Chapter 142 The Finals are Set

The Cavaliers won, and the two sides of the Finals were finally determined.

The Pelicans versus the Cavaliers.

This was also the third consecutive year the two sides had met in the Finals.

Although the Cavaliers had failed in the past two years, the league's official preview of this year's Finals was still quite attractive.

The Strongest LeBron vs. the Strongest Team.

"Tang, LeBron's performance in this year's playoffs is too good."

After training that day, Butler looked at the league's promotional poster on his phone and couldn't help but say to Tang Tian.

When discussing the Cavaliers' game before, he had echoed Tang Tian's words about James' strength.

"It's alright."

However, to Butler's surprise, Tang Tian's attitude this time was completely different from the last time.

"Alright?"

Butler asked.

"Data can be deceiving. The biggest difference between LeBron and Kobe is that he doesn't like to score. He doesn't really want those 40 or even 50+ triple-doubles."

Tang Tian said with a smile.

"You mean, he has no choice?"

Butler seemed to realize something.

It seemed that was really the case.

Although James was a small forward, he had always played as a point forward.

He liked to pass the ball, and in his early years, he was even criticized by haters for being afraid to take the final shot because he loved to pass.

But that was his style of play. Scoring was not his first choice.

The reason why he was getting so many 40+ or even 50+ triple-doubles now was largely due to the poor performance of the Cavaliers' players.

This was also why his regular season data didn't seem to change much from the past, but he exploded in the playoffs.

"LeBron in 2014 should have been the strongest."

Tang Tian continued.

Although he left the Spurs that year, James was able to lead the declining Heat to end the Spurs' three-peat.

At that time, his personal strength was undoubtedly the number one in the league.

As for experience, it actually had very little impact on superstars.

In other words, the current James' strength was also declining due to his age, stamina decline, and reduced explosiveness.

Butler nodded with a smile after listening.

Originally, he was a little worried that James' condition was too good to defend, but after listening to Tang Tian's explanation, he instantly felt that it was not a problem.

Moreover, both he and Davis could defend James, and they could take turns guarding James to wear him down.

With the Finals just around the corner, the media and betting websites, as in previous years, had made a wave of predictions for the Finals.

ESPN's official predictions had always been the most authoritative and most watched.

Completely different from the pre-season power rankings, in the prediction given by ESPN, the Pelicans' probability of winning the championship exceeded 90%.

This result made fans cheer.

ESPN had turned over a new leaf and finally stopped talking nonsense with their eyes open, as they had at the beginning of the season.

This prediction result was beyond the fans' expectations.

However, what surprised the fans even more was the odds offered by the betting companies.

The odds of the Pelicans winning the championship in a clean sweep had dropped significantly, and in the series spread, the odds of the Pelicans sweeping the Cavaliers were also pitifully small.

It seemed that not only ESPN, but even the betting websites felt that it was inevitable that the Pelicans would win the championship in a clean sweep.

These two things before the game aroused constant heated discussions among fans on social media.

It should be known that at the beginning of the season, ESPN and the betting websites were all on Xiao Hua's side.

Now, as the end of the season approached, they suddenly turned to the other side like grass on a windy wall.

New York headquarters.

"Rhine!"

Looking at the newspaper, Xiao Hua was so angry that his hair stood on end.

Oh, no, he had no beard or hair.

Anyway, he was very angry, and his hair was standing on end.

"Rhine!"

He shouted several times before Sork slowly entered his office.

"What's going on? Why did Pike and Mr. Newman suddenly do this?!"

He pointed to the report in the newspaper and asked angrily.

Sork was the one who contacted ESPN and the betting websites.

"They don't answer my calls."

Sork replied directly.

"What? Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Xiao Hua was half dead with anger and picked up his phone himself.

But it kept showing online.

"I called before and it was also online. Later I found out that they were blocking us."

Sork said a very cruel reality.

"fxck!"

"These turncoats, don't they know how many benefits I gave them back then? They actually did this so ruthlessly at the end!"

Xiao Hua slammed his phone on the table in anger.

It took him a while to calm down.

ESPN and betting websites were not the most important. The most important thing was that he had to prevent the Pelicans from completing their dynasty.

Since he had been forced to this point, he didn't mind using the most hated trick.

He was able to force the Cavaliers to 3-3 when they were 1-3 behind, and now he could do even more.

Didn't the Pelicans want to sweep the Cavaliers?

He would have the referee call fouls on the Hard-Training Four Brothers like crazy from the start, and blow four of the Pelicans' main players down in three quarters. Let's see how the Pelicans play!

Since everyone didn't want to play with him, then he would play by himself!

Anyway, he was still the NBA president, and he still had the final say in everything!

What if Tang Tian was strong? What use was it if he couldn't play!

His mind had been completely obsessed and twisted this year.

What did the future of the NBA have to do with him!

"Contact the people from the referee union immediately!"

He said to Sork with a stern look in his eyes.

Sork took out his phone and dialed the referee's number, handed it directly to Xiao Hua without saying anything.

Xiao Hua was stunned for a moment.

Sork's attitude today was too abnormal.

But the call had already been connected, and he didn't have time to worry about so much. He would talk to the referee first.

"Mr. Xiao Hua, we can't do this."

But to Xiao Hua's surprise, when he finished speaking, the person on the other end refused him.

This was the first time since he became president.

"Is it a matter of method? You can follow your own method, anyway, the goal is the same."

Xiao Hua continued.

"It's not a matter of method, Mr. Xiao Hua. We will enforce the law fairly in the Finals. This is the final decision discussed at our internal meeting. Sorry."

"Wait…"

He wanted to continue speaking, but the other side had already hung up the phone.

He held the phone for a long time without putting it down.

Not only ESPN and the betting websites, but even the referee union had abandoned him.

In other words, he was now a president without any power at all.

He had lost power!

"Rhine, do we have any other way?"

After a long time, Xiao Hua asked in a hoarse voice.

"Mr. Xiao Hua, this is my resignation letter. The NFL has already prepared a new job for me."

But what he got was not Sork's answer to his question, but a resignation letter.

He stared blankly at Sork, his eyes empty.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xiao Hua, thank you for your promotion, but everything is over."

Sork walked to Xiao Hua's desk and put down the resignation letter.

In fact, he had already known everything that had happened yesterday.

The reason why he didn't tell Xiao Hua was only to be grateful for Xiao Hua's promotion, and to let Xiao Hua be less sad for one day.

When Sork also left, Xiao Hua looked at the resignation letter for a long time without reacting.

The season was not over yet, but he was done for.