basketball never sleeps

Chapter 239 Friendship First, Competition Second

"The devil is still the devil. Yao Ming went crazy in the fourth quarter but still couldn't win. It's all because the fat guy who was the Warriors' point guard was too stupid. He only knew how to pass the ball and didn't know how to attack with the ball. He looks even worse than Alston."

"Satisfied, satisfied, this game was really enjoyable to watch. If it wasn't for Mo, the Warriors would have most likely turned the tide in the final quarter. Old Nelson is a better coach than Van Gaal. If Yao Ming was still in the Rockets, he might have checked in in the third quarter to train Uncle Mu."

"Don't panic. According to the fairy tale script, the Warriors will be pinned to the ground and rubbed hard by the Demon King before they defeat him. The more Yao Ming loses now... the more fun it will be for us demon children to watch. Hehehehe!"

"Alas, am I the only one who feels regretful? Yao Ming will eventually make a comeback, but the Rockets will never take off again."

Only today's game ended, the noise outside the stadium never stopped.

Yao Ming and Mo Wen, the two best performing players on the court, had to recall (fabricate) their own mental journey during the game in front of the media, and sincerely (perfunctorily) engage in commercial mutual promotion.

Although Yao Ming was disappointed and unwilling to lose the game, he was not too depressed. Everyone is in the Western Conference and there will be many opportunities to compete in the future.

The Warriors did not play at their best today. Byron Davis is still recovering from seasonal weight changes, and the outcome of the match in the middle of the season is still unknown... He will definitely win!
In front of the camera, Yao Ming forced an awkward smile, hid his clenched fists, and endured the pain of his nails digging into his flesh.

The perceptive Byron Davis noticed the tense muscles in Yao Ming's arms and lowered his head with a little guilt.

He could accept Yao Ming taking away the core position, not only because Yao Ming could help him get assists easily, but also because Yao Ming's professional attitude off the court was more self-disciplined than anyone else.

If he could weigh over 90 kilograms today like he did at the end of last season, he would definitely be able to perform better in terms of offensive and defensive speed as well as in the application of technology, and he would not have been defended to only 11 points today.

A guard was put to shame by a big center in terms of training volume and self-discipline...

Chat: America’s best science fiction story of the year!
After the spotlight faded, the Warriors did not leave immediately. They had another away game against the Jazz the day after tomorrow. Being so tired today, they just booked a hotel in Seattle to rest.

After hastily dealing with the reporters, Yao Ming went straight into the gym to train his strength.

"The reporters have all left, and you're pretty tired today, so just practice two more sets." Mo Wen, who wanted to play the role of a good host, advised.

"Who the hell is pretending for those dogs? After a game, if you are very tired, do some strength training and put some stress on your body. This can help it recover faster. This is science. This is... this is what he told me."

Dayao first rolled his eyes at Mo Wen, then spoke with a slightly regretful tone.

Although [he] didn’t say it explicitly, both of them knew who it was.

Low-intensity and high-frequency strength training after high-intensity confrontation can stimulate the regeneration of muscle fibers, accelerate the repair of hidden muscle injuries during the confrontation, and promote the replenishment of muscle glycogen to quickly restore physical energy.

Mo Wen, who raised two top students, naturally knew about this.

However, most of the time his post-match training was replaced by the two girls’ negative distance coaching.

"In fact, he should thank you. Without your encouragement, he definitely wouldn't be able to perform at his current level."

While comforting him, Mo Wen picked up the equipment and started pulling.

"If you don't know how to comfort others, don't comfort him. He's not that bad. Besides, it was me who did something unkind anyway."

Yao Ming had a bitter smile on his face. Even though he and McGrady had disagreements over the team's status, their relationship was not as bad as it was in the later period of the Rockets' history.

Speaking objectively, McGrady in the first two years was indeed the best teammate Yao Ming had ever met in his NBA career.

After all, what really prompted him to leave the Rockets was the management's inaction and perfunctory attitude in recruiting players.

