The night he arrived in Los Angeles, Xu Yong was called by Kobe Bryant.
"I know the best nightclub in Los Angeles. If you want to go, I'll pay for it." When he saw Xu Yong for the first time, Kobe said, patting his chest.
"Isn't this bad?" Xu Yong looked embarrassed.
"What's wrong? We're friends, it's just a nightclub purchase." Kobe said with a raised corner of his mouth.
"Okay, I want to get to know my Lakers teammates in advance. How about you call them all over and let's go to a nightclub together?" Xu Yong continued.
Kobe's face froze and he looked at Xu Yong for a while, then he laughed and punched Xu Yong on the shoulder.
Xu Yong also laughed.
He didn't know yet that Kobe was the kind of person who told McGrady not to train during the offseason, and then went to the weight room to train after McGrady went to his room to rest.
"Let's go to the training ground and see how your training is going." After he put away his smile, Kobe said seriously.
He was also a student in Olajuwon's training class. He had a good chat with Xu Yong and wanted to know how Xu Yong's dream dance training was going.
Xu Yong nodded. His current thoughts are about Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms, and so am I.
Because it was a trial run, there was no winner or loser in the one-on-one match they had after arriving at the training hall, and both of them consciously used their feet more.
Therefore, Kobe, who was much stronger than Xu Yong, did not have much advantage.
Of course, there is another reason. Xu Yong is one size larger than Kobe. Although it is not at the level of Kobe's evaluation of Tracy McGrady, "He can do all the moves I can do and do them better than me." But it also makes Kobe feel uncomfortable.
An hour later, the sweaty two sat on the sidelines drinking water and resting.
"It seems that your training has not fallen behind at all." Kobe nodded and praised after taking a sip of water.
"Young people will be eliminated if they don't practice enough." Xu Yong explained that the current Kobe may not necessarily watch Los Angeles at four in the morning, but he is already very familiar with Chicago at four in the morning.
After hearing this, Kobe couldn't help but rub his chin and look at Xu Yong. He, who originally only paid more attention to Xu Yong because of his status as a student and good communication, now felt more affection for Xu Yong.
After all, birds of a feather flock together.
"Have you tried the breakthrough step we talked about before?" Kobe asked seriously after putting down his hand.
"What about you?" Xu Yong didn't expect Kobe to suddenly ask about this. He didn't answer immediately, but asked Kobe instead.
"No, I haven't found the trick yet." Kobe was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile.
"Me too." Xu Yong saw this and replied.
…
The next day, the Bulls held their final practice at the Staples Center training facility.
Rose's overall competitive condition looks quite good.
There is a detail that will be overlooked, that is, psychology is also a very critical part of injury problems.
To give a very superficial example, a person who has just sprained his foot will be very helpful to avoid spraining his foot again when he goes to play on the court, so based on this, he will subconsciously change his playing style.
The ups and downs of Rose's status actually have a lot to do with this.
After all, if there is really a long way to go before he recovers, the Bulls will not risk letting him play.
After seeing it, Xu Yong couldn't help but go up and remind him.
Although he has no memory of Rose suffering serious injuries during this period, his appearance has caused a lot of changes since the draft. "Rose played too hard because he didn't want to live up to his maintenance. Being aggressive and causing serious injury is not impossible.
"I know." Rose's answer was succinct.
Harden is just introverted, but Rose is really introverted.
However, just like the shoulder collision, Xu Yong could feel that Rose should be able to control the situation on his own.
…
That night, the Staples Center in Los Angeles was full.
Although the team's recent performance has been mediocre, since the team won the championship last season, the Lakers' football market has reached a new peak. For the new season, not to mention regular tickets, even season tickets have been sold out early.
This is the foundation of the giants. In terms of league influence alone, the Lakers and Celtics, as the two giants of the East and West, are greater than the Bulls.
And this is Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, so it is inevitable that there will be stars in the front row of the audience.
The one who attracts the most attention is naturally Jack Nicholson, the leading actor in movies such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Shining" and the actor who plays the Joker in "Batman". He is at the Staples Center. But there are exclusive VIP seats.
Of course, in addition to him, there are many other well-known celebrities here tonight.
For example, Taylor Swift, the popular female country singer who has become a hit in the United States with her album "Fearless";
Another example is the sexy actress Megan Fox, the heroine of "Transformers";
Another example is Michelle Rodriguez, the heroine of "The Fast and the Furious" who is always known for her broad-mindedness and heroic appearance.
The basketball game in Los Angeles is not just a basketball game, but more like a "show".
So when it comes to attention, the attention this game brings is not necessarily lower than the opening game against the Cavaliers that fans have been hyping for a long time.
After the two teams warmed up, the scene entered into the opening ceremony.
There is an adjustment to the Bulls' starting lineup, with Gibson replacing Sangela in the starting lineup.
Rose, Xu Yong, Deng, Gibson, Noah.
This starting lineup is really Deng leading a group of young players on rookie contracts.
