Four Fingers! The Flying Pig Got Roasted Too!

The discussion panel consisted of "Magic" Johnson, "Larry Bird," "Flying Pig" Barkley, and... "Big Shark" O'Neal.

The "Black and White Duo" of the '80s—Magic Johnson and Larry Bird—fought the Yellow-Green War to the death year after year.

Magic Johnson's style of play was more dazzling.

Larry Bird's mouth was tougher, and more importantly... whenever he wanted to show off, he always managed to pull it off.

For a time, neither could claim the upper hand.

As for the Flying Pig and the Big Shark, they often battled in the paint, and they had even come to blows.

Players who could—no, dared—to knock O'Neal down and pin him to the floor for a beating were probably limited to the fearless "Flying Pig" Barkley.

Seeing this group together—

Fans in front of their televisions could not help but complain inwardly: Are they sure this panel won't turn into a fight?!

"Cough, cough..."

Barkley cleared his throat and spoke first. "Before we officially begin, let me explain something.

The so-called prototype of the Small Ball Era means that offenses today are becoming increasingly perimeter-oriented. In particular, more and more players are shooting three-pointers, and they are becoming more and more accurate.

The players doing these things are mostly smaller guards. It feels as if the era is shifting from the paint to the perimeter and entering the Small Ball Era.

All right.

Now, let's get to the main topic.

As a member of the 84 Diamond Generation, and one of the standouts from the same class as that Black Egg—

I am honored, and proud.

In our era, there was more brute-force combat in the paint. There were not many perimeter attacks.

Even that Black Egg, even with God's Weapon, mostly relied on mid-range shots.

As for three-pointers, they were truly uncommon.

But... in today's era, more and more players are shooting three-pointers, and quite a few are accurate from deep.

Ray Allen, Peja, Rashard Lewis, and so on.

The title of League Top Shooter had long become synonymous with these players.

To name someone more recent—

Last year's Davidson Student, this year's seventh pick of the Warriors, Stephen Curry.

The miracle he created during NCAA March Madness was built one unbelievable three-pointer at a time!

It was outrageous.

I had no idea how he kept making shots from that far away.

In our era, that was almost impossible.

Then there was the core player of this discussion, this year's undrafted player, Su Yan.

This shooter from Dragon Country.

We did not need to dwell on why he was an undrafted player.

But... through his first two NBA games, he had averaged seven made three-pointers per game. Extended-range and ultra-deep, unreasonable threes were everywhere.

For us, making even one might have been difficult.

For Su Yan, it was as easy as drinking tea or water.

He could even use a step-back three-pointer to hit a game-winner against Thunder's Big Three and lead his team to a stunning twenty-point comeback.

That was insane.

That simply did not look like offense a player could produce.

However... times were progressing. As I said at the beginning, from Ray Allen and Peja to Stephen Curry, and now Su Yan—

These increasingly accurate three-pointers seemed to be the prototype of the Small Ball Era.

I agree with that view."

After Barkley finished speaking, O'Neal raised his hand. He first mocked him, saying, "Flying Pig, if you want to talk about the Small Ball Era, then talk about the Small Ball Era.

There was no need to praise yourself first.

And there was even less need to think that being in the same class as Michael Jordan was such an honor."

He had to fire off a jab first.

What the hell...

Why did it matter to you if I praised myself?

Barkley rolled his eyes at him. If they had not been on a discussion panel, he would have already fought O'Neal.

O'Neal raised his brows, looking smug. The feeling of having the upper hand over the Flying Pig was really great.

He then got to the point. "As the Top Pick of 1992, and the three-time champion of 2000, 2001, and 2002—

The most dominant center in NBA history, perhaps without exception.

When I ruled the league, shooters were always role players. They were like assassins.

They did not have much presence on the court.

They were good at hiding in the shadows. When we encountered tight defense in the paint and could not get the offense going—

We passed the ball out.

We found those perimeter assassins and let them hit long-range shots, helping the team complete its offense and share the offensive burden.

They did not need the ball in their hands.

They only needed to find their spots and wait quietly. That was my understanding of traditional shooters.

But now—

Shooters were playing increasingly important roles on their teams. Players like Ray Allen and Peja had even become team cores.

In the past, they waited to shoot, or were forced to shoot.

Now... everyone designed tactics around them, doing everything possible to give them chances to shoot three-pointers.

That was the difference.

Even so, they mostly created opportunities for catch-and-shoot threes or open three-pointers.

Above that level—

There was Stephen Curry. His performance in last year's NCAA March Madness was not merely brilliant; it was also extremely unique.

His three-point accuracy was one thing.

More importantly... he could shoot three-pointers off the dribble.

Shooters at Ray Allen and Peja's level had dominated the NBA for many years, yet they rarely shot threes off the dribble.

At most, they hit chasing three-pointers in transition.

But Stephen could do it. Not only could he shoot them off the dribble, he took a lot of them, and his percentage was astonishing.

That was another kind of improvement.

The jaw-dropping kind. Of course... Stephen had yet to prove that he possessed this off-the-dribble three-point ability in the NBA.

So far this season—

His performance had been somewhat poor, and his three-point accuracy was average.

He still needed to grow, but this also showed from another angle that players' use of the three-point shot was evolving further.

That was also the prototype of the Small Ball Era.

Next came the most important point. You might think shooting threes off the dribble was already the endpoint of the three-point shot's evolution.

Su Yan's emergence broke convention once again.

Not only could he shoot off the dribble, he had forcefully extended his three-point range from around the three-point line to more than a meter beyond it, or even farther.

Could there be shots from two meters away in the future? Three meters? Even from the Logo Area?!

That gave people far too much room for imagination.

Of course... the league's current three-point technique was still at the catch-and-shoot accuracy stage of Ray Allen, Peja, and others.

Stephen and Su Yan had yet to prove themselves.

So this precisely proved the point: this era already showed a hint of the Small Ball Era's prototype!!!"

"Well said. That makes a lot of sense," Magic Johnson said, applauding.

Barkley curled his lips. Although he agreed with O'Neal, he still haughtily mocked him, "Aren't you just bragging about yourself too?

Three-time champion? Without that Black Mamba, you would never have become a champion!"

"Heh!" O'Neal sneered without saying anything, then slowly held up four fingers toward Barkley!!!

Damn it!

Do not hit people in the face, and do not expose their shortcomings when insulting them.

Leave some room in everything, so you can meet again in the future.

Barkley naturally knew that O'Neal was holding up four fingers to say that he had four championships, mocking Barkley for having none.

The greatest regret of his entire NBA career was never winning even one championship.

What O'Neal did was no different from rubbing salt into his wound.

He was furious.

He instantly cracked.

And in his rage, he laughed as he fired back, "It's nothing, it's nothing. It's perfectly normal to praise yourself!

The Flying Pig did it too!!!"