Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 733 - 260: When the King Becomes a Commoner_2

However...

Even though the Knicks officially found an injury excuse for James to withdraw from the Finals in a respectable manner.

This still cannot change the fact that, in the eyes of the outside world, James was actively given up by the Knicks.

After all, after the first game of the Finals, as Durant brought his conflict with James from behind the scenes to the front stage...

No matter how respectable being DNP is, it is still being DNP.

"The collapsing little emperor has already finished all his games in his Knicks career in the first game of this year's Finals." ——ESPN headline news

Interestingly, on the same day the Knicks DNP-ed James, Nike also officially decided to offer Durant an astronomical renewal contract with a total duration of five years and a total value of 120 million US dollars.

What does this renewal contract, which far exceeds James' current contract, mean?

It means Nike chose the younger Durant to be their new crown prince in their future empire.

Honestly, compared to being DNP-ed by the Knicks.

Nike's decision is the truly fatal blow for James.

For the first time since entering the NBA, James has fallen into a slump and depression.

James doesn't understand why, half a year ago, he was still highly prestigious in New York, but six months later, he has encountered the biggest crisis of his career.

Now, James can only hope that the Knicks lose badly in the upcoming Finals games.

Because only in this way, James can prove that the Knicks' decision to DNP him in the Finals is a childish act full of immaturity.

Unfortunately, reality didn't go as James wished.

In the second game of the Finals, the Knicks used "Spider-Man" Jeffries to partner with Howard in the paint.

And on the court, Howard, who didn't feel sorry for James being DNP-ed for a second and was now solely focused on assisting Durant, became the number one white-eyed wolf in James' eyes.

Jeffries is a player whose defense far outweighs his offense.

On the court, his presence greatly reduced Howard's defensive pressure.

And with Jeffries on the court, the Knicks, who DNP-ed James, quietly established a defensive system that could contend with the Warriors, even though their team's head coach is DAntoni.

Moreover, the Knicks received another piece of good news in the second game of the Finals.

That is, including Qin Yue, the Warriors players were all caught in a strange loop where their three-point shots wouldn't go in.

That night, the Warriors took 37 shots from beyond the arc, most of which were open shots.

However, this team that lives on shooting surprisingly only made 7 of those shots.

Even though Qin Yue's inside attack was still unstoppable during the game.

Durant and Harden, with an outstanding performance combining for 61 points, 14 rebounds, and 15 assists, surprisingly led the team to capture Oracle Arena after the Knicks chose to DNP James.

With James, the Knicks have never won against the Warriors even once.

But without James, counting the previous regular season game, this was already the second time the Knicks defeated the Warriors.

In the post-game interview segment.

Durant, who always speaks his mind, bluntly said: "I said, without him, we'll just play better."

"We just DNP-ed a player who couldn't affect the course of the game at all."

Then, Durant added: "Maybe you think I'm exaggerating, but you can check LeBron's plus-minus during this year's playoffs. Honestly, in my opinion, his basketball is as fake as his humble demeanor, and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny at all."

Prepared for this moment, Durant finally took a long, satisfying breath on this night when the Knicks tied the series 1-1, after months of accumulating resentment.

"I don't care what you think of LeBron."

And as Durant's good brother, the normally reticent Harden staunchly supported Durant by saying: "Anyway, I only know that this Knicks team can only reach the end with 'KD' leading it."

Additionally, the number one white-eyed wolf Howard didn't spare his "good brother" James any face.

"Jared's presence made my defense feel much easier."

Howard said, without mentioning but not avoiding anything: "You know, defense has never been just about one player. But if there's a player on the court who constantly drags their feet, then the other four players are destined not to be able to play high-quality defense."

Iguodala was the only Knicks player who didn't kick James when he was down after the second Finals game.

However, when asked about what positive changes the Knicks made in the second game by choosing to DNP James, Iguodala said: "We just played the game as we always do, without deliberately making adjustments or changes."

If being DNP-ed by the Knicks was already James' darkest moment.

Then after the Knicks' upset victory in the second game of the Finals, James' up-and-down life seemed to have fallen to the gutters of the sewers, where no one cared.

Because when asked about James' current situation after he chose to leave, Knights owner Gilbert, who is still in the reconstruction pain period, said: "You ask me if I feel sorry for LeBron's current situation? No, I don't feel sorry at all. I just want to say, people have finally seen the true colors of this Chosen One."

And Jamison, a former teammate of James now with the Warriors, also confirmed from the side that the Knicks without James are clearly more formidable.

"When LeBron is on the court, we could always easily create cutting opportunities for off-ball teammates."

"I think this loss has already served as a good reminder that the Knicks without LeBron are far stronger than we imagined."

It has to be said, this year's Finals is indeed full of drama.

Although so far, the only one injured is James.

Yet, the injured James has instead filled this Finals with suspense in people's eyes.

In Oakland, before leading the Warriors to depart for New York, Qin Yue, who finally realized how much he had relied on James in the past, said in the team preparation meeting: "Now, we must adapt to this Knicks team without LeBron, both in defense and offense on the court."

And on the side, Brown was nostalgically missing James, saying: "The Knicks are really too hateful, they actually realized that LeBron is our best sixth man with just one game."

...

PS: Update brought to you! (Oh no, I just praised Harden in G6, didn't expect he messed up again in G7, congrats to the Nuggets for slapping Ah Qiao in the face and advancing to the next round, but in tomorrow's Rockets-Warriors Game 7, Ah Qiao still favors the younger Rockets to win)