The Lakers used a regular lineup, with "Old Fish" Fisher and Kobe Bryant partnering on the outside, Ariza and Lamar Odom on the forward line, and "Baby Shark" Bynum at center.
The fans at the scene were very enthusiastic.
Just looking at the starting lineup, this is a game where adults beat children.
What's more, this kid just suffered a four-game losing streak in the past week.
In other words, this is the welfare state of the schedule, the kind of game where you can open the champagne right from the start.
The game started immediately. Bynum easily jumped up and moved the ball back to half court. The Lakers won the opportunity to attack first.
On the Lakers' first possession, Kobe did not appear on the strong side.
This is one of Kobe's habits after he matures. He will first let his teammates find out the feeling, or check the status of his teammates first.
Bynum reached for position under the basket, preparing to beat Noah.
The NBA has many top inside beasts from the neck down, such as JaVale Olajuki, a regular on the "Shaq Five", Thabeet, who has played against Xu Yong before, and Bynum in front of him.
In terms of physical talent, Bynum is definitely the kind that ranks high in history. He is 2.13 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.29 meters. As a big man, he can jump 80cm, and while his movement speed is not slow, he can also Has a soft touch and solid footwork.
"Baby Shark" is not a nickname that everyone can call.
He is also the youngest player in NBA history to land a player. Yes, he is younger than James. He entered the NBA when he was 18 years and 6 days old.
But it is precisely because of this that he showed everyone what it is like to play in the NBA with an immature mind.
Last season, he averaged 14.3 points, 8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, which was considered a new height in his career. However, he was troubled by a knee injury in the playoffs and his data plummeted to 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks.
It stands to reason that when something like this happens, he should take good care of his injuries during the offseason. As a result, as an extreme sports enthusiast, he went bungee jumping overseas wearing protective gear not long after the surgery.
And that's not all. While he was recuperating, he played poker with a "Playboy" model, which made everyone in Los Angeles know about it.
Perhaps because of these reasons, his performance so far this season has been very average. He failed to support the Lakers inside when Gasol was absent. He was criticized by the media for a while. You must know that Los Angeles is more magnifying glass than a magnifying glass.
So when he finally meets a soft persimmon, he has to behave well.
The ball was fed in, Bynum lowered his shoulders and exerted his strength, directly choosing to hit hard.
But Noah did not lose his defensive position as he expected.
Noah: If I can’t stand up to the big shark, I can’t stand up to you, the little shark?
Bynum then chose to start using his feet, but Noah showed good ability to defend the inside after not suffering a loss in the confrontation, and he did not suffer at all.
In the end, Bynum had no choice but to turn around, pull the ball high and hit it high.
This time he finally got a chance to take action, but failed to hit.
Noah did not lose his defensive position, and his long arms were always standing in front of him. This was too difficult for him.
Noah turned around to collect the defensive rebound, and the Lakers' first wave of offense did not score.
And after Noah collected the rebound, he performed his best trick, directly holding the ball and accelerating forward.
The entire Bulls team pressed forward, and Kobe was keeping an eye on Xu Yong, who was about to go down immediately. But on the other side, Rose received a pass from Noah and then changed direction and passed Fisher, who was holding up his trouser legs. A layup scored two points.
The Bulls took the lead.
Looking back, Bynum continued to ask for the ball in the low post. This time he used the hook he learned from "Sky Hook" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but unfortunately he still failed to hit.
And when he took off the offensive rebound for a second attack, Noah slapped the ball away.
The Bulls took advantage of the situation and launched a defensive counterattack. Rose made a layup and caused a foul. After making two free throws, the Bulls directly beat the Lakers 4-0 at the beginning!
The fans at Staples Center were agitated.
Their first feeling at this time is that the Bulls' concentration and enthusiasm don't look like a team that has lost four consecutive games?
And why does Rose look different from previous games?
But soon, this restlessness disappeared, because Kobe, who discovered that Bynum was really bad, finally started to hold the ball.
After extending his hand to pull away, Kobe directly chose to challenge Xu Yong.
Seeing this, Xu Yong also put up a posture.
The two of them moved yesterday's bullfight directly to the arena.
Kobe chose to break through from the left after a feint. His start and rhythm control were perfect. In terms of technology alone, he was even better than Jordan.
However, Xu Yong was not passed over. Last night's bullfight with Kobe allowed him to become familiar with Kobe's offensive rhythm in advance.
Sharpening a gun in the face of battle will bring displeasure.
"boom!"
But at this moment, a scene that was familiar and surprising to Xu Yong appeared. Kobe directly stopped the ball with a heavy dribble during the breakthrough, then jumped to the ground and turned around to shoot a step-back jumper towards the free throw line.
This time Xu Yong couldn't pounce and could only watch Kobe complete the shot.
"Uh-huh!"
Kobe's shots hit steadily, helping the Lakers break their scoring drought.
Xu Yong, who saw Kobe Bryant using his "hard pivot foot": Sure enough, the world is real.
(End of chapter)
