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"I'm-sorry." After more than two minutes of silence in the Trail Blazers' locker room, someone finally spoke.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the person who was talking, Jim Paxson.

In the fifth game of the Tianwang Mountain, Jim Paxson's fatal mistake in a key offense made the Trail Blazers, who was one point behind, lose the offensive power, and put the team in an extremely unfavorable situation.

In the subsequent Nuggets' offense, the ball unexpectedly handed over to the Nuggets' substitute guard Mike Evans.

The Trail Blazers' defense centers were all on Inglish, Leaf and Knight, and they ignored the existence of Mike Evans. Evans received the ball at a 0-degree angle at the baseline, took the knife and stabbed the Trail Blazers in the heart with a 15-foot mid-range shot.

With Van derwich missed the shot after receiving the ball from the outside and Knight got the rebound, the Trail Blazers lost the last chance to turn the tables.

105:101, the score was frozen when the buzzer sounded. The Trail Blazers lost an extremely critical game at home. They were led by the Nuggets three consecutive games in a good situation of 2:0. Now, they are behind their opponents 2:3, and the location of the next game is still the Denver Plateau.

"I'm really sorry, it was my mistake that made the team lose this game." Paxson said while sitting on the stool, lowering his head.

"You not only made us lose this game, but also made us lose the crucial fourth game. I don't know who said those inexplicable words after the third game!" Not only did Paxson's words not only failed to attract the understanding of his teammates, but some people began to criticize him more severely.

The team's substitute center, Oti Norris, was talking.

Although Norris is not a main player in the team, he has always been quick-witted and has a straightforward temper. As you can see from his continuous key shots against the Mavericks in the first round, he is a fearless master.

"Don't talk nonsense, Norris!" As soon as Norris finished speaking, Carl, who was sitting next to him, reminded, but his reminder was obviously a little late.

"What happened after the third game?" The person questioned was the general manager of the Trail Blazers, Situ Inman.

In previous games, Stu Inman only watched the Trail Blazers' games in the stands, and did not come to the players' locker room. However, this game was obviously different. The Trail Blazers lost a very important game, and he had to go to the locker room to calm the players' emotions.

From Norris's words, Inman knew that after the third game, something must have happened in the locker room, which greatly affected the team's condition.

Norris did not listen to Carl's dissuasion and stood up and said: "Paxson, this guy, who joined hands with Sampson, asked Coach Ramsey to change the starting lineup. They think the starting lineup in the regular season is the best, not the playoffs! I don't know what others think, but I think such behavior undoubtedly undermines the unity of our team!"

After saying this, Inman's face was a little shaky. He didn't expect that Paxson would do such a thing in the post-match locker room, and Sampson was with him, both of whom were the veterans of the Trail Blazers.

"I don't know what inside story there is, but I think we are together to win. Now it's the playoffs, and any win or loss may determine our destiny. I don't want us to lose our general direction because of some small conflicts. This will be more than worth the loss for anyone in the end." Inman tried to ease the awkward and depressed atmosphere in the team, but his rhetoric was really a bit unpleasant.

"Coach Ramsey, I think you should say something." Inman looked at the players' still frustrated and whispered to Ramsey next to him.

Gan Guoyang noticed that Ramsey, a coach who was full of energy in the past, has weakened his control over the players in the last three games.

He wasn't sure what was going on between Paxson and Ramsey and why a conflict in the locker room caused the morale of the coach and the team to drop so rapidly.

After hearing Inman's words, Ramsey couldn't help but clear his throat, then looked up at the team members in the locker room. He actually felt like he was giving a parting speech.

For Ramsey, the quarrel in the locker room after the Nuggets that day was the last straw that crushed him.

This season, Ramsey is full of hope for the Trail Blazers. The team has just made a big deal and has an excellent outside scorer.

At the draft, they won the rookie who could become the cornerstone of the inside line, and everything seemed perfect, which made Ramsey full of longing for the team's future.

As Ramsey expected after the start of the season, the Blazers' strength has improved greatly compared to the previous season, and their record has also improved steadily.

But there are two problems that always bother Ramsey. One is Gan Guoyang's status in the team, and the other is the competition for the starting position between Drexler and Paxson.

Ramsey firmly believes that Gan Guoyang can become the core of the Trail Blazers in the future, but he also believes that Gan Guoyang is still too young now, and it is already a huge responsibility to let him serve as the starting center, and it is impossible to make him a leader again.

