Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 689 - 237: When That Punch Was Thrown (1st of 2 Consecutive Updates)_2

LeBron's expression suddenly turned sour.

Especially the moment Howard put on his headphones once more, completely immersed in his own world.

"Dwight, what exactly do you want to do?"

On the sidelines, unlike LeBron who always acts cautiously, Iguodala yanked off Howard's headphones and demanded.

Hearing this, Howard's temper flared up too, and he stood up and yelled at Iguodala: "What I want to do is my freedom! I've had enough of you guys treating me like a dog all the time!"

Madison Square Garden, this sudden scene even attracted the attention of Warriors players from the neighboring half.

"Are they having an internal conflict?" Brown asked curiously.

"Definitely an internal conflict," Big Ben said, "Just wonder if they'll start fighting."

The outburst of Howard's negative emotions on the Knicks' bench forced D'Antoni to rush to the technical table to request a timeout.

"Everyone calm down!"

Pulling apart Iguodala and Howard, who were butting heads, D'Antoni, who had never felt so exhausted, said: "Both of you, go back to the locker room!"

Under the persuasion of the coaching staff, the next second, both Howard and Iguodala walked toward the players' tunnel.

However...

Just when everyone thought this little conflict between teammates would end, facing Iguodala, who was still trying to preach to him, Howard erupted again: "It's our fucking freedom to play how we want! Why do you losers always blame everything on me?"

"The one who got 101 points scored on by the Messiah was LeBron, not me!"

"The one who played like a woman under the Messiah's defense was 'KD', not me!"

"And the ones swept by the Warriors in the finals were you guys, not me!"

"I'm the goddamn first-team center, the current best center, not your dog! Got it?"

The players' tunnel.

When Howard, like listing treasures, recounted all the dark history of this Knicks team and the Knicks' trio facing Qin Yue and the Warriors, a heavy punch from Iguodala landed on his face.

As for Howard?

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

Howard lunged at Iguodala with bared fangs: "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

Though with the "persuasion" of several assistant coaches and staff, Howard, who had his eyebrow broken by Iguodala's punch, didn't actually kill the other.

But that heavy punch from Iguodala had already driven Howard into madness.

"Impressive!"

At the Warriors' bench, Big Ben, who had experienced the Malice at the Palace, couldn't help but exclaim: "In my long career, I've seen fights with opponents, fights with fans, but this is the first time I've seen teammates fight in such a public setting!"

The completely frenzied Howard was eventually carried back to the locker room by the assistant coaches and staff.

And after this incident, how could the Knicks still focus on playing the Warriors that night?

On the sidelines, knowing the Knicks would inevitably face penalties from the league afterward, D'Antoni's mood at this moment could only be described as wanting to die.

LeBron and Durant's expressions were also not good.

The reason for the former's grim expression wasn't because Howard just aired his dirty laundry about him in the players' tunnel.

Rather...

After Howard and Iguodala fell out, Howard was like a bomb, already blowing up the Knicks' locker room.

As for the latter?

"If Russell were still here, this kind of thing would never happen."

In the summer, Durant, who thought Howard's addition would bring more balance to the Knicks, almost instantly began to miss Westbrook.

Maybe, Big Westbrook wasn't the perfect player for the Knicks.

But compared to Howard, who can't see reality and always annoys teammates with his baby-like behavior, maybe only Durant himself knew how outstanding of a teammate Westbrook was.

Madison Square Garden.

Neither Iguodala nor Howard appeared in the subsequent game.

The Warriors, midway through the third quarter, with five consecutive threes from Curry and Green, turned the Christmas game into garbage time.

However, compared to the outcome of this game...

People were obviously more concerned about the farce played out between Howard and Iguodala in the players' tunnel.

Yes, this was indeed a game where not even Qin Yue's fans cared about how he performed.

"Dwight and Andre just had a little argument, and I don't think it needs to be over-interpreted."

After the game, LeBron said in an interview: "In the NBA, it's normal for players to quarrel because of disagreements, even Michael Jordan had disputes with Steve Kerr back in the day."

Hoping to downplay the issue, LeBron answered the questions about Iguodala and Howard with high emotional intelligence.

However, the media wasn't buying it.

Because unlike Jordan and Kerr back then...

Tonight, Iguodala really brawled with Howard in front of a huge audience.

If these two didn't have some deep-seated hatred, how could they have fought in such an important game?

That night, when the internal conflict of the Knicks was materialized through Iguodala's punch for all the world to see, the prospect of this championship-contending team for the season was already overshadowed.

The league handed out its penalties the next day.

For throwing a punch at a teammate in public, Iguodala was suspended for five games and fined fifty thousand dollars.

And as the one who got hit, Howard was also suspended for one game and fined twenty-five thousand dollars by the league.

Judging from the post-event penalties, the league clearly intended to downplay the incident.

However...

Just as the external commentary continued to ferment, Howard, through his agent, submitted a trade request to the Knicks the next day.

"Whoever likes this team can stay!"

After getting punched by Iguodala and receiving cold looks from the Knicks teammates afterward, a deeply disheartened Howard said to the Knicks management: "Since you guys aren't welcoming me, I won't fight for you anymore either!"

The trade request submitted by Howard was like a bombshell, reigniting the public discourse.

And the Knicks players' committee, led by the Knicks trio, held an internal meeting shortly after Howard's trade request.

"Everyone, tell us, what should we do now?"

What should we do?

Durant said: "Honestly, I don't like Dwight at all, just like Ande said, he has zero sense of honor or responsibility."

Harden agreed: "We need teammates who share the same goals, not a big baby who throws tantrums in games."

After calming down, Iguodala, realizing he shouldn't have punched Howard no matter what, said: "Is there any chance we can persuade him to reconsider?"

LeBron shook his head: "Dwight is determined to leave."

If possible, LeBron also hoped Howard would stay.

After all, in this era, where would the Knicks find a player who could contend with Qin Yue in the post?

Sure, Howard is a bit of a big baby.

But, without Howard...

How would the Knicks deal with that man?

Moreover...

With Howard actively requesting a trade, Manager Zhan, who had deeply manipulated the team management during his time with the Knight, knew better than anyone that Howard's trade value would inevitably be suppressed by the teams eager to acquire him.

Headache.

Since entering the league, LeBron had never had a moment as headache-inducing as this.

And after throwing a century-old dilemma to the Knicks management and teammates, what about Howard?

"As a recent focus of fan attention, Dwight Howard seems to be in a much better mood than we imagined."

The next day, several media outlets caught Howard shopping at various shopping malls in New York with great swagger.

Moreover, Howard did not shy away from reporters' questions.

"I won't be a snitch."

During an interview, Howard said: "But I believe that since my arrival at the Knicks, this team has never given me the respect I deserve."

...

PS: First of two consecutive updates.