Since King Arthur's wrist had been fractured by Wang Yi's dunk, the Lakers' record had slipped.
But after Arthur returned, the Lakers' record quickly improved again.
They eventually entered the Playoffs as the Western Conference's third seed.
Now, after getting through two rounds, they had reached the Western Conference Finals.
Michael Arthur had been outstanding in those two rounds.
He had averaged 39.7 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Without Wang Yi, he would have been the best player among all 16 teams in those series.
Unfortunately, Wang Yi was like a mountain standing in his way.
No matter what he tried, he couldn't get past him.
If Wang Yi hadn't been around this year, Arthur would have been a lock for MVP.
That was putting it mildly. He had missed a month and a half with an injury, and the Lakers had fallen to fifth in the West. After he returned, it had taken him just over a month to lead them back to third. That showed just how much he meant to the team.
But with Wang Yi around, Arthur had been firmly held down by him in the MVP rankings.
News had come out over the past few days that Wang Yi's MVP award was basically a done deal.
That only made Arthur more upset.
More than anything, he couldn't forget that dunk by Wang Yi—the one that had broken his wrist.
He would hold on to that grudge.
There was another reason the Lakers had performed so well, besides King Arthur's triumphant return.
In fact, it was even more important than Arthur's return.
Their style of play had changed.
Before, with King Arthur, Thick Eyebrows, and Westbrook on the team, they had been formidable on offense.
But their defense had left something to be desired.
Then