Free Web NovelChapter 602: Chapter 185: Another Backstab Against Boss Qiao (Part 2)
As soon as they arrived at the airport and heard that Jason Williams had won an award, he excitedly invited the whole team to the beach to celebrate. Zhang Hao felt that having won Rookie of the Year, he should also host a party, but...
The Magician definitely wouldn’t go, as he was now avoiding alcohol and spending his free time at church or busy with his company.
Since the Magician wasn’t going, it was time for some booze and girls.
At this point, bringing Zhang Hao, who draws a horde of paparazzi and large crowds of fans wherever he goes, was quite flashy, yet with cameras around, Zhang Hao couldn’t drink. The teammates couldn’t possibly invite Zhang Hao to have him sip milk all night, could they?
So, they decided not to bring Zhang Hao along, even if he offered to host.
Zhang Hao grudgingly returned home, but then noticed his driver’s license, realizing he was only one-quarter through his 19 years.
As his thoughts wandered, Zhang Hao suddenly pondered a question—"If my teammates go out and party before I turn 21, they definitely wouldn’t take me along. Wasn’t Little Keke perhaps not as solitary at first? He seemed to get along well with school basketball star Hamilton and Brandy, a black female singer, even going to prom with Brandy."
For ordinary people, it’s fine, but for a public figure like Mr. Zhang, whom strangers would immediately turn into headlines upon seeing him drink, the same applies to Kobe as well.
"Though Kobe does have a proud personality, he truly doesn’t seem keen on making friends, and those he does make are of Hamilton’s level..."
Zhang Hao stopped thinking about this, as it wasn’t the first time his teammates went out without him.
Feeling a bit down, Zhang Hao returned home to play video games and catch up on the news.
Today, there were no NBA games, but there was a lot of buzz regarding awards.
Besides announcing the Sixth Man of the Year today, they also announced the newly introduced Most Improved Player Award. The 25-year-old center of the Washington Bullets, Gheorghe Muresan, won this inaugural award with averages of 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game.
The mention of this name reminded Zhang Hao of the joy of playing against the Bullets—he could maneuver under the basket and use Gheorghe Muresan himself as a screen without needing any help from teammates.
Although Muresan’s stats showed 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, his actual impact was hard to describe, solely relying on his NBA-record height of 231 centimeters.
The individual awards not yet announced this year included Best Coach, MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year. The only award related to his Lakers team was the Best Coach, voting for which concluded today.
Even though the Lakers improved their record by 17 wins, achieving 65 victories, the Bulls made a crazy turnaround with a 23-win improvement and captured 70 wins.
...
After an afternoon of gaming, Zhang Hao simulated positioning training based on the rough defense he encountered in the first playoff round, costing him an extra day of his lifespan before bedtime.
The next day marked the beginning of a new month.
Despite the team scheduling a rest day, Zhang Hao woke up early to pull James Worthy and the Magician along for continued defensive training.
By noon, as Zhang Hao predicted, the league announced that the Bulls head coach, Phil Jackson, broke the NBA single-season record for the most wins and won Coach of the Year.
If Zhang Hao remembered correctly, this was probably Phil Jackson’s only time winning the award during his career.
During afternoon practice, Zhang Hao observed Del Harris, who failed to win consecutive Best Coach awards alongside Logo Man’s repeated Best Manager wins, wearing a look as though someone owed him money. Zhang Hao felt like comforting the old fox—who would only get this one chance. freewёbnoνel.com
Preparing for the playoffs, focusing on basic technical and tactical training, enhancing physical confrontations.
Zhang Hao sensed that although the old fox didn’t say it, he arranged the training to help Zhang Hao better adapt to playoff-level physical confrontations, improving his positioning for catching and shooting in games.
The absence of specific training was naturally due to the unannounced second-round opponent.
It could either be the Rockets advancing straight with a 3-1 series win, or the Utah Jazz staging a three-game comeback, pulling off a major upset.
As a fan, witnessing a major reversal, Zhang Hao believed he would be absolutely thrilled, but as a player awaiting the opponent, Zhang Hao found it quite torturous.
Luckily, his Lakers team wasn’t alone...
By nighttime, with the Bulls, New York Knicks, and SuperSonics already advancing, tonight only had the 4th game in the Spurs vs. Blazers series.
The Blazers, who led 1-0 and then trailed 1-2, toughened up in their second home game against the Spurs. With David Robinson shooting only 4-16 for 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal, the Blazers beat the Spurs 98-90, evening the series at 2-2.
The brilliance of humanity shone at this moment—compared with the SuperSonics, who were eagerly awaiting, Zhang Hao instantly felt less anxious.
Patience in preparation!
On May 2nd, the Lakers continued to gear up with playoff-level tactical training. Some might find it boring; during training camps and preseason, it didn’t feel like this—after resting for half a year, even veteran players felt like they were learning something new. But this time was different, though Zhang Hao practiced diligently, knowing he needed it.
His earnestness prevented his teammates from slacking off.
By 4:30 PM, the Eastern Conference survivor, the Pistons, faced the Pacers at home in their series’ 4th game.
Zhang Hao returned home early to watch the live broadcast, as aside from this matchup, there was also the 4th game between the Rockets and Utah Jazz tonight.
