Durant Had Been Beaten into Submission
Wang Yi and Durant locked eyes and stepped closer.
They opened their arms and embraced.
Durant patted Wang Yi on the back. "Man, you really are something else. I admit defeat."
If the two teams had truly battled until the final second and Wang Yi had hit the game-winner, Durant wouldn't have been this thoroughly convinced.
After all, the final few possessions came down to luck.
Maybe you hit the game-winner this time, and I hit it the next.
But ever since Game 1 of the Finals, Wang Yi had said he would hit a game-winning shot in the final second of Game 7 against the Nets.
Then, in Game 7, he'd manipulated the score until the Kings were down by two with just a few minutes left, before hitting a super long three-point game-winner from the backcourt baseline.
It was fair to say no one but Wang Yi could have pulled off that whole sequence—not even Michael Jordan, the God of Basketball.
So Durant had no choice but to admit defeat.
Wang Yi replied, "You weren't bad either. You came back from down 1–3 to tie it 3–3. The Reaper really is the Reaper."
Durant shook his head. "I may be the Reaper, but you're the King... No, starting today, you might just be the Great Demon King of the whole league."
Wang Yi smiled and nodded. "I'll take that."
Then the two patted each other on the back again and said goodbye.
Durant headed into the Player Tunnel.
Wang Yi turned around to look for James Harden.
But Harden showed no intention of coming over. He'd already entered the Player Tunnel, his dejected figure disappearing into its dimness.
Next came the awards ceremony.
Last year, the Kings had no home-court advantage against