Chapter 385 384. Jack, I want to challenge you!
After drinking a drink and celebrating his three-pointer score of over 90, Zhang Yang continued to practice.

He had already expected that three-pointers would reach the top level before mid-range shots.

In fact, his mid-range shots are more accurate than three-pointers in some areas. His mid-range shots from the free throw line and the extended line are more accurate than three-pointers from any area, but his shots from the baseline on both wings are slightly worse, and his long two-point shots are slightly worse than mid-range shots from the free throw line.

The three-point shooting is also different in each position. The top arc area is the most accurate, followed by the 45-degree angle on both wings, then the area between the 45-degree angle on both wings and the top arc, and finally the sidelines on both sides. Relatively speaking, the left sideline has a slightly higher hit rate than the right sideline.

The range of a mid-range shot is much larger than that of the three-point line. Overall, the value of the three-pointer will definitely increase faster than that of the mid-range shot.

A few more days passed, and it was the 5th day of the new month. When Zhang Yang’s morning training was about to end, he finally received a reminder that he had accumulated 12 shooting points!

“After working so hard, I finally accumulated enough shooting points before I turned 20!”

Zhang Yang said “Yeah” in a low voice.

Why do we have to do it before we turn 20? There is no real reason, it just feels like a ritual.

He issued instructions in his mind to withdraw the reward.

“Consume 12 shooting points, complete the physical fitness improvement task, and reward 1 point of random physical fitness talent… Your speed talent limit has been increased from 93 to 94, and your speed has been increased from 93 to 94. Please keep up the good work.”

“Task 1: Consume 10 shooting points to start the next stage of the training journey.

Mission 2: Consume 12 shooting points and be rewarded with 1 point of random shooting talent. “

What was improved was actually speed, Zhang Yang was very surprised. From a practical point of view, among the four physical talents, his jumping ability is the worst, his strength is very good, his stamina is very good, and the best is of course his speed, as he is an outside player.

When strength is excellent and jumping ability is sufficient, physical strength and speed are the first choice. Physical strength enhances continuity and speed raises the upper limit of various techniques.

In fact, strength and jumping ability can also help raise the upper limit of various techniques, but for him at present, the most direct improvement is speed.

If he had the speed of Parker, Ford and Iverson, his breakthroughs and counterattacks would be amazing.

After eating a piece of chocolate to reward himself, Zhang Yang practiced another set of fixed-point mid-range shots before going to have lunch. He rested until 3 pm, and continued practicing after his body recovered…

…

The next morning, Zhang Yang was awakened by the alarm clock. He got up and tore off the calendar on the wall. It was June 6th.

“Unconsciously, five years have passed. I am already approaching 5. Today is another beautiful day. The sun is shining in the sky and the flowers are smiling at me…”

Zhang Yang hummed a song as he walked into the bathroom, took a shower, changed his clothes and went to the living room. Not long after he waited, his mother came to his house dragging a box of clothes and his brother carrying a lunch box.

While Zhang Yang and Xiao Wukong were having breakfast together, Yang Jing laid out a few sets of clothes that she had preliminarily selected.

After taking two bites, Zhang Yang asked, “Is this the breakfast my dad made?”

Yang Jing said sourly: “I can taste the flavor of my dad in one bite…”

Zhang Yang’s tone immediately changed: “Yes, it’s really rare. He hasn’t gotten up to make breakfast for us mother and daughter…mother and daughter three for a long time. Why didn’t he come along?”

Yang Jing was satisfied with her eldest son’s understanding and responded, “Your father has work in the morning, so he will go directly to your boss’s house at noon.”

After chatting and eating breakfast, Zhang Yang turned into a model and was ordered by his mother to try on seven or eight sets of clothes.

“Yangyang, you look so much like your dad when he was young. You’re so handsome. You look good in anything you wear. No, you’re taller and more handsome than him!”

“That’s right, mom, I also inherited your beautiful genes.”

“Yang Yang, which one do you want to wear?”

“Well… Mom, every outfit you picked is beautiful, but I like this one the best. I don’t know why.”

“Of course we are connected by heart, your mother and I designed this myself…”

If dad hadn’t sent an email last night, how could the mother and son be so connected… Zhang Yang complained inwardly, took the clothes he had finally picked out after half an hour of selection, and went back to his room to change into them.

It must be said that Zhang Yang feels that his mother’s design talent may not be that good, but at least her aesthetic is not abstract. The clothes she created are quite good, slim and simple, very suitable for his slender figure.

