On December 24, Beijing time, on the last game day of the NBA before Christmas, ushered in a "focus battle".
Unlike the battle of strong dialogue focus that everyone usually understands, today's focus is on a stadium.
After today's Los Angeles Lakers home game against the San Antonio Spurs, Staples Arena will be completely obliterated in the long river of history, ending his 22-year history.
Due to the replacement of sponsors, staples Center will be officially renamed Crypto.com Arena at Christmas.
It is reported that Crypto.com paid more than $700 million to buy the naming rights of staples center, which is the largest naming transaction in the history of sports.
In 1999, the Lakers officially relocated to staples center, and in the past 22 years, the Lakers have experienced countless glorious moments.
However, it is such a "farewell battle", the Lakers have not left a good memory.
22 years ago, the Lakers left the Great Western Forum arena with a loss; 22 years later, the Lakers ended their history at Staples with another loss.
The Lakers, who have not been in a good situation recently, met their old rival Spurs, who did not have a good record this season, and were hammered by the Spurs from the beginning of the game, and finally lost to the Spurs 110-138.
The most surprising player of the game is undoubtedly Spurs forward Keita Bates Diop, who came off the bench for just 27 minutes, shooting 11 of 11, 3 of 3 three-pointers, 5 of 7 free throws, 30 points, 7 rebounds and 1 steal.
Statistics show that Diop is the first player in Spurs history to score 30+ points in a single game with 100% shooting. Since 2000, in addition to today's Diop, only four players in the league have played this statistic: Dwight Howard, Domintus Sabonis, Thomas Bryant and Nikola Jokic.
You know, Diop has played in 24 games this season, averaging 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. It can be said that it is a veritable "scrap", but it is such an unknown young general who can also play such amazing data when facing the Lakers, and the Lakers' embarrassment can be imagined now.
The only normal person on the Lakers may be James.
The Lakers forward started 35 minutes in the game, shooting 15-of-26, 2-of-7 from three-point range, and 4-of-6 from the free throw line for 36 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks.
You know, in the past 4 games, James has averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists per game, shooting 56% from the field. But in these 4 games, the Lakers suffered a wave of 4 consecutive losses.
Before the start of the season, if you say that James, who is about to turn 37, can still play like this, no one will dare to believe it, but the purple and gold legions that have been riddled this season can only make the old man burn himself again and again.
But even so, he could no longer turn the tide as much as before.
Constant injuries, poor form, no tacit understanding... Maybe we're saying goodbye not just to staples history, but also james' last chance to win the championship.