Chapter 70: Make Zheng a rising star in the alliance
James was stunned. He just stood there and looked at Zheng Yang's back for a long time in disbelief.

No, he actually covered me?

And then a dunk from the free throw line?
In the TNT studio, Kenny Smith, who was about to cheer for James, fell silent.

For Kenny Smith, silence is the main theme of the night.

Kenny Smith's face was not in a good state from the beginning of the game. He thought that James should be able to rebound today, and if not, getting 20+ would not be a problem.

But who could have thought that he would be blocked just after he came on in the first quarter.

And then for half a quarter, he only hit a mid-range shot.

After much difficulty, he traveled during off-peak hours and faced a substitute lineup. Before he could score a few good goals, he was directly blocked by Zheng Yang.

It’s okay if you just run away, but you should hurry up and chase him to defend him. What the hell are you just standing there looking at?

Are you being paid so much just to be a spectator?
Kenny Smith is really tired. He even thinks about quitting his job as a commentator. He really feels like he is going to get sick from being angry.

Barkley on the side was really happy during this game. Every shot Zheng Yang made was like a slap in the face of Kenny Smith.

When Barkley saw Zheng Yang dunk by James and then make a dunk from the free throw line, he stood up immediately.

"What the hell did I see?

Jump from the free throw line?
After Zheng Zai blocked James' three-pointer, he actually jumped up and dunked from the free throw line. Was he flying in the sky just now? He stayed in the air long enough to drink a cup of coffee.

I couldn't believe what I just saw. Was that God wearing the No. 19 jersey?
I mean this is all just crazy!

Kenny, did you see what LeBron, whom you praised, did just now? He was looking up at Zheng's dunk, just like his most loyal fan.

Do you still think they are comparable? The only thing James can do better than Zheng in his life is his draft ranking.

Apart from that, he is incomparable in everything.”

Barkley shouted loudly at Kenny Smith, his saliva splashing all over the latter's face. Kenny Smith could even smell from Barkley's breath that he had eaten a fried chicken burger for lunch!

But what can he do?

There's nothing he can do but take the blame!
The worst decision he made in his life was to believe that James could bounce back!
This guy hasn't hit bottom yet, he still has room to fall!

After being blocked by Zheng Yang, James was in poor form in the next two rounds, missing shots one after another, and then the first quarter ended.

At this moment, the score on the field is 20:32, and the Mavericks are already leading the opponent by 12 points.

In the second quarter, James still chose to travel during off-peak hours. He no longer dared to ask for a win against the Mavericks. He just hoped that his statistics would look better.

After Zheng Yang faced James, he was in a good mood and did not choose to continue playing with the substitute lineup. He sat on the sidelines and rested for a while.

James took advantage of this period of time to score points. His current scoring ability is indeed quite good, and playing against substitute players can be regarded as a dimensionality reduction attack.

But when facing the main players of the Mavericks, there is really nothing we can do!

When only half of the second quarter was left, the Mavericks' main players returned, and James stayed on the court for a minute or two before returning to the bench.

Now it's his break time!

If even James can't do anything, then there's no point for the others to play. The game is completely one-sided.

The home fans were cheering quite loudly at first, but later they realized that the Mavericks' shooting percentage in this game was too high. If everyone cheered, they would be exhausted.

So later on, unless the ball was particularly explosive, no one was interested in shouting.

As for Zheng Yang, to be honest, he really wants to play seriously and respect his opponent.

But he is useless against this opponent. Even if they play casually, the opponent can't keep up with their offensive rhythm. If they play more seriously, the opponent will have no chance of winning.

In the end, the Mavericks won the game without any suspense.

Zheng Yang scored 39 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal. As for James, his stats were not bad either, with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, which seemed pretty good.

But anyone who watched the game knows how badly James performed in this game and how he got those 25 points.

One is to rely on staggered travel, including the last 4 minutes of the fourth quarter, when the game was already decided and they scored a lot of points.

The second reason is the referee's preference. James averaged 8 free throws per game this season, while center O'Neal only had 10. This is certainly related to his playing style, but it is also inseparable from some special care from the referee.

Like in this game, when the referee found that James performed poorly, he immediately gave him 6 free throws in the second quarter and took good care of him afterwards.

So in the end his data looks good.

After the game, James walked straight to the player tunnel without hesitation.

