enough supporting cast when Kobe and Iverson came back.

Just look at them!

They had a relaxed smile when they lost that game!

What the fuck!?

The playoffs didn’t start yet but they were already thinking about vacation!?

Did they ever think of the effort put by the 38 years old Kobe and 40 years old Iverson?

It wasn’t just the players as the head coach Byron Scott and general manager Kupchak were also chatting happily.

The fans’ hearts just turned cold.

Would the playoff game three days later be even worth watching?

Their opponent in the first round was the Portland Trail Blazers who ended their last game at the same time.

The Portland Trail Blazers had been in a rebuild in the past seasons.

They were playing a young lineup with the average age only at 25 years old.

The two stars in the past season were the 25 years old Damian Lillard and 24 years old CJ McCollum.

They played very well during the regular season with one averaging 25 points, 4 rebounds, 6.8 assists while the other averaged 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

They were around the same as Kobe and Iverson.

But the players after them were really average.

The starting center Plumlee only averaged 9.1 points and 7 rebounds and the power forward Aminu averaged 10.2 points and 6 rebounds.

The small forward Allen Crabbe had 10.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.

With everything added together, they were only to get sixth in the West, which showed how stacked it was.

The Lakers thought that they could crush the Blazers with their experience in the playoff but their other starters were so weak and not as good as the players from the Blazers so the situation was uncertain now.

Then at the next press conference, the general manager Kupchak announced the return of a very important member of their team, no.66 Chen Huan from China, would be a huge boost to the team morale.

It wasn’t only the fans but even the sports journalist was contemptuous on this matter.

Compared to the ordinary basketball fans, those sports journalists already got the information about Kobe and Iverson going to pick up Chen Huan.

Although Chen Huan, Kobe and Iverson swept the Rockets and Warriors during the pre-season, it was just the pre-season.

It would be normal for the team to not be in full form.

So Chen Huan’s performance was put in question.

Otherwise, how about they play the Golden State Warriors now?

They had 73 wins and 9 losses, beating the regular season record set by the Bulls with 72 wins and 10 losses and making history!

Moreover, someone broke the news that Chen Huan didn’t play in any official games and didn’t even regularly train!

In the past six months, what he mostly did was teaching.

Alright.

A 17 years old teacher.

He was also a world renowned mathematician at 17.

So there was nothing wrong with him being a teacher and tutoring students for upcoming exams, nothing to criticize here.

But the problem was how could he find the time to train when he was spending all his time tutoring students?

The NBA was no joke. How could someone be in top physical and technical shape without constant training?

Did he think he could practice during his dream?

So when the Lakers announced the arrival of Chen Huan, people expressed their doubts and ridicule.

“Chen Huan? Hum, that’s the first time I’ve heard of this guy. I know he’s from China, Yao’s home country but what about it? In China, only Yao could play good basketball! This young man should just stick to mathematics!” –Barkley.

“I have carefully analyzed Chen Huan’s performances during the preseason and if he spent an entire NBA season with that form, he may be the best rookie this year! However, he seems to lack conviction and appearing in the NBA now is making people feel doubtful.” –Van Gundy.

“Wow, I don’t think Chen Huan is going to be a success and Kobe’s desire for the trophy has made him crazy! He will never succeed and I think Chen Huan will return to China in disappointment!” Shaquille O’Neal.

“Hahaha, this is the Lakers’ secret weapon? Did they all go crazy? My Blazers has finally a chance to get into the Conference semifinals!”

“I’m not trying to criticize the Lakers since they had a great regular season but why the hell did they recruit some Chinese dude? Wasn’t it a promotion tactic for the Chinese market?”

“Haha, I expected Kobe and Iverson to show off their greatness again in the playoffs but now if they are adding a heavy obstacle, they would turn into a joke!”

“This is ridiculous and sad! The end of two legends is filled with so much drama!”

“…”

There was plenty of criticism whether it was online or in real life.

The strange thing was there were a lot of loud mouthed people in the Lakers but they were all silent now in the face of so many criticisms.

Obviously this was ordered by Little Buss.

The ridicule increased when they saw that.

It was necessary to boost the team morale before the war.

But the Lakers were acting like mud on the wall.

It wasn’t only Chen Huan who was unreliable, except Kobe and Iverson, who else was reliable?

Kobe and Iverson didn’t play in six games and they lost those six games, was it how a good team played?

But they would deceive the people at most for three more days.

When the playoff started against the Portland Trail Blazers, it would be the time when the Lakers would be beaten back home and completely crushed!

This kind of mentality not only came from the opposition but also from the Lakers fans.

Some of them even pondered whether they should go to the stadium.

It would be sad for them to see Kobe and Iverson trying their best only to be swept away by the Blazers.

After all, this was Kobe’s last year on his contract and there was no talk of another contract so if things didn’t improve, this would probably be Kobe’s last season!

It would be so sad for a superstar that spent his entire career in the Lakers to have such a regretful ending!