Summer League should be the lowest intensity game among all NBA games.
Of course, this does not mean that attention is low.
Because the regular season is over at this point, this is the only game fans can watch during the long offseason.
In particular, the summer league is essentially a stage for testing rookies.
Fans have just watched their own draft, and of course they want to see their rookies perform.
But rookies alone are not enough to form a team, so it also includes some second-year players, undrafted players and free agents.
So this is not the approach of "you are a rookie, give you the ball, give me points", it is also a competitive stage.
Xu Yong first went to Chicago with Johnson and Gibson, where he trained with his teammates for more than a week.
The Bulls have no second-year players this year. They are basically just the three of them plus some undrafted players and free agents. They are not very strong.
Xu Yong has only a slight impression of a center named Chris Richard, the main center of the University of Florida's two consecutive championships, a teammate of Noah, and also played for the CBA Liaoning team.
This man is a muscular man with a wingspan. He is 2.06 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.20 meters, but other than that he has no special skills.
As the No. 41 pick in 2007, he only played in the NBA for one year and had no ball to play. This time he came to the Bulls to try his luck.
However, this lineup itself is not based on the record, but on the performance of the three rookies.
It was during this period that Xu Yong and the three of them completed the contract with the Bulls.
All three were first-round picks and signed contracts with the same length of time. A 2+1+1 contract stipulated by the league. The first two years are fully guaranteed. The third and fourth years are standard contracts with team options.
Of course, there is a gap in their amounts due to the order of selection.
Gibson's salary is 5.5 million in 4 years, Johnson's salary is 7.94 million in 4 years, and Xu Yong's salary is 20.85 million in 4 years.
This was also Xu Yong's first pot of gold when he entered the NBA, although he was far from having as much as he seemed.
According to NBA regulations, except for some special contracts that can be collected in advance, most others are issued 24 times a year.
Xu Yong’s first-year salary is 4.46 million. After deducting federal tax (about 40%), state tax (about 6% in Chicago), league trusteeship (10%), and agent commission (Schwartz 2%), it is about 4.46 million. There are about 1.87 million left.
These salaries are divided into 24 installments, each of which is approximately US$90,000.
He is still the second pick. Like Gibson, the money he gets at one time is less than 20,000.
Therefore, although a few of them have entered the NBA and have a basic income, there is still a certain gap between them and "suddenly rich".
Shortly after signing the contract, they also confirmed their jersey numbers.
There are only four jersey numbers retired by the Bulls, namely Jerry Sloan's No. 4, Bob Love's No. 10, Jordan's No. 23 and Pippen's No. 33.
Except for these four retired numbers, other numbers can be selected.
Gibson chose the same No. 22 as in college, Johnson also wore No. 23 in college and changed to No. 16, and Xu Yong chose No. 6 as Zhang Weiping said in the previous interview.
After signing the contract, choosing numbers, they set off with the team to Las Vegas.
After arriving in Las Vegas, they checked into a local express hotel.
It turned out that the soundproofing of this hotel was poor, and it was next to a bar and a small casino. The sound sounded like a duet in the middle of the night.
No, a trio to be precise.
I don’t know which couple upstairs got excited in the middle of the night. The key is that the window has not been closed yet. You know the screams from Europe and America.
Moreover, that woman's physical strength was so good that she screamed for an hour like a baby.
It was like sleeping and not being able to sleep, sleeping and not being able to sleep well.
When I woke up the next morning, even a person like Xu Yong, who was used to short sleep, had panda eyes.
But there is no way, the summer league does not technically belong to the NBA season, which means that its expenses are not reimbursed by the home team.
A very realistic situation is that this year the Bobcats did not have enough funds to form a team, so all the rookies were sent to the Jazz, and the Nets and 76ers also jointly formed a team.
In this context, it is a huge benefit to be able to provide accommodation for players this year. In previous years, players had to find a place to live on their own.
And this is Las Vegas, where every inch of land is precious. Not to mention changing to a hotel, the price is something even the average player can't afford.
As a result, the Bulls and the Pistons, who stayed at this express hotel together last night, had an iron fight.
