Chapter 488: Defeating the Rockets and the Knicks to Win the Championship
There was not much suspense. On June 16, in Game 5 of the Finals, at the home court of the Knicks, New York fans cheered from the beginning of the game to the end, like wave after wave.
After more than 20 years, they finally won their third championship in team history.
At 111:90, the Knicks won the final victory without any disturbance at their home court. They eliminated the Rockets with a total score of 4:1 and won the 1994-95 season championship trophy.
In this game, Olajuwon tried his best, making 19 of 30 shots, 4 of 7 free throws, and a near-triple-double of 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists, but he was still unable to recover.
For the Knicks, Wang Feng made 14 of 20 shots, 6 of 9 three-pointers, 5 of 5 free throws, and scored a triple-double of 39 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. Ewing made 7 of 15 shots and scored 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Olajuwon is alone, and even if he plays a dominant performance, there is nothing he can do.
When the game ended, Madison Square instantly turned into a sea of joy, with ribbons flying, fans cheering and cheering, and players all rushing onto the field to hug each other.
On the bench, head coach Riley, assistant coach Van Gundy and others also all smiled and hugged each other to congratulate each other.
This championship for the Knicks is really not easy. Last season's finals were obviously only one step away from the championship, but they were defeated by the Rockets in two consecutive games. The feeling that the victory was so close at hand was flying away the most.
People go crazy.
In comparison, the process of winning the championship this season was a bit too smooth.
Sweeped the Celtics in the first round, eliminated the Bulls 4:1 in the second round, swept the Magic 4:0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, and defeated the Rockets 4:1 in the finals.
Throughout the playoffs, it was almost impossible to find a team that could compete with the Knicks.
Of course, everyone knows why this is the case.
Wang Feng, who burst out of nowhere in the middle of the season, is the main reason why the Knicks won the championship.
Putting the regular season aside for now, after entering the playoffs, Wang Feng is like an unsolvable existence, averaging 30 10 10 quasi-triple-doubles per game, which is unique in the entire league history.
The Knicks, who were already capable of competing for the championship, got such a monster. It was like turning on a cheating device. It would be strange if they failed to win the championship.
"We must keep Wang Feng this summer no matter what!"
At this moment, no matter the Knicks coaching staff, management or team owner, they all made the same decision in their hearts.
…
The championship award ceremony is postponed for a few minutes. Before that, the players will return to the locker room to celebrate the championship, spray champagne and smoke cigars to celebrate, then take a comfortable shower, and finally return to the stadium where the award podium has been set up to accept the award.
Trophy.
To be honest, no one in the entire league is more familiar with this set of procedures than Wang Feng.
Before coming to this era, Wang Feng had won the championship seven times, and celebrating the championship was boring.
In this era, even Jordan has only won three consecutive championships.
After pretending to celebrate with his teammates on the surface, he was finally able to leave the locker room to present the award.
A group of players excitedly walked up to the podium, and NBA Commissioner David Stern handed the O'Brien Cup, the championship trophy that had been prepared long ago, to Ewing, the leader of the Knicks.
As Ewing raised the trophy high, the atmosphere in the audience instantly rose to a new level, like boiling water...
"Well done, young man. I'm optimistic about your future development in the league. Keep working hard."
While celebrating his victory, Stern took the initiative to find Wang Feng and whispered these words.
Wang Feng was slightly startled, then smiled and nodded.
He knew that Stern had regarded himself as the key to opening up the Chinese market.
This is still very important to Wang Feng. In this era where foul actions are far more important than the future, having the blessing buff of Stern's father will save a lot of things.
Wang Feng knows very well that he can dominate the league this season.
On the one hand, he is strong enough, and on the other hand, because he has only been in the league for such a short time, many teams have not had time to thoroughly analyze and study his own playing style and formulate targeted defenses.
To put it simply, the defensive intensity that Wang Feng is facing now, even in the playoffs, has not reached the level that Jordan faced on the court.
But as his reputation in the league gradually develops, especially after he truly serves as the core boss of a team, he will definitely be targeted in various ways.
