In the afternoon, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team. He had just gotten ho when he received a call from the team’s finance departnt, saying that he had been fined for using insulting language against an opponent, specifically the term ’bust’. The league added a technical foul for it, and he was told to rember to sign off on it the next day.
He had guessed that he might be penalized since this issue had already blown up in the morning. On the way back to Charlotte, Boss Qiao had given him a stern look.
The fans weren’t aware of it initially. Only a small number of fans near the sidelines heard him shout, while the majority of on-site fans and those watching the live broadcast only saw Kwa Brown fumble the wide-open dunk.
At the ti, the on-site fans were cursing Kwa Brown, but they were actually quite excited, anticipating the next overti. The fans watching the live broadcast were just cursing Kwa Brown.
This incident could have just blown over. Kwa Brown had been known for his butterfingers since his rookie year. In the 05-06 playoffs, he even fumbled twice in the crucial Ga 6, which directly led to the Lakers being dragged into overti and eventually losing to the Phoenix Suns in a historic Ga 7 coback. Fans were used to it.
However, during the replays after the ga, a TV station found that a microphone had caught Zhang Yang’s shout. They checked the footage and indeed found a side shot of him yelling. So, early this morning, the TV station released the edited footage to stir up the situation, and various dia followed suit... Then, Kwa Brown was criticized even harsher.
What was thought to be just another routine butterfingers mont for Kwa Brown turned into a after the video was released. To be yelled at so loudly that he lost grip of the dunk beca a scene people would rember for years, like the precedent set by Malone and the Jazz Team, causing Lakers fans to crack up.
The majority of Lakers fans didn’t bla Zhang Yang; it wasn’t the opponent’s malicious chatter that made their own player weak. Besides, their acceptance of trash talk had increased now with the Wolf King on their team. What Zhang Yang did was just trash talk.
Yet, ’bust’ is undeniably an insulting term. With dia chatter, criticism erged. Zhang San was already a highly controversial player, with many fans who love him but also many who hate or even despise him. Therefore, public opinion’s backlash also roped him in.
The league chose to give him an additional technical foul, offering the public an explanation, which was within his expectation.
But Zhang Yang didn’t mind too much. They had won the double-overti ga, and he was on cloud nine, only feeling a bit sorry for losing so money.
...
By the evening, Zhang Yang had dinner at his parents’ house, and after returning ho, he talked on the phone with his girlfriend for a couple of hours. Around 9 PM, after showering and changing, he lay on his bed, and within monts, a ’door’ appeared before his eyes.
With over 100,000 shooting value points, less than 40,000 short of earning a Talent Point, in the past, he would’ve chosen to get the Talent Point first before accumulating shooting value points to unlock training, as the talent upgrade directly reflects an improvent in skills during training. Besides, tasks co in sets; both the Talent Point and training need to be acquired to unlock the next task, without affecting the timing for the next training or Talent Point achievent.
However, his situation now was a bit different. With his foundational skills improving continuously, he was now mastering techniques at an increasing pace.
For instance, the last ti he joined Mark Jackson in the ’80s tiline to practice post moves, he managed to integrate what he had learned into his playstyle within a few months and was ready for real gas by the preseason.
His technical library was nearly depleted; he even started learning techniques from Felton.
Of course, this doesn’t an he has mastered all those techniques, most still have a way to go.
For example, his mid-range shot only improved to 91 last month, still weaker than the 92 on the ’10 tiline, let alone the 94 on the ’80 tiline.
But the fundantal skills and complentary techniques of the mid-range shot have passed their developntal phase, entering a stage of daily training and ga application for gradual improvent, perhaps requiring specific adjustnts after hitting a bottleneck, but not for now. The sa is true for most of his commonly used techniques.
Recently, he had one or two free hours on training days. Continuing with basic exercises of current techniques didn’t yield much effect, only increasing his frustration and affecting his training mindset. So, he started learning step-back shots from Felton. Even though Felton broke it down and taught it in detail, despite only having ti to learn two or three days a week, he almost fully absorbed it. Further detailed developnt wouldn’t be too troubleso, and soon there’d be free ti again.
He discussed this with Hill, Brad Miller, and Jordan, and the feedback from the three veterans or retired stars was consistent—they believed he had moved past the core technique foundation phase of his career and had entered a stage where he needed to explore various techniques extensively to select the best and most suitable ones.
Initially, the three were surprised that he reached this stage at only 20 years old, as they themselves had only reached it at around 24 or 25. But considering it was already his fourth year in the NBA, whereas it had also been their fourth year by the age of 24 or 25... they still had plenty of jokes to make, though they did offer him suggestions suitable for his current stage.
Therefore, he opted to initiate training this ti, aiming to learn more things. If nothing unexpected happens, he’ll head to the ’10 tiline, where Kobe and Nash’s treasure troves await!