Mo Wen didn't explain anything further. In fact, it was quite good this way. It was better for me to let others down than for others to let me down.

There are few willow trees blowing on the branches, and there are no fragrant grasses anywhere in the world.

No one could have imagined that McGrady would become such a mess.

Lost passion, lost defense, lost self-discipline, lost physical strength, lost spirit...

From being a two-time scoring champion, one of the top four shooting guards, a man who moved heaven, he has become a target of media attacks, an object of fans' lamentations over his injuries and hatred for his lack of competitiveness, and a clown that everyone in the locker room can make fun of.

After being eliminated in the first round for years, he still has the biggest contract in the team and can still say bullshit like "I've practiced enough, I think I'm good enough."

The Mamba Mentality has been elevated to its current status thanks to the support of peers.

In fact, if you stand from the perspective of an ordinary person (fishing line), it is not difficult to understand McGrady's change of mentality.

He renewed a long-term big contract, his wife is strict with money, and McGrady himself is a famous Grandet in the NBA. When he goes out, he only cares about eating and drinking, and never gambles or prostitutes... Oh no, he never treats others, and the bottom line for group consumption is AA. He doesn't have many relatives and friends who suck money, and there are at least two every now and then.

Previously, the American media had selected the NBA players who were most difficult to go bankrupt, and McGrady ranked at the top.

For black people whose biggest dream is to get rich, it seems really not easy to maintain their fighting spirit as they watch the money in their accounts continue to grow and with Adidas' lifetime contract as a guarantee.

Ask yourself, who doesn’t want to be a worker like Westbrook who earns $1280 per second on the court?
After practicing for about half an hour, the two of them finished their extra practice.

Back in the lounge, the two turned on the TV and wanted to chat casually, but they didn't expect that the Rockets game was being broadcast live on the channel.

The battle between the Rockets and the Bobcats on the road has just entered the fourth quarter.

Unexpectedly, the team that maintained a double-digit lead at this time was not the healthy Rockets, but the Bobcats, who were still in a bad state last year.

After three years of accumulating talent, the Bobcats finally reaped the rewards this year before Danzi took over.

Okafor, Bodog, Lewis, Gerald Wallace, Brevin Knight...

If it weren't for the fact that the shortest player, Gerald Wallace, had no talent in organization, Danzi would have wanted to transform him into a Mo Wen-type point guard, and then promote Adam Morrison, the "second generation of Big Bird" that he had been eyeing, to the starting lineup to form a Death Five.

The current Bobcats don't have any specific style of play, and their tactics are not particularly outstanding, but they rely purely on talent to crush the opponent, winning 6 games and losing 4, and making it into the playoffs.

McGrady, who had been holding his breath since the start of the season, played well today, scoring 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in three quarters.

But apart from McGrady, the Rockets are at an absolute disadvantage in other positional matchups.

The Rockets restricted area guarded by Murphy, who was traded, and Swift, who was not traded, is like the door of a prostitute's room, and the threshold is almost trampled to pieces.

And "Little Shark" Bynum, who came on as a substitute, was not much better than Swift and Murphy. The substitution was basically just a toy for Okafor and Bogot.

Bodog has not yet performed to match his status as the No. 1 pick, but as a college player, he entered the league as the No. 1 pick and was trained as a core inside player for a year. In any case, his maturity is much higher than that of Bynum, who "just turned 18 years old."

Not only were the Rockets unable to defend the Bobcats from the inside, they also couldn't defend the Rockets from the outside.

Lewis, who was traded from Seattle, also broke out, making 8 of 5 three-pointers in the first three quarters, scoring 21 points, second only to McGrady.

In fact, he was forced to do this. There was a rookie picked by Jordan who was eyeing him, and he was in his contract year. In addition, the Bobcats were in urgent need of three-point shooting.

Can you catch this ball with triple buff power?
The former Elvis Gerald Wallace couldn't even be crowned the "king" in this Bobcats team, which is a bit like Richardson, the former boss of the Warriors.

