Chapter 113 05-06 Season Ends
As time went by, the emotions of Dallas fans finally calmed down a little, but the cold treatment of the Mavericks management made them feel uneasy in their hearts.

They know that the knot between Zheng Yang and the team will always exist, and this knot may become bigger and bigger in the future, eventually causing unpredictable damage.

But there was nothing they could do!

As the season progressed, the Mavericks' record did not improve much, and they did not look at all like a defending team.

Their form has been up and down. Sometimes they can fight back and forth with championship contenders like the Spurs and Suns, and sometimes they lose to bottom-ranked teams like the Portland Openers and Atlanta Hawks!
No one thinks they can continue to defend their title!
They themselves are not optimistic. This group of players just want to make their statistics look better so that they will have more confidence when seeking trades later.

However, in subsequent games, very interesting scenes will often appear.

That is, when the Mavericks go to play away games, there will often be various posters about Zheng Yang in the audience, especially those bottom-ranked teams. Sometimes you will even have an illusion at a glance.

This is the Mavericks' home court, right?
Otherwise, why are there so many posters about Zheng Yang?

Obviously, this is why other teams are recruiting Zheng Yang. They hope that this young man can bring new hope to their team and help them compete for the championship!
They don't know where the other person will end up, but they hope they can leave a good impression on him in this way.

……

The 05-06 season always feels like it goes by so fast, as if it’s over before anything even begins.

And what is the theme of this season?

There is only one answer, and that is scoring!
This was a season of explosion of super scorers, especially the 96 golden generation. The two leaders, Kobe and Iverson, averaged 35.4 points and 33 points respectively, ranking first and second in the scoring list.

It is normal for these two players to score high. After all, their team records are average, and they have unlimited firing rights, so their personal data are very good.

James' scoring average hit a new high this season, reaching 31.4 points, ranking third in the scoring list.

There have been many single-game scoring feasts this season.

Like Kobe scored more than 10 points 45 times this season and scored more than 4 points in 50 consecutive games.

Iverson scored more than 45 points in 4 games and more than 40 points in 15 games.

James had 45 games with more than 6 points and 40 games with more than 10 points.

Arenas had 45 games with more than 4 points and 40 games with more than 11 points!
Throughout the season, there were as many as 40 games with scores exceeding 108 points!
Kobe's highest-scoring 81-point game also came this season. On January 1, in the Lakers' home game against the Raptors, Kobe scored 22 points, the second-highest score in NBA history, showing the world his amazing scoring ability.

But this game was not a coincidence. In fact, a month ago, Kobe scored 62 points in the first three quarters of the Lakers' home game against the Knicks.

The Knicks team scored only 61 points in the first three quarters. This was the only time since the NBA introduced the 24-second offense that a player performed like this in three quarters.

Although Kobe has always given people the impression of being very iron, it has to be said that his scoring ability in the 05-06 season was really explosive!

It’s incomprehensible!

When Dallas fans watched the stars of other teams continue to score high points, their hearts were filled with regret.

Their team has last season's scoring champion, who is also the youngest scoring champion in NBA history, but due to off-court factors, he is averaging only 20 points per game this season.

He should have appeared on the scoring list to be compared with other stars, but now, you can't even see him in the top ten of the scoring list.

What a pity this is!

Does Zheng Yangjue feel regretful?

Of course he felt regretful too.

He plays in the NBA to compete with other talented players, not to engage in intrigue with these guys who can't even play basketball.

But he had no choice. After all, this was not his team. He could not decide the start of this dispute. He could only make the result more favorable to himself as much as possible.

Zheng Yang's relationship with the Mavericks had always been very delicate. They would not mention each other anywhere except during games.

Avery Johnson didn't dare to put the blame on Zheng Yang anymore, and the latter didn't talk about changing teams all day long.

But this delicate balance was broken in a game in January.

In that game, the Mavericks and the Cavaliers were tied at 108:107. In the last 5 seconds of the game, the Mavericks had a chance to win the game.

Avery Johnson called a timeout and prepared to plan the final attack.

In this game, Zheng Yang made 15 of 12 shots and scored 28 points with high efficiency. Before the timeout, he just scored 6 points in a row to help the team keep the score close.

It can be said that without Zheng Yang, there would be no chance of this decisive goal!

But during the timeout, Avery Johnson handed the final attack to Nowitzki without hesitation.

You know, Nowitzki's performance in this game was average. He has only scored 15 points so far, and he didn't score a single point in the last five minutes. It can be said that his shooting percentage is as high as the probability of making a heart when you poop in the morning.

But Avery Johnson still chose to give the final attack to the opponent.

Because this is his position in the team, this is his team. No matter how bad his performance is, no matter how small his chance is, as long as there is a chance to make a buzzer-beater, the ball can only be in his hands.

"Let me take the last shot! I'm going to make it!"

Zheng Yang couldn't help but speak out. He didn't want to lose the game. His opponent was James, and he didn't want his team to lose to him.

But Avery Johnson pretended not to hear and continued to plan his tactics.

Soon the timeout ended, Nowitzki successfully caught the ball, but his layup under the basket missed. When the basketball bounced off the basket, the playing time was up and the Mavericks lost the game.

At the moment the game ended, Zheng Yang angrily tore his jersey and walked into the locker room alone. In the subsequent interview with reporters, he yelled at the camera.

“I don’t like to express my anger with words, but now I really can’t help it.

F*ck Avery Johnson, F*ck the Mavericks, if it wasn't for the fans here I would never f*cking play a game for you.

