At ten o'clock in the morning on the 2nd, Zhou Quan and Zhou Jun attended the opening ceremony of the first branch of the exquisite coffee shop.
Without inviting anyone else, his current influence was enough. There were dozens of media present, and there was a long queue of customers waiting to enter the store.
At noon, I took a nap for half an hour after lunch, then came to the headquarters and attended the press conference held at 1:30.
There were so many media coming, and the huge press hall was packed to the brim. There were more than 300 reporters, cameramen and assistants, and the first few rows were full of people with long guns and short guns.
"Tekken, how did you sleep last night?" The first person to ask was a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who asked a strange question.
"Why do you ask this question?" Zhou Quan asked doubtfully.
Many fellow reporters were also very puzzled and looked at the reporter to see what he would say.
The reporter laughed: "Because you said twice during last year's finals that you slept well and had no dreams all night, and you performed very well those two times."
Zhou Quan couldn't help but laugh, and other reporters also had expressions of realization and realization.
"I slept well last night..."
When Zhou Quan said this, he smiled and said: "This is confidential, I can't tell you now."
"Shh!"
The reporters actually booed at the scene.
The host called the second reporter's card, a reporter from the New York Times.
The reporter took the microphone and asked: "King of Iron Fist, what I want to know is that there is news that your opponent in the first mandatory defense match will be Holyfield. Is this news true?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Sir, the reason why my boxing team and I didn't announce the title defense is because we don't want to affect the NBA Finals, so you can ask me this question after the Finals."
The reporter reluctantly changed the question and asked: "Okay, Iron Fist, the media is currently more optimistic about the Sonics. Do you have anything to say about this?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "The media have become more professional this time, haha..."
After saying this, he started laughing, and the media reporters also burst into laughter.
…
On the evening of June 2, 1996, Seattle Center Arena.
Since the evening, there have been crowds of people inside and outside the museum, and even the entire city center has been overcrowded. Countless people have rushed to the city center from the entire Seattle metropolitan area, and every parking lot has been full.
"Grand champion! Grand champion..."
"King of Iron Fist! King of Iron Fist..."
Outside the Central Gymnasium, bursts of earth-shattering shouts erupted from time to time.
"Now Zhou Quan's nickname has become Iron Fist King. It's like he was crowned. There is an extra king."
"It would be great if I win this world boxing title defense."
"I think there is a chance. I heard Holyfield weighs only a few kilograms more than Zhou Quan. Zhou Quan's fighting ability and striking power will not suffer too much."
"This time our station should also broadcast the defending match live, right?"
"Zhou Quan's influence is so great, it must be broadcast. What our country lacks now is influence. Otherwise, the country is still short of foreign exchange. Why can NBA games be broadcast twice a week? The country specially allocates foreign exchange to Taiwan."
Zhang Lili and his group crowded into the crowd, looking for interview targets while discussing some topics related to Zhou Quan.
At half past six, the gymnasium opened, and a sea of people began to pour into the gymnasium, filling the central gymnasium that could accommodate 15,000 people at a speed visible to the naked eye.
There are still 2,000 away fans and 13,000 home fans. These are the home and away conditions agreed upon by the SuperSonics and the Bulls.
On the seat of every home fan, there is a grand finals gift bag, which includes special finals jerseys. One hundred jerseys are signed by the stars, and there are ten jerseys signed by Zhou Quan.
"Oh, I got Schrempf's signed jersey."
"Haha, I got Hawkins' signed jersey."
"God, why was it given to me from Rodman? I want a signed jersey from the King of Iron Fist."
"Oh God, God, he gave me a signed King of Iron Fist jersey? Haha!"
“Oh, that guy’s so lucky!”
"Hey bro, can you sell it to me? I'll pay you $1,500."
"You want to buy a signed Tekken King's finals jersey for $1,500? I'll pay $5,000."
"I'll give you $20,000. Give it to me quickly and I'll sign a check for you right away."
"Haha, I also got a signed jersey from King of Iron Fist!"
"God, why didn't I get anything?"
As fans entered the stadium, cheers from fans sounded from time to time.