After changing his clothes, Zhang Yang went outside the yard to get the newspaper from the mailbox and read the news to pass the time. While waiting for the car to pick them up, Yang Jing also came over to read the news.

As soon as he spread out the newspaper, he and his mother exclaimed “Oh shit” together.

Zhang Yang: “Could it be…”

He opened several other newspapers and found that the content was exactly as he had guessed.

His photo was printed on the front page headlines of several mainstream newspapers in the Carolina area and the front page headlines of the sports columns of several newspapers across the United States that he subscribed to!

The title is very consistent – Jordan: “Happy 20th birthday to Jack, we will usher in an even greater next decade together.”

The 06-07 season championship trophy, FMVP trophy, and 07-08 season first-team trophy are also printed on it.

Yang Jing was shocked and asked, “Yang Yang, did your boss buy all the headlines of the newspapers?”

Zhang Yang counted and replied, “Probably. Although I don’t subscribe to all newspapers, I subscribe to several famous local newspapers. He may have bought the headlines locally, not only the sports section, but also the entertainment section and the social section. He may have also bought the sports columns of national newspapers.”

Yang Jing: “Does he take your birthday so seriously? Not only did he pay out of his own pocket to hold a birthday party for you at his house, he also bought you press releases!”

Zhang Yang shook his head: “What he cares about is not my birthday, but my contract renewal. Not just this contract renewal, but mainly future contract renewals…”

At around 10 o’clock, the car sent by Jordan to pick them up arrived.

Zhang Yang, his mother and brother got in the car and headed to the Jordan family’s Mansion No. 23.

It was not the first time for him to go to Jordan’s house from his home. He was familiar with the route. But this time the driver’s route seemed wrong and he seemed to be going in circles. He was about to ask a question, but before he opened his mouth, he saw a huge advertisement on the roadside… It was the same as the newspaper headline! It had his photo and a birthday message from Jordan!

And there is more than one billboard, there is one at every major intersection!
Zhang San: Qiao Tu has invested a lot of money this time!
…

Eight mainstream newspapers in the Carolina area had full headlines, six mainstream media outlets in the United States had sports editions on their cover stories, and there were 8 huge billboards at the Charlotte airport and downtown. Jordan spent millions of dollars to celebrate Zhang Yang’s birthday, and the limelight of the upcoming finals was stolen a lot.

Not long after Zhang Yang arrived at Jordan’s house, Tellem, who came rushing over, told him another piece of news – Charlotte City Hall announced that today, June 6, would be designated as a city holiday, named after the pinyin of his name.

With Jordan’s 23 giant billboards and press releases in front of him, Zhang Yang was not too surprised by the news.

The economic benefits he brings are not limited to the Bobcats, but also greatly help the city’s tourism industry.

The Bobcats have become a strong team, much stronger than the Hornets of that year. The enthusiasm of fans in the Carolina area alone has skyrocketed.

In the past, local fans would prefer to go to Chapel Hill to watch North Carolina games and to Durham to watch Duke games when watching basketball games. Now, it will take some time for the Bobcats to surpass these two teams, but they are not far behind. After all, they have more games, with 41 regular season games. In the playoffs, home games are packed with bars, casinos, clubs… The catering industry, hotel industry, and service industry have all benefited from this.

Overseas tourism has also increased significantly, with many more fans coming to watch the games during the season.

Just like in the original time and space, after James made the decision, several Cleveland congressmen were forced to resign. If Zhang San left one year, the same situation would probably happen in Charlotte. Most of those congressmen would serve for many years or even inherit the position.

After all, it’s still ‘business’.

But even though he saw all this clearly, he still felt happy and proud to receive such courtesy. The only drawback was that he was eliminated early in the playoffs…

…

This was the most lively birthday Zhang Yang had ever had, but also the busiest and most tiring one.

Follow your dad or Jordan to toast everywhere and get to know local political and business figures invited by Jordan.

Jordan held a party at his estate, which was not open to the public. He did not allow reporters or the like to come, and the cameraman was from his own team. It was okay for Zhang Yang to have a few drinks since he was not of drinking age. Since others had given him face, he must return the favor.

Although he couldn’t name most of these people, this was the group of people he came into contact with the most when doing business locally, and the bulk of his father’s business was here. If he didn’t get along well with them or got tripped up by them, it would be very troublesome.