Although Wang Feng is not very scared, he is not a masochist. If he can avoid being controlled, it is definitely best to avoid it.
Since Stern is optimistic about himself, he certainly does not want scenes of himself being fouled by various malicious fouls to appear on television, especially in front of the Chinese market. Therefore, the intensity of whistle blowing and penalties will inevitably be adjusted.
…
After the championship trophy is awarded, there is another more important award to be awarded, which is the Finals MVP, also known as FMVP.
When he saw the FMVP trophy being brought to the stage, Ewing really became nervous.
He is very eager for this FMVP trophy, because in terms of personal honors, he is really too poor.
This season, he lost to David Robinson in the regular season MVP competition. Ewing felt that it would be difficult for him to have a chance to compete for MVP in the future.
Then the FMVP trophy is the best way for him to enhance his historical status.
But the problem is, in this finals, everyone can see who is the Knicks' best player.
In 5 games, Wang Feng averaged 37 points, 9 rebounds and 9.6 assists per game. With nearly triple-double data and super high scoring, his performance was perfect.
On the other hand, Ewing's averages of 23 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game are not bad, but they are average at best and cannot be compared with Wang Feng.
Just looking at the data, the FMVP must belong to Wang Feng, there is no doubt about it.
But Ewing still has some small expectations. After all, he is the Knicks' star, and more importantly...
"The player who won the Finals FMVP is-Patrick Ewing!"
Wang Feng looked calm as he listened to the award presenter announcing the name of the FMVP and awarding the trophy to Ewing, who looked so ecstatic that even he himself might have been a little unbelievable.
He was not surprised by this result, or he had expected it.
FMVP is not a rigorous award in the first place.
Over the years, there have often been controversial cases of awards.
The most famous among them is of course Iguodala, who averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4 assists in the 14-15 season finals.
The selection of FMVP is voted by 11 media members after the finals. The voting time is only ten minutes from the end of the game to the start of the award ceremony, and there is no weighted selection such as first vote and second vote.
The method is to directly name the FMVP winner you think, and the one with the highest number of votes will be elected...
A serious lack of rigor in the selection will inevitably lead to such a situation, which will also lead to the possibility of black-box operations.
Just like the year Iguodala won the Finals MVP, some conspiracy theorists believed that the reason why Curry was not elected was that Nike and Adidas manipulated the voting media members because Curry’s sneaker contract was with Under Armor.
, rather than Nike and Adidas, the two major sports brands.
As for Wang Feng losing to Ewing, it is even simpler. His identity as a Chinese is enough.
The 11 media members who participated in the voting were all local American journalists.
Moreover, except for Ewing's personal data which is not as good as Wang Feng's, he has all the advantages in other aspects.
Not only is he a representative star of the United States, but he has also played for the Big Apple for many years. He is second only to Jordan in popularity in the league and is deeply loved by mainstream media.
To put it simply, there are many reasons for Ewing to win the FMVP, but the only reason is that he did not perform in the finals.
Of course, it's not completely absent.
According to media reporters who participated in the selection, he chose to vote for Ewing.
It's because Ewing fought against Olajuwon throughout the finals and made a major contribution in order to limit the opponent.
Even his poor scoring data was because he put more energy into dealing with Dameng. This spirit of willingness to sacrifice for the team's victory moved him.
Of course, just listen to this statement as a joke.
Olajuwon averaged 34.6 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists in 5 games. During the finals, he played the most representative performance of his career. If this is also called a success limit, then it is estimated that many stars in the league hope that Ewing can come.
Limits limit them.
This is as funny as if the media in the future praised Iguodala for his very successful defense against James and awarded him the FMVP award.
He successfully defended James and averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, which was indeed a "success".
Because he was mentally prepared, Wang Feng did not feel angry, but the presentation of the FMVP award made him more determined to leave the Knicks in the summer.
He needs a team built entirely with him as the core, so that when he defeats the Jordan Dynasty, no one will use various excuses to try to discredit him.
…
Ewing, who won the Finals MVP, was so excited that he once shed tears while holding the FMVP trophy. Those who haven't watched the game would probably think that the Knicks could win the championship because of Ewing's efforts.
