With the finals approaching, several well-known betting companies have successively given the final winning odds of the two teams.
Overall, the San Antonio Spurs, who have yet to lose a single game in the playoffs, are generally favored, and the odds are actually 106 to 1!
This really makes people feel extremely distressed for LeBron James, because from LeBron James's perspective, this is undoubtedly a shame.
"We'll see, although the San Antonio Spurs are very strong, we are definitely not that unbearable. We were able to win the championship with the 73-win Golden State Warriors, and we can also win the championship with the San Antonio Spurs."
At the Cleveland Cavaliers training facility, the little emperor responded very domineeringly to the odds given by the bookmaker. Moreover, he also whipped the Golden State Warriors, leaving many people dumbfounded.
"He's a great guy, we're both Rich Paul players, and maybe we'll become friends in the near future."
When reporters asked what he thought of Jiang Hao, James did not evaluate Jiang Hao based on his performance on the court, but expressed his desire to become friends with Jiang Hao off the court.
The reporters at the scene were not surprised at all by James' answer, because James has always evaluated young players in this way for so many years.
………
Due to the regular season record, the first two games of the Finals series will be played at the Cavaliers' home court.
Therefore, on the morning before the finals officially started, the Spurs and their team arrived in Cleveland.
There are many developed cities in the United States, such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, etc. These big cities also have NBA teams.
In some small cities, relatively underdeveloped cities, there are also NBA teams, such as San Antonio, where the Spurs are located, and Memphis, where the Grizzlies are located.
But in Jiang Hao's view, it's incredible that a "town" like Cleveland, which doesn't even look like a small city, actually has an NBA team.
Everything here is full of underdevelopment. Sometimes, Jiang Hao feels worthless for LeBron James. He didn't expect that James, who is the number one player in the league, can stay in this small city for a long time.
"So, are we going to play the finals in a city like this?"
On the way to the hotel in the car, Jiang Hao couldn't help but complain to Murray. Jiang Hao is a person who likes to make troubles, so subconsciously, he really doesn't like "little".
"Cleveland is indeed small, but the home court of the Cavaliers is not small. In order to retain LeBron James, Cavaliers owner Gilbert invested a lot in the construction of the arena."
Dejounte Murray clearly knows the Cavaliers better.
"I hope so. Anyway, I hope my career will never stop in this city." Jiang Hao shook his head.
After a short rest in the hotel, Jiang Hao and the others rushed to a training hall that they had made an appointment with before. In the training hall, everyone quickly started training.
Gregg Popovich has always been a cautious person. Although the whole world is now optimistic about the Spurs winning the championship, he will never slack off because of this. He does not want his players to relax their vigilance, just like in the 1990s.
Just like what Houston Rockets head coach Tom Norwich said after winning the championship, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion." LeBron James is not a junior. If you are accidentally upset, it will be too late to regret it.
, Therefore, he asked the players to immediately engage in training and prepare seriously for the game.
"Kawhi, can you do me a favor?"
In the training hall, Jiang Hao took the initiative to find Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi Leonard turned and looked at Jiang Hao.
"You once got FVP when facing LeBron James. Obviously, you have a certain experience and have a more or less understanding of his playing style. So, can you imitate LeBron James' playing style?
?”
Jiang Hao expressed his thoughts. He hoped Leonard could help him. Although Andre Iguodala had taught him some techniques for dealing with LeBron James before, they were all theories. He hoped to take advantage of the opportunity.
In order to be able to prepare in training before the game started, in this case, he thought of Leonard.
"sure"
Leonard nodded. He didn't mind being Jiang Hao's sparring partner because Jiang Hao's strength qualified him to do so.
On the sidelines, Popovich was very pleased with this scene. This is what he wanted to see most. If the two cores of the team can cooperate sincerely, then the winning rate will undoubtedly increase.
………
"He's LeBron James, man, he's the best in the league, you seem to be kidding me."
After the training, Jiang Hao was interviewed by reporters. When a beautiful reporter asked him if he could handle LeBron James, Jiang Hao responded with a smile.
Because he feels that this question is a bit ridiculous. Although he has a courageous heart, it does not mean that he does not know how high the sky is. With his ability at this stage, it is tantamount to wishful thinking to completely defeat LeBron James.
