Chapter 111: Chapter 110: Two Debts to Settle
"Hidden quest [Gary Payton’s Apology] triggered. After reflection, the famous ’Glove’ Payton deeply desires to reconcile with you. Will you forgive the aging legend? Note: If the host chooses to forgive Gary Payton, the [Glove’s Signature Skills] series of quests will automatically activate."
After the game, Zack, who had been misunderstood since entering the league and never truly understood, genuinely felt the sincerity of Payton’s apology on his earnest face. Did he, a person known for being extremely vengeful, choose to forgive Payton only because of this sudden system quest? The answer is, of course not.
In basketball, even the biggest stars will take an occasional elbow. If Zack couldn’t even handle that level of physicality, wouldn’t he just turn into a fragile porcelain doll that no one could touch? So, after Payton actively admitted his mistake and clearly expressed his apology, Zack’s animosity towards him immediately dissipated by more than half.
Therefore, this suddenly popping up quest made Zack feel that the [Summit] system seemed to be treating him like an unreasonable and naive little guy. So, after a joyous reconciliation with Payton at Oracle Arena, Zack immediately made a mental note against this darn system. Though Zack couldn’t exactly get revenge on the system, he definitely had to remember the grudge.
And Payton? Although for a moment he felt like he was choosing to swallow his pride and suffer indignity... Hayes’s earlier earnest persuasion had revealed a cruel, unfeeling truth to Payton. That is, being an enemy of Zack over a dirty elbow was, no matter how you looked at it, not a worthwhile trade. As the saying goes, only kids talk about feelings; adults are all about benefits. This is even truer in the NBA, a marketplace of fame and fortune where people come and go. Even though Payton was about to fade out of the league... unless he never wanted to be involved with basketball again in the future, getting on good terms with Zack was certainly a move with only benefits and no drawbacks.
So, the moment he chose to swallow that indignity, Payton suddenly realized... once he decided to side with Zack, the world felt so much bigger!
But then... just as Payton had become friends with Zack and was about to turn and leave, Zack blindsided him: "You should just retire already. As long as I’m around, even if Howard Schultz trades for Kobe, the Sonics still won’t win a championship."
In that moment, Gary Payton knew for sure. It was truly the biggest tragedy in NBA history that Larry Bird and Zack weren’t born in the same era! Because if those two had been in the same era... who the heck would want to watch that fathering Magic Johnson battle Bird anymore?
"[The Glove’s Signature Skills] quest triggered. Gary Payton plans to retire after this season. If the host invites him to guide their defense after he retires, the host’s defensive ability will surely receive a huge boost.
Quest Completion Condition: After the 2006/07 season, hire Gary Payton as a personal trainer.
Quest Completion Reward:
[The Glove] badge.[The Glove]: The specific effect of this badge will be determined by the host’s training performance under Gary Payton’s guidance."
Did Zack, already the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, still need to improve his defense? The answer, of course, was yes. In fact, even the usually confident Zack wouldn’t claim his current defense had reached a masterful level.
As everyone knows, unlike offense, defense is a much harder attribute to quantify with numbers. Although in the [Summit] system’s visual data, Zack’s current defensive attributes were all pretty good, both Kevin Garnett tonight and Tim Duncan last season made Zack deeply realize that his defense still needed work. Right now, things like defensive experience, defensive skills, and defensive strategy were all his current weaknesses. If Zack wanted to improve his defense, he had to find a way to enhance these attributes that were difficult to quantify with numbers.
Zack knew he couldn’t rely solely on natural talent for defense forever. That would not only dishonor his DPOY title, but as he aged, Zack couldn’t just throw up his hands and tell the younger players that he couldn’t defend anymore just because he was old. You see, Zack’s senior, Tim Duncan, had remarkably excellent defensive performances even in his retirement season.
Therefore, before hiring Gary Payton and earning the [The Glove] badge by completing the quest, Zack immediately sought out Artest after the Christmas game. Zack wanted to understand from the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year what his current defensive level was and wanted to ask him for some tips on improving his defensive skills.
To this, Artest said in a very objective tone: "Your current anticipation and observation are pretty good, and your positioning is decent. Especially your nose for blocks—I can only describe it as a cat sniffing out fish. Because of that, a lot of the time, Kwame and I have to cover for the players you selectively leave open. Of course, compared to blocks, your steals are even more amazing... You know what, your steals not only deter opponents, but they can even galvanize our defense. After all, when you’re lunging for those stats, someone’s got to fill your void. As for your one-on-one defense, I’ve got nothing to say, because no one else can learn your defense, since they don’t have your star whistle, do they?"
Zack: "..."
Ouch! In that moment, based on Artest’s description, Zack couldn’t help but feel that within the Warriors’ defensive system, he was clearly a spoiled child. Because the Warriors needed him to invest more energy on the offensive end, over time, Zack had gradually developed many bad habits. In Zack’s opinion, this was really bad.
So, Zack decisively asked Artest for advice: "How do you think I should improve my defense?"
Artest replied, "I think what you need to improve most right now is your defensive positioning. As for the blocks and steals I just mentioned... you should actually go harder on those."
Zack was puzzled: "But then wouldn’t I just become a stat-padder?"
Artest shook his head: "In today’s NBA, if you’re called a stat-padder by everyone, it only proves... you’re not padding hard enough." After a pause, Artest added, "Your offensive attributes mean that instead of wasting energy on defense, we need you more to lead us on offense. I know you’re worried about people pointing out your defensive flaws later on, but as long as you can put up averages of 4+ blocks, experts will naturally defend you."