Assuming Yao Ming was still in the Rockets, it would be difficult for him to play against such a luxurious Bobcats team, not to mention that McGrady has become the Rockets' boss who has the final say as he wished.

On the court, McGrady had a gloomy face and seemed to be emitting dark energy. He cooperated with Xiaofan who was shouting on the sidelines, and kept running around to set an example and try to mobilize the enthusiasm of his teammates.

After all, as someone who practices with Black Mamba every day, the killer temperament he exudes is very contagious.

With McGrady stealing the ball and slamming it, the Rockets seemed to be gaining momentum.

But Danzi personally supervised the game on the sidelines, and the Bobcats players quickly responded. Lewis hit another three-pointer, Swift was fouled out by Okafor, and Gerald Wallace dunked over Murphy...

The Rockets' counterattack is like the resistance of the female teachers in disk E. Apart from adding a touch of desire to conquer, it has no other practical significance.

During the final timeout, McGrady couldn't hold back and, with his tough-guy side, he started scolding Murphy without even avoiding the camera.

"Damn it, could you be a little tougher? Do you know that your performance is not even one tenth as good as that deserter and softie!"

"I passed you a few balls. If you can't make the shot from outside, why don't you go in and shoot? You're always thinking about that beta three-pointer. Do you want me or Rafer (Alston) to help you get the rebound?"

Before Maddie could continue to complain, Xiao Fan interrupted him with a cold face.

"T-MAC, that's enough!"

"Apologize to Troy (Murphy), the game is not over yet, and it is not time for post-match review. If you think you are good enough, then prove it to everyone later. Complaining will not change anything!"

McGrady was a little mad and wanted to scold Xiaofan as well. Fortunately, his little bit of rationality allowed him to restrain himself and shut his mouth. However, he had no intention of apologizing, and the way he turned his head away showed his dissatisfaction.

Three minutes later, the score difference was 16 points. Originally, Xiaofan wanted to arrange a life-threatening three-pointer tactic, but Murphy, who was the core of the tactic and questioned it, was already depressed after being criticized, and another core player, McGrady, was also obviously in a state of excitement.

Helpless, Xiao Fan could only give up his last bit of fantasy, replace the second lineup, and surrender.

Not long after the conflict, McGrady seemed to sober up a little. He no longer stuck out his neck and looked up angrily like before. He just covered himself with a towel, and when there was only one minute left in the game, he dragged his clothes off the court.

The photographer captured his back as he left the scene. His shoulders were still straight without a trace of hunchback, but his unsteady and slanting steps seemed as if he was waiting for support.

Ugh.

After a sigh, the moon was still high in the sky and the sound of waves remained.

……

On the way back to the hotel, seeing that Yao Ming seemed to be in online depression mode again, Mo Wen was considerate enough to play Jay Chou's "The Clock in the Opposite Direction" in the car again.

The flickering street lights echoed the starry sky, the indifferent air was filled with sadness, the autumn wind blew up the fallen leaves, and a twisted big boy was sitting on the passenger seat, trying hard to use the flip screen and small keyboard.

This taste is just right!
"What? You still can't let it go?" Mo Wen raised his eyebrows and said in the tone of an experienced person.

Dayao looked up in confusion.

"What can't you let go of?"

Mo Wen pursed his lips and pointed at Dayao's phone which was still on.

"Ah? Well, I was just checking my phone and replying to a message..."

Dayao waved his hands with a guilty look.

"Oh--"

Mo Wen dragged out the words with a teasing look on his face.

"Shh!! Did you know? Who leaked this information? This shouldn't be the case. I haven't had time to inform you guys yet."

Dayao muttered to himself with some doubt.

"Now that you know about this, don't tell Ye Zi. I'm still waiting to give her a surprise when I get back."

Mo Wen blinked. Wait, he seemed to have misunderstood something.

What Yao Ming said just now means...

Mo Wen quickly cut the tape and clicked twice in a row, and the song switched to the song that had just been released by the little king and queen and had been popular for more than ten years.

"The flowers bloom in the spring, taking away the sadness of winter, and the breeze brings a romantic atmosphere..."

