Summer League Ends

A week had passed since the game against China, and Kobe led the team to two straight victories in the next two Summer League games. After four strong performances, he had gradually gained his first batch of fans.

In the third Summer League game, Kobe started cold, missing shot after shot.

But the Lakers' full-court pressure and defensive transition tactics remained tremendously impactful. Under Kobe's leadership, their defensive line was impregnable, and in transition, Kobe was like a sharp blade stabbing straight into the opponent's heart.

Defense alone was useless. What Kobe brought to the team was the ability to turn successful defensive stops into counterattacks. This style of play had allowed the Lakers' defense to begin establishing its dominance in the Summer League.

In half-court sets, with his shot off, Kobe took on more of a playmaking role. Running pick-and-rolls with the ball, he chose not to force the issue after driving, instead leaping up and kicking the ball out to the perimeter.

The Lakers' shooters, who had performed poorly against China, seemed to have suddenly figured things out in this game. They caught Kobe's kick-outs and knocked down shot after shot. Fisher went 3-for-7 from three, while Bruce Bowen went 4-for-8.

Their dazzling performances created plenty of room for the team's offense. With his touch returning, Kobe repeatedly attacked the basket in the third quarter, twisting his body in midair to toss the ball into the hoop. The Lakers also easily won the game against defenders who were left scrambling to cover everything.

Kobe scored "only" 21 points in this game, but as the one controlling the ball, he also recorded 11 assists.

In the fourth game, the Lakers faced the Phoenix Suns.

After hitting two consecutive threes to start the game, Kobe realized that his touch was scorching hot today. He decided to take over the scoring himself!

Kobe monopolized the ball in the first half. He began by attacking out of pick-and-rolls, using high-quality screens from Ben Wallace and Tyrese to create space before rising for jumpers.

Once the opponents began trapping him, Kobe switched to playing off the ball—cutting to the basket and shooting threes. Taking Fisher's passes, Kobe seemed unstoppable as he hit one difficult shot after another.

At the start of the second half, the Phoenix Suns could only increase their defensive aggressiveness. Their physical defense limited Kobe's field-goal percentage, but it also gave him plenty of free-throw opportunities, and Kobe calmly sank every single one.

It was another easy three-quarter shift. Kobe delivered an incredibly efficient performance, going 13-for-19, including 6-for-8 from three and 9-for-9 at the line. He casually dropped 41 points.

The Summer League was over, and the Lakers had successfully won the championship. When Kobe returned to his Los Angeles apartment, a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

"Ding."

Restart Life Side Quest 1: Win the Summer League Championship—Completed

The host has asked a question. Would you like to replace the ability enhancement reward with an answer?

"Of course! Tell me, where did Gianna go?" Kobe had finally waited for this day. He was desperately worried about Gianna's safety. The daughter who had inherited his Mamba mentality was the love of his life. Every day since his rebirth, Kobe had thought of Gianna. If they had not boarded that helicopter that day, how would the story have unfolded?

"Gianna Bryant was born on May 2, 2006. On January 26, 2020, Gianna died in a helicopter crash in California at the age of thirteen." The system's emotionless voice came through.

"Fuck, I was sitting right next to her. What I'm asking is, is there no way to save her?" Kobe asked anxiously.

"Analyzing."

Solution: After the host completes the main Restart Life quest, the system may be gifted to any one person. Upon achieving an S+ life achievement, the host may restart Gianna's life.

"YSE! That's great!" Overwhelmed by the swing from despair to joy, Kobe shouted in celebration. The thing he had always worried about was finally resolved. For his daughter, to give her a new life, Kobe Bryant had to achieve enough! An S+ life achievement, was it? In his previous life, five championships had only amounted to an S-. So in this life, how many championships would he need to win before Gianna could be reborn with him? The more, the better. Kobe Bryant was ready.

Los Angeles glittered beneath neon lights. Sitting by the street and feeling the summer breeze, Kobe could not help but feel puzzled. So who was it that had restarted my life?

Kobe, who had scored a total of 124 points in four games, did not draw much attention from basketball media. At this time, Dream Team III had already been assembled, with its sights set on the Olympic Games men's basketball gold medal in Atlanta.

Even after the biggest-name star, Michael Jordan, politely declined, the Dream Team had not lost its luster. Although the stars on the roster were not as dazzling as those of the original Dream Team, Dream Team III had gathered nearly every superstar in the league who was in his prime, including five MVP-caliber players. The roster was still incredibly stacked.

Dream Team III included three of that era's great centers—Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Shaquille O'Neal—along with the universally recognized best power forwards, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. Its personnel and strength in the paint surpassed even the 1992 squad.

The perimeter players consisted of a group of men in their prime: Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, and John Stockton.

The player roster was star-studded, and the coaching staff was no less impressive. Lenny Wilkens was the head coach of Dream Team III.

He was the first coach in NBA history to win one thousand games, and he had also been among the earliest players capable of serving as both player and coach. His playing career had been just as brilliant as his coaching career. One of the representative all-around guards of the late 1960s and early 1970s, he had once set the astonishing record of averaging more than 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists for six consecutive seasons. Over a fifteen-year career, he averaged 20+5+9 during his four peak seasons, made nine All-Star teams, won one assists title, was named one of the fifty greatest players, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

Watching the star players dominate games on television, Kobe could not help but feel eager to get on the court himself. He truly wanted the season to start soon so he could compete against them at their absolute peak.

The United States team of later generations had declined to the point of finishing only seventh in the Men's Basketball World Cup. It perfectly proved Kobe's saying: never assume you have it in the bag.

But this Dream Team III truly looked like it had things in the bag. There were too many legendary stars on both ends of the floor who could dominate a game, and with legendary coach Lenny Wilkens holding things together, it would be difficult for them to fall apart on their own.

The results were just as Kobe expected. Dream Team III was unrivaled at the Atlanta Olympic Games, winning every game by more than 20 points.

They first crushed Argentina by 30 points, then beat Angola by 33, and defeated Lithuania by 22.

In the final group-stage game, the United States crushed the Chinese men's basketball team 133–70.