Chapter 20 Preseason

"Wipe it!"

Zheng Yang took out a tissue from his bag and handed it over, but the fat monk was still being stubborn when he took it.

"I'm not crying!"

Yes, you didn't cry. A tornado blew up outside, blowing up a small grain of sand, which then passed through many obstacles and finally fell into your eyes accurately.

If you are really that lucky, you can even buy a lottery ticket!

Zheng Yang complained in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it out loud at the moment. What if he irritated the other party again?

Seeing that Fat Monk's mood had finally stabilized, Zheng Yang began to reason with him.

“Actually… I didn’t want this to turn out like this.

You have been targeting me, and I have no choice but to resist."

“But rookies are always bullied by veterans.

When I was a rookie, I was bullied by the veterans. They asked me to carry bags and buy water all day long, and when I stayed in a hotel on the road, they always asked me to help them deliver Tao in the middle of the night..."

Fat Monk said with some grievance. He didn't understand why he always got bullied by this rookie. When he was a rookie, he didn't dare to say a word when he was bullied by the old birds.

This rookie not only wanted to beat him, but also pushed him down in front of so many people, and said that he was knocked down, making him embarrassed.

Who wouldn't feel wronged if this happened to them?

But Zheng Yang suddenly grabbed his shoulders, looked into his eyes and spoke seriously.

"It's always been like this, right?"

"???"

Fat Monk’s brain was a little confused. It has always been like this, is that right?
Hiss… No? Right? No? Right?

When asked this by the other party, he didn't know whether it was right or not.

When he was bullied by the old birds before, everyone thought it was normal, but now he feels that it is not right...

Zheng Yang took advantage of the victory and pursued.

“Walker, you have to remember what you are here for!

You came here to win, you came here to compete for the championship, but what are you doing now?
You actually destroyed the team's locker room atmosphere for your own vanity. Don't you want to stand on the stage of the finals and hold the championship trophy in front of the whole world?

Walker, we should not be enemies, we are partners, we stand together!"

partner?

Yes, we are partners!
What's the point of bullying his teammates? He should help the team win.

But what has he been doing all day today?

Are you all bullying your teammates?
The fat monk, who had a sudden realization, wanted to slap himself hard. He felt that he was such a bastard!

How could he do that?
Thinking of this, he looked at Zheng Yang with deep affection and guilt.

“I’m sorry, Zheng, I shouldn’t have been like this today.

You are right, we are partners and teammates, we should be united in facing the outside world.

Don't worry, I won't be like this again."

Zheng Yang nodded with great satisfaction.

Who says rookies entering the league will definitely be bullied by veterans? Look, isn’t Fat Monk cute?

I beat him until he cried, and he still came to apologize to me.

Where can you find such a good thing?

After chatting with Fat Monk for a while, Zheng Yang left. He was very tired today and wanted to go back and rest early.

……

Early the next morning, the Dallas Sports Journal reported the news.

"On the opening day of the training camp, the Mavericks broke out into internal strife! The All-Star was knocked out by the rookie. What secrets did they have?"

Obviously, the media knew about the conflict between Zheng Yang and Fat Monk yesterday.

But this is normal. The team is not an airtight place. On the contrary, as the focus of fans' attention, once there is any movement in the team, it will be known to the outside media immediately.

When Zheng Yang entered the stadium today, he was surrounded by the media waiting at the door. They were eager to dig out some gossip about this rookie.

But Zheng Yang spoke to the media with a gentle face.

"contradiction?
What are you talking about? Walker and I were just sparring. Yes, I did win by chance, but you know, there are many coincidences on the basketball court. It was just an accident.

He is much stronger.”

Faced with Zheng Yang's words, they felt it was hypocritical, so they retreated one after another and surrounded the fat monk who had just arrived.

Fat Monk’s brain isn’t that good. He just lost to a rookie yesterday and he will definitely say something harsh later. That will be tomorrow’s headline.

But Fat Monk also looked confused in front of the media, he spread his hands and said.

"What are you talking about? Conflict? What conflict do I have with Zheng? He is my brother!
I did lose to him yesterday, he's really good, that's why he was selected at No. 6.

In fact, I can't believe we drafted him at No. 6. I think the GMs of the five teams ahead of us are going to regret it.

Because they watched a superstar slip away right under their noses.

I think he should be the top scorer!
As for James? Sorry, I don't know any James. I only know that Zheng is the best among the group. He will become an All-Star and win the championship. "Fat Monk's words made the media doubt their ears. Did we... hear it right?
Walker actually admitted that he lost to a rookie?

