NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 442 LaVar Ball's Confidence

Staples Center, the basketball mecca of the City of Angels.

The Lakers-Clippers city rivalry has never really been particularly exciting. The reason is that the two teams' peak periods always seem to just miss each other. Of course, the Clippers' peak was short-lived; you could argue they didn't really have a true "peak" (by championship count). The Lakers' peak is well-documented, but since Kobe's serious injury, the team has been declining ever since.

The Clippers have maintained their dominance from the era of Blake Griffin in 58 to the current era of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It is foreseeable that if the Lakers cannot attract big-name free agents and cannot draft a talented player who can become the cornerstone of the team, they will still not be a match for the Clippers in the next few years.

Tonight is the Lakers' home game, and Staples Center is packed with people. More than a dozen championship banners are neatly hung in the arena. Here, even the division championship banners are not so happy to be hung up; there are just too many championships.

There are many big-name celebrities in attendance tonight, including Nicholson Sr., Leonardo DiCaprio (the lead actor in Titanic), David Beckham, Rihanna, the Bryant family, and more.

Since retiring, Kobe Bryant has gained some weight. It's normal for middle-aged people to gain weight, especially with less exercise and a tendency to drink goji berries in their thermos. Fortunately, Kobe has always been bald, so his hairline and hair volume are unknown. However, many fans know that the Running Man actor has a high hairline and thinning hair, which is probably why he deliberately grows a beard.

Vanessa is still as charming as ever. People often joke that she couldn't give Kobe a son to inherit his ironman legacy, but anyone with a little biology knowledge knows that the sex of a child is determined by the father, and only men have the Y chromosome.

When Kobe will break his scoring drought is a topic of conversation among many fans, and a topic that everyone enjoys discussing.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was also in attendance, alongside general manager Arsène Wenger and the team's de facto operator, the man with the team logo. This was the first game for the new Clippers team, and everyone was eager to see the fruits of their summer's labor.

This is Paul George's first game representing the Clippers, and he looks very excited. Playing at Staples Center was his childhood dream. Although it's an away game, it feels almost like home. With so many celebrities and the team owner present, he wants to prove his worth—that it's not that he's incapable, but rather that the Pacers are incapable.

Besides the star players, LaVar Ball, who boasted he could beat Michael Jordan with one hand, was also in attendance tonight. He was wearing a baseball cap, sporting a mustache, and a grey T-shirt, looking like a refined middle-aged man. But who knew this guy was a habitual spouter vulgarities and made outrageous claims?

This game was broadcast live on TNT, with the commentary provided by the longtime duo Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

The match hadn't started yet, and the two long-time partners were warming up the crowd.

“Charles, LaVar Ball said he could beat MJ with one hand, what do you think?” Kenny Smith asked with a smile.

Barkley burst out laughing: "Let me laugh for a bit. He can beat MJ? With one hand? Let me put it this way, even without MJ, PG alone could beat him with one hand."

"He still says his second son, Lonzo Ball, can easily beat the Clippers' star player, Jia Fei. What do you think?" Kenny Smith continued to ask.

Barkley continued to shake his head: "Although I don't really like Jia Fei, and I don't think he's really the so-called best player in the league, I still don't agree that Lonzo can beat Jia Fei. Lonzo has only just entered the league, and he hasn't played a single official NBA game yet. Jia Fei, on the other hand, has been in this league for many years and has won the scoring title and MVP. If you want to beat him, tonight is a good opportunity. I'd like to see it."

"Do you think the Lakers can defend their home court in this game?" Kenny Smith asked.

Barkley shook his head: "The Lakers still lack star players. If PG is traded in the summer, I think they will have some opportunities. No matter how bad Jia Fei is, these bastards still can't beat him."

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Lakers' starting lineup for the home game is: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Luol Deng, Larry Nance, and Brook Lopez.

The Lakers used their second overall pick in the recent draft to select point guard Lonzo Ball, partly because their previous second overall pick, D'Angelo Russell, was traded to the Nets due to the "video scandal" involving Nick Young.

On June 21, the Los Angeles Lakers traded D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Brook Lopez and the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.

The Lakers used their 27th pick to select the "handsome and talented" Kuzma. Essentially, they traded Russell and Mozgov for Lopez and Kuzma. In hindsight, the Lakers didn't lose out.

Although Kuzma was only a late first-round pick, he had an outstanding performance in the Summer League. He's an excellent rookie with great potential and a very well-rounded game. Brook Lopez is a much better center than Mozgov, yet he's an All-Star and only 29 years old this year.

Mozgov was clearly a bad contract, and it's definitely a good thing that the Lakers were able to trade him.

Lakers head coach is still former NBA player Luke Walton, who looks very serious.

Walton is known for his preference for small lineups, and yet in this Lakers team, he fielded such a massive roster. Ingram, at 208cm, plays shooting guard, the team's average height is well over 2 meters, and the shortest player on the team is Ball, at 198cm.

Haven't you always complained that I like to play the "suicide five" strategy? Well, now I'm going to play the "death five," are you satisfied?

Lonzo Ball practiced before the game, and his shooting form was so ugly it rivaled that of Shawn Marion and Joakim Noah. Can such a bizarre form really produce accurate shots? Perhaps, because Kevin Martin's shooting form was also very strange back in the day, yet he somehow became a sharpshooter.

The reason why exceptions are so hard to find is because they are rare. If Ball's crooked machine gun is really accurate, there must be something wrong with it.

LaVar Ball was brimming with a sense of accomplishment, proudly boasting to his companions that he was enjoying his son being in the spotlight.

At that moment, he felt he completely outclassed Jordan. "Jordan, do you think your son can even get into the NBA? Besides being good at picking up girls, is your son even good at basketball?"

Kobe, why are you looking at me like that? You don't even have a son yet, hurry up and get back to work tonight!

Vanessa, why are you looking at me so resentfully? Don't you like how hard your husband works? Do you want him to keep missing shots?