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The Spurs fans were stunned, standing in the seat, silly, and were at a loss for a moment. Many young fans couldn't curb their grief and burst into tears!

Faced with such a result, the Spurs players' reaction was also low. Duncan, who was staggering and falling to the ground, had a blank expression. He had always been showing his feelings on the court, couldn't help but clench his iron fist and punched the floor with grief!

Parker and Ginobili gasped, looking at the scarlet 94-93 on the scoreboard with blank expressions, obviously unable to accept the result!

They lost, the West ranked first and the West ranked fifth, they were eliminated, and the defending champion was eliminated!

Why is this happening? How could God let such a cruel thing happen!

The attitude of the Spurs fans was exactly the same. The Warriors fans shouted and danced like crazy. The old fans led by Mopti were dancing like children. They shouted loudly: "Promoted, advanced! The Warriors advanced to the Western Conference Finals!"

Evans, Ellis, West and others on the bench rushed to the court as soon as possible. They lifted Chamberlain, who was tall and big, and Billups, Jackson and others followed. More than a dozen players were gathered together and laughed unrestrainedly. Old Nelson was also laughing. He and his son Nelson Jr., the team doctor, assistant coach and Winnie hugged each other.

Winnie smiled and said, "Congratulations, Lao Tang, the Warriors have finally entered the Western Conference Finals. You have led this team to create achievements that fans will never forget!"

Old Nelson laughed and said loudly in a hoarse voice: "This is nothing, Little Winnie, this is nothing. My goal is to create a dynasty. Cardinal has eight consecutive championships. That's because he has Bill Russell, I have Chamberlain, and I also have eight consecutive championships!!!"

The Warriors fans cheered constantly, and the center of the At&T center became an ocean of emotions intertwined with joy and sorrow. The stadium dj sighed: "The current stadium is a long river, the left bank is joy, and the right bank is sad. Unfortunately, we are standing on the right bank of the river, and our opponent is on the left bank!"

Looking at the almost crazy Warriors fan, Richards smiled slightly. Finally, he looked at Chamberlain who was carrying on his shoulders by his teammates, and said with a smile: "Okay, guys, our mission is over and we can leave."

"We only came to the stadium for two minutes!" an assistant said in surprise.

Richards said patiently: "But that's enough. I got what I wanted. Tell Ron to start the follow-up plan and hold a small director of the club. I want to buy the stocks they have!"

After a celebration, the Warriors players finally calmed down a little, and the Spurs players also accepted this fact. Although the result was a bit unexpected, they were all old birds. Winning and defeat were commonplace, and this was not unbearable pain.

However, when the Spurs players and the Warriors players stood together, I felt very uncomfortable.

Popovich shook hands with the old Nelson and sighed, "Teacher, congratulations on entering the Western Conference Finals. I hope you can defeat the Lakers, pass the hurdles, win the championship of this season, and lose to the championship, at least it won't be so unacceptable."

Old Nelson is now very proud, and he smiled and said, "You have done a great job, man, it's already very good! But you may have underestimated our goal. We not only want to win the championship, but also want to create a prosperous dynasty!"

After hearing this, Popovich's respect and blessings were immediately thrown away. He curled his lips and said, "To be honest, Lao Tang, you have done a good job this season. But you have to know the reason, not how strong you are, but that the little guy Chamberlain appeared so surprising. Give me a summer vacation. If you can meet again next season, I will make you lose the piss! "

Old Nelson said disdainfully: "Stop bragging, boy, then you're busy this summer. It's better that you comfort your Duncan baby. Today, Z seems to make him desperate. Be careful that he will run to the east because he is afraid of Z."

After saying that, in Popovich's solemn expression, he said meaningfully: "Z is much better now than O'Neal when he was a rookie. He will grow and become more powerful next season. David Robinson used to help Duncan defend O'Neal, so who will help him now?"

He said this, not just making random talk or scaring Popovich, because this was once a established reality, that is, in order to avoid the remnant power of the shark, Duncan once went to the East to join forces with Hill, and almost succeeded. When talking about this, he had to recall some of the things that happened in the past decade.

There is no doubt that Duncan, who won three FMVPs and one MVP, was one of the best players in the post-Jordan era. But if you have to say that a best player, the fans may choose O'Neal or Iverson and Kobe, and he is likely to fall out of the top three. The reason is that his simple and unpretentious style of play and low-key personality are one of the reasons, and his never successful defending the title is indeed a weakness that cannot be ignored, but in fact, he had three opportunities to rewrite this fate.

Many people criticize Duncan for never being able to defend his title, let alone three consecutive championships or establish a dynasty. But if you calm down and relive the years at the beginning of the century and realize that Duncan's peak personal ability coincides with the most amazing years of the Ok combination, how can you bear to criticize Duncan for not defending his title?

