Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Helping the Timberwolves win the championship brought Wu Dao not only a boost in personal reputation, but also countless honors after the victory.

The Timberwolves, who had been weak for many years, defeated all the strong teams in one fell swoop and won the O'Brien Championship Cup. The value of all the players in the team increased sharply.

As the core player of the team, Wu Dao has directly jumped from a blank rookie to a hot star in the league.

Although the regular season MVP trophy has nothing to do with Wu Dao, the "not big, not small" honor of the season's scoring champion is one of Wu Dao's biggest honors in the early stage.

But after winning the championship, this honor will be put aside.

It is true that the championship belongs to the team, but all Timberwolves fans believe that this championship was brought to them by martial arts.

Because the Timberwolves' lineup has not changed much this season and last season, the only variable is this young man.

A team on the edge of the playoffs became the champions, and no one would doubt Wu Dao's ability to lead the team.

Finals MVP, First Team, First Defense, Best Rookie, All-Rookie Team.

The blank wall of honor in Wu Dao's villa now has a lot of content. Not only Wu Dao himself, but other Timberwolves players also benefited from the team's championship.

For example, Garnett was selected to the first and second teams, and also won the Most Improved Player award that season.

Although personal honors cannot be compared with the martial arts of leading a team, these honors are also a huge improvement for Garnett. With these honors, he, Garnett, is neither big nor small, and can be regarded as a star.

As for the All-Stars he won previously?

That kind of thing has no way of being the most fundamental thing to measure a player's value.

For a player, the most valuable honors are MVP, First Team, and First Defense. These are the only personal honors that players will pursue with all their heart.

Michael Jordan's retirement made the final finals between the Bulls and the Timberwolves no longer suspenseful, and the dramatic ending also made the Bulls fans very regretful.

After the game, related public opinion was also rampant.

There are always Bulls fans who believe that if Michael Jordan had not been injured in the finals, he would have led the team to defeat the Timberwolves and win the final championship.

The defeat in the finals did not add any stain to Michael Jordan's legendary career. His injury and withdrawal from the game seemed to be the final fig leaf for his defeat, and the players who took the blame for the failure became the team's main players such as Pippen and Kukoc.

The reason is very simple. In the eyes of fans, when Michael Jordan and Wu Dao were still on the court, the score difference between the two teams was very close, and their strength was also on par, so the outcome was unpredictable.

But when both Wu Dao and Michael Jordan left the court, the balance of victory clearly tilted towards the Timberwolves.

This intuitive feeling naturally makes fans think that Jordan and his teammates are not as good as Wu Dao's teammates.

How do you say that?

Although the Bulls lost, Michael Jordan did not lose.

The blame for the loss of the game naturally cannot be put on Michael Jordan who was injured and had to leave the game. His glorious image will naturally remain unchanged in the hearts of the fans and will not be affected.

The fermentation of public opinion caused great trouble to the Bulls players. If social media in that era had not been as developed as it is in later generations, the public pressure those players would probably have been much stronger than it is now.

Michael Jordan's teammates weren't the only ones targeted by the fans.

Martial arts, which was the direct cause of Michael Jordan's retirement, naturally became the focus of discussion among fans.

However, there are not many people in this group, and the only ones who will talk about this matter over and over again are Michael Jordan's die-hard fans.

They believe that it was Martial Arts who directly caused Michael Jordan's retirement, and that it was Martial Arts who used such despicable means to steal the Bulls' sixth championship from Michael Jordan.

But for Jordan's die-hard fans, there is no need for the Timberwolves to take the initiative to guide public opinion. Minnesota fans will naturally be able to find angles to refute the other side.

Because before Michael Jordan was injured, the Bulls were already on the verge of collapse by the Timberwolves at 1-3.

If Michael Jordan was really that good and could lead the Bulls to win the final championship, he would not have appeared so passive in the previous game against the Timberwolves.

The first four games of the finals also became a hot topic of discussion among fans. It was evidence used by Minnesota fans to directly prove that Wu Dao's ability to lead a team was better than Michael Jordan's.

