no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 270 LBJ, Thank you!

At the same time that James posted, the contract signed by both parties was also exposed for the first time.

James signed a 3-year, 1 million contract with the Warriors. The third year of this contract comes with player options, which means that James will play for the Warriors for at least 2 years.

The reason why it is 3 years instead of 4 years is because the league has a 38-year-old clause. If he jumps out of the third year of this contract, he can still sign a 4-year maximum salary contract with other teams.

In other words, such a contract not only allows him to cooperate with the Warriors more deeply than the Cavaliers, but also allows him to still have the initiative in his destiny.

And when Dream Basketball started, it was the day the league was shaken.

Although James failed to become the successor to the league that Stern originally wanted him to be, he is still one of the top five stars in the league. Now, he wants to join the team with the best record last season and the overall runner-up finish. .

A season ago, some fans said that they couldn't find a better team than the four-star Cavaliers. Now, you have seen it.

The four stars of the Cavaliers, Davis, Irving and Love, all led the team before. They have a certain chance to replicate the success of Boston's Big Three, but in history, only the Celtics have succeeded in similar situations. It’s just a team, because they will encounter running-in problems.

The Cavaliers' failure proved that paper strength is not equal to the team's strength, and their running-in ultimately failed.

But the Warriors are different. The Warriors are a team that has been fully integrated, and now they just add James. Their probability of successful integration is greater than that of the Cavaliers, far better.

On social media, many fans of Western Conference teams directly cursed.

"This is so unfair. The current Warriors look like a cosmic team. Even the Bulls and Thunder are no match for them. This is like a bug when playing a game."

"Before leaving Cleveland, LeBron only received some criticism because of footwork problems, but he is still a dragon-slaying boy and deserves respect. But look at what he has done in the past few years, joining the Heat, forming the Cavaliers' Big Four, and now joining Warrior, he keeps trying to take shortcuts!”

"Taking shortcuts is enough to be looked down upon. The key is that he keeps taking shortcuts and never succeeds. He is now a joke in the league."

"I'm a Warriors fan, and I think the management made a very stupid decision. LeBron can't make us better. If you look at the teams he's been in in the past, you know he's destroying almost every team. Teams he’s been on.”

Then, the Cavaliers fans were scored twice and broke the defense again.

"When LeBron said he was going home, I found the jersey buried in the ground and put it on again, but now, I decided to burn it completely and say goodbye to my youth. I hate LeBron! (from two years ago) The little boy who dug his jersey out of the ground and posed for a photo)”

"My King, go chase your dream, but I can't follow you anymore. I am a fan who has loved the King for 13 years."

"If you stay in Cleveland, I will love you even if you don't win a championship in this life, because you once said you did something wrong, but now, you make us look like a big joke. From today on, I am your most loyal Fans become the biggest haters."

"You really make me look down on you!"

Just before Xu Yong reported to the national team, Forman called him and said that the Bulls had signed back Yi Jianlian with a two-year, 2 million contract with player options.

Yi Jianlian has been playing for the Mavericks over the years and has always been a member of the rotation. However, with Aldridge joining last season, he fell out of the rotation and did not get much playing time.

Although he is 29 years old this year (actual age is 32), although his physical fitness has declined, thanks to the adjustment of his playing style that year, he still has a foothold in the league as a space-based insider.

With the league's salary cap skyrocketing, the Bulls can sign him back at this price, which is completely acceptable to the management.

Moreover, Yi Jianlian now plays completely at the fifth position. Signing him basically means that the Bulls will not keep Split.

When he arrived at the national team, Xu Yong met Yi Jianlian, and the two met with a warm embrace.

Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, the Chicago Bulls back then, are also fond memories of Chinese fans and Bulls fans. Now Yao Ming has become the chairman of the Basketball Association and is slowly developing in the direction of the Women's Sun and Moon. Yi Jianlian is still working hard in the league. Fans Seeing this scene will make you feel like you are in another world.