When the Lakers looked down on the world at the beginning of the century and won three championships, the combination of O's swords combined, and their spirits just contrasted the embarrassment of Duncan's isolation and support for the overall situation alone. At that time, the old ones in the Spurs were already old like David Robinson, and the young ones were still difficult to take the big responsibility like Parker. How difficult would it be to win the NBA championship with just Duncan?

Originally, Popovich had planned to find Duncan's former disciple Spreville as an assistant, but that kid was too rebellious. Popovich had just suffered a loss from Rodman before. At that time, Popovich was not the godfather of the Spurs now. He was worried that he could not suppress the kid, so he refused the deal, so Duncan still had to work hard to lead the team himself.

The time came to the 1999-2000 season, and the Spurs were extremely unhappy this year. In addition to Elliott's serious illness, Duncan suffered a serious ankle injury before the start of the playoffs. In the first round, Duncan could only sit on the bench and watch the team be eliminated by the Suns 1-3. So in the summer of that year, Duncan's contract expired, and he announced that he would withdraw from the Dream Four team "for health reasons and serious consideration of personal future."

That summer, the St. Anthony people fell into pessimism because they were really not sure whether Duncan could stay. After seeing the Ok combination win the championship with an unstoppable momentum, Duncan said that he hoped the Spurs could attract strong aids to fight the Lakers. However, due to the limited salary space, if the Spurs can renew Duncan and Robinson at the same time, it would be difficult for the remaining salary space to achieve great success.

NBA is a business, and human feelings and loyalty are constantly disappearing with the passage of time. I am afraid there is only one superstar who truly treats his team loyally. Duncan and Kobe are gradually becoming the signatures of their team, but at different times, they have all expressed their intention to leave their team. Of course, perhaps they are not really planning to leave their team, but just saying so to force the team to trade with enough weight for themselves.

Kobe's plan was successful. The Lakers helped him trade Odom and Paul Gasol. They are now in the final battle with the Hornets and won the MVP with great enthusiasm. Duncan was not so lucky at that time. It was obvious that there was no other leading star to come to the West to assist him.

However, in 2000, although not many stars were willing to come to the Spurs to assist Duncan, many teams had already cleared their salary space and waited for Duncan in vain, among which Magic was the most enthusiastic.

Magic also issued a 67.5 million offer to Duncan and Hill for 6 years, intending to create a group of super combinations. Duncan Hill's agent at the time, Long Babi Chacha, had a close relationship with Magic's senior management. He had just gained a foothold in the NBA at that time, trying to further consolidate his position in the NBA by promoting this feat.

After the free market opened, Duncan and Hill were invited to visit Orlando. At Disney, the Magic held a grand welcome party for them. Duncan and Hill have always had a friendly relationship. They were a joint agent, practiced and shot advertisements together during the offseason, and discussed the possibility of playing together. This time, the Magic had a great chance to make it possible.

Duncan later admitted that he was really moved at the time. He told reporters: "I almost left at that time" - this is not a fault for Duncan's unfaithfulness to the team. That year, the Lakers won the championship, and the unstoppable momentum of the ok combination made everyone tremble. If Duncan stayed in the West, he would definitely need to fight the Lakers every year and have no chance of winning. And if he transfers to the East, under the overall situation of strong West and weak East, Duncan joins Hill to almost lock in the finals ticket.

That year, the West was strong and the East was weak. The five players of the best first team of the year (Peton, Kidd, O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett) all came from the West. Magic coach Rivers said that if Duncan could come from the West with a forest inside to the weak East, then he just had to wait for the shark who tried his best to break out from the West but was at the end of his strength.

Duncan hesitated, no one knew the destructive power of the Sharks better than him. Even though the Spurs swept the Lakers in the semi-finals in 1999, the Sharks' dunk after the arch-flying general made Duncan feel scared. He sat on the ground for a long time without recovering. After the game, he joked: Fortunately, David was the main defense of the sharks. Now that the sharks are in the sun, the Admiral has already gone up and down, and it is clear which Lakers and Spurs are better.

Duncan was hesitant, while Hill decided to escape from the Pistons. He began to lobby Duncan for the Magic. Hill used his personal experience to analyze the various pains of staying in a team with severe aging. Especially for teams like the Pistons and Spurs, it is difficult for them to attract big names, and they can only slowly cultivate young people. Once, Hill and Alan Houston were regarded as the core of reconstruction by the Pistons, but the latter could not bear the pain of reconstruction and left sadly.

After leaving Houston, Hill supported the overall situation alone, and suffered a lot, and injuries began to increase. In the mid-1997-98 season, the Pistons spent all their efforts to trade a quasi-All-star Starkhouse. This Starkhouse was still helpless because of the 76ers' jealousy and Iverson's disadvantage. After Starkhouse came to the Pistons, he still had a "crime" and often competed with Hill for his attack.

