Chapter 384: The Regicide Alliance (2)
“So he finally can’t sit still.”
Watching James hold court at the front of the room, Lillard sneered to himself.
Durant’s emergence had thrown James into deep anxiety.
If Durant really pulled off a three-peat as the undisputed centerpiece of his team, then James would truly be finished.
James had three championships to his name, but one of them came separately. Durant, on the other hand, had a real shot at winning three in a row.
What made it even more brutal was this—James and Durant were from the same era.
When people looked back on this period in history, James would have no way to turn the narrative around.
That was why he was so desperate now. To drag down the Kings, he was willing to use any means necessary.
“But why should we work with you?”
Seated beside Harden, Paul let out a cold snort and spoke casually.
“Because you all know exactly what state the Kings are in right now.”
James spread his hands with a helpless shrug.
“If we don’t band together, any one of us here on our own won’t stand a chance. This is our only sliver of hope.”
“What do you think?”
Harden leaned closer to Paul and whispered.
“You want to team up with outsiders to screw over your own teammate?”
Paul didn’t even look at Harden, replying flatly.
“Of course not!”
Harden shook his head so hard it was like a rattle drum.
“Exactly.”
Paul suddenly stood up.
“Then that settles it.”
He looked straight at James without the slightest hint of fear.
“LeBron, what you’re proposing goes against my basketball principles. You can look for your own way out—I’m not doing something like this.”
With that, he grabbed Harden and walked straight out of the meeting room without any hesitation.
Chris Paul was a very old-school kind of player. To him, a game was a game. Even if he liked to play a few small tricks on the court, he rarely resorted to dirty tactics off it.
Once Paul and Harden left, Lillard saw his opening.
“If Paul’s out, then we’re out too.”
As he spoke, Lillard stood up and tapped Mitchell on the shoulder beside him.
“Huh? Oh—yeah, right!”
With both the Trail Blazers and the Rockets withdrawing, James’s expression darkened immediately.
In his original plan, those two teams were crucial pieces in the effort to snipe the Kings.
Now that both had walked away at once, his entire scheme was suddenly thrown into a passive position.
“I still don’t feel great about this.”
Thompson leaned over and muttered quietly to Curry.
“What’s there to feel bad about?”
Before Curry could answer, Green had already widened his eyes and shot Thompson a look.
“The basketball world has always been winner-takes-all. Why obsess over how you get there?”
“I get the logic, but doing it like this just feels… embarrassing.”
Thompson held it in for a long time before finally forcing those words out.
“It is embarrassing.”
Curry, who had been silent up to now, hesitated for a moment before speaking. The conflicted look on his face betrayed his true feelings.
“I’m not saying this lightly, but given the current situation—if we don’t pull some off-court moves or rely on something unexpected, there’s no way we’re stopping the Kings’ dynasty.”
Catching the hesitation in Curry’s tone, Green immediately pressed the issue.
“We’ve only got one championship right now. How do you think history’s going to judge us? At best, we’ll probably just be a little better than Karl Malone or Charles Barkley.”
Those words hit Curry right where it hurt.
As the pioneer of the small-ball era, it was bitter irony that he wasn’t the one enjoying its dividends.
Curry had long since developed deep resentment toward the Kings.
Seeing Curry waver, Green spared no effort in pushing him further.
“But now that the Rockets and Trail Blazers are out, can just the few of us really pull this off?”
Thompson voiced his concern at just the right moment.
“There’s still a chance.”
Green shook his head and continued.
“Just us plus James’s Lakers—that alone already gets us most of the way there. All we need is to find a few more helpers.”
At the same time, James and Davis were locked in their own argument.
“I told you this wasn’t a good idea.”
Davis sat beside the main seat, lips pursed as he muttered quietly. “Now we’re stuck in the middle. What are we supposed to do?”
“What else can we do?”
James shook his head.
“The arrow’s already on the string—we have no choice but to let it fly. Forget those two teams. We’re going all the way.”
“But the Rockets and Trail Blazers are both playoff locks. If they won’t play along, what do we do then?”
“What’s the rush?”
James leaned back in his chair, a faint smile on his face.
“So what if the butcher’s gone—does that mean we can’t eat pork anymore? Them backing out hurts a bit, sure, but we’ve still got backup options.”
As he spoke, James turned his gaze toward the people seated farther away.
“So? What have you decided?”
At his question, the three people at the far end of the room looked up at the same time.
“I don’t have a problem with it. What about you two?”
After thinking for a moment, De’Aaron Fox lowered his voice and asked the two veterans beside him.
“Don’t just say you’re fine with it.”
Andrew Wiggins stretched lazily before speaking.
“You’re the boss now. Your call.”
Wiggins’s words instantly made black lines form over Fox’s head.
What kind of mess was this?
When Fox first came to the Timberwolves, he’d been pretty happy. The team had his Kentucky upperclassman Karl-Anthony Towns, along with Andrew Wiggins, the prodigy of the 2014 draft.
By all logic, he should’ve just been able to play the role of junior teammate, helping out the two veterans.
Who would’ve thought both of them were famously laid-back? The moment Fox arrived in Minnesota, they acted like they’d finally found a successor.
They couldn’t wait to dump the role of team leader on him, as if it were some kind of scalding hot potato.
And just like that, Fox somehow became the Timberwolves’ new leader.
“You’ll really listen to me?”
Fox swallowed nervously.
“Of course.”
Towns nodded.
“When have I ever lied to you?”
“Alright!”
After a long internal struggle, Fox slowly stood up.
“Count us in. We’re doing it.”
“Good.”
James nodded in satisfaction at Fox’s commitment, then turned his attention to the other side.
“And you?”
“I don’t have any objections. It’s not like we can beat you guys either.”
The Pelicans’ newly appointed franchise player, Jrue Holiday, nodded as he spoke.
After losing Davis, the Pelicans should’ve sunk straight into the mud this season.
But thanks to Chen Yilun’s butterfly effect, the Nuggets and Jazz—teams that should’ve been on the rise—were still stuck in rebuild mode. As a result, the Pelicans, bolstered by a massive haul of high-quality young players from the Davis trade, managed to squeeze into the upper half of the Western Conference.
Holiday, once the team’s second option, had successfully stepped up as the temporary leader.
“Then we won’t worry about anyone else!”
James clapped his hands together.
“Just the four of us—let’s snipe the Kings!”
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