June 3rd, 2007.
Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals unfolded as scheduled.
Before the game, Zack, who desperately wanted to unleash his full power to get his revenge on the league, got his wish. On game day, in the visualization data of the [Peak] system, all the attributes that had been temporarily deducted due to his injury were returned.
This meant that, as this Western Conference Finals was unexpectedly dragged to a Game 7, Zack had officially made a full recovery.
That night, top prospects for this year's draft, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, were also in attendance.
Oden and Durant, who were rigorously put through their paces by Zack at the "Divine Selection Training Camp" last summer...
Compared to the other young players who harbored resentment towards Zack after the camp, they could clearly appreciate Zack's "good intentions" at the time.
Zack wasn't sure if Oden would still be drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, who had already won the lottery pick, in this life.
But judging by his increasingly leaner physique...
Oden had clearly followed Tim Grover's advice to lose weight.
The collapse of the Shaq dynasty and Zack's rapid rise had ushered in a wave of weight loss among NBA big men.
Because compared to the bulk needed to contend with Shaq in the past, NBA teams now needed big men with stronger defensive roaming ability and lateral quickness to counter Zack.
In this era, which had taken a 180-degree turn because of him, would Oden's future career be healthier due to this crucial weight loss?
Zack didn't know, nor did he care.
But as Oden's senior, Zack specifically rewarded him with a bucket of popcorn during the pre-game warm-up.
For the outlandish "pickle-flavored popcorn" introduced by Oracle Arena, Zack could only describe it as genius.
So, he decided to let his younger brother Oden savor this delicacy alone.
As for his other younger brother, Durant...
Zack extended an invitation to him: "Hey, Kevin, wanna play a shooting game with me?"
At Zack's invitation, Durant shyly stepped onto the court the next second.
Beside them, Brown commented on Durant's shyer-than-a-schoolgirl performance: "Is he really a top draft prospect about to enter the NBA?"
Yes, Durant was indeed a top prospect for this year's draft.
However, unlike Oden, who had currently secured about 70% of the top pick,
if he could, Durant genuinely wished Oden would 100% secure the number one spot right now.
After all...
Compared to the Blazers, who had the first pick, anyone would rather go to the New York Knicks, who, led by Allen Iverson, had successfully won the second pick.
On the court, Zack and Durant played a total of five shooting games.
A too-nervous Durant probably only performed at less than 20% of his ability.
This made Biedrins, who was responsible for retrieving the balls, complain, "How can the shooting level of young NBA players be so bad now?"
Hearing this, Durant, constantly rubbing the back of his head, quickly apologized and offered to retrieve the balls himself.
"Don't bully my little brother, pick up the balls for him obediently!" On the court, seeing Biedrins daring to disrespect him, Zack didn't hold back, "One more word, and you're going to Milwaukee next season!"
Seeing this, Biedrins immediately changed his demeanor, smiling broadly as he handed the basketball to Durant.
At that moment, Durant couldn't believe it. Zack wasn't much older than him...
But why could he act like a towering king, making the entire team bow before him?
The Warriors' owner, Chris Cohan, was also present at this game.
Durant noticed that from beginning to end, Zack didn't even give Cohan a second glance.
On the contrary, Cohan, as the team owner, tried to curry favor with Zack repeatedly.
This greatly impacted Durant's young mind.
However...
This was only possible because Zack was in a golden age where a player could truly be above a team.
Otherwise, in another ten years or so, he might be traded by a team owner for reasons like "if you don't work hard, you don't deserve to wear our jersey."
Warm-up finished.
The reverence Zack received during the player introductions made young Oden and Durant yearn for the same.
Their starting point was inherently higher than other players in their draft class, and this year was also a strong draft year, so Oden and Durant both firmly believed that they, too, would one day be as much in the spotlight as Zack was now.
Warriors head coach Malone originally wanted to give a few more instructions before the game.