"This song is great. I was planning to use this song when I proposed to you." There was no trace of frown on Dayao's face. The arc of the corners of his mouth was not high, but it was harder to suppress than the corner of a book that had been turned over for two years.

"It was too late yesterday, it will be a pity tomorrow, today you have to marry me~"

Yao Ming, who is tone-deaf, hummed along with the music unconsciously.

Mo Wen opened the car window and fanned it to make the sour smell less strong.

"Has the specific time been set?"

"It depends on her. Her knees can't hold on any longer. It's hard for me to persuade her if she doesn't retreat." Yao Ming smiled naively. He no longer had any leadership qualities and looked immature.

Mo Wen nodded as expected.

Ye Li is still on the women's national basketball team and wants to try her best for the 08 Olympics. However, seeing her increasingly frequent injuries in the past two years, it will probably be a pity.

As an athlete, who doesn’t want to show up and win a prize at the Olympics held in their own country?

But sports are so cruel, not everyone who is prepared can hold on until the opportunity comes.

There will be a lot of speculation about their imperfect marriage in the future, but Mo Wen is not so kind-hearted as to interfere in other people's life events. No matter what, Yao Ming has been licking his wife for 9 years up to this year...

"By the way, over there—"

Dayao laughed foolishly for a while before he remembered that Mo Wen had received much more discussion than him.

Many domestic fans are really worried that he will get a green card and change his nationality to immigrate after marrying an American socialite.

"Let's just come as normal. If I have time this year, I'll take her home to get to know her. I guess it'll only be the next two years."

Mo Wen looked relaxed. He was not the kind of person who liked to play around, and was not that resistant to getting married.

His relationship with little Catherine had always been quite stable. The intervention of his sister-in-law and two trainers had not had any impact on them. After three years of development, it was only natural for them to get married.

"The female celebrities in China might be heartbroken when they hear what you said," Dayao joked.

Mo Wen curled his lips. He really didn't think that the female stars on the screen were superior to the beauties of the same appearance in real life.

Oh, it does have advantages. It may make you feel more involved when cosplaying in uniforms.

But if a sports superstar is paired with an entertainment star, then you really can't expect any privacy in your daily life and family.

After sending Dayao back to the hotel, Mo Wen quickly drove back home.

After accepting the usual tempting daily inspections from the two trainers, Mo Wen returned to the room and saw little Catherine still learning Chinese with the help of textbooks and videos.

After giving her some simple instructions, Mo Wen began to get down to business. He carried little Catherine to the rocking chair on the balcony, and the two of them counted stars and bit their ears together.

……

"The first person in history, 40 points and 21 assists, how did he do it?"

"After 10 consecutive wins, the true core of the champions is finally exposed, and the MVP battle may lose its suspense early!"

"The secret to success of international football stars is so simple!"

"Scoring champion + assist champion + steal champion, Jordan is in danger!"

Yesterday's game was just a matter of defending the home court and overcoming a tough challenge for the Supersonics.

But for experts, it is a signal that cannot be ignored.

As we all know, every additional win in a winning streak means that we have crossed the threshold of becoming a strong team.

Not only did the Supersonics win 10 games in a row, but they also started the season with 10 consecutive wins!

When the Supersonics had just won seven games in a row a few days ago, all experts could actually understand it because they had the strong reinforcement of Mo Wen, the schedule was easy, the opponents were weak, and they were playing at home.

The Jazz, who are in the same division as the Supersonics, also had an explosive start. The Jazz, who had been on the edge of the playoffs for the past two years, also performed quite strongly after the start of the season, with an amazing record of 7 wins and 1 loss.

But the Jazz are not proud. Even the Jazz general manager can still say such "cruel (stupid) words" that no one in the team is not for sale and anyone can be traded, despite having the second-best record in the league.

But the Supersonics defeated the Warriors and Lakers, who also had good start records, and achieved 10 consecutive wins, which made many people unsure.