Originally, Zack, who had just been roasted by Artest, felt a little guilty. But now, as Artest concisely revealed the truth about him being spoiled by the Warriors, Zack felt that... he really should find a way to accumulate more blocks and steals on the court! Because as Artest said, unless the Warriors could find a second option who could carry some of the offensive load for him, even if Zack wanted to practice defense, his teammates and coaches would kick him out to practice threes and dribbling instead. Zack knew this wasn’t ideal, but in the adult world, he also had to learn to compromise.
The Christmas Day game was over.
Zack, who could only figure out how to improve his defensive skills in the summer, was completely transformed into a bona fide stats machine under Artest’s "brainwashing." In the Warriors’ last three games of 2006, he amassed a total of 19 blocks and 7 steals. Could these numbers prove Zack’s defense was excellent? The answer is both yes and no.
The "no" part is that, within the Warriors’ outstanding defensive system, Zack was completely leveraging his incredible talent to rack up stats. The "yes" part is that... in an NBA where everything revolves around numbers, countless experts and fans were already considering Zack the top candidate for the 2006-07 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
At the beginning of the New Year, the NBA officially announced the December Player of the Month awards for both conferences. In December, Zack, who averaged 30.8 points, 14.1 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 4.5 blocks, and 1.8 steals for the Warriors, was named Western Conference Player of the Month for the second consecutive month. (This only includes Zack’s stats from 17 games in December). As of now, Zack has consistently held the top spot in the Regular Season MVP rankings.
Regarding his astonishing performance this season, ESPN even suggested that the NBA should ship the Regular Season MVP trophy to Oakland in advance. This season, players who originally had aspirations of competing for the Regular Season MVP, after looking at Zack’s stats and the Warriors’ record, all fell into a state of silent resignation.
In an interview, Dirk Nowitzki, currently ranked second in the Regular Season MVP standings, said: "The NBA should create a separate ’Alien Award’ just for him. We shouldn’t be competing for awards alongside him; it’s just not fair to us." Nowitzki, who was just crushed by Zack with a 58-point margin in the regular season opener, didn’t even dare to campaign for himself at this point. Because if Steve Nash last year was blasted as a "trophy thief"... then with the Warriors having both the record and Zack having the stats this year, who the heck would dare to steal Zack’s thunder?
Kobe Bryant was the only player in the top ten of the Regular Season MVP rankings with some guts. But even so, in an interview, Kobe still said: "I don’t think stats are everything... However, given the record he’s leading the Warriors to right now, he definitely deserves that trophy."
Zack will likely become the most undisputed Regular Season MVP in the NBA in the last decade. However, the Warriors, who were about to embark on their New Year journey, suddenly encountered a wave of injuries. This injury wave was related to the Warriors playing too many games last year. Although many Warriors players reduced their training intensity last summer because of this, as the NBA schedule became more condensed... the defending champions, who were far more fatigued than other teams, were still inevitably hit by injuries, interrupting their winning streak.
Due to a nagging knee injury, Baron Davis will miss the next four to eight weeks of games. This injury was a huge blow to Davis. Beyond the torment of the injury itself, Davis had a great chance to be a Western Conference All-Star starting guard this year. So, upon learning that he would likely miss two months of games, Davis’s mood plummeted almost instantly. Zack knew very well that the original "Beard Man" could only heal his "wounds" with time.
And then, Kwame Brown became the second Warriors player to go down after entering 2007. Due to a moderate ligament strain, Brown will miss five to seven weeks. Unlike Davis, since the Western Conference All-Star starting center spot had already been reserved by Yao Ming, Brown had no All-Star aspirations from the start.
However, with Biedrins’ rapid growth this season... Brown’s relationship with Biedrins, who he often messed around with last season, had become increasingly delicate. Everyone on the Warriors, including Zack, knew that Biedrins was waiting for an opportunity to step up. And now, an excellent opportunity had suddenly presented itself to Biedrins. Brown was very worried that his hard-earned starting position on the Warriors would be taken by Biedrins due to this injury.
As it turned out, Brown’s concerns were not unfounded. In the very first game he missed, an incredibly hot Biedrins scored 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks for the Warriors. Historically, Biedrins was indeed promoted to a starter by Don Nelson in the 2006-07 season. His efficiency around the basket was quite impressive. And while his ball-handling coordination wasn’t great, Biedrins’ off-ball coordination was excellent. Under Mike Malone’s tactical system, using flexible off-ball movement, he achieved an astonishing 7-for-7 shooting efficiency in his first start of the season. And all seven of those close-range finishes, which even Zack couldn’t find fault with, ultimately converted into Zack’s assists.
Perhaps Biedrins’ current defense couldn’t compare to Brown’s, but Brown was incredibly anxious about his visibly increasing standing in Zack’s eyes.
And on January 8th, after losing two key players, Murphy also unfortunately sprained his ankle in practice and would miss the Warriors’ next three weeks of games. Although Murphy’s absence seemed minor compared to the two starters, both Mike Malone and Zack knew very well that Murphy’s importance to the Warriors was no less than that of a starter. Murphy had a high 39.8% three-point shooting percentage this season. When he came off the bench, his three-point range and playmaking ability were crucial for the Warriors to run their high-post interior screen plays.
Now, with three key players down, the Warriors not only had to face their most challenging January schedule under such unfavorable circumstances. And soon, on the night of the 10th, they would head to Los Angeles to face their arch-rivals, the Lakers.
Since last season, when Zack twice ascended to "Mayor of Los Angeles" with his "Good Night, Los Angeles" moments, the rivalry between the Lakers and Warriors needed no further explanation.
On the 9th, at the pre-game press conference, Kobe, who would never let the Warriors off the hook just because their roster was depleted, frankly stated: "Everyone knows we have two debts to settle with the Warriors."
And Zack, who had long considered Los Angeles his lucky charm, responded: "I hope that after tomorrow night’s game, the debts Kobe wants to settle with us will become three."