On the night of the 3rd, Great Western Forum Arena.
At half past six, in the visiting team's locker room, Zhou Quan and his teammates were eating after having dinner together when a Lakers player came to visit.
"I'm looking for Iron Fist."
After the SuperSonics staff opened the door, Kobe stuck his crew head in.
Zhou Quan's memory is as high as 95. Although he only met Kobe once, he still remembered the rookie and even his name, so he stood up and walked to the door, stretched out his hand to Kobe and said: "Kobe, you have something to do with me." ?"
"Can you come out for a moment? I have something to tell you."
Because he was not very familiar with Zhou Quan and his status in the league and sports, the young Kobe said a little embarrassed.
"Iron Fist, this kid isn't going to confess to you, is he?" Rodman said with a strange smile.
"You're talking nonsense, my sexual orientation is normal."
Kobe jumped up like a stinging cat and glared at Rodman.
Zhou Quan laughed, pulled Kobe out of the locker room, walked to a quiet place and asked, "Tell me, rookie, what do you want to say to me?"
"You, you really want to leave the NBA?" Kobe asked, looking at Zhou Quan with some anxiety.
"Are you very concerned about this?" Zhou Quan asked with interest.
Kobe nodded and said: "I think you should focus all your energy on the NBA. Isn't basketball your favorite sport?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Kobe, I have to thank you for your concern."
"Do you insist on continuing to cross the border?" Kobe asked sensitively.
"Do I have a reason not to persist?" Zhou Quan asked.
Kobe thought for a while, and the SuperSonics' current record didn't seem to be bad. Iron Fist's personal data was also the best in the league. He shrugged, and then said: "This is your choice, but I think the best choice must be purer." Some."
"So, rookie, you are you and I am me." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
Kobe snorted: "I'm going to knock you out tonight."
Zhou Quan was startled, then laughed and said: "Rookie, it is said that you ate duck eggs in your debut, do you still have a chance to play now?
Do you want me to beat up Eddie Jones and give you a chance? Ah, I forgot, you are probably not the first substitute at position 2. If you knock him down, it probably won't be your turn. "
When it came to his debut, Kobe became a little annoyed and said: "I will fight for playing time myself, I don't need your help."
After Kobe left, Zhou Quan returned to the locker room. Rodman asked curiously: "Iron Fist, what is that rookie looking for you for?"
"He was very thoughtful and advised me to focus on the NBA." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"Iron Fist, are you connected with that rookie?" Schrempf asked curiously.
"There is contact information, but there is no contact. He is just a fan of mine." Zhou Quan laughed.
"Iron Fist, the media is getting more and more excessive now." Glider said with a worried look on his face.
"There are a lot of media supporting Iron Fist now, and it's not one-sided. What are you worried about?" Rodman said with a smile.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Dennis is right, don't take the media's comments to heart, we can't let the media affect us.
I have told you that this season we are the target of public criticism and the public enemy of the league. Every team that encounters us wants to beat us, and every player wants to step on us and steal the limelight, so it is normal for the media to target me.
We need to keep a low profile and not consume too much in the regular season. We accumulate strength in the regular season, and the playoffs are when we exert our strength. "
"The boss is right, no one wants to see us win three consecutive championships, and the same goes for those media who target the boss." Hawkins agreed.
Schrempf also nodded and said: "We did not practice any more during the offseason, but that is our own decision. Anyway, I am like that. I hope to relax completely after two consecutive championships, and then start from scratch, with Iron Fist." It doesn't matter.
That Leviston is really eloquent, and he actually got involved with Iron Fist. I think his purpose is to target Iron Fist, and then cause internal discord among us, making it impossible for us to defend our three consecutive championships. "
"He is a racist and an extreme white supremacist. I have seen too many people like this," veteran Mincas said.
Leitner chuckled and said: "Iron Fist, in the United States, at least five out of ten white people are racists. Michael Jackson was almost driven crazy by them. He hasn't appeared in public for a long time, and now it's your turn. "
"Are you?" Rodman asked.
"Of course I'm not." Lightner quickly denied.