In addition to Yi Jianlian, Xu Yong also met other people. Jeremy Lin, who just signed a big contract with the Nets, Guo Ailun, who has already established himself in Europe, Zhou Qi, who plays a rotation with the Celtics, and who plays in the NBA Development League. Ding Yanyuhang.

In addition, veteran Sun Yue, Zhou Peng, Zhai Xiaochuan, Wang Zhelin, Zhao Jiwei and others who are in their prime years in the CBA.

Although the lineup is quite different from when they won the championship four years ago, including Xu Yong, there is a great chance of reaching the semi-finals.

The place where the national team is training this time is Sanya, Hainan. Xu Yong's impression of this place came more from the Haitian Shengyan, but after arriving, he found that the beautiful beach here is a very suitable place for training.

Except being watched.

You know, there are a lot of people going on vacation there in the summer, so whenever the men's basketball team trains, there will be people watching from a distance, and many people even take photos.

This makes them feel like a dream team.

"We are all following Brother Xu to gain glory!" But as Guo Ailun said, everyone actually knows why they are doing this.

"Playing well is the most important thing." Xu Yong reminded Guo Ailun. In fact, Guo Ailun's talent for controlling movement is at the ceiling in China and is considered qualified in the NBA. It's just that his shooting and passing are too poor, and this guy A bit like Durant, too keen on the Internet.

Just when Xu Yong was training with the national team in Sanya, the Bulls made new moves. They had been negotiating for Adams to renew his contract in advance, and the result was also achieved. Adams finally agreed to renew his contract for 4 years and 1 million. , the contract will be officially implemented starting next season.

This contract is bigger than Xu Yong's, but considering his performance last season and the fact that money is not money this summer, this is a reasonable contract extension.

This is also after Rose left, the Bulls officially confirmed the core lineup of the Iron Triangle.

But just as Xu Yong thought before, whether Jokic can transform into the fourth position next season will become critical.

The Bulls' operations didn't stop there. They immediately sent Splitter to the Numbers Team with two second-round picks.

The Numbers Team is trusting the process. They can get draft picks even with expiring contracts. This is their favorite operation.

However, this kind of air change operation is not normal for a championship team, and facts have proved this.

Because this was obviously an operation to free up salary space, the Bulls signed Joe Johnson with a two-year, $2 million contract.

[Singles Joe] After being bought out by the Nets last season, he joined the Heat and played very efficiently. He scored 51.8 points with a shooting percentage of 12.2% and a three-point shooting percentage of 41.4%. Although in the playoffs, his efficiency has become inertia. Shrunk, but the price is right.

Again, although he is 35 years old, he has not suffered any injuries in his career and is less risky than Deron and others.

Moreover, Johnson is a swingman at forward and guard. The Bulls did not have a reliable substitute for Xu Yong last season. In addition, the substitute's insufficient scoring ability meant that Xu Yong was consumed a lot.

It can be said that if Xu Yong hadn't asked Butler to play more in advance to make up for Butler's condition, it would have been difficult for the Bulls to successfully defend their title last season.

The addition of Johnson can alleviate this problem very well. His current ability is not enough to be an All-Star, but he still has the ability to play as a starter, and even more so as a substitute.

Even in certain games, the Bulls can let Butler directly play the number one position and then put him on the court, which will make it difficult for the opponent to defend.

Including Stephenson and Artest, who have already completed contract extensions before, the team's strength has been greatly enhanced compared with last season after Rose was injured.

Point Guards: Beverley, Stephenson, Dejounte Murray

Shooting Guards: Butler, Holiday

Small forward: Xu Yong, Joe Johnson, Artest

Power forward: Anderson, West, Diaw

Center: Adams, Jokic, Yi Jianlian

Moreover, this lineup is not under the luxury tax this year. After trading Rose's contract, it can still maintain the team's strength like this. If the Bulls can still have a good record this year, Foreman has a good chance of winning it again. A best general manager award.

However, the Bulls' continuous operations at this stage did not become the focus of attention, because the social media of this period was flooded with news.