But after noticing the burning fire in Zack's eyes, Malone instead said with a deeply affectionate look, "I'll be waiting for your good news courtside. This is destined to be your night."
The Warriors' starting lineup tonight was still the one-big, four-small formation of Zack, Artest, Richardson, Jack, and Davis.
And the opposing Sonics' starting lineup also remained unchanged: Yao Ming, Garnett, Posey, Ray Allen, and Cassell lined up across the court.
At center court, Dan Crawford, the referee for this game, held the ball at the tip-off circle.
In the jump ball, the "Republic's Fierce Tiger" overwhelmingly defeated the "Republic's Tyrannosaurus Rex."
This was the last scene any of the Sonics' players and coaching staff wanted to see.
Because the height and quickness of Zack's jump just now...
had officially declared the full-blooded return of the NBA's new flag-bearer!
Davis brought the ball across half-court, and Zack immediately signaled his teammates to clear out the half-court for him.
He had waited for six whole games!
Zack finally got the chance for a true, all-out clash with "Full-Power KG"!
On the right side of the court, the moment he received the ball, after taking a deep breath, Zack powerfully dribbled it, driving inside with the ball.
Garnett, feeling the pressure instantly increase, quickly slid his feet and stuck close.
But the next second, Zack suddenly pulled up for a quick stop-and-pop, giving Garnett no reaction time whatsoever.
Swish—!
Courtside, seeing this scene, Durant's heart instantly surged with emotion.
Oden didn't forget to praise his competitor: "Kevin, a lot of people say your game style is very similar to the Messiah's. You're definitely going to make a big splash in the future."
In Zack's previous life, Durant's dribbling would probably only truly mature in the mid-to-late part of his Thunder career.
However, in the NBA, no special skill is ever suddenly perfected.
In fact, whether it was Jordan, Kobe, or Durant, you could always glimpse their future astonishing skills in early career game footage.
And this was also the main reason Zack believed that Brown, after losing weight, would very likely regain his coordination and develop a decent mid-range shot.
After all, some skills, without the talent, are useless even after twenty years of practice.
On the court, Zack's full recovery meant Yao Ming had to be even more careful when posting up low.
But Yao Ming's caution also gave Artest on the wing ample time to double-team.
Seeing this, Yao Ming was forced to pass.
Garnett calmly caught the ball and drained a tough two-pointer.
However, before Garnett could even pound his chest in frustration, Zack, proactively calling for the ball to initiate a fast break, scared the Sonics players into quickly retreating on defense.
Durant chuckled, "Your Majesty... it seems your weight loss was a good idea. If this were the old you, you'd probably be in the lane before you even got back on defense by the Messiah."
Hearing this, Oden nodded, "My college coach also said that the Messiah changed the entire ecosystem of the basketball world."
Actually, Zack didn't really change the ecosystem of the basketball world.
He merely corrected the increasingly deformed NBA inside-game ecosystem caused by Shaq.
In the 1990s, besides some exceptionally gifted individuals, which center would be so foolish as to constantly think about gaining weight?
Including Hakeem Olajuwon, David "The Admiral" Robinson, and Patrick "The Gorilla" Ewing, these super centers would generally choose a weight that suited them and then stop there.
It wasn't until Shaq's appearance that many centers were forced to increase their weight to an unbearable extent.
Because of this, how many centers suffered premature decline? And how many centers had their careers ruined?
Zack was undoubtedly the savior of all big men in the current NBA era.
On the court, after rapidly advancing to the frontcourt, with a sudden burst of speed and a quick step, Zack drove to the basket with the ball and suddenly leaped!
He raised the basketball with one arm and, facing a bewildered Garnett, unleashed all the frustration he had accumulated since playing through his injury, pouring it into this violent, thunderous dunk!
SLAM—!
On TNT, Smith exclaimed in astonishment, "That's a perfect replica of Shaq's dunk over 'The Admiral' in the All-Star Game!"
