"Boston's Christmas Day game... I really missed this." Kobe stepped off the plane as snowflakes drifted through Boston in December.
The frigid Boston weather reminded Kobe of those years battling the Celtics.
In this life, the Celtics had risen far more quickly than in the previous one. In the previous life, the Celtics, led by Pierce, had constantly stumbled along the edge of the playoffs, often missing them altogether.
Pierce might have been a truly great scorer, but judging purely by his ability to lead a team, he was absolutely not a good leader.
In this life, thanks to Kobe's influence, the status of high school players had risen dramatically, and Red Auerbach had finally been able to brush aside all opposition and land McGrady in one fell swoop!
Van Horn no longer had to be treated as the team's unquestioned star, burdened with usage and pressure he simply could not handle. As a floor-spacing power forward, Van Horn was undoubtedly a highly qualified starter, and his three-point shooting created plenty of space for the Celtics.
This season, Van Horn had knocked down 2.1 threes per game on 42.5% shooting!
And Billups, whom they had acquired by trading away Antoine Walker—the player most deserving of being thrown into the trash—had gradually grown into the steady, everyman MVP of the future under Kobe's repeated humiliation and destruction!
Unlike the Celtics' Big Five of the future, the current Celtics had developed three quality players on their own.
And McGrady in this life was far stronger than the scoring champion of the same period in the previous one!
Under the guidance of legendary coach Red Auerbach, McGrady had developed his talent to the absolute limit! McGrady's talent, enough to make even God jealous, had been fully unleashed!
This season, McGrady was often compared