Durant decided to withdraw from the Rio Olympics in order to concentrate on preparing for the new season, and his position will be replaced by Westbrook.

Xu Yong was surprised when he saw this, because Durant's character is very real. He has been fighting for the country throughout his entire career. There is not a single game that he participated in that the Dream Team failed to win, including what Xu Yong knew. In the 2020 (actually held in 2021) Olympics, it is not an exaggeration to say that he will single-handedly help the Dream Team win the championship.

You have to know that this kind of summer game is very taxing on the body. You can even think that this kind of consumption contributed to his subsequent serious injury to some extent.

But fans on social media reacted strongly to the news.

When Xu Yong ended his training, he also paid attention to this recent hot news.

"Why did you announce your withdrawal half a month before the Olympics was about to start? And the reason is such nonsense!"

"That's right. You hold a spot, but you shrink from the battle. Is it because you are afraid of Xu and the Chinese team?"

"Don't recruit Durant in the future, he doesn't deserve to be in the national team at all!"

"I think the Basketball Association will think you are a smart guy when they hear what you say. They know who can really help them win." Comment from "KBfnas".

"Then who didn't even make the roster at the beginning?" A comment from a "loyal King fan".

"I feel that KD chose to quit because of the emergence of the Warriors, so you really should ask that person why he joined the Warriors." came the comment of "the number one fan of the Lakers".

"I think so too. The way the Warriors form a team is absolutely disgusting, and then you ask KD to go to the Olympics to be wasted? Why doesn't LeBron go?" A comment from "Kobe Beloved Lifelong".

Looking at these comments, Xu Yong only felt that they were true and funny.

Durant's practice of retiring from the national team half a month before the game is childish. Most people can't do it, but you don't think it is impossible if it happens to Durant.

And there is nothing wrong with the reason Durant gave. Why should James go to the Warriors to form a super team and be free and easy in the summer, but he has to work hard to win the championship?

You must know that the lineup of this year's Rio Olympics dream team is much weaker than that in London, and his consumption is inevitable.

James has picked all the peaches and benefits of co-writing, so he, Durant, is going to be like a cow or a horse?

So it makes perfect sense logically for Durant to have this idea, and he was not sure whether James would really go to the Warriors before, so he didn't quit. Now that he knows, he feels disgusted, so he temporarily quit.

Even Xu Yong could guess that he should have talked to Westbrook before quitting and asked the latter to temporarily replace him.

It's really a bit real and a bit childish.

But this is definitely good news for the Chinese team, because Durant is right in what he said on social media. Durant can really help the American team win.

Without Durant, and now without Kobe, or even Howard and Chandler to guard the inside of the US team, the strength of the Dream Team will be severely reduced.

Previously, their goal was to reach the top four and reach the runner-up spot, but now it seems that they can raise this goal higher.

Half a month later, in August, Xu Yong went to Brazil with the national team.

His first impression after arriving in Rio de Janeiro was that it was very dirty and the environment was very poor, especially there was a lot of garbage floating on the shore of the port river. It was summer again, and he could smell an obvious musty smell when he passed by.

Even the dream team, who always like to stay on yachts, chose to stay in local hotels this year.

As a developing country, Brazil has experienced economic crises in recent years, and the country is on the verge of bankruptcy. It is completely incomparable to when it originally applied for the Olympics.

However, the harsh environment has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Brazilians. After all, economic problems are at the national level, but the enthusiasm of the people for the Olympics is very high.

In particular, Brazilian football is strong, and you can see billboards for Ronaldo and Neymar on the streets from time to time.

South America is the paradise of football, and Brazil is the country of football.

In comparison, the current level of Brazilian basketball is worse. Like Argentina next door, they have ushered in the golden generation of Barbosa, Nene, Varejao and others with the global development of basketball. But it is a pity that There have never been any results.

Of course, Brazilian basketball has also had its glory days, but that goes back to ancient times. They won Olympic bronze medals three times in 1948, 1960 and 1964.

And when it comes to the Brazilian men's basketball team, the legendary man Oscar Schmidt will inevitably be mentioned.