Besides, they just took a sip of wine, exchanged a few words, and took a photo at most. There was no loss. It was just that Jordan called too many people, so it was a little tiring. The amount of wine he drank was not as much as the ones his teammates drank after exchanging pleasantries.

After a busy day, the next morning, Zhang Yang woke up in the courtyard of Jordan Manor and looked at the naked Cuban girl next to him…

When Jordan went to Los Angeles to attend an event a while ago, he met Nash. The two talked about Zhang San. Nash mentioned that Zhang Yang brought a Cuban actress back to the hotel when he went to a party with him last time. Last night after the guests left, Jordan, who was drunk, stuffed a girl into his mouth when he was also drunk. Jordan smiled lasciviously and said that it was an original product that was found specially for him.

He stood up and looked. Fortunately, there were a few small balloons thrown on the bed and the floor, so he remembered the safety measures.

Jordan said it was an original product. Zhang Yang believed that he was not a fellow LSP, but he did not believe a word of it.

He got up, put the balloon away, flushed it down the toilet, took a shower, put on his pants and left. He never thought that one day he would become such a person, but at this time the advantage of having a boss was reflected – the fat boss had told him a long time ago that if you find a female companion after drinking, you must take safety measures and pretend not to know her the next day. Paul also warned him similar things.

It’s not that he discriminates against anyone, but as for the black community, he feels that black people from middle-class families and black people from lower-class nouveau riche families are from two completely different worlds.

Comparative examples are Rain Man Kemp and Coach Lu. Both of them spent a lot of money on private entertainment, but the former had a lot of illegitimate children and was bankrupted by the child support, while the latter made more and more money.

Neither Felton nor Paul came from lower-income families, as can be seen from their favorite sports as children – bowling and baseball.

Not long after Zhang Yang left, the Cuban girl woke up, got up, crossed her legs and walked around the room naked. Seeing no one, she cursed a few words, then called her bestie to brag that the person she spent the night with was the NBA’s handsome bad boy Jack, not the old man Jordan…

As for Zhang Yang, after returning home, he rested for a day, just like taking two days off, and will continue training tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Tellem came to his house and talked about the contract renewal. He was very touched by Jordan and the city hall’s operation, but his attitude towards the contract renewal remained unchanged. He would do what he had to do. After learning about Zhang Yang’s attitude, Tellem breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that this young man would change the previously agreed contract renewal method.

Although Zhang Yang is much more mature than his peers, who can be more mature than the No. 21 in San Antonio? He was fooled by Popovich and earned less.

Just look at the contract extension prices of Kobe and Duncan. Both are 7-year contracts. Kobe’s maximum salary is 1.36 million, while Duncan’s is the second-highest salary of 7 million for 1.22 years. On average, it is 200 million less per year, which is a salary gap of more than 10%.

When renewing his contract that year, Duncan had the upper hand in both honors and strength. He was also very popular in the United States, started in the All-Star Game for many years, and had multiple endorsements.

At night, Zhang Yang sat in front of the TV to watch the live broadcast of the first game of the finals.

On the 3rd, the Eastern Conference Finals were decided.

The Bulls reached the Eastern Conference Finals and finally faced their first strong opponent in this year’s playoffs. The game started earlier than the Western Conference Finals, but ended later.

公牛队先是以88比85、107比91守住两个主场，接着活塞队也以101比96、95比83守住两个主场。

In the decisive battle, Yao Ming went wild and scored 24 points and 20 rebounds, blasting the Pistons’ inside line. The Bulls defeated the Pistons 96-82 and got the match point. In G6, the Pistons fought back and won by 29 points in the first quarter with 18-11, but the Bulls seized the initiative in the next three quarters, suppressing the Pistons for three consecutive quarters, and finally completed the reversal with 104-97.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Pistons 4-2 and advanced to the finals.

两队表现最好的是姚明和汉密尔顿，姚明6场比赛场均23.5分14板1.8助攻2.8盖帽；汉密尔顿场均24.5分3.2板4助攻，命中率达到了52.6%，比姚明这个中锋都要高0.3%。

In the West, the other team that made it to the conference finals is the Spurs.

The Spurs and Warriors had to play a seventh game to advance with difficulty. They won G1 but lost G2, had a 1-1 record at home, and then lost G3 away.

