However, amidst the unanimous applause, there were exceptions, such as Kobe, who had also suffered from Bruce Bowen’s "groin grab," kicks to the groin, and other underhanded tactics. Kobe believed, "Bruce Bowen’s cris have been blown out of proportion. His actions don’t deserve to be elevated to this extent."
He also expressed great admiration for the zeal Bruce Bowen showed in defending him.
Popovich flipped through the newspapers and finally saw Kobe, his "ally," which absolutely delighted him. He reciprocated in kind, lavishing praise on Kobe, "Kobe is the most determined player I’ve ever seen. There were many players like that in the 90s, but they’re rare these days!"
There was no need for Su Wan to counterattack, the Indiana dia did it for him, "Greg hopes the League’s other teams will turn a blind eye to Bruce Bowen’s injurious behavior so they can continue to win gas by hurting the main players of other teams. That’s how San Antonio got their two championships. They can’t win a ga without injuring their opponents."
San Antonio struck back imdiately, "At least Bruce Bowen, no matter how excessive, only injured players, he didn’t attack the fans!"
The Indiana dia fought more vigorously, "The Spurs still need to co play at the Pacers’ ho court. If the Indiana natives do sothing impolite to the Spurs’ players at the ga, I’m sure you’ll be able to forgive them unconditionally!"
This statent was a kill shot, and the San Antonio dia didn’t dare to respond.
If they agreed, who knows what the Spurs’ players might experience that day.
The dia on both sides were at each other’s throats, while Su Wan and his team returned to Indiana. They had a day of rest, and then they would head to Dallas to challenge the Mavericks.
On the way back, Su Wan also saw LeBron’s response to the incident.
"Bruce made non-basketball moves, and he should bear any consequences that follow," he said.
He too was on the side of applauding the incident.
The reason was simple:
He was also one of the victims of Bruce Bowen’s defending tactics.
Though it didn’t result in substantial injury or serious consequences, every ti he faced Bowen, he played extrely uncomfortably. Later in the 07 Finals, Popovich used Bruce Bowen to lead the defense against LeBron, resulting in a re 35.6% shooting percentage for LeBron.
When Bowen retired in ’09, he even went so far as to say, "The entire League will breathe a sigh of relief."
But as it turned out, only LeBron Jas breathed a sigh of relief. Others did not, such as Danny Granger, Gordon Hayward, Stewart, Wiggins, Bridges, Jaylen Brown, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis... The list could be extended to an NBA 108 Warriors.
Back ho, Su Wan also learned of Bruce Bowen’s injury report from Bill Duffy:
Nasal bone fracture, multiple minor fractures in the bones, severe neck contusion, as well as a mild concussion. It was estimated to take three weeks to a month for a full recovery.
That’s light!
This was Su Wan’s first reaction after hearing Bill Duffy’s report.
At the ti, seeing Bruce Bowen unable to move on the ground, he thought it would take at least two to three months to recover.
NBA players’ physical fitness is just amazing!
Before hanging up the phone, Bill Duffy asked Su Wan, "Buddy, did you see Kobe’s comnts?"
"What?" Su Wan had just gotten off the plane, and there were so many comnts about the incident that he really didn’t know what Kobe had said.
Bill relayed Kobe’s views to the dia.
Su Wan was not surprised.
"Black Mamba" was just like that.
Not that he’s not smart.
But he really is not smart.
He liked playing rough with his opponents, the more aggressive and harder they defended, the more excited he got. In ’09, his battle with Anthony was so fierce that, if it had been officiated by the standards of post-2015, both of them wouldn’t have lasted a quarter on the court before fouling out.
Furthermore...
Kobe himself was rather tough on the court.
In a regular season ga against the Cavaliers in ’09, he used a Bruce Bowen-esque flying kick in a scramble for the ball, scaring Mo Williams out of his wits so much that even after the ga was over, he was still shaken, thinking he was about to et his great-grandmother.
Another thing, when Kobe entered the league in ’96, you just had to look at Rodman and Karl Malone to know the league’s atmosphere at the ti—wrestling on the court was common, so naturally, he would think of Bruce Bowen as just a player influenced by the ’90s style.
What’s the big deal?
Anyway...
He was also tough!
The next day, the entire Indiana Pacers team arrived in Dallas. During the prega interview, reporters inevitably brought up Kobe’s comnts in front of Su Wan.
Su Wan wasn’t scared to hit back, "When Kobe ends up in the ICU one day from a kick by Bruce Bowen and there’s no one to speak for him, he’ll realize just how ridiculous his comnts were!"
At that, the reporters surrounding Su Wan all laughed.
On January 20th, the Pacers would face the Lakers in what would be the season’s first showdown, and with Su Wan’s words, the ga was sure to be full of entertainnt.
In fact, there was quite so intrigue with the Mavericks due to previous trade rumors involving Su Wan.
Especially since Mark Cuban had wanted Su Wan, even willing to throw in Devin Harris, the 5th overall pick from the ’04 draft, as part of the trade bait.
Two days before the ga, when reporters asked Devin Harris what he thought about the matchup, he plainly said he would prove his abilities in this ga.
But Su Wan "administered justice" all of a sudden in San Antonio, which ant the focus on him was all about the off-court verbal sparring. The match-up with Devin Harris got overshadowed and seed to go unnoticed.
Or rather, Harris seed to be the only one concerned about it.
Su Wan didn’t care about Harris’s comnts either.
Co on, he was now the Eastern All-Star Starting Guard Line’s number one vote-getter. He naturally compared himself with the new generation of superstars in the league, or the ’03 class, not with a rookie like Harris who got high draft rankings based on potential.
During the ga, the few tis they matched up proved this point, as Su Wan’s aggression made Harris’s ball-handling offense very uncomfortable.
Harris took shots against Su Wan three tis, missing all of them.
In contrast, in this ga, Su Wan scored 22 points, and in the rounds defended by Harris, his shooting was on target.
Barkley comnted on this ga, saying the gap between Devin Harris and Su Wan was even greater than the distance from Beijing to Dallas.
Still, it was the Mavericks who had the last laugh at ho, taking it easy before finishing with a 115 to 108 victory.
Dirk Nowitzki made O’Neal look utterly frustrated with his turnaround jump shots.
The Pacers’ six-ga winning streak ca to an end.
However, after the ga, reporters did not have any questions about the match.
Because...
Kobe’s latest response had arrived:
"Players like Su, if they were in the ’90s, would be crying on the court!"
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