With a thought, the six-figure shooting value turned into a four-figure one, and soon after, he felt a sudden wave of drowsiness...
...
After a deep sleep, Zhang Yang woke up feeling refreshed. Looking at the ’familiar’ bedroom, he was grateful that the ’him’ here hadn’t moved houses yet again, otherwise, there might not be a teacher Na to pick him up for work this ti.
But then... who’s this naked girl lying next to him?
He leaned in to check out the sleeping companion who was facing away from him... it was actually a ’familiar face’, Anna Amas.
No wonder ’he’ is like this, their tastes are quite similar.
He pulled up the blanket to cover the naked Anna Amas who had her back to him. It wasn’t because he was worried about ’cheating’ on the ’him’ here; this Cuban girl was most likely just a sleep companion to the ’him’ here. The main reason was that he too had a girlfriend now.
Although he knew that it wouldn’t be long before the whole world would enter version T0, and although Arica’s laws were not as extre as France’s, it wouldn’t be much longer. He didn’t have much hope for marriage, but maintaining loyalty to one’s partner was a baseline that still needed to be kept.
Zhang Yang got up and went to the bathroom. While showering, a stream of information flowed into his mind...
"After losing to the Thunder Team in the first round of the 2013 playoffs, countless fans gathered on the streets of Los Angeles daily to hold various live streaming activities. Lakers fans voiced their calls online, pleading for you to stay. So fans even pooled their resources to buy advertisents... you finally realized how popular you were in the California area, and the psychological shadow caused by the Spurs managent’s PUA tactics completely dissipated.
You chose to stay, and after the free agency opened, you renewed your contract with the Lakers with a starting salary of 14.96 million, totaling 68 million over a 4-year 3 1 deal, which triggered a collective jubilation among Los Angeles fans and even the entire Greater Los Angeles area’s basketball enthusiasts.
After the renewal, you, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and others discussed with the Lakers’ managent the selection of the head coach. Participating in the selection of the head coach was one of the conditions of your renewal, and the Lakers managent invited Gasol along to make efforts in renewing with him as well.
After several rounds of interviews, in mid-July, the Lakers signed Mike Budenholzer, the assistant coach of the Spurs from the previous season, as the head coach.
This choice satisfied the four main players of the team, including you.
Budenholzer was the coach with whom you had the best relationship during your ti with the Spurs and you appreciated his professional skills;
Budenholzer was well-versed in the various tactics of the Spurs, which satisfied Bryant;
The Spurs had many veterans, and Budenholzer had experience assisting in coaching veterans, which t the needs of Nash and Gasol.
In the off-season, the Lakers made large-scale personnel adjustnts, not renewing contracts with Earl Clark, Ron Artest, Antawn Jamison, and others, only retaining four role players: Steve Blake, Jordan Hill, Jodie eks, and Robert Sacre.
They signed lottery picks Xavier Henry and Wesley Johnson from the 2010 class, first-round pick Marshon Brooks from the 2011 class, first-round pick Kent Marshall from the 2012 class, veteran Shawn Williams from the 2006 class, and veteran Chris Kaman from the 2003 class...
With Bryant’s annual salary of 30 million, Gasol’s 19 million, and Nash’s 10 million, the Lakers’ total salary had long exceeded the salary cap. After your renewal, the Lakers’ total salary reached nearly 100 million. The off-season roster adjustnts focused primarily on optimizing age and structure, with the biggest acquisition being the signing of Chris Kaman with a 1 1 mini mid-level exception.
As a result, the Lakers were not highly regarded after the off-season ended. ESPN gave a controversial ranking, placing the Lakers only ninth in the West and fifteenth in the league.
This ranking stimulated you and your teammates. After more than a month of training camp and preseason preparation, you all surprised everyone at the start of the new season!
Nash fully embraced the sixth man role and played 67 gas in the new season, averaging 10.3 points and 5.7 assists per ga, with a shooting percentage of 51%, a three-point percentage of 42%, and a free-throw percentage of 93, becoming the leader of the second unit.
Gasol, after regaining the status of a tactical core, averaged 16.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks per ga, earning an All-Star selection.
Bryant underwent conservative treatnt for several months, his recovery was good. Although his athletic ability was sowhat impaired due to the treatnt, his competitive nature led him to make gaplay adjustnts over the sumr. Coupled with the expectations from fans and the underestimation from dia, he proactively participated in team collaboration, playing in 75 gas and averaging 22.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per ga, delivering the best passing performance of his career.
This season, you played all the regular season gas, 82 gas, averaging 27.5 points, a career high, in addition to 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per ga, with a shooting percentage of 46% and a three-point percentage of 39%... delivering the best performance of your career and being selected as an All-Star starter.
Under the leadership of the four of you, the Lakers achieved a record of 57 wins and 25 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference..."
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