Hayes said, "This Warriors team will never allow anyone to harm their Messiah, unless you have the confidence to beat them."

After a pause, Payton angrily said, "But I can't just let him humiliate me for nothing!"

Hayes said, "As far as I know, the Messiah never minds others using trash talk against him."

Payton: "..."

I...

If I could outtalk him, how could I still be sitting on the bench?

Payton was deflated.

Completely deflated.

If time could turn back, he definitely wouldn't have thrown that dirty elbow at Qin Yue during the Finals.

"Actually, I think you could try to reconcile with him." Hayes suddenly said after patting Payton on the shoulder.

Payton puzzled, "How to reconcile? If reconciliation was possible, Shaq would have done it already."

Hayes shook his head, "You don't understand the Messiah. At least as I see it, the issue between you two is just a court dispute. I believe if you take the initiative to apologize, he will surely forgive you."

Payton curiously asked, "You mean... his grudges also have levels?"

Hayes nodded, "'Yao' said this little brother of his carries a notebook with him, and he determines his attitude towards his enemies based on the level of their grudges with him.

I think... in his notebook, your ranking wouldn't be very high."

The next second, Payton said, both amused and exasperated, "From your description, why do I suddenly feel like he's not that awful?"

Hayes shrugged, "The Messiah was never that hateful or detestable. As long as you face him openly and honestly, you'll find that he is definitely a professional model."

Then, Hayes began to tell Payton an interesting story.

It was during last season's Chinese Derby.

At that time, due to being deceived by Qin Yue's fake move under the basket, Hayes made an extremely dangerous move and landed on Qin Yue.

"I know he could have chosen to dodge, but if he had, I might have been hurt from the fall."

"And then?"

"Then, not only did he choose not to dodge, but he also grabbed me as I landed, helping me avoid an accident."

After sharing this story with Payton, Hayes sincerely advised Payton, "Gary, he is already a flag of the NBA. It's better to make friends than enemies with him."

Better to make friends than enemies with him.

Payton immediately fell into contemplation over Hayes's earnest advice.

And on the court...

At the same moment Hayes and Payton were chatting...

Ray Allen, who had been alternating between hits and misses, also personally ended the suspense of this Christmas battle.

At the end, 97 to 106.

This high-quality position warfare ended with a Warriors victory.

During the game, the fully engaged Warriors demonstrated the hard strength of being defending champions.

Mike Malone praised Qin Yue, who scored 36 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals on Christmas night, "As long as you give him the ball, everything becomes easy."

Although Carlisle still couldn't appreciate the beauty of a core player holding the ball.

But at the press conference, Carlisle still gave Qin Yue a very high evaluation, "He has already left the stars of his generation far behind. He is indeed the best player in the NBA today."

After this fierce Christmas battle, Carlisle knew that if the Supersonics were to make an impact this year, they must do better going forward.

"We need to find a player who can solve our point guard problem before the end of the regular season."

In response to the weaknesses the Supersonics exposed in this Christmas battle, Carlisle gave this reply to the Supersonics' management after the game.

"A one-on-four connection is indeed a good tactic. We need more practice going forward."

Having discovered the usefulness of a one-on-four connection through this Christmas battle, Malone completely put away his contempt for this "kid tactic."

Without a doubt...

This was a match where both sides gained something, regardless of winning or losing.

Especially for Qin Yue.

"Ding! Hidden task [Gary Payton's Apology] has been triggered!"

...

PS: 4000-word mini-chapter delivered! Ah Qiao will try to finish the second update sooner!

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