The first four games of the finals ended with the score tied at 2:2.
Kobe, leading the Gasol brothers and the young Grim Reaper, found himself struggling against the prime Carter + prime Yao Ming + sophomore Rondo + sophomore Milsap + Barnes combination!
"Hey, Simon, you can't just stay in the back and watch us play anymore! We need you!"
After Game 4, with the series tied by the Celtics, Kobe couldn't help but complain to He Xi Meng.
"Didn't you say you could lead the team to beat the Greens without me?" He Xi Meng retorted with a mischievous grin.
"How the hell was I supposed to know the Celtics were this tough! In the regular season, Yao Ming and Carter weren't this fierce!"
"That was Coach Kerr's strategy! He was just trying to develop rookies like Rondo and Milsap, and you actually believed it?"
"They're all learning bad habits! They're all learning from you how to slack off in the regular season?"
"Do you think slacking off is easy? I only have the opportunity to slack off when there's a pillar like you in the team! On the Celtics' side, Yao Ming and Carter have also gotten smarter. They take turns slacking off, which is why they didn't seem that strong in the regular season. For the specific operating method, you can refer to the Spurs! Coach Kerr didn't learn that from me, he learned it from old man Popovich!"
"It's all the same! You and Coach Pop are not good people! You're corrupting the league's atmosphere! One is more calculating than the other!"
"What are you talking about! This is called strategy! The basketball court is like a battlefield; you need strategy as well as courage!"
"Stop spouting this nonsense! The future of the league will eventually be led astray by you... So, tell me, are you going to play in the next game or not? If we lose this finals, I'm telling you, it's all your fault!"
"I'll play, I'll play! In the next game, I'll turn over a new leaf and work hard... To beat this Celtics team, you need to play like this..."
After being thoroughly lectured by Kobe, He Xi Meng had no reason to continue watching from behind his teammates.
Indeed, after four games of swaggering, Rondo, who had gained confidence from defending He Xi Meng, was brought back to reality in Game 5 of the finals!
In this game, He Xi Meng had Coach Old Pop employ the Gasol brothers' version of the elevator door tactic.
Before this, Coach Kerr had also used the Yao Ming + Milsap version of the elevator door tactic, which gave Carter many opportunities to shoot threes.
However, against the He Xi Meng + Gasol brothers' version of the elevator door tactic, Kerr's authentic version seemed to have become a "pirated" copy!
The Celtics could fight Kobe's SuperSonics to a draw, but once He Xi Meng joined, the scales of victory would inevitably tilt towards the SuperSonics.
In Game 5, He Xi Meng scored 36 points, and the SuperSonics defeated the Celtics.
In Game 6, He Xi Meng scored 38 points, and the SuperSonics defeated the Celtics again.
With a 4:2 lead, the SuperSonics, in their very first season of rebuilding, swept the entire league with thunderous momentum, clinching the 2007-2008 NBA championship!
Kobe's hard work throughout the season finally paid off, which made him very happy.
The only thing that bothered Kobe was that although he had contributed most of the effort in the playoffs, the Finals MVP award ultimately went to He Xi Meng!
However, he couldn't blame He Xi Meng for this.
Because in the last two games, it was Kobe who pointed at He Xi Meng's nose and told him to work hard. As a result, He Xi Meng did work hard, and shone brightly, snatching the FMVP that should have belonged to Kobe.
He Xi Meng had considered giving it to Kobe, but it didn't work out.
Kobe didn't actually care about the FMVP; after all, he had gotten the championship ring he wanted the most.
He had also won the regular season MVP this season, so one Finals MVP was not a big deal.
He Xi Meng himself was truly speechless that he could win a championship ring by slacking off throughout the season, and on top of that, a Finals MVP trophy.
But since he had won it, he accepted it. After all, Kobe wasn't without FMVP trophies.
Moreover, the SuperSonics could still contend for the championship next season. The next FMVP could be left for Kobe.
After the finals came the NBA Draft.
In the 2008 NBA Draft, the Bulls still held the first pick and chose Rose.
However, the fourth pick in the first round no longer belonged to the SuperSonics. Thanks to the SuperSonics' surge in performance, the Bobcats were fortunate enough to draw the fourth pick and happily brought Westbrook back to Charlotte.
The SuperSonics' first-round pick this year had been traded to the Magic, leaving them with only a second-round pick much later in the draft.
After receiving his championship ring, Francis announced his departure from the SuperSonics, intending to join a team where he could better utilize his skills.
Yes, Francis, despite his age, still had ambition and didn't want to play backup to Durant on the SuperSonics.
Now that his championship dream had been fulfilled, while still relatively young, Francis wanted to find a team where he could start and contribute.
He Xi Meng didn't object and immediately instructed Presti to make a small trade during the draft.
The SuperSonics traded Francis and the last second-round pick of 2018 for the Rockets' 13th pick in the second round of 2018.
With this second-round pick, the SuperSonics selected Slovenian point guard Goran Dragić!
After Francis's departure, the SuperSonics' bench needed a reliable point guard, and He Xi Meng had his eye on Dragić, who Presti also thought highly of!
Their taste in selecting new players was surprisingly consistent.
Of course, this wasn't because He Xi Meng was brilliant, but because Presti was brilliant!
This trade was considered a minor, insignificant deal in the summer of 2008.
The most shocking trade in 2008 was undoubtedly the Heat acquiring both James and Bosh, forming their own "Big Three" with Wade!
The flame of brotherhood in the league burned ever brighter!
However, He Xi Meng paid no mind to the league's affairs.
Because after the finals concluded, He Xi Meng returned to China to prepare for the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
This would be He Xi Meng's last game in the national team jersey, and he hoped for a perfect ending.
He had been "coasting" and "slacking off" throughout the season, perhaps for this very reason. He didn't want to get injured and wanted to preserve his best form for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This was He Xi Meng's last battle, and also the last battle for the "Golden Generation" players of the same cohort as He Xi Meng, such as Hu Weidong and Liu Yudong.