Chapter 43: Shaquille O’Neal’s Method.
LeBron James didn't keep his fans waiting for long, as he made his return during the second pre-season game against the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons are another legendary Eastern Conference team. In the last century, their "Bad Boys" era held down Michael Jordan for a long time until Jordan ultimately broke them apart. In the new millennium, their "Pistons Five" similarly kept LeBron in check for a while, but this time they fell apart because their core players aged out.
This summer, Ben Wallace went to Boston to chase his second championship, leaving only Hamilton and Prince from the once-famous Pistons Five. They still have name recognition, but their power has long faded.
In Han Sen's eyes, choosing this team for their season debut was a very smart move.
However, the game was tougher than expected for the Cavaliers.
At the start of the game, LeBron played generously, clearing out space on the strong side and feeding Shaq in the post. But the Pistons had a clear strategy— leave LeBron open on the perimeter and collapse into the paint immediately.
Despite the team's decline, they had played against LeBron for years and were well aware of his outside shooting limitations.
As a result, LeBron was forced to take long-range shots early on, all of which bricked.
After that, LeBron abandoned the idea of passing to Shaq and started driving to the basket on his own. But the moment he did that, Shaq became a huge burden on the court.
Because Shaq had no shooting ability and was too slow to effectively roll after setting screens, he could only stay near the paint to remain a threat. But by staying there, he clogged LeBron's driving lanes.
With Varejão on the court as well, LeBron often found himself driving into triple teams.