Frankly speaking, he has never thought about completely locking down LeBron James, because it is simply impossible. He just hopes that he will not be too disadvantaged in the matchup with James.
"Of course, I also want to be friends with him. You know, LeBron is the kind of person who is very approachable in life. He has done a lot of good things. He is a good person."
When the reporter mentioned that James hoped to become friends off the court with him during the interview, Jiang Hao also laughed and said randomly that he had the same idea as James.
"So, is playing with LeBron James in the offseason something you would consider?"
This is a very sensitive and topical issue.
"Who knows? It would be great to play with LeBron, but you know, who knows what's going to happen in the future?"
Jiang Hao lowered his head and said.
In fact, he didn't like this question very much. It was obviously a trap. No matter how he answered, it would be over-interpreted, so he had no choice but to fool around with it.
Of course, if Rich Paul were at the scene, he would definitely turn around and ask Jiang Hao, is what he just said true?
Because just yesterday, Rich Paul was still talking to Jiang Hao about where to go during the offseason.
At that time, Jiang Hao's answer was impressive, that is, Jiang Hao told him that no matter what, he would not join a team or join a team that was the favorite to win the championship.
To be honest, this answer made Rich Paul a little uncomfortable because he was trying to bring LeBron James and Jiang Hao to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jiang Hao said this, which undoubtedly forced him to give up this plan.
………
The finals are about to begin, and the eyes of basketball fans around the world are once again focused on the NBA, and once again focused on the finals series between the Spurs and the Cavaliers.
ESPN is definitely deliberately stirring up trouble. They actually released a finals fvp odds list on the morning of the finals.
On this list, Kawhi Leonard tops the list, followed by LeBron James, and Jiang Hao, who has always performed well in the playoffs, is only ranked third on this list.
As soon as this list came out, many people couldn't sit still. They felt that ESPN was talking nonsense.
Especially the Chinese fans across the ocean.
"Espn is here to make fun of you, right?"
“It’s really ridiculous that Jiang Hao is only ranked third.”
…………
Obviously, in the eyes of many people, Jiang Hao's ranking is too low. Judging from Jiang Hao's performance throughout the playoffs, he should be ranked first.
But what now?
Kawhi Leonard is ranked first?
Just because Kawhi Leonard once got fvp?
Is it because Kawhi Leonard completely returned to his peak form in the last two games of the Western Conference Finals?
Even if Kawhi Leonard is ranked first, what does it mean to rank LeBron James second?
Didn't ESPN see the winning odds given by the bookmaker?
Or maybe they want to reward LeBron James with a losing vp?
"This is a ridiculous ranking"
In the TNT live broadcast room, Shaquille O'Neal shook his head directly. He did not recognize the list given by ESPN.
"Jiang will definitely be fvp, and his performance in the finals will even be better than his performance in the Western Conference finals."
O'Neill stood firmly on Jiang Hao's side.
"Indeed, I also think this list is a bit outrageous. Those guys at ESPN always like to make wishful thinking. Jiang can't be ranked third."
Barkley rarely agrees with O'Neal.
Kenny Smith remained silent from beginning to end. If someone sings the red face, then someone has to sing the bad face. He actually doesn't agree with this list, but he didn't expect that Buckley would not follow common sense, so he
I had no choice but to remain silent.
Of course, this list was only circulated by outside public opinion and did not cause any disturbance within the two teams. Jiang Hao did not even take this list to heart at all.
Because as a player, he knows that this kind of list is meaningless at all. The victory of each game is achieved by the cooperation of the entire team, not by this kind of prediction.
Furthermore, he was full of confidence in himself from beginning to end, and made no secret that he did want the FVP trophy, but he would use his strength to compete for it instead of caring about such things here.
Jiang Hao believes that whether it is Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, or other players on this list, they all have the same idea as him, to use their own strength to win the championship and get FVP!
………
That afternoon, the Cleveland Cavaliers played their home game at Quicken Loans Center.
As long as there is LeBron James, there will be packed stadiums, not to mention the highly anticipated Finals.
Therefore, when the two teams arrived at the arena one after another, the entire arena was already packed with people, and the attendance rate reached almost 100%.
Chapter completed!