Participated in 5 Olympic Games and won 3 scoring titles. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he scored 55 points in a single game against Spain, setting a record for the highest score in the Olympic Games. He averaged 8 points per game in 42.3 games. He is the single-scoring Olympic scoring champion, the total scoring champion in Olympic history, and the World Championships. (World Cup) all-time scoring leader.

If Xu Yong knows that history, James won the GOAT by relying on the NBA's historical scoring leader, then Schmidt is the GOAT in the Olympics.

And the biggest difference between him and James is that he is really not trying to score points.

At his peak, in the World Championship semi-finals, he scored 43 points against the Dream Team with Admiral Robinson, Danny Manning, etc., and the Brazilian team only lost by 4 points in the end.

A year later, in the men's basketball final of the Pan American Games, facing the same opponent and even the same American team, in the United States, after trailing by 20 points at halftime, he scored 35 points in the second half and scored all the goals. With 46 points, the team finally defeated the US team by 5 points.

This shows that, like Sabonis, it’s not that they are incapable of playing in the NBA, it’s just that under the background of modern rules (the NBA was not globalized in 1989, players who played in the NBA were unable to represent the national team in the World Series), they were unwilling to give up. The opportunity to go to war.

On August 8, the 4st Summer Olympics opened in Rio. Maracanã Stadium, a stadium that can accommodate nearly 31 people, is full of enthusiasm.

But it is a pity that as athletes, they cannot feel the atmosphere of the scene like the audience. As they wait in the stadium, they can only watch the whole process through the TV broadcast.

When Gisele Bündchen began her 100-meter-long model show along the stadium stage, cheers from athletes erupted not only outside, but also in the aisles.

Bundchen can be said to be the most famous model in Brazil and the world. She is also the fastest-earning female model in the world. Last year, she earned US$4400 million.

For comparison, even with the NBA salary cap skyrocketing this year, the maximum salary is only over 30 million.

However, Bundchen is 36 years old this year and announced her retirement last year. If it were not for the fact that she would not perform on stage again at this year's Olympics, this would also be the last dance of her modeling career.

Combining these factors makes everyone so excited when they see this scene.

Even through the screen, Xu Yong could appreciate Bunchen's beauty at this time, the combination of body and face, a true angel on earth.

If it weren't for the age gap, Xu Yong wouldn't mind falling in love with him.

Speaking of which, Bundchen has only dated two boyfriends, one is "Little Plum" Leonardo DiCaprio, and the other is the GOAT Tom Brady in the football world, who is also her current husband.

After the opening ceremony, the players entered the stadium immediately. Xu Yong was at the front of the Chinese team. He was the flag bearer of the Chinese team at the Olympic opening ceremony this year. This was the first time in his life.

When the host read "china", Xu Yong walked out of the aisle holding a national flag. The spotlight shone on him, and the entire Maracanã Stadium was boiling.

Just like how people could truly feel Kobe's popularity at the BJ Olympics, it was only at the Rio Olympics that everyone could truly feel Xu Yong's current popularity. In contrast, perhaps only this sentence can describe it: It's too much. And nothing less.

Even the on-site staff kept their cameras focused on Xu Yong, and what followed was continuous and enduring cheers. The decibels were no weaker than when Bundchen appeared on the stage.

Yes, in this football country, the influence of Xu Yong, a basketball player, is so huge.

"Perhaps the NBA is inseparable from Xu at this moment." Barkley couldn't help but sigh while the TNT program was broadcasting the opening ceremony.

At this time, the people beside him were not only his partners O'Neal and Kenny Smith, but even the guest "Magic" Johnson nodded in approval.

Jordan brought the NBA to the heights of the world, and Xu Yong took it to another new level.

There are many differences between them, from skin color to personality, but the same thing is that they are all uniquely great players.

The Olympic Games are divided into two groups. This year, the Chinese team was assigned to the host team Brazil.

Don't think this is an honor, because the Chinese team was the defending champion of the last Olympic Games, and they are on the same level as the American team.

