G1!

"Shit, ESPN's thirty experts predicted the outcome of the Finals, and twenty-one of them picked the Bulls to win."

"Those ESPN experts are all Jordan bootlickers! We're not last year's Lakers anymore! Can't they see how much we've changed this year?"

"Kobe had already become a better basketball player than Michael. That was indisputable! If Michael were twenty-eight, maybe he could still go toe-to-toe with Kobe. But now, Michael was old! He needed to accept it!"

"An average of 37.5 points per game in a series was already terrifying, but compared to Kobe's 40+10+10 triple-double, it wasn't even in the same league."

"A new king was taking the throne! We Lakers were guaranteed to win this battle!"

On June 3, 1998, with three hours still remaining before tipoff at the Great Western Forum, the arena was already nearly full of Lakers fans!

That was also why Buss had chosen to build a new arena. The new venue had more seats, which meant the Lakers could sell more tickets! Ticket revenue was still the biggest source of income for most teams, rather than television broadcasts. Since Lakers tickets sold so well, of course they had to find a way to offer more of them!

Of course, if that broadcasting deal could be finalized in the summer, then perhaps all this would be small potatoes.

"Jerry! Can we lift the trophy this year?" Old Buss sat in his private box, repeatedly suppressing the urge to head to the locker room.

This was already the fourth time he had asked Jerry West that day. West smiled. A business titan like Old Buss was actually too close to the matter to see it clearly. It truly was rare to see his boss acting like this.

"Trust your players."

Old Buss nodded firmly. Tonight, Los