Beside him, Barkley, knowing Zack's long-standing aversion to Shaq, first gave a couple of dry coughs to remind Smith, then said, "Kenny, I don't think the Messiah would appreciate your comment."
At Oracle Arena, "Full-Power KG" was almost completely shattered by "Thanos Zack's" violent poster dunk.
And after landing from the dunk, the deeply resentful Zack didn't forget to taunt Garnett: "Is that your full-effort defense? Can you make my scoring a little more challenging?"
He's back.
At this moment, Garnett confirmed that the Zack he knew was back.
And courtside, just thinking about the possibility of being matched up against Zack in the future, the two top draft prospects involuntarily broke out in a cold sweat.
Back on the court, it was the Sonics' offensive possession.
As the game intensity was no longer as frantic as in Game 6, both teams' offensive initiations seemed much more composed tonight.
Yao Ming again posted up low.
This time, a prepared Yao Ming passed the ball early the moment he encountered a double-team, assisting Posey for a three-pointer from beyond the arc.
On the court, Richardson, afraid that Zack would kick him again, had even learned to answer preemptively: "If I ever play eye-defense again, you can trade me to Minnesota."
Hearing this, Zack almost burst out laughing at this living treasure, Richardson.
However, Richardson still didn't escape Zack's kick.
"The three-pointer you let through, you'll make up for it yourself later."
Richardson, who got kicked by Zack, finally made up for that three-pointer two possessions later.
Next, it was the Sonics' turn to offense.
"The Alien" Cassell pulled up for a mid-range shot off a Garnett screen.
Cassell's career mid-range field goal percentage was close to 50%, while his long two-point percentage consistently stayed around 45%.
He was a point guard whose three-point shot wasn't very accurate, but whose mid-range shot was incredibly precise.
But actually, given Cassell's soft touch...
In Zack's opinion, Cassell was purely a point guard severely held back by the theory that long two-pointers were more cost-effective.
Indeed, in a basketball game, there would inevitably be situations where two-point shots were needed to attack the defense.
But the task of attacking with long two-pointers would clearly be more reasonable for wing players to accomplish.
If Cassell had put in serious effort into three-point shooting from early in his career, Zack didn't believe that this "Alien" who had battled his way through the "Iron and Blood" era wouldn't be able to develop a stable three-point shot.
Unlike wing players,
as basketball tactics developed and evolved, the three-point shooting ability of guard players was bound to become increasingly important.
On the court, it was the Warriors' possession.
Artest's bending-back three-pointer successfully drew Posey's help defense.
Seeing this, Artest decisively passed the ball, and Richardson then moved the ball to Zack, who had taken advantage of the situation to drop into the left low post.
Passing the ball to manipulate the defense was also a way to break zone defenses.
Although Garnett stubbornly held his position, this also gave Zack the opportunity to use a quick-slow-quick rhythm to execute his "Tornado Spin."
Under the basket, Yao Ming, noticing Zack's movement, positioned himself early.
But Zack, whose martial arts principle was "speed conquers all," beat him to it, slamming the ball into the hoop!
Zack's returning talent undoubtedly gave him more unreasonable capital in the game.
However, besides these brilliant plays...
In the first quarter, an over-exerting Zack also dished out plenty of "assists" to Yao Ming and Garnett (referring to missed shots that became rebounds for the opponents).
But for a scorer, how could you call those "assists"?
Which superstar doesn't take bad shots to find their rhythm in a game?
Question Kobe, understand Kobe, become Kobe.
Throughout the first quarter, Zack, who took nearly half of the Warriors' shots for the quarter, shot 5-for-10, including 1-for-2 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, totaling 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block.
On the scoreboard, 25 to 28.
The home team Warriors entered the second quarter with a 3-point lead.
In this do-or-die game, both teams, without needing to say much, proactively increased their starters' playing time.
Yao Ming rested for less than two minutes in the first quarter before having to return to the court to lead the bench unit.