If they had completely changed their style of play like the Suns in the 04 season, and won the game by speeding up and running fast breaks, then that would be understandable. However, compared to last season, the Supersonics not only did not speed up the tempo, but instead slowed it down more often, playing more positional warfare. How can their record still be stable and improving?

When everything points to Mo Wen, those arrogant American media can only put Mo Wen as the best active player and compare him with Dan Zi no matter how unwilling they are.

"I'm not slandering or belittling Michael Dunk, but throughout his career, it's hard to find someone who has such complete control over the game as Mo has recently." Reggie Miller grinned and couldn't help but start the team fight.

"For Michael Dunk, scoring 40 points is as easy as drinking water. Even if Mo scores 60 points in the finals, I still believe Michael Dunk can do it."

"But, to get 40 points and 20 assists, to lead the scoring charts while averaging 13 assists per game, and to lead the new team to a long winning streak without Wade and Shaq... this is a completely different realm!"

Doug Collins, who had coached Jordan, couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hey, Reggie, it's too early for you to draw a conclusion now. The season has just begun. I admit that Mo's performance is amazing, but he still has a lot to prove. Michael Dunk's greatness can never be compared with his performance in a certain period of time. You also know how long the regular season is and how difficult the playoffs are. Mo is still just a 22-year-old boy."

"Then have you ever seen a 3-year-old who has three championships, two FMVPs, first and second team, first and second defense?" Reggie Miller asked back.

Doug Collins opened his mouth and felt the oppression of the torrent of data honors fifteen years in advance.

No, when I talk to you about performance, you talk to me about data and honors. When I talk to you about data and honors again, do you want to talk to me about age again?
What a rogue way of playing!

On the Internet, discussions about Mo Wen and Supersonic Speed ​​are also in full swing——

[Mo is very strong and his resume is sufficient, but I just think he is not worthy of the position of the best player in the league. He can't beat Kobe in scoring, Nash looks more gorgeous than him in assists, LeBron is more comprehensive than him in rebounding, and Artest and Prince are better than him in defense... You see, there are so many players who are better than him! ]

[The Spurs and Mavericks should teach the Sonics a lesson right away. International players are too rampant now. I really don’t want to see a Chinese guy dominate the NBA!]

[I have to remind the above that the Spurs' outside core and the Mavericks' core are also international players! ]

[Have you overlooked LeBron? Vote for LeBron, meow. Vote for LeBron, thanks meow! ]

The world is bustling, but with the deliberate support of the league and Nike's public relations, the title of the league's number one player was still vaguely pinned on Mo Wen's head with a hint of ambiguity.

Stern had not originally intended to give this honor to Mo Wen so quickly.

However, whether it is Mo Wen's performance or his identity, they are both too suitable to be targets for sparking conflicts.

The Supersonics also have something that naturally catches the eye, such as subsidy betting.

Instead of looking for small conflicts and creating confrontation, it is better to make the fire on the Supersonic side burn brightly.

Getting rich first leads to getting rich later.

Nike is also very happy. They support Mo Wen, Kobe, and James. But I don't know what James can do to compete with them?
Adi's five sons?

They were killed in seconds with just one Mo!
……

"Hey Mo, are you free? After you finish training, I'll meet you at your work villa. I have a contract here. It's awesome!"

Human whistled, in a very good mood.

Another sucker is here to give away money?
Mo Wen's mood also improved. He was now the face of the league and a national name card. He was not short of money. His positioning had long been more than just an NBA star. The ordinary "poor guy" endorsement of one or two million would never pass Heuman's test.

【200000000$】

Even though Mo Wen had good eyesight, he was almost dazzled by this string of zeros.

"We will be fully responsible for the resulting liquidated damages and subsequent litigation costs. As long as you sign your name, you can cash this check in full within the next seven years. Of course, we can also give you a share of the same size as the current contract. After this contract expires, we are willing to offer you a lifetime contract of the same amount."

A tall and plump elite lady in an office uniform looked at Mo Wen with confidence.