It was also a bombshell that directly confirmed that Michael Jordan had no way of leading the Bulls to win the championship.

In summary, in the minds of the vast majority of fans, Timberwolves' victory over the Bulls was not a matter of luck, but a result of their real strength.

Although Michael Jordan was unlucky and had to leave the game due to injury, in the eyes of most fans, even if Michael Jordan could play the entire game, he probably would not be able to win against the Timberwolves.

If we were going to win, we should have won earlier. We wouldn't have to fight a life-and-death battle, right?
In addition to welcoming the flattery and compliments from the media at the post-match press conference, the Timberwolves also announced the news of Wu Dao's injury to the outside world.

Groin strain, moderate, will take one or two months to recover.

Well. There is no way. In this matter, Wu Dao can only passively follow the opinions of the management.

Budobi first invented the smart groin by a certain player.
The fans had no doubts about this. The Minnesota fans were still worried about Wu Dao's injury. They didn't want their hometown team to have a rising star fall at the speed of light.

Groin strain is not uncommon in the NBA. Generally speaking, it is a minor injury and will not have much impact on the player's career after recovery.

Not long after the Timberwolves reported the injury of Wu Dao, the Bulls also announced the listing of Michael Jordan.

Rotator cuff tear.

Compared to Wu Dao's injury, Michael's injury is much more serious. A torn rotator cuff is enough to affect a player's career, especially for a player of Michael Jordan's age.

The recovery period for injuries is generally 2-6 months. The specific situation depends on the recovery of the injured person. The Bulls have not disclosed the recovery period to the public.

After learning the news, Bulls fans were also very concerned about Michael Jordan's injury, and at the same time, public opinion against Pippen and others became louder and louder.

They blamed Michael Jordan's injuries on his teammates as well.
It's hard to expect some fanatical fans to have so-called rationality.

In their opinion, if players like Pippen were not so useless, Michael Jordan would not have to fight so hard and use his body to block the path of martial arts.

In particular, Pippen, who was assigned to defend Budo on the court, was the main target of fans' criticism.

Public opinion fermented and the new king ascended the throne.

Many major events happened in the NBA this year, which touched the hearts of all fans.

At this time, the Timberwolves management did not care about public opinion at all. They were busy preparing for the championship parade.

It was the first time and we had no experience. All the public servants of the team were busy. They were responsible for the preparation of the floats and also needed to coordinate with other staff over and over again.

Route, time.

This is a major event among major events. If there is any mistake during the parade, the consequences will be unbearable for everyone.

The security factors that need to be considered when dealing with large and densely populated groups are a headache for any government.

All the Timberwolves' public servants were busy, while the players who had finished the game got some rare leisure time.

Wu Dao, who has always been highly self-disciplined, did not immediately start training after the finals.

He is also a normal person, it is impossible for him to be so nervous all the time.

He did not relax for a moment before achieving his goal, but when the goal was achieved, even a man like Wu Dao could not help but relax.

It was June.

The temperature in Minnesota didn't feel like summer at all. Wudao, who had been lying in bed all day, didn't wake up until the evening.

The first thing I did when I woke up was not to check how many missed calls I had, but to lean against the head of the bed and stare blankly.

Until now, martial arts still doesn’t seem real and my head is still a little dizzy.

Wudao, who never drinks alcohol for many years, couldn't resist the persuasion of his teammates last night. He accepted all the red wine and champagne. Wudao didn't even know how much red wine he drank. That low-alcohol stuff could still knock someone like Wudao down.

Even at this point, there was still a faint smell of alcohol in Wu Dao's mouth.

"jingle--"

After being in a daze for a long time, the crisp ringing of the phone brought Wu Dao back to reality.

Wu Dao, who had just come out of his vacant state, looked towards the living room in confusion, then stood up and walked towards the living room.

Wu Dao, who was sitting on the sofa, woke up and picked up the phone. As soon as he put the receiver close to his ear, a familiar voice came from the receiver:
"Brother Wudao, you finally answered the phone!"

