On March 20, Beijing time, the Los Angeles Lakers' away challenge to the Washington Wizards became the focus of this round of the NBA regular season. Not because the game is related to the regular season rankings of the two teams, but because the Lakers star player LeBron James, who has already sat in the second place in NBA history, is only 19 points away from the Jazz legend Carl Malone, who is second in the history scoring list, and is only one step away from witnessing history.
The 37-year-old Zhan lived up to expectations, firing at full force after the opening, and with more than 7 minutes left in the second quarter, he had already tied Malone's 36928 points with a three-point shot. Old Zhan's eighteen martial arts were exhausted, and his incomparably skilled offensive skills were dazzling. Finally, just a minute and a half after the tie with Malone, the moment of climbing to the second place in the all-time scoring list quietly came - Stanley Johnson, who held the ball at the top of the arc, gave the ball to the empty old Jan with a precise ground pass, and the thirty-year-old man took off in the air, preemptively before the closing goal of Porzingis and Hachimura, gliding through the gap between the two and steadily putting the ball into the basket, just like the work he has done day after day and year after year in the past 19 years.
The referee intimately called off the game, and even if he fought on the road, all the fans still stood up and cheered and applauded to send the highest respect and blessing to the veteran who was already great enough to be called a living fossil of the NBA. Emotionally, James also temporarily forgot that he was still playing, pointing to the sky and waving to the fans around him, and high-fived his old teammate Pop, who had switched to the Wizards.
You know, Stanley Johnson, who didn't get an NBA offer a few months ago, is now a witness to this historic moment, which not only vividly explains why the NBA is called the "birthplace of miracles", but also highlights the greatness of James, who can become better around him if he works hard enough. "Postman" Carl Malone used 1476 games to become the second place in the top scoring list, and James broke this record in only 1363 regular season games, after which he only had the last name left in front of him - Karim Abdul-Jabbar, the two were separated by 1890 points, as long as James remained healthy, then it was only a matter of time before he was crowned the all-time leading scorer.
If the time is frozen in this moment, the game does not come to the final quarter of the Purple and Gold Army being blasted by the home team to blast a 34-20 attack wave to reverse the game, then this game is perfect for James and his fans. Unfortunately, there is no if in everything. The 16-point lead is like a mirror flower and water moon, and it is not. After losing the game, the "milestone" that was originally exclusive to Lao Zhan helplessly became "mileage sadness".
After the game, the criticism poured in like a tide against Lakers coach Joe Vogel. When the Wizards' "Kirin" Porzingis has been unstoppable in the Lakers' three-second zone, Vogel, who is sitting on the Diaoyutai, still stubbornly insists on using a five-small lineup, and the result is self-evident: Bo Shen scored 16 points alone in the last quarter, and Garford, who was suspected of having "watered out", also brushed a full pot, taking 17 points and 6 rebounds in 9 shots. And the Lakers' side? Since Davis fell due to injury, The only one who is a serious inside line and has performed well recently has not won even 1 minute of playing time.
This kind of platooning not only made domestic fans deeply dissatisfied, but also American fans on the other side of the ocean also made "cordial greetings" to Wo Shuai on the social media. It can be seen that Vogel's stubbornness has caused everyone's dissatisfaction. However, the person in the post-game interview was particularly light:"We didn't play well during James' rest time, Anthony and Tucker missed yesterday's game, they seemed a little out of rhythm. ”
Come on! Is that why you swore not to use Howard? What about the superstitious Twin Towers? Since Tucker Jr. wasn't on the tempo, why did he play for nearly 17 minutes? For Guago, who is also 37 years old and has a basic salary, can he be asked to do more by playing on the bench and contributing 13 points? If you only think about how to throw the pot, I am afraid that even the last respect and support of the players will be exhausted.
Maybe the champion coach who had a flash in the Orlando park and led the team to win the championship will not come back after all. The self-contained and stubborn Vogel may no longer be suitable for coaching this team, and the previous management wanted Wo Shuai to lead the team until the end of the season, but at present, if the Lakers still want to retain the playoff quota and want to work harder this season, they must carefully consider whether to fire Vogel. Considering that during his quarantine, Fitzdale has had a good effect as acting manager, and perhaps it is time to make a change. If you were the Lakers management, what would you do?