It is impossible for a rookie to become a leader when it comes to seniority in the NBA.

But Gan Guoyang's subsequent actions proved that this guy from Gonzaga really had a heart to "become a marshal" and used a childish one-on-one challenge to challenge Sampson's status.

What's worse is that Gan Guoyang actually won the one-on-one challenge with Sampson!

After this bullfight in the team, Gan Guoyang didn't know that Sampson had once looked for Ramsey alone. He expressed his unwillingness to play with Gan Guoyang again, and even asked Ramsey to either make him a substitute or let Gan Guoyang be a substitute.

Fortunately, Ramsey asked Kenny Carl to guide Gan Guoyang well, and Gan Guoyang was also very clear at one point. Later, he never mentioned the "bullfighting" incident and played diligently on the court.

Mitchell Sampson was also a lively and cheerful person, so he had a good relationship with Gan Guoyang later.

But the problems between Paxson and Drexler continued to the playoffs.

For Ramsey, Paxson was the kind of defender he admired more, but he also admitted that Drexler had higher talents, but his stubbornness in some aspects made Ramsey quite upset.

In addition, Drexler lacked experience, so Drexler had no choice but to let Drexler sit on the bench. Although he threatened to be traded several times, he was eventually persuaded to come down.

But the injury at the end of the season changed the trajectory of things. Drexler took the lead and performed very amazingly in the game.

This put Ramsey in a dilemma. In the end, he chose to start Drexler and Paxson as a substitute in the playoffs.

After the first game against the Mavericks, Ramsey put Sampson on the bench in order to ensure the attack power of the substitute and the aggressiveness of the inside.

Tactical terms, there is no problem with such a lineup arrangement. Put Sampson and Paxson on the bench to allocate resources more reasonably, and at the same time, the Trail Blazers' substitute lineup has the strength to challenge super strong teams like the Lakers.

However, such an arrangement undoubtedly made Paxson and Sampson quite dissatisfied. The two former absolute starters were pushed to the bench and were still in the very important playoffs.

The two of them were able to suppress their resentment in the series against the Mavericks, but in the game against the Nuggets, they won the first two home games, and they almost didn't get much playing time, especially Paxson, who was always reusing Drexler.

When he arrived in Denver, when the Trail Blazers started poorly, Paxson played with the Nuggets with a substitute, which made Paxson even more convinced that in this series, he should be the team's starting shooting guard.

So after losing this game, he asked Ramsey to change the starting lineup in the locker room, but a small suggestion quickly turned into a fierce quarrel.

Even Sampson was involved, but Sampson stood on Paxson's side because he also wanted to return to the starting lineup.

Gan Guoyang was slowing outside, chatting with Iser, and then being entangled by reporters. When he returned to the locker room, the quarrel had ended, so Paxson asked Gan Guoyang, "Don't you think we will perform better with the starting lineup in the regular season?"

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang was clear-headed and chose to stand on Ramsey's side, otherwise the old man might be really discouraged.

However, Ramsey, who was standing in the Trail Blazers' locker room at this time, looked really disheartened.

There seems to be no glory in his eyes. You know, Ramsey is already sixty years old this year and has experienced many things in his coaching career.

What made him happiest was the championship in 1977, and what made him sad the most was Bill Walton's fall and departure, and his vow to "never interact with each other after leaving"; the other was this time, Paxson's confrontation and coercion against him. He never thought that the rookie who seemed a little cowardly and unconfident back then would treat him like this one day.

Ramsey looked at Paxson, who was sitting there with his head down, and said, "Hey, Jim. Do you remember? In that taxi, I said to you. I said, the team wanted to trade you to New Jersey, but I tried my best to keep you, even betting on my coaching reputation. Finally, we sent Morris Lucas away. You know, he was the scoring champion in the team in 1977, but by then, we already had Mitchell."

Ramsey looked at Sampson again, and a hint of shame appeared on Sampson's face, which had always been dull.

"You know, Jim, the reason why I want to keep you is very simple. I always believe in you, believe that you will become one of the best players in the league, become an All-Star player, and become the most important member of the Portland Trail Blazers - the world champion team! I even thought that in the finals, if we need someone to shoot the last goal, then I will definitely choose you. Why? Because I have witnessed an unknown player who starts from not even shooting and can average 20 points per game. I believe that such a player must be extremely strong in his heart. Don't say sorry, Jim, I believe, you are already great."

When Ramsey finished these words, Paxson was already crying below.
Chapter completed!