Execution of the God of Basketball!

The lights at Great Western Forum suddenly went out!

Electronic music began to play, its drumbeats seeming to pound straight into everyone's bones!

A curtain suddenly descended from the ceiling!

Then laser lights from all around shone onto the curtain!

"Now taking the floor! Eleven-time champions! The greatest team in NBA history, the Los Angeles—Lakers!"

The DJ's deep voice sounded alongside the images projected by the lasers!

Eleven championships!

Eleven stars!

Countless immortal legendary superstars.

Their images, their classic moments, flashed across the curtain!

This was the Lakers' glory-filled past! Other than Boston, they were the most decorated team in basketball history!

It was these historic superstars who had pushed basketball to one new peak after another.

Then the image changed!

Next came the current Lakers!

The Lakers who had won seventy-three games!

Big-shot Robert Horry!

Crippled-foot Bruce Bowen!

Master thief Eddie Jones!

Shaquille O'Neal!

And finally—

"The highest scorer in NBA Finals history! The MVP! A 6'6 guard from Lower Merion High School, No. 24, Kobe Bryant!"

"The NBA Finals scoring leader! MVP! Six-foot-six, No. 24 from Lower Merion High School—Kobe Bryant!"

The curtain fell, and the Lakers players stood on the court in full battle gear!

Their morale was soaring!

The championship was right before their eyes!

Bill Russell and Stern had already placed the O'Brien Trophy on the table!

The applause and cheers of Great Western Forum rang through the sky!

Fans in purple-and-gold jerseys cheered to their hearts' content!

Kobe and Shaq exchanged a glance.

"Now, let's take the championship!"

"Fuck." Michael Jordan pounded his thigh.

It still hurt!

In the previous game, he had played nearly fifty minutes, firing away relentlessly and scoring seventy-seven points in his shootout against Kobe!

Even now, Jordan felt that game had been the finest performance of his career!

He