Fortunately, in G4, Gay and Duncan exploded and both scored 30 points. In the third quarter, Duncan scored 10 points and Gay scored 3 points with 13 three-pointers, a dunk and two free throws. The two led the Spurs to a single-quarter score of 41 points, the highest in team playoff history, laying the foundation for victory. In the end, they defeated the Warriors 118-104 and tied the score.

The Spurs then returned to their home court and won the decisive battle, but the Warriors also exploded and responded to the Spurs with a 115-101 score, dragging the series into a seventh game.

Then, the Warriors faced a player who scored 7 points with 6 of 16 shots in a single quarter… 112 to 98, the Spurs won the seventh game and met the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

In this round of the series, Zhang Yang had to prepare for the game and play the game, so he had no time to watch the live broadcast.

After being eliminated, he was in no mood to watch the remaining two live broadcasts…but later he found the video and watched it roughly.

In this series, Ellis shined, averaging 7.3 mid-range shots and long two-pointers per game and averaging 24.7 points per game, the highest on both teams. His 47.3% shooting percentage was also very good, the highest among the two teams’ outside players. Ginobili only had 46.9%. Looking only at the overall performance, Ellis completely overwhelmed Ginobili.

He was also praised as the younger version of Kobe because of this series.

He readily accepted the nickname and called himself the “second best shooting guard in the West.”

However, Zhang Yang was more impressed by Artest, who averaged 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. His scoring was a bit poor, and as a small forward his shooting percentage was only 44%. He only played well in fast breaks, and was at a loss when encountering Duncan in positional battles.

But on the defensive end, Artest defended Ginobili on the outside and Duncan on the inside, and occasionally had to switch to defend Conley. He was like King, who had perfect defensive basics, but his physical strength was not that good. He was a little weak in the final quarter and was beaten by Ginobili at every critical moment, especially in the seventh game, when Ginobili scored 16 points in a single quarter by being close to him.

This is related to the fact that the Warriors’ backcourt can only defend against Artest and Azubuike. Their playing time is not healthy and they have to maintain their defensive output throughout the game. He himself is not a physical freak.

Moreover, when Ginobili gets going at critical moments, anyone defending him will be beaten, and it doesn’t matter who is defending him.

It’s just that Artest’s performance in this series was not highly praised by the media. Stephen Jackson, who averaged 19.6 points per game, and Baron Davis, who averaged 15 points and 7 assists per game, received higher praise.

Because his name is Ron Artest.

Zhang Yang didn’t watch the live broadcast of this series, but he couldn’t help but watch the replay. However, he lost interest in the Western Conference Finals after watching the live broadcast of Game 1.

The score of G1 was 107 to 87, and the Lakers won by 20 points in the first game.

Peak Kobe alone was enough to make the Spurs desperate, let alone adding Garnett who could also shoot from mid-range.

后面3场马刺队没翻起浪花，92比104、90比100、88比103，连输4场，0比4告别季后赛。

The Spurs lost badly, but it was still better than the 08 Western Conference Finals in Zhang Yang’s memory. He remembered that the Spurs would have suffered a 30-point defeat, but Duncan responded with a 2013-point difference when they played against the Lakers again in 31. At that time, many people said that the Spurs did it on purpose. Duncan’s fans said that it was intentional, but it was a pity that Kobe was out for the season and did not participate.

It was 9 o’clock in the evening, and the finals started as scheduled. Zhang Yang could only sit alone in the dimly lit room, watching other stars running on the court…

…

After resting for two days, on June 6, Zhang Yang continued training with the help of Englander.

He was inspired by watching others play in the finals last night and practiced very hard today. In the end, England asked the staff to take the ball away and not give him the ball to practice with, so he gave up.

However, after being kicked out, he immediately went for physical therapy, took a shower, and went home. He was just a little bit drunk, and he would still listen even if someone tried to stop him.

As the finals began, the Bobcats’ draft tryouts also began. However, with only one draft pick at 58th overall, they were not very attractive. Most of the players who came to the tryouts were predicted to be in the top of the list or even not on the list.

But Jordan was not willing to be lonely, so he went to Chapel Hill and held the “Michael Jordan Open Draft Training Camp” at his alma mater. He sent out invitations widely, and many rookies and teams accepted the invitation to participate.

On the 13th, Zhang Yang had a rest day after 5 days of training, which was also the second day of the “Jordan Draft Training Camp”. He got up early, had breakfast, changed into more formal clothes, and set out to return to school.

