The preseason begins on October 10th. On the 6th, the SuperSonics notified all players that the team would gather at 9 a.m. on the 8th and that the team's boss, Iron Fist King, would be there.
On the morning of the 7th, several Chinese people arrived in Seattle.
Father and son Zhou Quan and Zhou Jianguo, as well as SuperSonics president Frank Lewis and several senior executives, went to the airport to greet him.
The visitor was one of Zhou Quan's domestic sponsors. This time he came here to explore the international market, advertise at the SuperSonics' home court, and send money to the SuperSonics team.
On the 8th, at 8 o'clock in the morning, before Zhou Quan arrived, a group of players rushed to the headquarters training ground in advance.
The two veterans Thorpe and Campbell arrived early, not to mention the young people, who arrived even earlier.
At 8:50, Rodman appeared in the training hall with a smile on his face.
"Big bug?"
Rashard Lewis was surprised. He rarely saw Rodman so punctual last season and even arrived 10 minutes early, but he didn't dare to talk to Rodman.
"Hey Dennis, good morning."
Campbell and Thorpe greeted Rodman.
"Hey, Dennis."
Other young people also greeted him.
Seeing Rodman being so punctual today, head coach Paul Westphal, who was waiting at the training ground, breathed a sigh of relief.
Whitsitt told him yesterday that the King of Iron Fist would solve the problem of Rodman being late and leaving early and missing training, so he didn’t have to worry. He didn’t believe it at first, but now he believes it. The King of Iron Fist’s influence on Rodman is indeed big.
"Hey everyone."
At this time Zhou Quan appeared at the gate of the training ground.
Seeing his figure, everyone immediately felt a great pressure, rushing towards them.
"Hello, boss."
After reacting, Daben immediately roared in high spirits.
"Hello, boss."
Brad Miller and Bruce Bowen next to them were startled and shouted quickly.
"Hey, Iron Fist King."
"Boss."
Others also shouted quickly.
"The old guy stands in front, the rookie stands in the back, line up." Rodman shouted as the second-in-command in the locker room.
"The old ones are old, the young ones are young!"
Zhou Quan looked at the twelve teammates in front of him and felt that this season was a bit dangerous. He might have been strong in the regular season, otherwise there might be problems in the playoffs.
His goal is to enter the top half of the playoffs and avoid meeting the top four teams in the first round. The minimum goal is to advance to the second round, otherwise it will be too embarrassing for his status.
He began to lecture: "Guys, except for me and Dennis, you are all newcomers to this team. No one has participated in our dynasty..."
Hearing these words, Rodman, one of the main players of the dynasty, couldn't help but puff up his chest, while others showed extremely envious looks.
Thorpe, the knife-carrying guard of Dameng back then, even had an on-field conflict with Zhou Quan. Now he went to the SuperSonics for a low salary of 500,000 yuan to win the championship. He felt the deepest after hearing this sentence.
Zhou Quan continued: "Now this team can be regarded as a brand new team. There are too many young people. Most of you only have a basic salary of several hundred thousand. Now you tell me that you want to stay in this league. Do you want to play basketball? Do you hope to get a big contract worth tens of millions in the future?"
"Ten million?"
All the young people, including the 28-year-old Xiao Barry, their eyes lit up.
Zhou Quan did not wait for the answer, but continued to draw the pie, saying: "I know what your answer is, but just thinking about it is not enough. You must take action, use your efforts, and use your hard work to fight for it." Your future, then you may get a big contract worth tens of millions."
These words immediately made all the young people breathe heavier, get excited, and start thinking about the future.
Zhou Quan's voice continued: "What I mean is that in my team, there is no slack, only hard work; there is no dawdling, only competition; whoever doesn't work hard, who wants to dawdle, and whoever slacks off will be kicked." Let’s go, do you understand?”
"clear!"
Shocked, all the young people shouted loudly.
Next, the preseason begins.
On the 9th, Zhou Quan went with the team to Los Angeles, where this season’s preseason will be held.
At one o'clock at noon, after lunch, Zhou Quan drove to the headquarters. Outside the headquarters gate, dozens of reporters blocked his car.
"Tekken King, did you come to the headquarters today to see off your teammates?" a reporter asked.