He actually supported him and said he should be the top scorer?

Didn’t they have a conflict yesterday?

Why do I feel like they are closer than brothers?

What exactly is going on?

……

Looking at the fat monk who personally bought water for Zheng Yang, everyone on the Mavericks, including old Nelson, was stunned.

No, you two are...

Old Nelson had originally planned to have another talk with the two of them today, telling them that even if they were unhappy with each other, they should not show it in front of the media, as that would put a lot of pressure on the team.

But seeing them like this, old Nelson felt that he was worrying too much. He should not have advised them to live in peace, but warned them not to fight against each other in the locker room and cause any scandal!

Of course, this is a joke, but Old Nelson was really curious about how Zheng Yang tamed Fat Monk?
On the first day of training camp, he was able to get an All-Star to buy water for him. Even Jordan and Kobe have never done this.

Could it be that the yellow man really has the aura of a king?
……

No matter what, as long as there is no problem in the team's locker room.

There was no further trouble in the team during the following period, but there was another thing that troubled old Nelson.

In order to trade for Fat Monk, the Mavericks sent away their center, and with the fact that Sean Bradley is not very useful, the team currently has no center available.

what can we do about it?

After much deliberation, he decided to push Nowitzki to the center position, the newly arrived Fat Monk would continue to play power forward, Nash would play point guard, and Finley would play shooting guard, leaving the small forward position vacant...

Let Zheng start?
Old Nelson naturally thought that letting a rookie start for a championship team didn't seem to be a very good decision.

Even his nickname, "Mad Scientist," has reservations about this.

Let’s wait until the preseason starts and see how things go!

……

The Mavericks' first preseason game is scheduled for October 10th, against the Heat, who had just selected Wade.

Fans are not very concerned about this game. After all, one side is the "Four-Star Mavericks" and the other side is a bottom-ranked team. Plus, it is a preseason game, so it is mainly for training.

So I'm not very interested in this.

But for Zheng Yang, Da Chou and Er Chou, they were very excited because they were really going to step onto the long-awaited NBA court.

Today is the Mavericks' home game. When Zheng Yang ran out of the player tunnel to warm up, he suddenly realized halfway that there was no one behind him.

So he could only run back to the player tunnel awkwardly.

"You are such a boring bunch..."

Zheng Yang smiled helplessly, wondering why these teammates were so childish.

"It was Nash's idea. He said he wanted your debut to be more impressive."

The fat monk immediately rebelled and revealed the "real murderer".

Nash also smiled when he heard this.

"How was it? Did it feel good? The feeling of the whole audience cheering your name."

"It's really good."

"Then let's go and win, and then the fans will cheer even louder."

The team leader Nowitzki said to everyone, and then everyone started jogging out of the player tunnel.

Different from the calmness of Nash and others, and different from the restraint of Dachou and Erchou, Zheng Yang waved his hands confidently and cheerfully to the fans in the audience.

He loves this feeling so much!
The sound of the whole stadium cheering comes towards you like waves, one after another. Maybe you can't hear what the fans are shouting, but you will instinctively feel the blood boiling in your heart.

Zheng Yang was unwilling to restrain his inner excitement; he just wanted to let his excitement show on his face.

He just wants to enjoy this feeling!

"When I first came on the field, I was more excited than him."

Nash looked at Zheng Yang and said to Nowitzki with a smile.

The latter also smiled and nodded. This young man reminded them of their past.

That was also a beautiful time!
After the host introduces the players on the field, the game begins immediately!
Today's starting lineup is the four-star Mavericks plus Zheng Yang.

The Heat's No. 1-5 positions are Love, Wade, three-time All-Star Jones, this year's undrafted Haslem, and Grant.

Judging from the strength on paper, it has some combat effectiveness, but not strong!
After all, apart from Jones who seems to be able to fight, the others are either rookies or role players.

In fact, this is indeed the case with this Heat team. Even though they were ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference at the end of the season in their original history, that was just the benefit of the Eastern Conference.

If the Heat that year were in the Western Conference, they wouldn't even make the playoffs, and today they'd have to play in the play-in rounds.

The game starts now!
Although Nowitzki, who is 2.13 meters tall, usually plays as a power forward, his height is enough for the center position, especially since Grant on the opposite side is just a "little guy" of 2.06 meters tall.

Therefore, he easily jumped to the ball during the jump ball phase.

In the first round, the Mavericks initiated the attack.

(End of this chapter)