In this era, the annual salary is close to 3000 million. Apart from Jordan's, she believes that there is no other endorsement contract in the world that is more sincere than this one.

The reason why Adidas is willing to offer such an exaggerated price is that according to their statistics and information they have dug up, the sales of Mo Wen's Winner series of sneakers have surpassed Kobe and James, making it Nike's second player after AJ.

Adidas acquired Reebok for 38 billion in the summer. With a little integration, their sales channels in North America and Asia will barely catch up with Nike. Now all they need is a star player who can sell shoes.

The image of the previous Adi Five was also pretty good, but with Mo Wen’s outstanding performance, it was obviously not as good as before.

Of course, with such a large endorsement contract and the subsequent compensation to Nike, it would be good for Adidas to make some profit without losing money, but when it comes to competing for market share, it is not the time to worry about profits.

Mo Wen admitted that for a moment, he was really moved.

But, after calming down a bit, Mo Wen used his classic words again - "Let me think about it."

After the people left, Heuman seemed to be still immersed in the shock of the $2 million commission and didn't know what he was thinking.

If this deal is really signed, after deducting the dividends to team members and the payment to CAA, Heuman will be able to earn at least tens of millions of dollars.

People in later generations have watched too many short videos, and they can see that those worth tens of millions are just like this through the screen.

But if your assets are really at the level of tens of millions of US dollars, even in the era of soaring inflation, it will be enough to support you to be a free and easy "world citizen" for the rest of your life.

In fact, the American dream for most Americans is nothing more than owning a house and a car without a loan, adequate insurance, a stable job, and a savings of hundreds of thousands and financial management of several hundred thousand.

"Wake up, the plane to Hawaii is about to take off, we have to get on the plane quickly!"

Mo Wen waved in front of Human and said with some amusement.

"Ahem, stop it. I'm still thinking about which car to pick up later."

Human, who had come to his senses, also joked.

"Seriously, what do you think?"

Mo Wen casually threw the contract letter in front of Human.

"If you don't sign, I'll go to the kitchen and get a knife to chop off your hand and sign for you!"

Human first gestured jokingly, and then slowly explained.

"You should know that Nike also has LeBron and Kobe. Although their performance is not as good as yours, it is not much worse. If your contract is too big, Nike will not be able to do well. And Adidas is completely incomparable to you. The only one who can threaten your status on the court, Tim (Duncan), does not sell shoes."

“Even though Nike has a local advantage and can help you with many things, they can’t give you more money.”

Mo Wen nodded, that made sense.

Then he picked up the blank check with no signature but only the amount on it between his fingers and waved it towards the light above his head.

"So, what you mean is..."

"Whether it's based on the company's regulations or the current situation, I should advise you to sign this contract as soon as possible."

"But, rather than having you sign a contract, I'd rather frame this check and use it as a decoration. Oh, and before that I have to make a copy for our friend Mark (Nike CEO) to see."

Human looked at the check with regret, which seemed to be floating in the air but was worth more than a thousand pieces of gold. What a pity.

"Hey, this is 2 million. Anyone else would sign it immediately. It seems that you want to persuade me to give up." Mo Wen smiled and blew the check to Heuman.

"I don't believe that the smartest minds in the NBA would choose a group of mediocre teammates just for a difference of a few million dollars a year." Human glanced at Mo Wen with a look that said "I don't know you yet", then took out his briefcase and put the check in it.

Hearing this, Mo Wen also laughed. Adidas has never been a good partner. In the basketball shoe market, at this time, Adidas can still compete with Nike in terms of size relying on the income from football.

But more than a decade later, Adidas' market value was less than one-tenth of Nike's, and even Anta and another company selling yoga clothes could surpass it.

If Mo Wen had traveled through time two years later, perhaps James's net worth would have been enough to buy Adidas.

"I remember that your cousin used your name to start a fashion brand in your place. It shouldn't be difficult for him to find a reliable shoe factory, right?"

Mo Wen nodded and leaned back comfortably. It was really comfortable to work with smart people. Sometimes they would think of the same thing without him pointing it out.