The reason why he asked this was because Zhou Quan had never participated in a preseason game, not even in his rookie season. He was injured at that time.
"NO, I'll go with them." Zhou Quan smiled.
"What?"
"Tekken King, do you want to participate in the preseason?"
"Tekken King, will you play?"
The reporters immediately became excited and started asking questions.
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "Our lineup is absolutely rebuilt. I will play some time."
"oh!"
The reporters exclaimed.
Soon, the news that Zhou Quan would participate in the preseason games spread throughout the United States.
In the current NBA, the ratings of the finals are all the same, and no one pays attention to the preseason games. NBC does not have a national broadcast at all, that is, a regional broadcast in the host city, and the league has no expectations for this preseason game.
Before the SuperSonics bus left the headquarters, the league had already received news that Zhou Quan was going to participate in the preseason game, and then received a notice from NBC TV that the NBA would broadcast the SuperSonics preseason game live across the United States.
"marvelous!"
David Stern said excitedly.
…
"Tekken, which hotel are you at? Oaks? OK, I'll pick you up at six o'clock." O'Neal called Zhou Quan to have dinner at the Lakers headquarters training facility.
"Shaq, take me there."
After hearing this, Kobe also shouted to go.
"Then let's go together."
O'Neal did not refuse. After three seasons of hard work, Kobe scored 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1 block last season. His offensive and defensive performance was good, and he became the second scoring point of the Lakers, the core of the perimeter, and the best player on the ball. The team's status has risen significantly, and he is now his most important helper, which he values very much.
Because of their names, the media gave them a nickname, OK Group. He quite liked the name because it was easy to pronounce.
At half past six, the three of them sat in a luxuriously decorated Western restaurant.
When ordering, Zhou Quan was not polite and asked for two taels of the best caviar. O'Neill was so distressed that he almost shed tears.
"Amazon has made you a lot of money, right? Do you feel sorry for the caviar money?" Zhou Quan said angrily.
O'Neal laughed, and Kobe asked quickly: "Shaq, how much did you earn?"
O'Neal whispered mysteriously: "I made three or four times the profit."
"How much is that?" Kobe asked.
"I won't tell you." O'Neill shook his head.
Kobe was furious, looked at Zhou Quan, and said a little aggrievedly: "Iron Fist King, we are friends, why don't you help me make money?"
"You're a rookie, what do we have to do with you? Remember, you are a junior, so it's fine to just follow the seniors and eat and drink for free." Zhou Quan said angrily.
Kobe was so angry that his face was blue. Do I lack this food and drink? What I lack is a lot of money.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "It's not that I didn't take you with me. Didn't you go to my house during the 1997 Finals? Who asked you and Iverson to go out on the yacht, otherwise you would have heard some news."
Kobe was stunned, and O'Neal burst into laughter.
"Iron Fist, your rubbish lineup is comparable to Mosaic's base-salary lineup back then. There are 13 people in the team, with a base salary of eighty-nine. What, is your general manager, that trader Whithit, going to mess up?" O'Neal said with a smile. mocked.
Zhou Quan said disdainfully: "We are a youth army, why do we have a rubbish lineup? We train in the regular season, and we can overwhelm you in the playoffs."
"No way, we are very strong now." Kobe shouted.
Zhou Quan glanced at Kobe and said with a smile: "Boy, Jordan can't make a splash under my defense, let alone you?
I've guarded you to death outside, and if someone grinds the shark to death inside, with his current tonnage, he won't be able to score many points even if he's exhausted. "
Kobe was unconvinced and said: "Every time Jordan hits you, your performance is not bad! You can't guard him."
"So, kid, you compare yourself to Jordan, right?"
Zhou Quan was happy, but he nodded and said: "He and I are sworn enemies. When he meets me, how can he not try his best to explode? His performance is so rare."
Speaking of this, he said to O'Neal: "Shark, I left for two years, and you actually wasted two years. Now I'm back. To be honest, the current SuperSonics lineup is average. Even if a group of young people have some potential, they still need It’s time to grow, this may be your last chance, so seize it!”
O'Neal nodded and said with confidence: "Now that Kobe Bryant has grown up, Iron Fist, just watch. If we encounter your SuperSonics in the playoffs, he will be killed in the same way."
