First in scoring

Chapter 86 85. He should thank the fake champion

It is still the familiar Yinshan Park, the familiar evening sunset, the familiar open space with three basketball courts lined up horizontally, and the same young men.

But everyone’s attitude and mentality are different.

DeRozan looked at the tattered Kobe stand that had been exposed to the sun, rain, wind and rain, and recalled the summer of 2003, when he picked up a baseball player in this stadium to play baseball together. Then, two years later, that baseball player entered the NBA... What about the agreement that he would just graduate early and go to college?

Harden: Zhang San is too strong, how can I surpass him... Hey! My brother is awesome! But I still want to surpass him, what should I do... Train harder! I don't believe it, my Erha is almost surpassing Ronaldo, one day I will definitely surpass Zhang San... But he entered the NBA at the age of 17... Then I will enter at the age of 19! It can't be later! Zhang San entered the NBA after two years of training, I started training last year, and in another 3 or 4 years, I can finally enter the NBA!

Tatum: Oh, isn't it just entering the NBA at the age of 17? My uncle had a teammate who also entered the NBA at the age of 17.

Jarrett Young is in autism: I took Jack to play baseball for 5 years... Damn it!

Oh, by the way, Jarrett Young is not a teenager anymore, his freshman year is over, and he will be 20 years old in a few days. He came back to spend the summer vacation to accompany his mother, and work part-time to earn some living expenses and pocket money for the new semester. The handicraft, textile, and food industries in Yinshan City, which number tens of thousands of people, are all providing goods to the rural area and the surrounding wealthy towns, so odd jobs are easy to find.

Tyson Roy is currently undergoing pre-season training with the USC football team. The NCAA football tournament kicks off on September 9, and he finally made the starting lineup for the second team. When his little brother made it to the NBA, he just made a phone call to congratulate him and is focusing on pursuing his dream.

Zhang Yang: The evening breeze is still very gentle...

After reminiscing for a while, DeRozan asked, "Jack, why did you come back after so many days?"

Today, July 7th, 9 days have passed since the draft. Zhang Yang just flew back from Charlotte in the morning and sent a group text message. Four friends came here in the afternoon.

Zhang Yang responded, "Don't mention it. Taking boring classes offered by the NBA, accepting interviews, going to Charlotte for physical examinations and signing contracts... Everything else is fine. It's business, NBA classes, hey, DeMar, James, Carmelo, you will know in the future."

Tatum: "What class makes you, a person who loves learning so much, feel bored?"

Do I love learning? Okay, let’s just say I love it… Zhang Yang responded, “There are only three useful courses: taxation, media relations, and NBA prohibition regulations. They can be explained in two hours, but the league split these courses into two days, filling them with a lot of boring courses, and even spent half an hour teaching us how to wear shirts, ties, and belts.”

Harden joined in: "I've seen the news. Okafor also talked about this last year. Some experts said that the NBA was trying to catch up with Major League Baseball by extending the original half-day rookie course to two days, the same as Major League Baseball."

Zhang Yang understood it. He was not sure about baseball leagues in other countries, but the rules of the North American Major League Baseball were indeed complicated, even with requirements on clothing.

But it is those seemingly meaningless rules that make Major League Baseball the most "civilized" league among the four major leagues in North America.

DeRozan: "Jack, I saw your interview. When did you become so low-key?"

Zhang Yang: "Haven't I always been very low-key?"

DeRozan: "You? Low-key? Uh... You were quite low-key in 10th grade, but it was different in 11th grade. I've never seen an 11th grade high school student as high-profile as you..."

Zhang Yang: "If I'm weak, I'll develop in a low profile. If I'm strong, I'll be the second in the world. The first one is already dead!"

On June 6th and 30st, Zhang Yang had many interviews with both American and domestic media.

As early as when the NBA officially released the draft application form, many media wanted to interview him, but at that time he was still maintaining his "mystery" and refused to be interviewed.

In fact, even if he was selected, he didn't want to be interviewed for the time being. He felt it was a waste of time and he would be questioned about this and that.

But this interview was arranged by the NBA officials, and Tellem needed him to take advantage of the heat of the draft to be interviewed and show his face to increase the topic so that he could gain more initiative in negotiations with those sponsors, so he was in business for two days.

Fortunately, he was selected, and it was a lottery show. At least the domestic media was very friendly. For a time, the topic that the Bobcats are always... always worth looking forward to was very popular in China.

After all, it is a team led by the basketball god Michael Jordan.

At this time, Jordan's reputation in the management position was not bad. Although he had a dark history of ruining Kwame Brown, people still recognized Kwame Brown's talent.