"I will try my best to negotiate a contract extension of the same amount or a split independent brand for you, but the specific outcome will depend on your performance this season."

Human clasped his briefcase and spoke frankly.

"Tsk, don't think about being lazy. I gave up 2 million, but that also means you also gave up 2 million." Mo Wen replied with a smile.

"Damn, it's true. So why are you still slacking off? Hurry up and go train!" Human also laughed and cursed as he pushed Mo Wen.

"Oh, by the way, did you forget one thing?"

"Any more?"

"Remember to send me your tax return next year. I need to see how much Phil (Nike founder) spent to buy you off."

"It's up to you. It's all illogical slander anyway. Don't forget that my commission is 2000 million. If it's 300 million a year, it's an All-Star level shoe contract. Do you think Lao Fei'er can afford this price?"

……

After playing against the Warriors, the Supersonics finally ushered in the first wave of intensive schedule of this season.

On November 11, the SuperSonics will challenge the Nets away.

The Nets, who were still shouting about "revenge for the 57-27 humiliation" two days ago and actually beat the Heat by points, seemed to have not seen Mo Wen this time. During the pre-match interviews, everyone was as quiet as Zhiyin.

A reporter asked Richard Jefferson, who jumped the most happily after the revenge game against the Heat, if he had anything to say to Mo Wen and the Supersonics.

Who would have thought that under the eager eyes of the reporters, he could only say "Friendship first, competition second" after holding back for a long time.

Just kidding, they have hatred, but they are not sick.

The Heat have players leaving and injuries, and their record is 4 wins and 7 losses, so they can be easily bullied.

Of course it's okay to shout for revenge.

As for the Supersonics led by Mo Wen, they have a record of 10 wins and 0 losses. It would be fine if he didn't bully them, but he took the initiative to provoke them?

After entering the game, facts proved that the Nets' judgment was correct.

The Nets, with their four main players (Carter, Kidd, Jefferson, and Abdur-Rahim), were as powerful as ever at the start. Even though there was a jerk named Kidd and a center who later openly became gay (Jason Collins), they still made the Sonics' immature defense pay a heavy price.

Of course, this is also due to the fact that Guy once again volunteered to defend Carter, but was defeated by Carter again.

But on the other hand, the Nets had no way to deal with the Supersonics' offense.

Kidd is already 33 years old. His old arms and legs can't keep up with Ray Allen's marathon off-ball running, nor can he keep up with Mo Wen's fastest first step with a bit of inferior taste.

Rahim was also thoroughly beaten by Milicic in the head-on matchup. As a former All-Star player, after 11 seasons in his career, he finally tasted what the playoffs were like last season, but unfortunately, it was also in that series that his right knee injury rapidly worsened, and his athletic ability declined, which also greatly reduced his turning speed.

Milicic happens to be a left-handed player who has the ability to hold the ball and face the basket. When he plays against Rahim, he breaks through to the left, and every time he breaks through, he is accurate. If you don't know his success rate, you might think he is possessed by AI.

As for the Nets' backup center Collins, he directly used himself as medicine and transformed into the "Yin Yang Mysterious Dragon Pill" to help Tyson break through and then stand up again, which helped him regain a wave of confidence.

Mo Wen made three alley-oops just like the previous pass, but all of them were dunked by Tyson.

莫闻很怀疑这个科林斯老弟是不是给了篮网的主教练或者基德，要不然真解释不了他本赛季场均2分4板0.5盖帽3犯规还能雷打不动的担任篮网的首发中锋，甚至还能凭借之前32分钟只有5+5的数据拿下一份正经的中产。

As for his strength, apart from the fact that his touch is a little better than "Old Lady Wang" when it comes to dunks, he is more stable when defending and doesn't play randomly when attacking, he doesn't look like an NBA-level inside player at all.

The Nets' fatal flaws are not just the starting lineup, which is a complete mess, but also their substitutes.

Kidd's 1800 million contract, Carter's 1500 million contract, Jefferson's 1100 million contract, plus Rahim and Collins' 500 million contracts each directly filled the Nets' salary.