"I and the stakeholders I represent are now a piece of fat meat, and everyone wants to take a bite." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"Skechers' stock price has continued to decline recently, and your lifetime sponsor has become a piece of fat." Leitner smiled.
"Then I'll have to fall down to talk." Zhou Quan sneered.
An hour and a half later, at eight o'clock, the SuperSonics and Lakers announced their starting lineups.
Lakers: O'Neal, Elden Campbell, Jerome Kersey, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel
SuperSonics: Laettner, Rodman, Schrempf, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan
ESPN's national broadcast, the commentators are Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer.
After getting the list, the assassin threw it aside and said with a smile: "There is a racist who is very active recently. By the way, he is also a member of white supremacy. We are also the target of his discrimination."
"Isiah, what did he do to make you so angry?" Ranbir asked knowingly.
The assassin smiled and said: "He is doing something that will destroy the NBA."
Ranbir was shocked. He was not pretending, he was really surprised. He quickly asked: "Didn't Leviston just say that Iron Fist guy is not doing his job properly? What else has he done to destroy the alliance?"
The assassin sneered: "Not doing his job properly? Did Iron Fist do anything dishonest during the season? Did he gamble or party every night? Was he drunk or taking drugs?
No, he didn't do anything. He just won three championships, three FMVPs and two MVPs in five seasons, as well as four assists and steals, two DPOYs, a scoring champion, and also Scored four doubles.
Yes, he is the only person in the entire history of the league who has won the scoring, assists, steals, DPOY, MVP, FMVP, championship, and double first team in a single season. This was what he did last season when he was not doing his job properly. things that come out.
I want to say that some people are jealous and they want to destroy him. That's it. They don't want to see a Chinese, a yellow man, achieve such great achievements in the United States and in the sports world around the world, so they want to Destroy him. "
Ranbir felt a little dizzy when he heard the series of honors, and murmured: "If you can be so strong without doing your job properly, I don't want to do my job properly either!"
"Isiah, you haven't said what Livingston did to destroy the alliance?" Ranbir reminded.
The assassin sneered: "If the number one active player is forced to leave the NBA, will it be good for the NBA? Wouldn't this destroy the league?"
In front of the TV, David Stern was deep in thought.
In the past half month, he has also been under a lot of pressure.
Sponsors such as Adidas, Nike, and Puma are all putting pressure on the league. The purpose is of course to suppress Iron Fist, then defeat Skechers and seize its share.
In addition to these sneaker brands, there are many sponsors and some groups that are putting pressure on him and the league.
He knew that the existence of Iron Fist had touched the interests of many people. They not only wanted to protect their own interests, but also wanted to swallow up the interests of Iron Fist.
Likewise, he was under pressure from Tekken's sponsors.
The public opinion this time is, first of all, capital is at play. Under the pressure from both sides, he can only maintain a neutral attitude.
Now the Smiling Assassin's very straightforward words forced him to start thinking about what impact it would have on the NBA if Iron Fist really left the NBA under pressure.
The league's overall ratings increased by 10% last season. The media did not recognize that this was an improvement due to Iron Fist, but he knew that this was the reason for Iron Fist.
This season, Iron Fist's performance was not as impressive as the start of last season, and SuperSonics' ratings dropped 15% compared to the same period last season.
It dropped 15% year-on-year, but he is very satisfied because last season was a huge increase. He originally thought it would drop by at least half, but now it has only dropped 15%, which is already very good. It shows that some of the fans attracted by Iron Fist have become basketball fans. fan.
The current average national ratings of the Sonics is around 6.7 million, ranking first in the league and 3 million higher than the second-placed Bulls.
The average viewership is 6.7 million. Two years ago, the first two rounds of many playoff series did not necessarily have this rating.
So far this season, the league's overall ratings have increased by 24% year-on-year, which is a huge improvement.
After Jordan raised the league's ratings to a higher level based on Magic Birds, Iron Fist is now improving again. The improvement is more difficult than Jordan's time because the base is larger, which he knows very well.