Zheng Yang just glanced at his back and didn't care too much. After all, he was used to it!
……

The day after the game, some small media outlets shouted the slogan "The Cavaliers lost, but James did not lose" in order to attract attention.

Their elder brother has already scored 25 points, what else do they want him to do!
What? You said this was earned by traveling during off-peak hours? This was earned by free throws? This was earned by a layup during garbage time?
Even if we take a step back, do the points earned by brushing up count as points?
Of course, this is just the opinion of some individual media and some "loyal fans". Anyone who has watched this game will know that James' performance in this game was completely defeated by Zheng Yang.

"To be honest, I didn't like Zheng very much before, but his performance on the court impressed me deeply. I think he will be the next Michael.

I'm not kidding, but you've seen him perform and you'll know he's starting to dominate the game, but how old is he?

19 years old!" - Pippen said seriously in an interview with the media.

"When the game was over, no one cared about LeBron's previous provocation. Scoring more points than Zheng? Now it sounds more like a joke!
We have to admit that what Charles said is right. We shouldn't compare Zheng with the players from the 03 class. That would be disrespectful to him.

This season, his average points per game is 31.1 points, and he has already started to lead the scoring title. Although the season has just begun, we have reason to believe that he will be one of the strong contenders for the scoring title this season.

He should be discussed with the league's top players!" - Sports Illustrated

"Zheng's performance today once again proved that he deserved to be named the best rookie of the year last season. Even in terms of the speed of improvement, he is currently the fastest improving player in the 03 class.

On the other hand, although LeBron has made rapid progress this season and may become a superstar in the league in the future, we should pay more attention to his mentality than his strength.

LeBron often appears to be sloppy on the court and unwilling to return to defense. At the same time, he also adjusted his rest time in this game, so that the players he faced were basically the Mavericks' substitutes.

This is not the mentality a superstar should have. If you don't even have the courage to play against strong players, how can you be a superstar?" - ESPN Magazine

……

Sitting on the plane back to Cleveland, James looked at the newspaper that had just been printed today, glanced at it, and then angrily crumpled it into a ball.

He was very angry, but after being angry, his heart was filled with a sense of powerlessness...

It seems that he is not really the protagonist. Compared to himself, that yellow man is more like the chosen one!
He thought he was getting a useless script, but in fact, he was just a foil for Zheng, and he would never be able to catch up with him!
James didn't understand. He didn't know that besides the useless type, there is also the invincible type. He didn't get the script for the useless type, but Zheng Yang got the script for the invincible type!
He is just a clown after all!

When James felt powerless, David Stern, who was sitting in his office, also felt powerless.

Whether in publicity or on the court, he has given James the best resources and care.

He only needs to defeat Zheng and the villain he has set for him, and he will naturally become famous and become the most eye-catching new star in the league.

But it's such a simple thing, why can't he do it?

David Stern was really tired, and since then, his scripts have failed.

David Stern, stroking his chin, stared at the newspaper on the table. The cover was a photo of Zheng Yang jumping from the free throw line yesterday. He stared at it in a trance.

After a long while, David Stern suddenly frowned, as if he had fallen into a wrong thinking pattern!

Why do we have to support James?
Originally, it was because the league's ratings had been low after Jordan retired, and Kobe, who had finally been promoted, suffered the Eagle County incident.

James, who has been famous since high school, is naturally the most suitable player to serve as the face of the league.

It is precisely because of this kind of thinking inertia that David Stern supports James so strongly, but if you think about it, isn’t Zheng Yang more suitable to be the face of this league than James?

In terms of strength, he has now evolved to the level of the first tier of the league. In terms of fame, although he is of the yellow race, he has also gained a large number of fans in the United States due to his gorgeous playing style and explosive physical fitness.

And precisely because he is a yellow race, he can also use this opportunity to open up the markets in China and other Asian countries. The benefits behind this are quite astonishing.

According to this idea, supporting Zheng Yang is the best choice!
David Stern slammed the table and stood up, looking excited.

He then walked around the office twice to calm himself down. After thinking about and rethinking his plan, he made up his mind that the next person to be promoted would be Zheng Yang.

Then he made a phone call and began to build momentum for Zheng Yang according to his plan. As long as the latter performed well on the field, he would immediately become the hottest new star in the league.

(End of this chapter)