The audience at the game felt sorry for the basket.
The Bulls narrowly defeated the Pistons 58-55.
Xu Yong was the best performer on the Bulls side and hit the key goal at the last moment, but he only scored 14 points on 5 of 12 shots.
Although, this is already the highest score in the game.
Just after the game, Xu Yong immediately went to a nearby retail store to buy a dozen pairs of sound-isolating earplugs, and then gave one to his teammates.
You can tell from the happy expressions on the team members’ faces that there couldn’t be a better gift than this moment.
This wave is called [human feelings and sophistication].
But just as Xu Yong was giving earplugs to his teammates, fans on social media were already reaching climax.
"Second place? That's it?"
"Putting aside the fact that the score was low on the court, does Xu Yong really deserve to be ranked second with 14 points?"
"Xu Yong is indeed like T-mac, as strong as T-mac."
"I'm laughing so hard. Is this what the Bulls get in return for sending away most of the team?"
"Brother, this is the summer league. I am optimistic that the Grizzlies will get the second pick next year!"
…
This group of fans has been waiting here since the draft.
Because Xu Yong kept a low profile after being selected and had not yet opened social media, which made them unable to find a place to vent.
Now I finally have an entry point, but I can't output enough.
And on the second day of the summer league, the Clippers also made their league debut.
In another arena in Las Vegas, Griffin made a historic debut.
He scored the team's first 7 points and made all of his first eight shots. In the end, he made 11 of 15 shots from the field and scored 27 points and 12 rebounds, leading the team to a victory over the rival Lakers in the same city.
This time, fans on social media were even more excited.
The direct result of this was that Xu Yong had not opened social media and would not have seen these things, but Johnson had already told him about it on his cell phone.
Seeing those fans who were as angry as if they had cheated on their girlfriend, Xu Yong frowned for the first time.
It was also his first time to see such a battle.
And he couldn't help but think of Yao Ming's experience of scoring 0 points in his debut. At that time, social media was not so developed, but the media people's ridicule of Yao Ming was unabashed. Barkley's "kissing a donkey's butt" incident has been circulated to Now.
This is no longer just a matter of the No. 2 pick. Those Americans are used to a condescending attitude, pointing at you with a magnifying glass and pointing out that you will make a fool of yourself.
Although Xu Yong has lived through two lives, there is still an unknown anger rising in his chest at this moment.
He glanced at Johnson, then called Gibson, the two teammates who had gotten along well with him for a short time, together to discuss something with them.
Those guys are cheap, right? You like being slapped in the face, right?
Then he will satisfy them once!
Of course, there is another very important reason why Johnson and Gibson are willing to cooperate with Xu Yong. The head coach of this Bulls summer league is Del Harris.
That's right, that is "Silver Fox" Harris, who once served as the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team. He is the first assistant coach of the Bulls.
Harris is now 72 years old. He originally planned to retire this summer, but after this year's draft, he changed his plan and decided to fight for another year.
…
It's still the same arena, but the difference is that the Bulls' mental outlook has taken on a new look because of the guaranteed sleep. During the warm-up, Xu Yong also showed off a dunk.
And perhaps because of Xu Yong's "crotch-stretching" performance in the first game, quite a few fans came to the scene. The hall with thousands of people was almost full, and there were many media reporters in the front row.
Facts have proved that the most indispensable thing in the world is people who watch the excitement and don't take it too seriously.
As for the media, it’s not just about finding news materials wherever they are.
But what many people didn't expect was that a Bulls player also came to the scene.
Derrick Rose.
Of course, Ross couldn't have come all the way to see Xu Yong's joke.
After seeing Ross, Xu Yong was also a little surprised.
You can guess with your toes that Rose is here to support him.
In an instant, Xu Yong's friendship with this former opponent and future teammate increased dramatically.
He stepped forward to greet Rose.
Rose was very shy and didn't speak much. After a few simple exchanges, he bumped shoulders with him and then sat down to watch the ball intently.
The Bulls' opponent tonight is the Grizzlies.