On the one hand, Hill was dissatisfied with the Pistons' ineffective signings, which led to his failure in the first round of the playoffs in a row; on the other hand, the Pistons' senior executives were extremely stingy. In the 1997-98 season, many stars signed sky-high contracts before the new version of the labor-management agreement was issued, but in the face of Hill's request for an early renewal, the Pistons kept shirking the responsibility.

Hill's view is that teams like the Spurs and Pistons are not only difficult to introduce strong players, but also extremely stingy. If they fail to sign, they can only rely on patience to cultivate rookies, which is a waste of their years. Hill believes that he has peers like Starkhouse to support each other at the Pistons. In the Spurs, Duncan hopes most is David Robinson, but Robinson was 35 years old at that time!

Hill knew that Duncan had a good relationship with Popovich and David Robinson, so it was difficult to make up his mind for a while. Hill himself was also close to Dumas, who was then assistant to the general manager of the Pistons, but Hill gritted his teeth and refused Dumas' retention. Hill hoped that Duncan could make a rational decision like himself.

Duncan returned to the Holy City with ambivalence. No one knew what Popovich and David Robinson had found Duncan and said. But soon, after Hill announced that he would sign first and then join the Magic for 93 million in 7 years, Duncan chose a "3+1" contract to stay in the Spurs, of which only had 34 million in the first three years, and the fourth year was the player option. If executed, he could get 13.3 million.

Duncan could have signed a maximum salary of more than 90 million in seven years, but he asked for a "3+1". On the one hand, he saved the Spurs' salary space and allowed the Spurs to renew Robinson and sign a team calmly; on the other hand, his signing of a short contract was also putting pressure on the Spurs: if they continue to fail to win the championship, they can still leave this "3+1" contract quickly and have a far-reaching impact on the NBA. In 2006, the Golden Generation signed such contracts one after another. Yes, LeBron James, Bosh and Wade all signed such contracts...

Robinson is very grateful to Duncan. It was Duncan who did not blindly ask for a big contract that the Spurs could give Robinson a decent pension contract. Robinson once said publicly: "Since Tim has obtained the contract for me, I will continue to defend O'Neal for him."

Because of this sentence, some media have speculated about the secret talks between Duncan, Robinson and Popovich back then. They believe that Duncan agreed to renew the contract only after Robinson promised to defend against sharks.

To this day, people are lamenting that if Duncan really went to the Magic in 2000, the first decade of the 21st century would be different. It is hard to say that if Duncan went to the Magic, Hill would still become a glass man after overwork. In that case, the finals at the beginning of the century would have staged a peak showdown every year: the Sharks vs. Duncan's inside competition, and the battle between Hill and Kobe's number one Jordan successor.

Without strong aid, the Spurs are destined to be unable to shake the Lakers. In the 2001 Western Conference Finals, Kobe averaged 33+7+7 per game, and the Lakers beat the Spurs 4-0. Under the situation where the powerful people in the West were everywhere, the Lakers did not lose a game, and the dynasty was fully displayed. Orlando media jumped out at the right time to ask Duncan if he regretted it. But that summer, the Spurs chose a French point guard who would change the fate of the team in the future in the first round.

After missing a good opportunity to join Hill, Duncan fell into a group scandal with the league's first point guard Kidd. Somewhat similar to Hill in the Pistons is that Kidd feels lonely in the Suns. Although the Suns spared no effort to attract "penny" Hardaway, the Bulls' second three-game winning streak, and the All-Star Power Forward Gugliota, it is still difficult to become a top team in the West.

Kidd was full of resentment. At that time, both the Lakers and the Spurs wanted to get the point guard with the first pass and comprehensive skills. Zen master once advocated using Kobe to exchange Kidd and Marion in the 1999-2000 season, but gave up because of Bass' opposition. The Spurs also wanted to exchange Kidd, but the problem was that the Suns were not interested in the Spurs' bargaining chips at all.

Let me say one more thing here. Because the Spurs lack reliable chips, Kidd was finally sent to the Nets by the Suns in 2001 in exchange for Marbury. Kidd made a hilarious statement as soon as he arrived at the Nets: "I want this team to make a 360-degree turn." One sentence revealed his amazing mathematical ability. However, when the season, the Nets did jump from the bottom of the fish to the finals. If Duncan hadn't the data more luxurious, MVP would have been Kidd!

In 2002, the Lakers stepped on the Spurs' corpse and walked onto the throne again, and a dynasty was born. The next 2002-03 season became a life-and-death season for the Spurs. Because Duncan's "3+1" contract in 2003 is about to usher in a player option, if the Spurs still cannot break the Lakers' monopoly, then Duncan is likely to lose.

Fortunately, in 2003, the Spurs finally won the championship, and Duncan renewed his contract with the Spurs again. The reason why the Spurs were able to win the championship was that they could thank the Sharks for getting old and being in a battle with Kobe for giving them an opportunity to take advantage of it.

But now the Spurs are facing Chamberlain, who is only 19 years old and the Warriors who are united. Will they still have a chance to enter the finals in the future?
Chapter completed!