Chapter 548 - The New NBA Star 8

"What did you think of Jake's debut season and how are the players' relationship with so many stars on the team?"

"As I said, I think Jake is an excellent player and he showed that by averaging 34 points and 11 assists in the season, Jake can play 48 minutes in every game and is an excellent PG that helps me and the other players."

"I think Jake deserved to be chosen as the player of the month in 3 months this season, I think that I and the other players know that we are lucky to have a team with excellent players."

"Even with great players on the team, we don't compete directly for positions in the starting team, and the focus this season is on winning the NBA title, so we are very united and this is shown in the Lakers team games."

Kobe answered some questions because he was happy with the victory, Kobe got used to the reporters always talking about Jake in the interviews, he was being sincere saying that he thought Jake deserved to be called the best player on the team and that he was happy about it.

Of course, Kobe still wanted to be the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers team and the NBA and so he thought about playing even better in the coming seasons and overcoming Jake, nobody knew how he would feel if he couldn't overcome Jake after a few seasons.

After interviewing Kobe, the reporters went to Shaq to talk to him, Shaq was also excited about the team's victory and the playoffs that would soon begin, so Shaq also agreed to talk to the reporters.

"Shaq, what do you think of this Los Angeles Lakers team ranking for the playoffs and with the team finishing first at the Western Conference and being the team with the best attack of the season?"

"I am very happy with this, my teammates and I have struggled a lot and have worked hard to achieve this even with this short season and this difficult sequence with many games."

"I can say myself that I tried my best and I'm happy with the result that our team has achieved, now we have the playoffs to play and times that we continue to play well to win the NBA title."

Shaq was really happy with the team's result this season, the Los Angeles Lakers team having the best winning campaign and being the best offense was proof of how well he and the other players played.

"Shaq, in addition to your rookie season, you managed to qualify with the team that you played in all the years for the playoffs, you think that this is perhaps the best team with the best teammates that you are going to playoffs?"

"This is difficult to say, I have played with excellent players in other seasons, especially in the 1994-95 season when we reached the NBA Finals, but I can say that if we win the NBA title this season, then I can say that this is the best team with the best players I've ever played."

"Shaq, what do you think of Jake's debut season?"

"Sometimes it's hard to remember that Jake is a rookie, he's one of the best players I've ever played with, in this game today where he scored 51 points and even made 11 assists show his NBA season well"

"Jake is the player in the entire NBA today and has the most points per game and has the most assists as well, Jake has an average of 8 rebounds and 8 steals per game also showing how he is also a great defensive player."

"If Jake is not the MVP of this season I think that nobody should be chosen as MVP, Jake certainly deserves it and it is very good to know that he is on my team."

The reporters were impressed with Shaq's praise when he spoke of Jake, it was difficult to see Shaq praising other players so much, it showed that Shaq had really been impressed with Jake's skill this season.

After talking to the players on the Los Angeles Lakers team, the reporters went to look for Jake to talk to him, Jake didn't want to talk to the reporters, but he knew it was better to talk to the reporters after that game.

"Jake, congratulations on your great performance in that game, and for the first time in the NBA that you scored more than 50 points."

"Thank you."

"Jake, now that the regular season is over and the Los Angeles Lakers team have won 44 games out of 50 games that season, what did you think of your debut season?"

"I think it couldn't be better, I had the confidence of the team coaches throughout the season and I also had the confidence of my teammates."

"I was able to help the Los Angeles Lakers team by playing 48 minutes in every game, and I got that point and assist average which was very good, the average steals and rebounds were also what I expected."

"The most important thing was the result of the Los Angeles Lakers team, I'm happy that the Lakers team has won so many games and qualified for the playoffs, now we have to continue playing well in the playoffs."

"Do you think you deserve to win the MVP award after being chosen as the player of the month in the 3 months of this season?"

"This is hard to say, I certainly played the best I was able to play and the Los Angeles Lakers team was the best team this season, I was also lucky to lead several statistics this season like average points, assists, and steals in every game."

"So I'm not going to deny that I think I am one of the players who deserve to win the MVP award as well as other players who have also had an excellent performance this season, I hope the fact that this is my rookie season does not affect my chances of winning the MVP award. "

Jake didn't want to do the interview because he knew reporters would ask that question, he didn't want to be arrogant saying he deserved to win the prize, but it would be false if he said he didn't think he deserved to win the MVP award.

So Jake said what he thought, that he was one of the players most likely to win this prize and if he didn't win it would be because this was his rookie season, Jake tried not to be arrogant, but he had to say he deserved to win that award because it was the truth.

"Jake, do you think the Los Angeles Lakers team can win the NBA title this season?"

"I think so, I am confident that the Los Angeles Lakers team can win this season and if the team remains with the same players we may be able to win the NBA title in the coming seasons as well."

The reporters were surprised by Jake's statement, they expected him to try to deviate from the question and would not answer, but contrary to what they expected Jake clearly answered their question.

In addition, Jake said that he thought the Los Angeles Lakers team could win the NBA title in the coming seasons beyond this season, that was something the team's fans would definitely like to hear, but the other teams would not like to hear that.

In recent times only the team that had Michael Jordan can win the NBA title for several years, they knew that Jake was an excellent player, but they didn't think he was like Michael Jordan, but if they thought well with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant the Los Angeles Lakers team was very strong.

After the interviews, the players returned to their home, the Los Angeles Lakers team would play only after 4 days and so the players would have 3 days to rest before the start of the playoffs.

In those 4 days the players would have to train in the first 2 days they could rest on the third day and on the fourth day they would play, of course, this was expected by the players, after all, they would have decisive games in the playoffs, Jake thought that if the players wanted to rest they had to win the 3 games and they would already qualify and could rest.

Jake went back to his house and called his mother to talk to her, Eva already knew that that day Jake would play the last game of the regular season and then the playoffs would start, Eva had already decided that she would close the restaurant on game days Jake's and would travel to watch.

"Hi, mom, I called to say we won today's game, after 4 days the playoffs will start and our team will play against the Minnesota Timberwolves team."

"How nice to hear that, Jake, I'm going to watch every playoff game that your team plays, I'm going to hope that the Los Angeles Lakers team wins and that you're the highlight in every game."

"You don't need to watch all the games, mom, it will be very tiring for you to travel so many times in May to watch the games, besides, you have to take care of the restaurant."

"I'm not going to discuss this with you again, Jake, I already decided that and since I can't watch all of your games, I at least want to watch the decisive games."

Jake would lie if he said that he was not happy to hear that his mother would watch all his games, Jake knew that Eva could not go to watch the regular games of the season, even so, he sometimes looked at the stands thinking about how good it would be for him to find his mother watching his games.

So knowing that Eva would watch all his games in the playoffs would make Jake want to play even better to show his best performance to his mother, Jake had already prepared some things to give more comfort to his mother.

"Okay, well, if you've decided you want to watch the games, I understand that, but I've prepared some things for you and you'll have to do it if you want to watch my games in the playoffs."

"Okay, what did you prepare."

"When you have two games in one city you cannot travel back to Miami before the games are over, you will have to stay in the city of games until the games are over."