After a "heartfelt" acceptance speech, the championship award ceremony finally came to an end.
For the Knicks, there are still a lot of things to do in the subsequent championship games, interviews and so on.
But for the NBA, the 1994-95 season is completely over.
All teams must start to prepare for the draft and the recruitment and trade of reinforcements after the free market opens.
Almost all teams with salary space are eyeing Wang Feng, who will shine in the playoffs. Who wouldn't want such a super and invincible striker?
The first one to take action was, of course, the Knicks who were close to the water.
In the days after the finals, the Knicks management tried to get in touch with Wang Feng and wanted to discuss contract renewal with Wang Feng.
However, Wang Feng's reply made them dumbfounded...
"I'm sorry, but I currently have no intention of renewing my contract with the Knicks."
After saying this, Wang Feng hung up the phone directly.
"What's wrong?"
Wang Xiao looked at Wang Feng's decisive action of hanging up the phone and asked a little strangely.
"The Knicks called. They wanted to renew my contract, but I refused."
Wang Feng said lightly.
"Click..."
The tool in Wang Xiao's hand fell to the ground, and he looked at Wang Feng with his mouth wide open in astonishment.
"You rejected the Knicks' contract extension invitation? Why?"
"The reason is very simple." Wang Feng said matter-of-factly: "I want a maximum-salary contract, and the current Knicks can't afford it."
At this moment, Wang Feng and Wang Xiao were both in a store in Chinatown, New York.
This place was purchased by Wang Feng after he received his salary from the team. After renovation, a Chinese restaurant will be opened here for Wang Xiao's father.
This can be regarded as a gift given by Wang Feng to repay Wang Xu for taking him in.
He still remembers the embarrassing situation in the twelfth lunar month of winter when he was first transported here by the system, and he almost froze to death.
Wang Feng's annual salary in the Knicks was 1.45 million, which was not much, especially after tax was deducted, it was only a few hundred thousand, but the few hundred thousand in 1995 was already a huge sum of money.
A Chinatown store is simply not too simple.
Wang Xu's family are all good people, and doing such a small favor is just a piece of cake for Wang Feng now.
"Oh, it's okay to leave. The Knicks are really not interesting. You were so strong in the finals, but the Finals MVP was actually awarded to Ewing in the end. It is simply naked discrimination."
Mention
Wang Xiao still felt aggrieved about this incident, but he immediately felt a little reluctant to give up.
"Does that mean you're leaving New York?"
There is only one team in New York, the Knicks. If Wang Feng doesn't stay with the Knicks, he will inevitably leave for a team in other cities.
"Yeah." Wang Feng rubbed Wang Xiao's head and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, even if you join another team, you will have the opportunity to return to New York to play games every season, and you can also come and hang out with me during the holidays.
"
…
The New York Knicks, the general manager of the team looked at his assistant with wide eyes in astonishment.
"What did you just say?"
He couldn't believe his ears.
Wang Feng actually refused to renew his contract so simply?
"You didn't tell him that the price is negotiable. Can we give him the maximum offer contract allowed by the salary space?"
"He didn't even give me a chance to say it," the assistant said with a wry smile.
The general manager frowned and remained silent.
Unexpectedly, the team encountered difficulties in the first step after winning the championship.
If Wang Feng's contract cannot be renewed smoothly, the Knicks' strength will be severely affected, and it may be difficult to defend the title next year.
What makes him even more troubled is that Wang Feng is not the only one who has trouble with the team's contract renewal.
Ewing's contract also expires in the summer, and Ewing, who won the championship and won the FMVP, is obviously not satisfied with his current salary. He wants a bigger contract, a big contract that matches his worth.
If they want to keep this iconic New York star, the Knicks must pay a huge price.
Bad news keeps coming.
The general manager also heard rumors that the Heat seemed to really want head coach Pat Riley. They hoped that Riley could serve as both the team's general manager and head coach, and promised to give Riley a lot of rights.
The latter was obviously moved.
Could it be that the Knicks, who just won the championship, are about to fall apart?