Chapter 27: Talking
Anthony was very unhappy because his endorsement fee was only $6 million for 1800 years, which his agent had to negotiate with Nike after many rounds of negotiations.

He envied James for having a higher endorsement fee than him, but he knew that James was indeed more famous than him and his commercial value was indeed better than his.

That's why he can get so much.

But how did this yellow man get 7 million in 1 years!

1 million! That’s almost five times his amount!

He can't even get it, so how could that yellow guy get it? He is only sixth pick, and I am third pick. I am third pick, I am a hundred times better than him.

He did play well in these games, but that's because he has four All-Stars around him. If he played for the Mavericks, he would definitely play better.

Anthony thought so, so he said such outrageous words in front of the media. He didn't think those words were outrageous, he thought they were facts.

As long as the other party meets him, he will definitely hang him up and beat him severely.

Anthony's words caused the media to start discussing which of the two was stronger. The league was also happy to see this kind of thing happen, so it did a lot to add fuel to the fire.

And what James said next in an interview continued to add fuel to the endorsement controversy.

"You said Zheng is currently the best performer among our rookies?
Yes, I do admit that he may be a good player, but you know, he has four All-Star teammates around him and their goal is to win a championship.

When he is on the court, he often gets a lot of open opportunities, which is a treatment that other rookies cannot enjoy.

I mean, if any other rookie had four All-Star teammates, they would be better than him.

I'm really looking forward to the match between Cameron and him, but I don't think fans need to wait that long to see his true level.

In half a month, we will have a game against the Mavericks, and in that game, I will completely destroy him, both offensively and defensively."

In the interview, James acted very confident, as if he had already seen himself torturing the yellow man with his own hands.

In fact, James has some psychological trauma towards that yellow man, because that game in high school left him with a huge psychological trauma.

At that time, he felt that the yellow man was invincible. No matter how many goals you could score, he could always hit you back in the next round.

Once, twice... even countless times.

Deep down, he was actually somewhat glad that he was banned from the semi-finals, so that he wouldn't have to fight against that yellow guy.

He was afraid that he would lose to him again.

And this fear has been buried deep in my heart until now.

But after watching Anthony's interview, he felt that he was capable again.

He is no longer the silly boy who only relied on his body half a year ago. He has made great progress, but the yellow man must be standing still.

The reason why he can perform so well is only because his teammates are All-Stars, and his teammates are from the CBA. If the positions are switched, he will definitely perform better.

In addition, when he saw that even Anthony dared to confront that yellow man, he thought that he was not afraid of even Anthony, so why should he be afraid of that yellow man?
So he spoke out directly in media interviews.

The bragging of these two people soon reached Zheng Yang's ears. When asked by the media about his opinion on this matter, Zheng Yang laughed out loud on the spot.

"I'm looking forward to their reactions after playing against me. Believe me, you won't be able to interview them then, because they will all hide in the locker room and cry secretly, hahahaha!"

The tense answer made everyone look forward to the Mavericks vs. Cavaliers game in half a month. Who will be slapped in the face?

They are all curious.

But before playing against the Cavaliers, the Mavericks still have to play four more games.

The first game was a home game against the Miami Heat. Wade was absent due to injury and the Mavericks easily won 98:108. Zheng Yang scored 28 points and 12 rebounds.

The second game was an away game against the Washington Wizards, and the Mavericks lost the game unexpectedly. The reason for this was that in addition to everyone's poor shooting today, Nash was also injured.

Nash was unfortunately injured seven minutes into his appearance and is expected to miss the next few games.

Without Nash to control the ball, the Mavericks couldn't find a suitable starting point for offense and immediately fell into individual plays. It was no surprise that they lost the game.

In this game, Zheng Yang also met the first high school No. 1 pick in the NBA, Kwame Brown.

After the game, Zheng Yang’s first thought was, this guy is actually the top pick?
Looking at this guy's offense, was the Wizards' general manager blind at the draft that year?
How could such a thing be chosen?
Of course, the Wizards general manager is not to blame for this. After all, that guy is the No. 1 pick chosen by the basketball god Jordan. What can he do?
In the third game, the Mavericks played away against the Toronto Raptors, and this time the Mavericks lost again unexpectedly.

Although the opponent had the "half-man, half-god" Vince Carter, the gap between the two teams was still quite obvious, and the Mavericks shouldn't have lost.

In the fourth game, the Mavericks defeated the Hornets 97:125, ending the team's two-game losing streak.

Zheng Yang performed very well in this game, scoring a career-high 35 points, 15 of which came in the third quarter.

Its terrifying explosive scoring ability is evident!
Finally, the game that has attracted the attention of countless media and fans is about to arrive. On November 11, the Mavericks will play against the Cavaliers away!

In other words, Zheng Yang VS James!
This was a game that attracted a lot of attention. Of course, those people were not fans of Zheng Yang and James. They just liked to join in the fun and wanted to see who would get slapped in the face between these two rookies who had previously argued in front of the media.

