Capítulo 1320: Chapter 532.10: About the Timeline (Part 2)

After the off-season, the Lakers started the 14-15 season with a 15-man lineup consisting of Point Guards: Bazemore, Nash, Clarkson; Shooting Guards: Bryant, Young, Ellington; Small Forwards: You, Johnson; Power Forwards: Hill, Boozer, Davis, Kelly; Centers: Gasol, Blake, Sacred.

After the start of the 14-15 season, the NBA landscape underwent dramatic changes.

LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers, who traded multiple first-pick players to get Kevin Love, forming the Three Giants with James and Kyrie Irving, transforming the Cavaliers from a team with the first pick to a championship contender.

Roy Hibbert’s strength collapsed due to rule changes, and Paul George suffered a serious injury at the World Championship, causing the Pacers, who once led the league in the 13-14 season, to fall to rock bottom.

The Spurs overcame the impact of Howard’s departure, and after three years of training, Kawhi Leonard became a 20+ scorer and the league’s strongest defensive player, teaming up with the resolute trio to launch a new championship challenge.

Chris Paul led the star-studded Clippers, continuing their pursuit of the elusive Western Conference Finals floor.

The previous season, Russell Westbrook and Dwight Howard, who couldn’t see eye-to-eye, finally cooperated to challenge for the championship, achieving a 55-win performance and breaking into the top four in the West…

And the most dazzling three names, you, Stephen Curry, James Harden, were the main themes of the regular season—who is the strongest from the 09 draft.

At 26, Curry, along with 24-year-olds Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, all peaked, and the Warriors signed Shawn Livingston and Leandro Barbosa, completing the final pieces of the puzzle, and soared to become one of the top teams in the league.

In this season, Curry averaged double-digit three-point attempts, becoming the first player in NBA history to make an average of over 5 three-pointers per game, jumping from an average of 24 points in the 13-14 season to over 30, leading the team to challenge for the league’s top spot, while also contending for the Scoring King and MVP.

KD suffered a fracture early in the regular season and was ruled out for the season. Harden stepped up, demonstrating scoring power not inferior to Durant, breaking through with an average of over 30+ points, leading the team into the playoffs by himself, becoming an MVP candidate and a Scoring King favorite.

At 26, you became the absolute protagonist of the Lakers this season.

For the first time in 16 seasons, Bryant’s shot attempts were below 15, and his playing time was under 30 minutes, but it was also the first time since the 10-11 season that he played fully, averaging 28 minutes, averaging 6 out of 12.5 shots, including 2 out of 5.1 three-pointers, plus 3.5 free throws out of 4.3 attempts, scoring 17.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.

All three stats were the lowest since entering the 21st century, but the shooting percentage of 48% and three-point shooting rate of 39.2% both set new career highs.

Bryant’s own fans teased: Earning a $30 million annual salary, Kobe was happily the second in command, yet barely made less than 500 shots, averaging over $60,000 per shot, really expensive.

Gasol played in 70 games, mostly missing due to Budenholzer’s rest strategy from his days with the Spurs, averaging 31 minutes, with 13.7 points, 8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks.

Nash averaged 19 minutes with 6.5 points and 4.7 assists, maintaining his career-average efficiency of 49+40+90, but his health had deteriorated, playing in only 40 games, and couldn’t play over 20-30 minutes per game as he did last season, shouldering the second unit’s main role.

Yet, with Young mainly focusing on isolations, Clarkson maturing with skills in both scoring and passing, Ellington’s stable shooting from the wings, and Johnson’s top athleticism, they supported the second unit’s outside scoring.

Hill, Boozer, Davis, and other three inside role players remained healthy and performed as expected.

Under your leadership, the Lakers had a better start than the 13-14 season and fiercely competed with the explosive start of the Warriors for the regular-season top spot.

Your average score also broke through 30+, competing with Curry and Harden for the Scoring King and MVP.

In the regular season, you played 80 games, averaging 37 minutes, scoring 31.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 47%, a three-point shooting rate of 41%, and averaging 4.4 threes per game, leading the team to a 63-19 record, second in the league, averaging 108.3 points (2nd), and allowing 99.2 points per game (9th).

Curry played 78 games, averaging 34 minutes, scoring 31 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2 steals, with a terrifying efficiency of 50.1+45.4+91, joining the 180 club, averaging 5.1 threes per game, leading the team to a 65-17 record, first in the league, averaging 111 points (1st), and allowing 101.4 points per game (12th).

Harden played all 82 games, averaging 39 minutes, scoring 32.5 points, breaking Durant’s team record for average points per game, plus 6.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.5 steals, with a shooting percentage of 44.9%, a three-point percentage of 37.1%, averaging 3.7 threes per game, leading the team to a 50-32 record, 8th in the West.

At the end of the regular season, Harden took the Scoring King, Curry was the top MVP candidate, and you only managed to retain the much less important Steal King achievement.

But in the playoffs, you fared much smoother than your two competitors, sweeping Anthony Davis’s Pelicans 4-0 in the first round to reach the second round;

In the second round, facing the third-ranked Rockets with a 55-win season, against Westbrook and Howard, you led the team to a 4-1 victory over the Rockets to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

The Warriors, led by Curry, faced Harden’s Thunder Team in the first round, after a six-game battle, the Warriors won 4-2 and advanced to the second round;