The reason why the Brazilian team chose the Chinese team instead of the American team in the same group is because they felt they had a better chance against the Chinese team.

Moreover, the Chinese team is also the first opponent of the Brazilian team in the group stage, and it is scheduled for a golden game in the evening.

The Brazilian team can be said to be fully prepared this time.

Although the final result proved that their preparations ultimately failed to work.

Because it is a local battle, the Brazilian team basically has everyone they can play this time, including Barbosa, Nene, Raul Neto, and Varejao, who played for the Bulls last season, as well as those who were just traded. Out of Split.

In terms of strength, the Brazilian team is definitely at the level of the top eight, and with the advantage of being a host, it is a team on the edge of the top four.

Therefore, the entire game was relatively intense until the last quarter. Xu Yong scored 10 points in a single quarter in 20 minutes, ultimately helping the Chinese team win the game.

At the end of the game, Xu Yong personally scored 46 points.

A slightly exaggerated, but very reasonable score.

It's an exaggeration because Xu Yong's statistics in this debut are only 55 points away from Schmidt's record of 9 points.

Reasonable because, with Yao Ming retiring and Yi Jianlian's ability declining, the Chinese team is now basically counting on Xu Yongduo.

And Xu Yong, who has officially reached his peak, is someone who can score 69 points and 72 points in a single game in the NBA playoffs.

Although fiba games are not NBA games and the rules are very different, because of the technical characteristics of the game, Xu Yong is a player who can switch perfectly like Durant.

Xu Yong's performance lasted throughout the group stage. With an average of 39 points per game, he led the Chinese team to a complete victory in the group stage.

If it weren't for the easy win against the African brothers, Xu Yong ended the game early and only scored 20 points. His average score in the group stage was definitely over 40.

Fans basically have two feelings after watching this kind of performance.

First, Schmidt's dusty, untouched history has begun to loosen up a bit.

The second point is that they saw a hypothesis that many people raised back then: what it would be like when Jordan represented basketball teams from other countries.

And just when everyone thought Xu Yong's performance in the group stage was crazy enough, they didn't know until the knockout round that it was just the beginning.

In the first knockout game, against Serbia, which was fourth in another group, Xu Yong surprised everyone with his 51-point performance in a single game.

The game was also very fierce. The two sides fought until the last minute. Xu Yong used a difficult kill at the last moment to help the Chinese team pass the danger.

After this game, there was a voice from the outside world. They felt that the strength of the Chinese team was much weaker than four years ago, and it was so difficult to even beat Serbia, which was fourth in the group.

But in fact, the strength of this Serbian team is completely underestimated.

Although Jokic has not yet joined the Serbian national team at this time, in the history that Xu Yong experienced in his previous life, Serbia was the runner-up in this year's Olympic Games.

With this kind of doubt, the men's basketball team successfully reached the semi-finals, and their opponent was their old rival, the Australian team, which was created famously by [Yellow Miracle] Bogut in the London Olympics.

This can be described as enemies not getting together.

As a result, the Chinese team played relatively easily in this game, because Australia attacked Xu Yong frantically throughout the game, and the rest of the Chinese team was completely open.

So although he only scored 34 points, the lowest score since this year's Olympic Games, he provided 11 assists and allowed the Chinese team to advance to the finals by defeating Australia by a double-digit margin.

Yi Jianlian made three three-pointers from the outside and scored the second-highest score of the Chinese team with 3 points. Jeremy Lin had 17 points and 16 assists. Zhou Qi also had 6 points, 13 rebounds and 11 blocks. In addition, Ding Yanyuhang scored 4 points. The Chinese team can be said to be in full bloom.

This also lets the outside world know that although most of Xu Yong's teammates are indeed CBA, when you despise them, you have to pay a price for it.

In the final, the Chinese team met the American team again.

Although this American team, the Dream Team 12, does not have Durant, it still has Irving, Anthony, George, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Green, Cousins, DeAndre Jordan and others. It can be said that It has gathered all the stars of the new generation and completely crushed the Chinese team in terms of talent.

