Willie Green and Bond attended the postgame press conference today.
Bond's stats were unremarkable, but his impact on the court couldn't be measured by numbers.
Without his height and wingspan disrupting Wemby's passes, the Kings wouldn't have been able to break up their double-crossover so easily.
Since Danny had already given a courtside interview, it was only natural for Wang Yi to bring Bond to the press conference.
A team leader had a lot to take care of.
He had to consider every little detail.
Given Wang Yi's status on the team, even if he hadn't brought Bond to the press conference and had taken Danny instead, Bond wouldn't have said a word.
He would still have played as usual.
But no one could guarantee that the others wouldn't say something in front of Bond. He might not mind hearing it once or twice, but if it happened often enough, and enough people said it, no one could be sure it wouldn't affect him in subtle ways.
If those subtle changes built up, they could very well create a rift between a player and the team.
So as the team leader, you had to treat everyone fairly.
At the press conference, reporters asked Bond and Wang Yi a few questions.
Both answered with humor and tact.
Some reporters asked Wang Yi and Bond deliberately difficult questions for the sake of clicks, but Wang Yi deftly defused them with his wit.
He not only fired back at the reporters but also kept the atmosphere light.
At the end, a reporter from New Orleans asked, "Wang, a lot of people think home-court advantage played a big part in your win today. If you go to New Orleans and play at the Hornets' home court, you won't have that advantage, and you could