Garnett and Ray Allen also only rested for a few possessions in the second quarter before returning to the court.
And Zack?
Zack didn't rest at all in the second quarter.
To make it to that destined appointment with LeBron James on the horizon, Zack would leave no regrets in this do-or-die game.
On a Warriors offensive possession, Zack, who ripped open space with a hand-off with Murphy, successfully found Dunleavy cutting to the basket.
Then, he pressed the pass button, instantly getting an assist.
Courtside, looking at Zack's heroic and upright physique, Rick Carlisle felt he had glimpsed the essence of Zack's ball-dominant playstyle.
If, in the traditional sense, a ball-dominant player refers to the one who centralizes court resources and then distributes the "cake"...
Then Zack was an upgraded version of a ball-dominant player.
He could not only expand the "cake" on the court through his own scoring ability.
And, as long as he was on his game, regardless of whether the other Warriors players performed well or poorly, the expanded "cake" he created would objectively exist.
In Carlisle's eyes, this was a terrifying thing.
Because it meant Zack's offensive influence might have already surpassed all predecessors and reached an unprecedented height.
He could effortlessly elevate the entire Warriors' offensive ceiling.
As long as the Warriors players could consume this "cake," then the Warriors would be the most offensively potent team in the current NBA era.
In other words...
"His teammates could be anyone, because he's a system unto himself!"
Of course, Carlisle at this moment clearly had a suspicion of overestimating Zack.
Because this season, Matt Barnes hadn't transformed into a crucial backbone of the "We Believe" Warriors as Zack remembered, but instead had completely become an "ice shooter" with an overall field goal percentage of 38.6% and a three-point percentage of 25.4%...
In this year's playoffs, the loyal Barnes could only get playing time during garbage time.
Zack felt that Barnes's struggles this season might be related to the Warriors' head coach no longer being Don Nelson, but Mike Malone.
And Barnes's experience also implicitly told Zack...
In the NBA, not all players will perform the same as they did historically after changing environments, teams, and teammates.
For example, Brandon Roy, who won NBA Rookie of the Year this year.
Zack noticed that Roy's playstyle with the Bobcats was completely different from what he remembered with the Trail Blazers.
Because during this period, a middle-aged Michael Jordan was an owner who was always "father-like" and liked to give individual coaching to Bobcats players...
So, while sparring with Roy, Jordan immediately saw that Roy's un-decelerated changes of direction were sacrificing his knees for the future, and he decisively stopped Roy's unrestricted drives.
"I'll teach you post-up moves instead. Just relying on torturing your knees, you won't go far in the future."
Roy's playstyle in this life was bound to be deeply influenced by Jordan.
And this also made Zack very curious: what shape would Oden and Durant, who were sitting courtside tonight, take under his influence in the future?
On the court, to set a good example for these two young players...
Zack, whose dribble rhythm was getting faster and faster, suddenly launched a killer crossover against Garnett!
Garnett, unable to maintain his balance, stumbled back several steps after having his ankles "murdered" by Zack, before finally regaining his posture.
But that didn't matter.
Because at this moment, Garnett being shaken back by Zack was no different from him being completely faked out.
At Oracle Arena, witnessed by that golden wave, Zack immediately gathered the ball and pulled up.
Swish—!
On TNT, Smith gasped, holding his head, "What is he doing? He's completely discombobulated Kevin Garnett!"
Beside him, Barkley said, "I'll never be sad or upset about Kevin almost getting crossed up... To be honest, right now I just want to HAHAHAHA."
Courtside.
As he retreated on defense, passing the area where Durant and Oden were sitting, Zack, who had just set an example, didn't forget to ask these two future stars for their thoughts: "How was it? Did you learn anything?"
"..."
"Learn what the hell, Professor Zack! Can you teach us something a normal person can actually learn?"
Crossing up Kevin Garnett like that...
Is that something you can just learn if you want to?
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