When the Bobcats were building the team, Jordan traded the No. 4 pick for the No. 15 pick from the Clippers. He selected Emeka Okafor, who performed well in his rookie season, averaging 10+ per game, with strong defense, and won the Rookie of the Year award. He was called a tall version of Ben Wallace. It was an excellent move.

Zhang Yang was very low-key during the interview. When he first entered the NBA, he entered the sneaky development mode.

This is completely different from the arrogant and rude image that the media has speculated in the past period of time. The actual situation is better than expected. The domestic media were also very friendly when reporting on Zhang Yang, saying that under the guidance of the God of Basketball, his future is worth looking forward to.

The Bobcats' current role positioning in the domestic media is worth looking forward to.

As for the role of a championship contender, let's leave it to Yao Ming...

After hearing Zhang Yang's words, the other three scroll kings felt that they had learned something.

They found that it would be beneficial for them to have Zhang Yang explore the NBA first, as they could learn a lot.

Even Tatum, who has relatives who are NBA players, feels this way. His uncle is much older than him and will not tell him these things. Only his peers who grew up with him will tell him these things without any concern.

Jarrett Young listened for a long time, and finally thought of a topic to interrupt, and asked: "Jack, have you applied to North Carolina?"

Zhang Yang: "Yes, since I play basketball there, I will go to the university there. North Carolina is also good. Their Chapel Hill business school is highly ranked. Jordan wrote a letter of recommendation for me and it was done in a few days."

Jarrett Young, a former baseball player who didn't know Jordan well, said: "The basketball god is pretty nice. He even helped you get into college."

Zhang Yang laughed and said, "He didn't do that to help me. He knew that I could get into North Carolina with my undrafted test scores. He took me to Chapel Hill when I first arrived in Charlotte and processed my admission application that afternoon. Now I am considered an NBA player from North Carolina, so he won't be scolded for not picking Sean May."

Tatum: "Jordan was badly criticized by the Charlotte media after the draft. Sean May was the MOP in the semi-finals and had a lottery market. Jordan didn't choose him but you, a high school student. The pressure from public opinion is really great. The God of Basketball owes you a favor this time."

Zhang Yang: "My agent also said so. He said that it was the right decision for me to tell Jordan in advance that I was going to North Carolina. There was no difference between applying to the university by myself and being recommended by Jordan, but it was completely different for Jordan..."

As the few of them chatted, it got dark, so they left the park together and returned to Zhang Yang's restaurant in the city. His parents had already prepared the meal, Andy Tang had arrived, and Thomas had also specially suspended the sweep of junior high school students across California and returned to Hidden Mountain.

Everyone was very happy that Zhang Yang was selected by the NBA team.

Zhang Yang and five other minors drank soda, while several adults drank alcohol and finished a glass before dinner.

Thomas drank a gulp of wine and complained to Zhang Yang, "You said you wanted to graduate early and go to college. I supported you very much. I didn't expect you to go to the NBA early. When I saw you on the draft list, I was almost scared to death. Fortunately, you were selected. You should learn to play basketball from Jordan... When will you join the team?"

Zhang Yang felt guilty at first, but when he heard that he should learn to play basketball from Jordan... learn to jump up and wait for the opponent to fall before shooting? But Jordan did say that he would teach him how to play basketball...

Zhang Yang responded: "Jordan asked me to report to the stadium on the 20th."

Thomas: "Number 20? You're not participating in this summer league?"

Zhang Yang: "He asked me to stay home for a few more days to accompany my parents."

Thomas: "When did Jordan become so gentle? He actually considered these things for you. It's very different from what was rumored."

Zhang Yang: "I was also surprised. He took the initiative to help me apply to the team for an advance of 60% of my rookie season salary, and also told me to thank my parents for my first salary. I wanted to start training right away, but he pushed me back and told me to go back on the 20th. No one in the team would receive me before then."

When Yang Jing heard about the topic of salary, she said, "I used 50% of your salary to buy low-yield, low-risk funds and save them for next year's tax return. Your father's credit card is on your desk and you can withdraw cash from it. We will pay it back every month. You can use it as much as you want. The credit limit is very high. You can even buy a car with full payment if you want... Oh, I remember now. Yangyang, you can't drive alone yet, so there's no point in buying a car. Hahaha..."

Zhang Yang was speechless.

You can’t drive alone and you can’t drink alcohol. This is in the NBA!

I have to say it, she is indeed my own mother, her laughs are louder than anyone else's!
...

At the same time, in Charlotte, Jordan had just finished an afternoon of training.

Of course, he was not training for a comeback, but to prepare to guide Zhang Yang in training.