Especially since the Chinese team does not have Yao Ming this time, there is no advantage inside.

The only person they can rely on is Xu Yong.

As for the US team, the head coach and Olympic veteran K also knows this.

So at the beginning of the final, Old K, like the Australian team, launched a crazy attack on Xu Yong.

But what is different from the Australian team is that the talent of the American players makes their flanking attack very scary in a fiba arena that is smaller than the NBA.

Why was the Dream Team so scary back then? It's because of this move.

Although the U.S. team does not have Wade's sharp steal this time, they do have George and Butler. The pressure these two people can put on the outside is very high.

Especially Butler, as Xu Yong's Pippen, he can be said to be very familiar with Xu Yong's playing style.

In the entire first half, Xu Yong only took 13 shots and scored 16 points, which was a huge gap from his previous games.

Under the strong defensive rotation of the US team, the performance of the rest of the Chinese team is also very limited.

So by the time halftime ended, the Chinese team was already 20 points behind the American team.

Almost no one thinks that the Chinese team still has a chance, even the members of the Chinese team.

And this time during the halftime break, Xu Yong did not give any chicken soup to his teammates.

But at the beginning of the second half, Xu Yong showed a completely different way of playing from the first half. He began to frequently take shots from double teams, and then used various techniques to put the ball into the basket.

That sounds crazy, let alone in front of fans.

"I don't know how to express it, but what I want to say is that after returning from the second half, our attack on him seemed to have lost its effect." After the game, Old K said helplessly at the press conference.

Throughout the second half, Xu Yong used an almost crazy method to score frequently in the American team's trap.

19 points in the third quarter and 23 points in the fourth quarter!

In the entire second half, Xu Yong scored 42 points!

The powerful aura he showed on the offensive end made George flinch when he defended him, and even Butler could only watch the ball and sigh.

And in the two rounds that decided the outcome, Xu Yong first helped defend and directly blocked Anthony's buzzer-beater, and then returned to the offensive end. He resisted George's defense and hit the game-killing three-pointer from the outside.

When the ball was scored, the commentator on the scene stood up and walked aside and knelt down.

58 points in a single game!

Xu Yong used a method to break Schmidt's single-game Olympic scoring record of 55 points, helping the Chinese men's basketball team to incredibly complete the defense of the Olympic title in Rio.

When the final whistle sounded, Xu Yong, surrounded by his teammates, walked to the bench and sat down. Exhausted and excited, he couldn't control his emotions and his eyes turned red.

Before this, or before this summer, he himself would not have thought that he could still lead his team to the top without Yao Ming.

Because he has played in the NBA all year round, he is very aware of the strength of the Dream Team.

But Durant's unexpected withdrawal, coupled with the NBA's "vertical takeoff rule" that killed local centers, ultimately led to this incredible result.

At this moment, someone forcefully tapped Xu Yong on the shoulder from behind.

No one dares to do this at this time, except one person.

When Xu Yong turned around and saw the female omen Riyue, whose eyes were also red, he stood up and gave her a big bear hug.

They once again reached the highest point in the world. Although their roles were different at this time, the excitement was shared.

After the game, when he put on the golden medal that represented the highest honor of the Olympic Games, Xu Yong was filled with excitement.

After putting on the medals, the other members of the Chinese team held hands and made a "worship" gesture towards Xu Yong on the stage.

The scene was filled with applause and cheers, and no one thought there was anything wrong with this scene.

Because in addition to 58 points in a single game, Xu Yong also averaged 42.4 points per game. He completely broke Schmidt's record in one Olympic Games.

After the award ceremony, Xu Yong was interviewed by Zhang Weiping on the sidelines.

When he saw the same red eyes and asked Xu Yong how he felt about the last winning goal, Xu Yong originally wanted to say thank you to Xiao Hua.

But after thinking about it, it seems wrong, because the [vertical takeoff rule] is a product of the Stern era.

So in the end, he could only smile at the camera and say: "Thank you, James."

(End of this chapter)