The world is never short of funny people! Before the game, old Nelson specifically found Zheng Yang and told him.

"Zheng, just go for it in this game. I will ask Nash and the others to pass the ball to you as much as possible so that you can have enough opportunities to shoot."

He is not a pedantic coach who always talks about "team first". He will take the actual situation into consideration and try his best to meet the needs of the players.

Like today's game, there is an obvious gap in strength between the two teams. As long as the Mavericks don't make too big of a mistake, winning is basically a sure thing.

Therefore, he is willing to help Zheng Yang play well in today's game.

"Okay coach, I won't let this opportunity go to waste."

Zheng Yang patted his chest and assured. Old Nelson didn't say much, but just patted him on the shoulder.

The game, which will be held at Gund Stadium, will start at 7:30 p.m., and fans will arrive early to watch the game.

When they saw the young man named Zheng running out of the player tunnel, there was no cheering in the audience, and there were even some boos.

Zheng Yang vaguely heard the ridicule coming from the stands, but he didn't care at all. He knew they would shut up later.

When the audience saw their rookie LeBron running out of the player tunnel, the whole stadium cheered. After all, he was the rookie of their home team, so they had to give him some face.

James really enjoys the feeling of being cheered by everyone, which gives him a sense of superiority from the bottom of his heart, but he dares not show it too obviously because the current team "boss" Ricky Davis is still around.

In fact, he was somewhat disgusted with the existence of this "boss", especially when he thought of Zheng Yang. Even the sixth pick could start for the four-star Mavericks, but I, a gifted kid, couldn't even be a boss in the Cavaliers.

You, Ricky Davis, have neither the ability nor the fame. You don't really think that the management chose me to assist you, do you?
But James is only tough in his heart. In reality, he usually has to be a good younger brother to the opponent. When he grabs the rebound and makes a fast break on the court, he has to see if he needs to give Ricky an alley-oop slam dunk.

Hmm... why did I suddenly think of the connection between two people?
Forget it, let’s not talk about him, a man who won two more championships but whose historical status declined.

It's somewhat pitiful!

After the players from both sides came out, the game began immediately. The starting lineup of the Mavericks was still the four-star Mavericks and Zheng Yang. Nash, who had missed several games, returned today after recovering from injury.

In addition to the "big brother" Ricky and James, the Cavaliers also have "Yao Ming's nemesis" Boozer, the unknown player Miles, and last year's All-Star center Zadunas.

As the ball is thrown high up, the game officially begins.

The 2.21-meter-tall Zajunas easily jumped in front of Nowitzki to get the ball. At present, old Nelson still hasn't figured out how to deploy the lineup, so Nowitzki can only continue to stay at the center position, which he is not so good at.

James got the ball, but after half court he obediently passed the ball to "Boss" Ricky.

The latter stood at the arc position, watching his teammates running for a while but he had no intention of passing the ball. He fixed his eyes on Finley who was defending him.

He is going to play a single shot!
He could see that the team management chose James, but he just didn't accept it. Why should James be the core?

He deserves to be the core, so why can't I, Ricky?
Therefore, in this game where everyone is only paying attention to James and the yellow man, he wants to use his own strength to prove to everyone that he, Ricky, is no worse than anyone else.

Finley saw what he was thinking, lowered his center of gravity and defended seriously.

After making a change of direction, Ricky suddenly stopped and jumped and made a long two-pointer.

Mid-range shots are Ricky's favorite and best offensive weapon, accounting for more than 80% of Ricky's scoring methods.

Although Finley reacted in time, he could only try his best to interfere. The ball flew around Ricky's hands, but did not fall into the basket as he wished.

Instead, it hit the front of the basket. Zheng Yang, who has an excellent sense of rebounds, grabbed the rebound and then passed it to Nash.

Nash started a fast break. Although James was the player closest to Nash, Ricky's one-on-one play just now made him feel uncomfortable, so he unconsciously slowed down his pace.

After reaching the Cavaliers' basket, Nash did not go directly to the basket, but instead smashed the ball onto the backboard.

Zheng Yang followed closely behind and made an alley-oop slam dunk.

"Nice button."

Nash, who returned to defense, smiled and high-fived Zheng Yang, who nodded.

"That was a great pass. If that ball hadn't gone in, I wouldn't have been able to eat for the whole day."

"Hahaha."

Watching Nash assisting Zheng Yang, James became even angrier and his chest heaved.

Damn Ricky, look at Nash, he was passing the ball to the rookie and assisting him with an alley-oop slam dunk.

It’s fine that you usually let me carry your bag and shoes, but in a game that is so important to me, you even refuse to give me the ball.

What makes you the boss?

But he didn't dare to say such words to his face, and Ricky's ideological awareness was not up to that level. After he took the ball, he was ready to continue working alone...

(End of this chapter)