The scraps that the Nets management bought from the free market were really just scraps. The Fab Four struggled for half the game. When they came back in the third quarter, Mo Wen took the lead in defending Carter and the Nets were defeated.

The atmosphere within the Nets team now is not one of winning.

After being eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years, the team's interior problems have not been improved, and rumors began to circulate during the offseason that Kidd, who "doesn't have much time left," wanted to leave.

Rahim has fulfilled his wish for the playoffs, and due to injuries, he has begun to think about retiring after this season.

Carter also ran into trouble. The proximity of New Jersey to bustling New York did not confuse the eyes of the demigod, but he could not avoid the plot of returning home early, and happened to run into his wife and two of his friends playing "Fighting Landlords".

The American server, which updated faster, did not turn a blind eye to his wife's misdeeds, but instead enforced the law impartially and took away half of Carter's wealth.

What's even more darkly humorous is that because Carter, as a player, usually has no time to take care of his daughter, custody of his daughter was awarded to his ex-wife.

Later, Carter was willing to be traded to the Magic. In addition to the hope of winning the championship by cooperating with Howard, the main reason was that his ex-wife lived with their daughter in Orlando...

The divided Nets lost by 18 points in the third quarter. Mo Wen thought he could finally finish the game after three quarters, but when he came to his senses, he found that he had only scored 16 points.

He had quite a few assists, 18 of which were more than his points.

Kidd was quite confused when looking at the statistics sheet. He obviously made quite a few great passes, so why did he only have 8 assists, only a fraction of this guy's?

The female scorer glanced coldly at this former domestic violence man and said, “Giving you 8 assists is just a courtesy, huh!”

As for Mo Wen——

For example, when he passed the ball to Milicic, Milicic only dribbled the ball one step to break through, and then took three steps into the paint to make a layup, which could all be counted as his assist.

It sounds a bit shameless, but according to the rules it is still an assist.

John Allen, the scorer during the Jazz's two-man era, once said:

"There are two kinds of assists in the NBA. One is the pass that leads directly to a score, and the other comes from Utah's home announcer Rod Hendry. Whenever Stockton touches the ball, he will call an assist."

In the final quarter, Mo Wen licked his face and scored 20+20, and accidentally scared the Nets who had already given up.

They thought the Heat's revenge had come.

However, after discovering that Mo Wen was just accumulating (brushing) stats, the Nets players were relieved.

Brother, eat whatever you want, just don’t pack it up.

After leaving the Nets, the Supersonics didn't even change hotels and played a back-to-back game against the Knicks next door the next day.

After Larry Brown was removed, the "Smiling Assassin" who took over again brought immediate changes to the Knicks.

The Knicks' winning rate returned to over 40%. Although it still looked hopeless, after giving up defense and playing offense, the home fans' attendance at least went up.

As for the lineup, the Knicks have made a lot of changes this season. Hardaway and Houston, two towel beasts with annual salaries of tens of millions, have finally served their sentences and retired.

But what is still quite distressing is that the Knicks still have about 2800 million salary space occupied by amnesty players, and their salary expenditure this year is still over million.

Facing the Knicks' current all-out offense and no defense lineup, the Supersonics didn't have to spend too much effort to deal with it.

Mo Wen intended to score some points at Madison Square Garden, and even took the initiative to let the team go on defense, which was rare.

The Knicks couldn't withstand the power outage in the middle of the game. They took turns missing mid-range and long-range shots. They didn't score a single point in 6 minutes and successfully committed suicide.

Looking at Marbury and Francisco high-fiving and laughing, Mo Wen had reason to suspect that he was being targeted.

With 12 consecutive wins at the start, the SuperSonics have tied the record for consecutive wins at the start of the season. As long as they win one more game, the SuperSonics can create new team history and surpass the 97 Bulls to occupy the fifth place in the record for consecutive wins at the start of the season.

But in the next game, the Supersonics' opponent was no longer a weakling...

(End of this chapter)