Zhou Quan couldn't help laughing and said: "You were swept by the Jazz in the 1997/98 season, and you were swept by the Spurs last season. Shark, you are destined to be swept. Who gave you the courage to kill us?"
O'Neal's old face turned red, but fortunately he couldn't tell, and he muttered: "Isn't this because Kobe hasn't grown up?"
Zhou Quan laughed, while Kobe looked confused. He was swept for two consecutive seasons. Is this all my fault? Am I the boss, or are you the boss?
O'Neal sighed: "Tim Duncan is really strong and his performance is too stable."
"The Spurs swept you, what are the statistics of you and Duncan?" Zhou Quan asked casually before playing against Duncan.
O'Neal was a little embarrassed, but he did not hide it: "He averaged 29 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, shooting 51.3%. I averaged 23.8 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 49.3%. But it's not that I am worse than him, it's David Robinson next to him. Help defend me, two of them will deal with one of me."
"Remember it so clearly, you have a profound memory!" Zhou Quan joked.
O'Neal choked: "Don't laugh at me, if you meet, you will be blown to pieces by the two of them."
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "They beat us on the inside, we beat them on the outside, we won't suffer any loss. This season, the Spurs definitely hope to defend their title. You Lakers can't count on it, and the Jazz are of no use. It seems they want to stop the Spurs. It has to be us.”
O'Neal's eyes widened and he wanted to refute, but he was swept by the Spurs in the second round last season and he really had no confidence!
…
On the 10th, the preseason starts.
The home arena of the Lakers is one of the venues where it is held. This arena is the new home of the Lakers, called the Staples Center.
The Sonics' first game was against the Lakers. This game was also officially opened to the public at Staples Center.
The game started at eight o'clock, and at six o'clock, countless Los Angeles fans poured into this brand-new arena.
The U.S. television broadcast rights of the NBA league belong to NBC Television Company, but NBC will not monopolize it and resell the rights of some games to other TV stations. This is a risk-sharing operation.
The game was broadcast live nationwide by ESPN, with commentators Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
The two are old teammates of Mosaic. They have a good relationship and cooperate well.
Before the live broadcast started, Smith said: "Charles, who do you stand on?"
Barkley shook his head and said: "Lakers."
Smith laughed and said: "I knew it, then I could only stand at the Sonics speed."
Buckley groaned, looking a little unhappy.
The two are partners, but as commentators, in addition to cooperating with each other, in order to have some gimmicks as commentators, they will also deliberately have some opposite positions and argue with each other, which can attract more fans' attention.
A few minutes later, at 7:30, the live broadcast began. After the opening remarks, Smith asked: "Charles, what is your attitude towards the return of the Iron Fist King?"
"It is a very good thing for the league. After he announced his comeback, a lot of good news has come out of the league recently. Many sponsors have returned, and overseas operations have begun to improve. According to market surveys, fans' expectations for the new NBA season are increasing. Strengthen it," Barkley said with a dry smile.
"Also, his jersey sales have been sold out several times, and the Sonics factory is working overtime like crazy. I now expect season ticket sales in the new season to be as hot as his jersey sales. That is the real good news. " Smith said.
"Yes, I look forward to it too." Barkley nodded.
"What about you personally?" Smith asked, holding back a laugh.
"What does his comeback have to do with me personally?" Barkley screamed like a thorn.
Smith laughed and said, "So what do you think the SuperSonics will do this season?"
Barkley analyzed: "He hasn't played for two years, and he is two years older. He is now 27 and a half years old. Although the media said he will resume training in July, I don't think he can recover at this time. to peak condition.
And the SuperSonics lineup, haha, has eight or nine basic salary players. The remaining Rodman and Thorpe are also old, and Campbell is 31 years old. Their strength is average. I don’t think the SuperSonics can do much this season. "
"Do you still watch the Iron Boxing Champions' team?" Smith said with a smile.
"I just conduct an objective analysis based on the facts, without subjective opinions." Barkley immediately emphasized.
"Charles, don't you habitually stand on the opposite side of the Iron Fist King?" Smith teased.
Hearing these words, veins popped up on Barkley's bald head, and countless fans in front of the TV burst into laughter.
(End of chapter)