Since he has to guide the players in training, he must at least maintain basic physical condition. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to be beaten by a 17-year-old kid, even if he is 43 years old.

Jordan cares a lot about Zhang Yang.

He felt that it was not an easy thing for a 17-year-old child to come alone from the westernmost part of the United States to the easternmost city to live, study and work.

Even though this kid is more mature and independent than many rookies graduating from college... no, he is more difficult to deal with, but he is still a child who just turned 17 years old. Jordan wants Zhang Yang to slowly adapt to adult life and adult basketball... There was once a high school student with explosive defensive talent who was selected by him, but he did not cherish him. His radical training method ruined the high school student. Now God has given him another chance, and his training method has become much more mature.

Two years after retiring, Jordan felt somewhat guilty when thinking back to Kwame Brown.

Kwame Brown averaged only 14 minutes of playing time per game in his rookie year, and his playing time was intermittent. He would be substituted out after a few rounds of poor performance, then be substituted back in a few minutes later, and then be substituted out again after a few rounds... Not only did he perform poorly, but he also caused the team to play poorly because he kept digging holes on the court. He was also scolded by the boss and his confidence was repeatedly whipped.

In this way, sophomore Kwame Brown has improved to the point where he has the strength to be a main substitute, averaging 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 block in 1 minutes per game.

But at that time, Jordan felt that this progress was still not enough. Since he had the talent, he would continue to put pressure on him.

During the offseason, Kwame Brown trained on his own and made rapid progress. Under Jordan's guidance, he averaged 6+6 at the beginning and 7+5 at the end of the season. He made almost no progress during his sophomore season.

When Jordan retired, Kwame Brown made rapid progress in the first and middle stages of his junior year. After the All-Star Weekend, he pushed Brendan Haywood, who had suppressed him for two and a half years, to the bench and secured his starting position.

Throughout his junior year, Kwame Brown ranked fourth in the league in low-post defensive efficiency, only behind O'Neal, Marcus Camby, and Eric Dampier. Duncan and Ben Wallace's low-post defensive efficiency was only on par with his.

In his senior year, Kwame Brown missed half a season due to injury, but still relying on his performance in his junior year, he was traded back to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade during the draft and got a lucrative three-year contract worth US$3 million.

Although the three-year, $3 million contract is as high as Marcus Camby's salary, judging by the superb defensive talent he demonstrated in the first three years of his career, Kwame Brown's second contract should be much more than that. The contract term should be doubled and the salary should be tripled to be the salary he deserves.

Once again encountering a high school student with extraordinary talent, Jordan learned his lesson and decided to be more patient.

The team is only in its second year and has no pressure to achieve good results.

Not only does he have no achievements, but he also has to continue to play badly to accumulate talents, so he has to be more patient.

Besides…it wasn’t him who was dragged down by the high school students.

Meeting Jordan with this mentality, a 17-year-old high school rookie took the initiative to invite Kwame Brown to dinner.

...

On the 10th, the second day after returning to Yinshan, Zhang Yang got up early and started practicing.

DeRozan got up earlier than Zhang Yang. Harden and Tatum, who love to stay in bed, also got up at 6: to train, inspired by their friends.

Last night the three of them stayed in the new house rented by Zhang Yang's family. It was quite advantageous to move to a bigger house as there happened to be three empty rooms.

Before Zhang Yang went to Charlotte, the three of them lived in Zhang Yang's house and trained together.

Individual training, one-on-one matches, two teams two… time passes day by day.

On the 16th, when the last summer league started, Zhang Yang did not appear in the summer league, which caused a wave of heated discussion.

However, it is not uncommon for rookies not to participate in the summer league. The Lakers did not allow Andrew Bynum to participate in the summer league.

Los Angeles media revealed that Kupchak asked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to guide Bynum's training.

In fact, if a rookie did not participate in the summer league, not many people would care. It’s just that Zhang Yang is too controversial, which created a lot of hype.

Soon people's attention was attracted by the news that the 40th pick in the second round, Monta Ellis, beat the 6th pick, Martell Webster, the 8th pick, Channing Frye, made the No. 39 pick Andrew Bogut question his life, and Deron Williams scored points against Chris Paul...

On the 20th, Zhang Yang said goodbye to his relatives and friends at the airport, checked in his luggage that had piled up like a mountain, and headed to Charlotte to start a new journey.

After seeing Zhang Yang off, DeRozan, Harden and Tatum also left Zhang Yang's home and returned to Compton to fight for their dreams. They all look forward to meeting Zhang Yang on the court again next time!
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(End of this chapter)