Yesterday, he received a call from Jordan, asking him if he was interested in going to the training camp.

Anyway, he had nothing to do and he could also meet Ronaldo and Erha who were busy with the talent show, so he gladly accepted Jordan’s invitation.

After an hour’s drive, he arrived at North Carolina’s comprehensive sports stadium. When he found Jordan, he saw his boss with other team executives.

At first glance, the one who looks the most bossy is the greasy-haired Riley, who has an extremely strong aura.

Zhang Yang muttered, “Boss Qiao is really impressive. The No. 1 pick holder is here,” and walked forward to greet him.

Not only Pat Riley came, but also the top managements of the top 10 teams, except for Danny Ainge of the Celtics and Larry Bird of the Pacers, the top managements of the other 8 teams came.

Because there are several candidates for the top prize here today.

Jordan showed off Zhang Yang to the presidents and general managers of other teams with a proud look on his face, and the fortune teller closed his eyes silently.

This is not the basketball god in my mind. It’s too vulgar and too low.

But when he opened his eyes, the fortune teller still saw the fat and big-eared bald man who was grinning so hard that his back teeth were exposed. He decisively distinguished the basketball god in his mind from the current bald man to avoid damaging his spiritual heart.

After chatting for a while, Jordan took Zhang Yang to change into training clothes for the training camp. Today, Jordan will personally guide the training of the rookies.

Zhang Yang and Jordan changed into training clothes and came to the stadium. When Harden saw Zhang Yang coming, he pulled DeRozan up to say hello. Zhang Yang chatted with the two for a few words and received a good response about the tryout, so he, Zhang San, was also very happy.

After the chat, Zhang Yang was called away by the people sent by Jordan to discuss how the two of them would guide the training today and what work each of them would do.

Harden asked DeRozan in confusion, “DeMar, aren’t you happy that Jack is coming? Why didn’t you say anything when he came? You just nodded a few times?”

DeRozan: “I just wanted to focus on today’s practice and make a good impression on those team managements.”

After listening to this, Harden tilted his head and thought for a while, then asked, “Are you jealous that Jack can now coach us rookies with Jordan?”

Daluo: Erha, you actually guessed it right with your stupid brain!
But can you put it more tactfully? What is jealousy? It’s called unwillingness, okay!

Harden patted DeRozan on the shoulder and said, “It’s okay, don’t feel embarrassed. I’m also envious and jealous. We watched Jack practice from scratch, and now he is one of the best players in the world. We just finished our school days, but I believe that I will become a great player like him.”

DeRozan: “No! To surpass him!”

Harden: “Haha, DeMar, what I admire and envy most about you is your confidence and ambition!”

DeRozan smacked his lips when he heard that and stopped talking.

He felt that he should be the one who was envied. He wanted to be as optimistic and cheerful as Harden, but he couldn’t.

He felt that perhaps it was because of Harden’s personality that his relationship with Zhang Yang became increasingly close.

Although he and Zhang Yang have a good relationship, and they are close friends even if they haven’t contacted each other for half a year, they still fall behind Harden and Zhang Yang’s relationship. The most important thing is…

Daluo: It was obviously me who knew the third brother first!
Zhang Yang chatted with Jordan for a while about coaching training.

It’s not that he has never coached others in training. In commercial activities and team activities, he often guides children in training basic skills.

However, the coaching session in this kind of training camp, which is open to the media and shown to the management of each team, is not really pure coaching. It is mainly a test to allow these draft participants to show their strengths.

But it doesn’t matter if he has no experience. He just needs to do whatever the boss tells him to do. Anyway, he just comes here on a day off to relax, have some fun, and meet with Ronaldinho and Erha.

Just as the two were communicating with the trainers and assigning tasks, a tryout player in training clothes came up to them.

After Zhang Yang and Jordan entered the court, most of the tryout players focused their attention on them. When they saw the man walking towards them, they all saluted – what was this annoying guy trying to do?

Zhang Yang also noticed the person coming – OJ Mayo, one of the favorites for the No. 1 pick!

Mayo said, “Michael, Jack, I think you should know who I am. I have something to talk to you about.”

Zhang Yang’s eyes lit up. Was he about to see the legendary scene? The scene where fat old Jordan beat up new No. 3 draft pick Mayo?
Mayo pointed at Zhang Yang and said, “Jack, I want to challenge you in a duel!”

Zhang San: “Huh? Me?”

(End of this chapter)