The scoring champion of this season, once again fell into the hands of Mr. Qiao! He played all 82 games, averaging 29.6 points! One has to admit, Mr. Qiao's physical fitness is truly resilient! To become a god, it's impossible without an invincible body...
The rebounding king of this season is also from the Bulls! Rodman, with his height of 2.01 meters, grabbed an average of 16 rebounds per game... This rebounding talent is truly unmatched...
The assist king of this season is Mark Jackson! Yes, the future head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He discovered Curry and then, before the Warriors dynasty was established, was taken advantage of by Kerr... His experience with Harris in the Lakers is remarkably similar!
Of course, the current Mark Jackson is still a relatively pure point guard. In the first 52 games of this season, he played for the Nuggets, averaging 12.3 assists, which is quite a staggering number. Mid-season, he was traded to the Pacers to partner with Reggie Miller, playing 30 games for the Pacers and averaging 9.8 assists. Averaging across the season, he had 11.4 assists per game, beating out Stockton, Kidd, and many other strong contenders to become this season's assist king.
The block king of this season is the German center for the Mavericks, "Tall Bamboo Pole" Bradley!
Yes, that's the same tall bamboo pole who is even taller than Yao Ming! The one who was dunked on by McGrady. Bradley was the second pick in the first round of the 1993 draft. He played two and a half seasons for the Philadelphia 76ers, a little over a season for the Nets, and spent the remaining eight-plus seasons with the Mavericks! He is considered a senior to Nowitzki, and one of the pioneers of German basketball in the NBA.
Many fans recall the scene of McGrady dunking on Bradley in the 04-05 season, which was Bradley's last season.
And this season, 96-97, was the peak season of Bradley's career, averaging 13.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks, making him a near All-Star player.
Last year's block king Mutombo, this season averaged 3.3 blocks per game, just 0.1 shy of Bradley, thus failing to defend his title.
The steal king of this season is the Hawks' point guard Mookie Blaylock, averaging 2.7 steals per game.
After the individual awards, it's time for the selection of the various All-NBA teams.
This season's All-NBA First Team consists of Jordan, Hill, Tim Hardaway, Malone, and Olajuwon.
The All-NBA Second Team consists of Pippen, Ewing, Payton, Glenn Rice, and Richmond.
The All-NBA Third Team consists of O'Neal, Stockton, Vin Baker, Anthony Mason, and Anfernee Hardaway.
Even as strong as O'Neal is, he's only on the Third Team this season. Eddie Jones doesn't even qualify for the Third Team, so naturally, He Ximeng has no hope.
This season's All-Defensive First Team consists of Jordan, Malone, Mutombo, Payton, and Pippen.
The All-Defensive Second Team consists of Olajuwon, Stockton, Anthony Mason, P.J. Brown, and Blaylock.
The All-NBA Teams and All-Defensive Teams have nothing to do with the current He Ximeng and Kobe. However, both of them have been selected to this year's All-Rookie Teams.
He Ximeng is on the First Team, and Kobe is on the Second Team.
Players on the All-Rookie First Team also include Iverson, Camby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Antoine Walker.
Marbury, who should have been on the First Team, was unfortunately squeezed into the Second Team by He Ximeng.
Kobe's stats this season, with the appearance and help of He Ximeng, compressed veteran Scott's playing time and shot attempts ahead of schedule. Therefore, compared to the original history, his average points per game increased from 7.6 to 9.6, but it's still a bit short compared to He Ximeng.
After all, He Ximeng had no competition for his bench role. In fact, by the end of the regular season, Van Exel's starting position was essentially nominal. In crucial moments of games, Harris's first thought was to substitute Van Exel with He Ximeng...
Van Exel's biggest problem isn't a lack of ability, but inconsistency!
If they were to swap places, with He Ximeng starting and Van Exel coming off the bench, it would actually be the optimal choice for the Lakers!
But Coach Harris has been hesitant to make such an adjustment, and He Ximeng doesn't know what the head coach is planning.
As for Kobe, with Scott blocking his path on the bench, and Eddie Jones and Horry in the starting lineup... to be able to average 9.6 points is already very good data...
Besides Kobe and Marbury, players on the Second Team include Ray Allen, Keyleous, and Matt Maloney.
Three days later, the second round of the playoffs reignited.
The Lakers' opponent is last year's runner-up, the Seattle SuperSonics!
The first game of the semifinals will be held at the SuperSonics' home arena, Seattle's KeyArena!
The SuperSonics' core lineup is still Kemp and Payton. In addition, the starting lineup includes veteran center Sam Perkins and small forward Detlef Schrempf, with Gary Payton at shooting guard.
Last season, the Sonics reached the Finals with this very lineup. Although they eventually lost to Jordan's Bulls, it proved the power of this lineup. On both offense and defense, this lineup is not to be underestimated!
Logically speaking, the SuperSonics this season should undoubtedly be aiming for the championship. However, after the end of last season, discordant voices emerged within the team.
Core power forward Kemp demanded a contract exceeding 100 million from management, which was rejected, leading to Kemp occasionally missing team practices this season and his conflict with management becoming increasingly public.
Despite their deep roster strength, the Sonics still secured the second-best regular-season record in the Western Conference. However, Kemp, at only 28 years old and in the prime of his career, had lower per-game statistics than the previous season, casting a shadow over the SuperSonics' future.
In the first round of the playoffs, the runner-up was almost defeated by the new team, the Suns.
For this series against the Lakers led by O'Neal, many media outlets believe the outcome is a toss-up...
In this game, head coach George Karl made a slight adjustment to the starting lineup, moving Kemp to center to match up against O'Neal, attempting to spark Kemp's will to win by pitting core against core!
Veteran center Sam Perkins moved to the bench, and veteran forward Terry Cummings came into the starting lineup.
This adjustment by the SuperSonics did not yield good results.
After the game started, O'Neal frequently utilized his height advantage, powerfully posting up Kemp in the paint.
While Kemp could withstand O'Neal and prevent him from dunking easily, O'Neal's height was a factor. If O'Neal finished his offense with a hook shot or a floater, Kemp truly had no good solution.
Moreover, O'Neal had a very good touch at the start, helping the Lakers take control on the road and dominate the SuperSonics.
But the SuperSonics were not to be outdone!
After a brief deficit, Payton hit a three-pointer to help the team close the gap.
Subsequently, when Van Exel attempted to retaliate with a three-pointer, he was stripped by Payton as he was shooting... Payton, having stolen the ball, initiated a fast break and scored with a layup!
Payton, scoring five consecutive points, excitedly high-fived his teammates, and the Seattle fans gave him enthusiastic applause and cheers.
Seeing Van Exel spiraling and the SuperSonics gaining momentum, Lakers head coach immediately called a timeout to cool down the opponent's morale. At the same time, he pulled Van Exel and brought in He Ximeng early!