If this improvement can be maintained throughout the season, it will provide the league with a large amount of operating income, indicating that the league is really improving.
This season's salary cap has increased by US$3 million compared to last season's cap. This is because the operating income of last season has been greatly increased, and 70% of the increased operating income comes from overseas, sales of jerseys and other peripherals, copyright sales, etc. wait.
He cannot deny that the NBA's surge in overseas operations is due to Iron Fist's influence.
If Iron Fist leaves the NBA, can these overseas operating income be maintained? For those who became NBA fans because of Iron Fist, how many people will continue to follow the NBA? He wasn't sure.
It's just that the power of capital is too tyrannical, and he is unable to do anything. He only hopes that the capital on the Iron Fist side can withstand the pressure, and the Iron Fist can also withstand the pressure.
Now he is only worried that Tekken's sponsors will choose to abandon Tekken. This is very possible, because the relationship between capital is inextricably linked, and Tekken's sponsors will definitely be under pressure from all parties.
…
At this time, the starting team comes on, and the visiting team goes first.
When Zhou Quan came on the stage, he still received warm cheers from the people of Los Angeles.
"It's strange that the media wants Tekken to get out of the NBA immediately, but the fans just welcome him, so I really want to know, do these fans want Tekken to get out of the NBA, or do they want the media to get out of the NBA?" the assassin complained.
"You can commission a survey company to do a survey, and the results will definitely be interesting." Ranbir said.
The Smiling Assassin suddenly said excitedly: "Yes, we were not very popular with the media back then, but there were so many fans who supported us, and we led the trend of that era. This was the fans' choice. So, who do the fans like? Those media outlets don’t decide.”
"Snapped!"
Great Western Forum Arena, jump ball, O'Neal moves the ball away, and the Lakers attack.
Facing Zhou Quan's defense, Van Exel controlled the ball very carefully. He controlled the ball very far back. It was obvious that he was worried about being stolen.
He advanced one step beyond the three-point line on the right wing and suddenly became excited.
He was the No. 10 pick in the second round of 1993, with a very low pick. Although he entered the league and played well, he was not well-known and had not yet made the All-Star Game. Facing the Iron Fist King who is now being targeted by all the media, he really wanted to play in the league. The number one active player showed off his head and made a big splash.
If he could show off his skills to the Iron Fist King today, he believed that the media would definitely praise him.
Thinking of this, under the strong excitement, he stood up from the ground and shot a three-pointer.
Of course, Zhou Quan has studied Crazy Fan. This is a guy who dares to take action against any defender. His shots are very casual, he will take action absolutely whenever he wants, and his actions are completely unreasonable, so he has always been prepared for Crazy Fan to suddenly take action. .
In particular, Madman Fan likes to shoot three-pointers, even ultra-long-distance three-pointers. Once he gets close to the three-point line, his vigilance is raised to the highest level.
So, the moment Madman Fan joined the ball, he reacted as quickly as possible, took half a step forward, and stretched out his right hand.
The next moment, Van Exel jumped and kicked the ball at the same time.
"Snapped!"
Zhou Quan seemed to jump higher, struck accurately, and slapped the ball directly on the ball before it was released. Crazy Fan was pushed back to the floor by him with the ball, staggered back two steps, and sat down on the floor. superior.
"Beep!"
The referee blew his whistle, pointed at Van Exel, and made a walking gesture.
"Oh ho!"
On the SuperSonics bench, led by veteran Mincas, a group of bench players excitedly stood up and applauded, waving white towels.
"Oh ho!"
In the Great Western Forum Arena, countless Los Angeles people applauded and cheered Zhou Quan's block.
The atmosphere was very lively, which made Madman Fan very angry. He felt that this was not playing at home at all, but as if he was playing away, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"pretty!"
The assassin praised and said: "Iron Fist blocked the opponent and got a big hit. Van Exel seems a little confused!"
Laimbeer said: "Maybe he thought that the Iron Fist guy was not doing his job properly and his strength had declined. But he forgot that that guy had been not doing his job properly for several seasons, not just this offseason."
"Haha..." The assassin laughed.
(End of chapter)
