The Warriors, having secured 66 wins in the regular season and clinched the league's top spot, face the newly renamed New Orleans Pelicans, who abandoned the Hornets' history, in the first round of this year's playoffs.
This is an intriguing development in the long history of the NBA.
What's intriguing about it?
It's intriguing because after the Pelicans gave up on the Hornets' history, the Charlotte Hornets, renamed from the Bobcats, not only inherited the old Hornets' history as desired but also suddenly became a team with legacy, despite having joined the league only in 2004.
In contrast, the Pelicans effectively became a new team in the NBA.
This season, the Pelicans had multiple reasons for abandoning the Hornets' history.
Some say the Benson couple were eager to rebuild the team culture in New Orleans.
Others say that after moving from Charlotte, the Pelicans always wanted to return everything that originally belonged to Charlotte.
There are even rumors that Jordan sincerely persuaded the Benson couple during a dinner.
But regardless of why the Pelicans abandoned the Hornets' history, this team, choosing to start fresh, is the number one dark horse in the West this season.
Last summer, the Pelicans drafted the "Son of the United States" Anthony Davis. Although they let go of the championship-seeking David West, retaining Rondo and Big Lopez allowed them to successfully leverage the current league dynamics of strong East and weak West to achieve the glorious and challenging task of returning to the playoff stage.
"I am very satisfied with the team's performance this year."
Pelicans' owner Tom Benson stated during an interview: "In the upcoming playoffs, I just hope the team can play in their own style."
In this life, being able to enter the playoffs in his rookie season, Qin Yue's memory of "NBA's king of wasted efforts" Davis is indeed fortunate.
But AD, currently still growing and drinking milk, is also unfortunate.
Because in this upcoming playoff round, AD, who cannot sit out due to injury, will directly face his mental block in the games.
In the regular-season matchups against Qin Yue, AD averaged 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 assist in four encounters.
And Qin Yue?
The answer is an overwhelming average of 51 points, 19 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, and 2 steals, leaving young players no chance.
Despite Davis' age being taken into account, the media has shown considerable leniency regarding the visible gap between him and Qin Yue.
But inherently straightforward AD doesn't see it this way.
"I grew up watching Messiah's games, I remember when he first entered the league people also said that the twenty-year-old LeBron James was a player who could compete against him in the future."
Younger AD responded to journalists: "But now? Eight years have passed, not only has LeBron not caught up to Messiah, he has been completely swept into the trash bin of history by Messiah."
Indeed, in just one season, AD recognized the all-encompassing gap between himself as the "Son of the United States" and the "Son of China" of years past.
Thus, on the night of the 16th, when AD and his teammates set foot on the floor of Oracle Arena, Qin Yue received a request that made him laugh and cry.
"Can you take it easy on me later? I'm begging you, Idol."
At halftime at Warriors' court, AD came to talk to Qin Yue, looking incredibly pitiful.
Qin Yue realized that current NBA young players are incredibly sly.
Why say that?
Because now, these young players obviously have mastered the knack for making themselves the target of "take it easy" during games.
That is, another version of the "Jordan Rules" Byron Scott used against Jordan during his player career.
Different from the old "Jordan Rules" of aggressive play against Jordan.
As known, Scott's execution of the Jordan Rules on the court mainly involved coaxing Jordan into playing.
How to coax him?
"Every time he scored, I would voluntarily ask him why his shooting was so cool."
"And invariably, Michael would always choose to ease up whenever facing me in matchups."
Now the question arrives, when young Thick Eyebrow knight proactively pleads to the new GOAT by "selling misery", will the new GOAT lay off him in the game?
The answer is, Qin Yue scored only 29 points that night in the game.
Of course, Qin Yue didn't opt to fully exert himself in the game, not because he fell into AD's meticulously prepared trap named "sweet talk".
After all, Qin Yue, who has experienced countless storms, would never be swayed by AD's few words.
"Idol, why is your shooting so cool? Could you teach me if you have time?"
"Idol, why are your dunks so graceful? I swear that's the most dashing dunk I've ever seen."
"Idol, you know what? In my mind, even at his peak, Michael Jordan only deserves to hold your shoes."
Actually, Qin Yue chose to "ease up" in this first-round first game, mainly because he needs to give Curry his shot opportunities to fully vent.
This G1 match, Qin Yue, scoring only 29 points, accomplished 18 assists overall.
During Curry's absence, Qin Yue doesn't want to say that his usually hard-to-increase assist numbers are the main reason he had to exert himself scoring on the court.
But looking at this G1 match process...
Curry's return truly allowed Qin Yue to re-experience the joy of passing the ball to teammates.
