Chapter 995: Chapter 415: When Will You Beco Number One in the World?
ESPN Player Rankings: Zhang Yang, Kobe, Wade, Paul, Jas.
Zhang Yang pouted, opened the websites of three other popular dia outlets, and took a look.
As of yesterday, player rankings outside the top five had all been announced, leaving only Zhang Yang, Kobe, Paul, Wade, and Jas undisclosed.
The sixth spot in the rankings of the four major dia outlets was given to either Yao Ming or Duncan.
In past years, forr top-five regular Nash was ranked tenth at best by Sports Illustrated, with the drastic drop attributed to his partnership with O’Neal.
The top five of the other three dia outlets, T.N.T Sports: Kobe, Wade, Zhang Yang, Jas, Paul;
Sports Illustrated: Kobe, Paul, Zhang Yang, Jas, Wade;
Fox Sports: Kobe, Jas, Zhang Yang, Paul, Wade.
In the other three dia, positions two, four, and five varied, but Kobe was always first, and Zhang Yang was always third.
It is evident that Jas received high evaluations from the other three dia, none of which placed him fifth, making his overall ranking higher than Paul and Wade.
Felton scrutinized his younger brother suspiciously and asked, “Jack, did your father buy into ESPN?”
That look, the essence of the little chubby boss remains pure and simple… Zhang Yang quipped, “I wish, but I don’t have the channels. If I could, I’d invest my own money, but sothing’s off. There must be a problem, ESPN ranks first, King fifth, no matter how you look at it, there’s an issue.”
Veteran Hill said, “This is ESPN trying to recreate the old Michael days!”
Felton: “Grant, how so?”
Hill recalled: “That was in 1995, I had just finished my rookie season and had just beco the All-Star vote leader as a rookie…”
Zhang Yang, Felton, Okafor, Millsap, and other teammates: “…”
After bragging a bit about being the rookie vote leader, Hill continued: “Michael returned at the end of the 94-95 season, played poorly in the playoffs, and the Rockets won the championship that season. Before the start of the 95-96 season, Michael was ranked at tier T2 by ABC, with only Olajuwon in tier T1. We all know what happened next: the Bull Team got 72 wins, and Michael won the MVP…”
Felton: “So that’s how it is. ESPN is just that confident in Jas, thinking he can win the MVP?”
Zhang Yang: “He doesn’t need to win the MVP; as long as he performs better than any of the top four, that’s enough. If he doesn’t outperform them, ESPN doesn’t lose; it proves their good judgnt. Look, ESPN’s headline news has way more clicks and comnts than the three other dia outlets…”
Felton: “That’s really… Jack, you’re in trouble. If you don’t perform the best in the league, you’re definitely going to be ridiculed.”
Zhang Yang: “Right! Damn it, ESPN set up! So what do you say, how about… I just beco the world’s strongest?”
Felton: “Huh?”
Zhang San’s ‘solution’ not only shocked the little chubby but also surprised the others; no one expected him to say that.
But hearing it from him, the teammates weren’t really surprised, nor did they think it was impossible.
Zhang Yang browsed the comnt sections of the four dia outlets, and ESPN’s move garnered a huge wave of traffic; within just a few minutes, the comnts numbered in the thousands, while other dia had only a few hundred.
However, the controversy was huge; the old Ironsmith’s fans were very dissatisfied with Zhang San being ranked first, constantly questioning, cursing, and ridiculing, while his fans fought back fiercely, sparking a heated argunt.
Jas’s fans were also unhappy with this ranking and even joined forces with their previously most hated group, Kobe’s fans, to attack Zhang San together.
Wade’s fans weren’t very pleased either, while Paul’s fans were cheerful, happy about being in the top five for the first ti.
As for the team rankings released today, the last three places were low in popularity, mainly due to a lack of controversy. The defending champion Bull Team was routinely ranked first, the runner-up Lakers second, and the Bobcats third…
After lunch, Zhang Yang sat for exclusive interviews with several dostic dia outlets, as expected, all inquiring about the player rankings, with these dia selectively using ESPN’s ranking.
After the interviews, Zhang Yang checked so dostic websites, and sure enough, they all cited the highest ranking, which indeed added pressure on him.
Zhang San: The still-young , am I just being pushed towards the first place?
…
At 7 PM, the pre-season Halloween event co-hosted by the Bobcats and Charlotte City Hall began.
The program had few acts, lasting only thirty minutes in total, with ten minutes allocated for local councilors about to run for election to promote themselves.
Through a chat with old Bickerstaff, Zhang Yang learned that this event was essentially a part of a benefits exchange, with Boss Qiao using the team’s influence locally to help those council mbers they cooperate with get votes. Once re-elected, the councilors would provide convenience in local policies for the Bobcats.
When the players entered the venue, each wore a Halloween-appropriate mask and walked in with one or two children dressed in Halloween costus, indirectly assisting Boss Qiao and supporting the team’s interest exchange with City Hall.
After the entrance ceremony, Zhang Yang received a pre-ga interview, during which he understood from the reporters why Hill had remarked ‘as expected, a bad kid’ when he chose the pumpkin mask.
Pumpkin Jack, the bad child in the Arican folklore, unloved by God, feared by the Devil, wandering the earthly realm.
Originally from European folklore, it was called Turnip Jack, as lanterns for Halloween in Europe were initially made from turnips. During the Age of Exploration, the Irish discovered pumpkins in xico, found them more suitable for lanterns, and after settling in North Arica, changed the Halloween lanterns to pumpkins, thus transforming Turnip Jack into Pumpkin Jack.
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