"Congratulations! Congratulations! You won the championship!"

“You are so amazing!”

Sakuragi Hanamichi's excited shouts were so loud that he covered his ears and became deaf, and he involuntarily took the microphone away from his ear.

All fans who follow NBA games know the news that the Timberwolves won the championship, let alone people like Hanamichi Sakuragi who follow the game closely.

He already knew that the Timberwolves won the game on the day, but this stubborn boy took into consideration that the Timberwolves team would definitely have a celebration rally that night, and did not choose to call Wu Dao to congratulate him right away.

After taking a day off, Sakuragi Hanamichi finally thought of calling Takeshi.

“It’s flower arrangement!”

"Haha, thank you."

Hearing the familiar voice of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Wudao smiled brightly. After entering the NBA, he devoted all his attention to his basketball career. Although Hanamichi was in the United States like him, the two did not have much contact.

The limited number of times they watched football games together was all they had spent together here.

However, the friendship between the two did not weaken despite being separated. Takeshi was Sakuragi Hanamichi's guide, and Sakuragi was also one of Takeshi's best companions in high school.

The phone call between the two lasted for a very long time.

In addition to congratulating Takeshi on winning the championship, Sakuragi Hanamichi also found a good person to talk to. He shared with Takeshi the problems he encountered in his growing process, hoping to get his advice.

They are of similar age, and in Sakuragi Hanamichi's heart, martial arts are no different from those of his brother.

Moreover, Budo has gone further in the field of basketball. His suggestions are very important and valuable to Sakuragi Hanamichi.

It turns out that while the Timberwolves won the championship, Sakuragi Hanamichi had been in a dilemma of choice during this period.

Several universities have already extended invitations to him, but Sakuragi Hanamichi does not have a deep understanding of these American universities and has been unable to make a decision.

At the same time, Sakuragi Hanamichi also has an ambition in his heart. He hopes to follow the example of martial arts and directly participate in the draft after graduating from high school and jump into the NBA league. He actually revealed this idea to Coach Smith of Oak Hill High School, who strongly opposed it.

Although he had wanted to ask Wu Dao a long time ago and hoped that Wu Dao could give him some advice, considering that the Timberwolves were actively preparing for the playoffs, he had no intention of disturbing Wu Dao.

Now that the Timberwolves' games are all over, Wudao has enough free time during the long offseason. With Wudao's current status and knowledge, it is better than Sakuragi Hanamichi picking blindly.

Sakuragi Hanamichi is a proud man. In fact, one can hear Sakuragi Hanamichi's true thoughts from the phone call. Compared to playing in the NCAA, he probably wants to participate in the draft directly.

Takeshi led the Timberwolves to win the championship, which also gave Sakuragi Hanamichi a huge stimulus. He tried his best to shorten the distance between himself and Takeshi.

Doesn't Sakuragi have any self-awareness?
Not really. Although he is a proud man, after traveling to the United States, he has always known how his ability compares to other high school students.

Sakuragi doesn't expect to be selected by an NBA team with a high draft pick. He only hopes that a team will be able to see his physical talent. Even if he enters the NBA as a second-round pick, he would be willing.

His main goal is to gain experience in the NBA rather than playing college basketball.

"Sakuragi, Coach Smith and I have the same idea."

"You are not suitable for the NBA league right now."

"The NBA is not as simple as you think. It doesn't mean you can play basketball just by entering this league system."

"Let's not even talk about whether there are any teams that would see your talent and bring you to the NBA. Even if they really draft you in the second round, you will waste your precious talent in the NBA."

"In this arena, second-round picks have almost no chance to play, even if the team is reorganized."

"Sakuragi, don't aim too high."

"If you really want to enter the NBA, make a name for yourself in college first."

“Duke University in North Carolina!”

"Of all the schools, the best one for you is Duke University, the cradle of top power forwards."

"Although Duke University has not invited you, I will find a way to make it work."

"Sakuragi, go to Duke University!"

"Find some time and I'll take you to see that school in person!"

(End of this chapter)