On the sidelines, most of the first and second rows were filled with celebrities, stars, and players, as well as some rich people and politicians, as well as some unknown men and women, who looked like they were rich by their appearance.
Stallone picked up the gift bag on his seat, opened it with some anticipation, pulled out the jersey and shook it to see if it was signed.
Unfortunately, there was nothing. He shook his head regretfully and put the jersey on.
"oh?"
Roberts couldn't believe she actually got a signed jersey from Tekken?
"Julia, please give it to me? We're best friends."
"Julia, please, give it to me, and I'll give you ten shows for your next movie."
Stallone and a group of others ran over and started shouting.
"You have a good idea."
Afraid of being snatched away, Roberts put the jersey on directly.
Zeng Li next to him didn't quite understand. He had such a good relationship with Zhou Quan, why didn't he ask him for an autographed jersey?
She somewhat ignored it. It wasn't that they didn't have it, but it was the finals jersey. What they wanted was luck. No friend would specifically ask Zhou Quan for a jersey like this.
Iverson sat in the third row of the east stand along with Kobe Bryant, Marbury and others. Their entrance also attracted some media attention.
"I want the King of Iron Fist's signed jersey." Iverson said.
"Me too." Kobe said.
"You found it and gave it to me. I'll exchange it for a pair of MJ's first-generation sneakers, new ones that have never been worn." Marbury shouted.
"You have a good idea." Kobe said angrily.
The first thing they did after arriving at their seats was to dig through the gift bag.
It's a pity that no one has such good luck. After all, there are only 100 lucky people out of more than 13,000 people, and only ten of them can get Zhou Quan's signed jersey.
The wives of both teams have already entered the scene, and the most active one is the introverted Zeng Li. Even Jordan's wife is far behind her.
She greeted some of Zhou Quan's friends from time to time on the sidelines. After almost a year of study, her English listening and speaking skills are now good, with no communication barriers, and there are still problems in reading and writing.
She knew all these people, even familiar with them, including Hollywood stars, some big businessmen and rich people in Seattle, and members of the yacht club. Zhou Quan often took her to some social occasions and many business activities. She was now fully integrated. Zhou Quan’s social circle.
"Zeng, how did Iron Fist sleep last night?" Roberts asked curiously.
Zeng Li looked confused and became wary, thinking to himself, why do you care about this?
At this time, Stallone, Arnold and other celebrities also looked at her curiously and seemed to be very concerned about this issue, which made her very confused.
"Zeng, didn't Iron Fist sleep well last night?" Bill Walton asked nervously.
"Zeng, tell us, how did he sleep?" Reggie Miller also asked.
Zeng Li said helplessly: "I didn't ask him, it seems okay?"
"well!"
Everyone sighed.
The wives of players from both teams looked at Zeng Li with jealous faces, even Jordan's wife Juanita was the same.
They are just simple housewives who take care of their children at home. They have no job or career of their own. Their men will only go out to play alone and will not take them with them.
Before Iron Fist and his girlfriend got married, he often took her to various events and even opened his own coffee shop for her. It is said that he has opened a branch today and will definitely get bigger and bigger in the future.
The media boxes at both ends of the baseline were stacked seven or eight levels on top of each other, and were densely packed with guns and short guns. More than two hundred media were crowded together, and three rows of seats at both ends were removed to accommodate them.
At eight o'clock, the two teams announced their starting lineups, and the substitutes also began to warm up.
Bulls: Kevin Willis, Toni Kukoc, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Ron Harper
SuperSonics: Matt Geiger, Rodman, Schrempf, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan
In the TNT commentary box, the live broadcast time was also up. After getting the list, Magic Johnson said: "Coach George Karl sent Matt Geiger to strengthen the defense against Kevin Willis.
But in this way, the Sonics' low-post offense will be affected to a certain extent, and Geiger's offensive ability is still not as good as Gilliam's. "
Larry Bird said with a smile: "Pretty much, Kevin Willis is no better than before anyway, and he is no better than Geiger."
Magic Johnson shook his head helplessly and said: "Coach Phil Jackson miscalculated the impact of Kevin Willis' injury. If he trades for the Lakers' Eldon Campbell or Vera Divac, it will cost him a fortune." Much better than Kevin Willis, and the Willis trade is questionable.”
