章 185: The Youngest Regular Season MVP in History: Wang Chong!
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But no one expected the score between the two teams to be a decisive 4-0. The defending champions Wade and O'Neal's combination was eliminated. Although it was somewhat humiliating for them, at least they were eliminated in the second round. Their opponents were the Bulls, who had won 69 games, so it wasn't too embarrassing to lose. At least it was much better than the Mavericks, who had fought a life-or-death battle with them in the Finals last year, only to be eliminated by the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
A few days later, the remaining three sets of matchups in the East and West of the league were decided.
In the East, the Cavaliers defeated the Nets 4-2. James led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals. It was only the third time in the team's history that they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, a rare achievement.
However, the Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Bulls and the Cavaliers is bad news for Cavaliers fans.
Since Wang Chong joined the Bulls last year, the Bulls have won consecutive games against the Cavaliers. They didn't sweep in the regular season but eliminated them in the playoffs. In the four games between the two teams during the regular season, the Bulls also won and achieved victory.
It's not that the Cavaliers are too weak; the main reason is that the Bulls are too strong, especially Wang Chong. Whenever he plays against James, he always unconsciously does his best to win the game.
Wang Chong has actually realized that he seems to target James, but this is understandable. As the league's future leader, James is the strongest player in the league between Kobe and Curry.
Wang Chong and James entered the league the same year, so naturally, they would have the desire to compare themselves with each other. If he could suppress James throughout their careers, he could rank among the top superstars without needing any other honors.
And there's a saying: seeing James frustrated and unconvinced, Wang Chong feels a sense of achievement and satisfaction, but he doesn't know if such suppression will lead James to prematurely decide to take his talents elsewhere.
Whatever happens, he should just run if he wants to. Anyway, James' ball-carrying playstyle is best suited to forming a team as the absolute primary core. He needs specific teammates to maximize his strength.
If James were paired with a Splash Brother, he would surely soar to new heights, and his combat effectiveness would even surpass the combination of the Splash Brothers with Durant and Green during the Warriors' superteam era.
Curry and Thompson are both capable shooters in off-ball movement and fixed-point shooting, perfectly fitting James' system of one star and four shooters. By contrast, Durant, despite his considerable accomplishments with the Warriors, is positioned as a mercenary on the court, merely using his extraordinary skills to help the Warriors attack in critical moments.
But where can one easily find players like the Splash Brothers? Without Wang Chong's foresight, James would struggle even with more attempts, only inviting more criticism.
Wang Chong also pondered if James might join him in the future.
This is quite likely, as when he was traded from the Lakers to the Bulls, the Cavaliers were also actively discussing the trade, reportedly at James' request to partner with him.
But unfortunately, the assets the Cavaliers could offer were quite average. Compared to the Bulls, who were willing to part with Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Eddy Curry, they couldn't compete, so they missed out on Wang Chong.
Even if the Cavaliers could offer valuable assets, Wang Chong wouldn't be willing to go to Cleveland to help James. He originally planned to be the leader of a team; if he became someone else's subordinate, wouldn't it be more comfortable staying in Los Angeles as Kobe's sidekick than being James'?
James' extravagant dream may never come true unless he publicly declares his willingness to be Wang Chong's Pippen, at which point he might consider it.
The Eastern Conference Finals will be Bulls vs. Cavaliers, while in the West, it will be Jazz vs. Spurs.
The path of history has not changed much.
The Jazz defeated the Warriors 4-1, who had just completed the miracle of defeating the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round. The Golden State Gang couldn't create another miracle and had to stop in the second round of the playoffs.
The Spurs defeated the Suns 4-2 in a six-game series filled with highly controversial scenes.
In Game 4, the Suns fought back to tie the series 2-2. However, Horry's aggressive foul knocked Nash out of the game.
This off-court action immediately angered Stoudemire and Diaw of the Suns, who ran onto the court to seek justice, which ultimately played into the Spurs' hands.
Horry was ejected on the spot, but the Suns suffered more because Stoudemire and Diaw paid for their impulsiveness, being suspended for one game.