You don't understand basketball at all, you don't respect me enough. I fought for the final chance to score the winning goal. Without me, we would have lost the game long ago.

Go to NMD, I don't want to stay in this team anymore. If someone told me that I was traded, I would be so happy that I couldn't sleep. "

After saying this, Zheng Yang left the stadium without looking back, leaving only his back to the reporters.

This conversation with the team was reported in major newspapers the next day, and many people have begun to predict where Zheng Yang will be traded this offseason. Although there are still four months to the end of the regular season, everyone knows that the Mavericks will definitely not be able to defend their title this year, and they will definitely not be able to keep Zheng Yang.

……

In the 05-06 season, the Mavericks only won 45 games and ranked fourth in the Western Conference.

What does 45 wins mean?

Let's put it this way, this is 5 fewer wins than the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. It is really shocking that a defending team with its core lineup completely retained has achieved such a record.

The playoffs will start soon, and the Mavericks' first opponent is the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have performed very well this season and are ranked fifth in the Western Conference.

But when they met the Mavericks, their journey this season came to an end.

Even though the Mavericks haven't performed well this season, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Although they are not at the championship level, they are not someone the Grizzlies can challenge.

In the end, the Mavericks successfully defeated their opponents with a big score of 4-1, but then they met the Spurs.

Just like the Grizzlies had no way to fight back against the Mavericks, the Mavericks were unable to struggle for long when they met their arch-rivals, the Spurs.

They were swept 4-0 by the opponent.

The Mavericks, who just won their first championship in team history last season, fell in the Western Conference semifinals in the new season.

When the fourth game was over and Zheng Yang was about to walk into the player tunnel, countless fans in the Mavericks' stadium shouted their names at the same time.

If Zheng Yang leaves the Mavericks during this offseason, then today's game will be his last game with the Mavericks.

Maybe the next time they see each other, he'll be wearing another team's jersey.

There will be other fans who will shout his name more enthusiastically, and he will be the hope of that group of fans!

They shouted Zheng Yang's name, more because they hoped that he could continue to stay in this team. They didn't care how badly they performed this season.

Because if you have watched the 04-05 season, you will know how good they are!

They have proved that they are just affected by some off-field factors. As long as these off-field factors are resolved, they can return to their original state.

But can all this really go back?

A broken mirror cannot be mended. When the Mavericks were ready to promote Nowitzki, they were destined to never return to the way they were before.

Of course, the good news now is that Dallas has enough time to offer Zheng Yang a contract extension and successfully trade him before the new season arrives.

Zheng Yang also has time to adjust himself and make continuous progress so that he can appear in the most perfect condition when he goes to the new team.

……

In stark contrast to the Mavericks' struggles, the Heat in the Eastern Conference had a smooth journey through the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat successfully defeated the Pistons with a big score of 4-2.

O'Neal successfully overcame the Detroit Pistons that had held him back for two years and made it to the finals once again.

Ever since he was abandoned by the Lakers, he has been holding his breath. He must prove to the Lakers management that it was definitely a wrong choice for them to abandon him and choose another person.

And now, he was about to prove it.

He made it to the finals again, and their opponent was the Spurs. As long as they beat them, he would be able to lift the championship trophy again.

Wade was also very excited. As a third-year rookie, being able to enter the finals as the core of the team was undoubtedly the greatest recognition for him.

It can be said that if Zheng Yang had not been in the 03 class, then judging from the current results, Wade would be the best player in this class.

His goal is to become the second championship member in the championship club, and he wants to make Carmelo Anthony only able to watch his back and cry secretly.

When the finals started, Zheng Yang stayed at home to watch the game. During this period, in addition to training and watching the game, he was talking to the team about the new contract.

In fact, the process of finalizing this new contract was not very troublesome. After all, Zheng Yang wanted a maximum salary contract, and the Mavericks were willing to give him such a contract.

However, Zheng Yang is not in a hurry to sign, because he wants to wait for the trading market to start and use contract renewal as a condition for negotiating with the team.

He was worried that Cuban would trip him up and deliberately trade him to a crappy team.

Although Zheng Yang is confident that he can lead his team to win the championship anywhere, he hopes that the time can be shorter, rather than waiting for five or ten years to win the second championship in his life.

So he must take a certain initiative.

The finals were very tense. Both teams were strong enough, in stable form, and determined to win the championship. Every game was fought until the last minute.

In the end, the series ended in six games, and the Heat won the series with a big score of 4-2.

韦德6场比赛场均34.7分、7.8个篮板、3.8次助攻、2.7次抢断和1次盖帽，以比肩乔丹的表现拿到了FMVP，同时也跻身超级巨星的行列。

Of course, unlike the previous year when the Mavericks won the championship, Zheng Yang won the FMVP, and were greeted with applause, the Heat's championship was questioned by most people.

Because Wade went to the free throw line 97 times in this series, and he got 6 free throws in Game 21 alone.

Even more terrifying than O'Neal in the interior!
No one really recognizes the value of his championship, and thinks the league is just constantly blowing the whistle to promote newcomers.

But whether you agree or not, this year's finals will not happen again, and the 05-06 season has finally come to an end.

This was a rather boring season for Zheng Yang, as he was unable to perfectly display his talent on the basketball court.

He needs to meet his teammates and coaches whom he dislikes every day.

Fortunately, the offseason finally arrived and he can go to a new team, truly own his own team, and then compete for his second championship.

He believed that such a game would be quite interesting!

As for which team he will go to, the answer will be announced in the next three months!

(End of this chapter)