"Divac and Campbell are really good centers. They are better than Willis and there are no injuries. And the Lakers should be able to trade one and keep one, as long as the chips are good." Larry Bird nodded. road.
Magic Johnson said with some concern: "Willis did not perform as the Bulls expected, and the current Bulls are no better than last year, while the SuperSonics actually performed better than last year, even winning 70 regular season games.
"So the media is more optimistic about the Sonics."
When Larry Bird said this, he suddenly smiled and said: "I'm curious, how did Iron Fist sleep last night?"
Magic Johnson was stunned and thought to himself, I hope that guy never had nightmares last night.
At this time, in the player tunnel, the two teams started to meet.
"Flying Man, we meet again."
"Iron Fist, you may not win this time."
"Then we'll meet on the field and have another showdown."
Zhou Quan and Jordan said a few words, and the visiting team started to play.
"Shh!"
Huge boos rang out. It was about the championship. The home team fans were not polite at all. Their faces were all red and they were still booing vigorously.
The Bulls have been tested in the finals for a long time, so they were not afraid at all and walked into the court with their heads held high.
"Oh ho!"
Then the home team came out and cheers replaced the boos.
"Oh ho!"
When Zhou Quan came to the finale, the cheers reached the top, like an erupting volcano.
The host ran over and handed the microphone to Zhou Quan. As usual, he had to say a few words as a player representative.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are once again in the finals. This is an exciting series. We will start to hit our goal. We want to...defend the title!"
"Defend the title! Defend the title! Defend the title..."
With Zhou Quan's final scream, a huge and uniform shout rang out in the Seattle Center Arena, shaking the world, and then spread to the entire Seattle metropolitan area, with millions of people shouting for the same goal.
"Defend the title!"
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Lili and Xu Jicheng also shouted loudly.
…
During the warm-up, Zhou Quan and Rodman walked to the midline and said hello to John Salley.
Selley was traded to the Bulls by the Raptors this season, but due to injuries, he played the least minutes in the Bulls.
"Spider, what are your plans for the future?" Rodman asked with a smile.
"I still have a one-year contract, and the Raptors pay the bill, but the Bulls don't want me, and the Raptors don't want me, but I think I can still play, and I want to play in Europe for a few years." Johnselli said with a smile.
"What a good idea. The competition there is not as good as in the NBA. You can give it a try." Zhou Quan praised.
At half past eight, the game officially started.
Jump ball, Sonics offense.
Zhou Quan looked at Kevin Willis's jump ball and could no longer jump, indicating that his knee injury had not recovered and his previous state was gone forever.
He took the ball and Ron Harper stepped in front of it.
He started directly and put his left hand on his waist, mainly guarding his dominant right hand, and then directly fought with his body and pushed him to the left wing.
On the left wing, Pippen followed Schrempf, staying in a defensive position that cut off his and Schrempf's passing angles.
Schrempf simply ran towards the top of the arc, giving him the left wing.
He immediately pulled to the left wing, turned around, and started to hit the 84-kilogram Ron Harper from behind.
"Haha, Iron Fist King, crush him!"
on-site commentator Hernem Krisman shouted excitedly.
Ron Harper made a push and was immediately crushed back. His knee had been seriously injured and he was 8 kilograms too small. He couldn't withstand it at all, so he immediately defended and retreated.
Zhou Quan sped up his speed, then suddenly turned around, passed his opponent, reached the left midfielder in two steps, and made a pull-up jump shot against Kevin Willis's defense.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the mid-range shot hit.
"Yes! The Iron Fist King made the first ball, and there was no defender in his eyes at all."
Amid the cheers from the audience, Hnem Chrisman's passionate roar immediately sounded.
"It's very easy. Whether it's hitting Ron Harper or making a pull-up jump shot, Iron Fist's shot is very easy. There's nothing forced about it. Ron Harper's defense seems to have very little restriction on him." Larry Bird analyzed.
"It's just the first ball, it depends on the next state." Magic Johnson said.
(End of chapter)