In the crucial Game 5, the Suns missed two key players and narrowly lost by 3 points, 88-85. In Game 6 on the Spurs' home court, even though Stoudemire and Diaw returned, they couldn't win, with the Spurs taking the series 4-2.
In simple terms, Horry's flagrant foul on Nash almost directly led to the Suns' series loss.
This is one reason why many people dislike the Spurs.
On the path to a championship, any team inevitably has some players willing to do the dirty work, but the Spurs are famous for it, especially Bruce Bowen, who was selected as a top defender. His "dark arts" injured many stars, creating a notorious reputation.
However, karma is inevitable. Years later, the Spurs became victims when Leonard, hailed as Duncan's successor, was injured by Pachulia from the Warriors. This led to the Spurs losing the series and caused a rift between Leonard and the Spurs management. Eventually, Leonard moved to the Raptors and helped them win the championship in 2018-19.
This shows that evil is punished by evil. However, it's undeniable that any championship team needs one or two players willing to do the dirty work.
The Bulls' current player with that reputation might be Tyson Chandler.
Chandler earned the nickname "Boxing Champion" partly because of his tough playing style.
Of course, Chandler doesn't actually box or hit, but his fierce elbow attacks to clear space are still dangerous.
Returning to the topic, the Western Conference Finals will be Spurs vs. Jazz, where the Spurs are likely to easily defeat the young Jazz and advance to the Finals.
It seems likely that the Finals matchup will be Wang Chong's Bulls vs. the San Antonio Spurs.
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 21 at the Bulls' United Center, the Bulls, who won 69 games in the regular season, had a home-court advantage that no team could overcome in the playoffs.
Once the game began, the teams were evenly matched.
The Cavaliers were indeed much stronger than the Bulls' previous opponents, the Magic and the Heat. They were essentially the second-best team in the East after the Bulls.
The two teams fought fiercely for two quarters, ending the first half with a close score of 46-43.
But the situation changed in the second half.
In the third quarter, the Bulls' defensive intensity suddenly increased. The Cavaliers' offense was repeatedly blocked, scoring only 16 points in the quarter, while the Bulls scored 27 points, with Wang Chong scoring 14 alone.
The point difference instantly expanded to double digits. In the final quarter, James led the Cavaliers in a strong comeback attempt, but each time they scored, Wang Chong answered with a matching score.
The final score was 88-82, with the Bulls winning.
James gave a stellar performance, almost achieving a triple-double with 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists.
But the Cavaliers still had the issue of lacking support beyond James, with their second-highest scorer being Big Z, who scored 16 points off the bench.
On the Bulls' side, Wang Chong took the game seriously against the Cavaliers, emerging from his sluggish state from the first two rounds and scoring 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists with a 58% shooting percentage and 45% from three.
The loss in Game 1 wasn't James' only discomfort.
Before the Eastern Conference Finals began, the league announced its regular season MVP award.
With 37% of the vote, Wang Chong was the undisputed 2006-07 MVP, becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history at 22 years and 297 days old.
Previously, the youngest MVP was Wes Unseld, who won it at 23 years and 9 days, nearly two years older than Wang Chong.
Wang Chong had entered the league young and, though he set a record as the youngest MVP, had already played four seasons, similar to Jordan, who also won his first MVP in his fourth season.
Being the first player from the 2003 draft class to win the league's highest honor hurt James deeply.
James finished sixth in the MVP voting, trailing not only Wang Chong but also Nowitzki, Nash, Kobe, and Duncan.
Aside from the team's performance, in terms of personal honors, Wang Chong had left James behind.
Other seasonal awards: Rookie of the Year went to Brandon Roy of the Trail Blazers, who averaged 16.8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Sixth Man of the Year was the Suns' Barbosa, averaging 19.4 points and 4 assists.
The Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) was Bulls' center Tyson Chandler.
The Most Improved Player award went to Monta Ellis of the Warriors.
End of this chapter
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