NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74: Chapter 74
Chapter 74: All-Star Voting
"Zhao Dong, how do you feel about being the head of the Four Great Villains? Are you satisfied?" a reporter asked during an on-site interview.
"I'm satisfied with a hammer!" Zhao Dong spat out angrily in Mandarin before switching to English. "This is absolute slander! That bastard postman is the real head of the Four Villains. He's ruined countless people and is full of crimes. His elbows are like the Grim Reaper's sickle, ready to reap the opponent's life as long as it's on the field. And what kind of villain am I? I am the embodiment of justice, the angel who punishes the wicked, and the gentleman who shines in the world. We New York Knicks are all gentlemen. We don't deserve to be called the New York Gangs at all. I think the Utah Jazz could be called the Utah Gangsters. Should we call them that from now on?"
"Ha ha…" Oakley, Larry Johnson, and the others laughed behind him.
"Bah! A gentleman, like shit," Weber, who was passing by, rubbed his bruised chest, glared at Zhao Dong, and staggered away.
Back at the hotel, Zhao Dong ate a piece of pizza that Oakley had brought back, washed up, lay on the bed, and turned on the system.
He had accumulated a total of ten quality points, which were still acceptable and could significantly improve his strength. But his original plan was to first enhance his coordination, flexibility, and balance. He took a closer look at his various stats to see if there had been any growth after the hard training sessions. Sure enough, his strength had increased slightly, reaching level 82. Over the past month, he had specifically focused on strengthening his core, so he double-clicked on the strength category. The breakdown appeared:
Upper body: 85
Lower body: 82
Core: 79
"Cool!" Zhao Dong thought as he saw his core strength increase by three levels. Looking at the other stats, nothing had changed. With ten quality points, he decided to increase his coordination and flexibility by two levels each, bringing them up to level 77, and then raised his balance from level 72 to level 75, leaving three quality points remaining.
"Let's just improve my core strength," he thought. Since the coordination was already improved, the core strength needed to keep up with the progress. He raised it from level 79 to level 80. The strength category had increased by one level, but the total strength still didn't reach level 83. Instead, a ↑ symbol appeared.
"82↑? This strength is so hard to improve. Other qualities increase by one level at a time, but strength takes three points to increase by one," he complained.
Finally, he spent the last two points on core strength, raising it to level 82, and the total strength reached level 83.
With the improvement of core strength, Zhao Dong realized that it would be easier to train his offensive skills in the future, such as turnaround jumpers and fadeaway jumpers. Even with core strength reaching a first-class level, he could potentially play with any kind of tie rod, something unimaginable at this point.
"Hey, Zhao Dong, we have an appointment. We'll relax after arriving in Atlanta tomorrow. Do you want to come along?" Oakley asked.
Zhao Dong looked up, tilted his head, and quickly recalled the list of swingers with Ewing, including Oakley, John Starks, Larry Johnson, and many others. In addition to the Knicks players, there were several others like Mutombo from the Hawks, Jordan and his teammate Rodman, Reggie Miller from the Pacers, and even some female stars with special interests, like Madonna, who enjoyed the scene with Rodman.
"NO, I'm not interested in that kind of occasion at all." Zhao Dong shook his head.
"Don't worry, it's the same as shopping malls. They just improve some services. We're just going to relax and have a good time," Oakley laughed.
"NO, I prefer to spend time with my girlfriend. It makes me more passionate," Zhao Dong said.
"They also provide door-to-door service; you just need to stay in the hotel room and wait," Oakley added.
Zhao Dong was aware of that, but he still refused.
The next day, after arriving in Atlanta, Ewing, Oakley, Larry Johnson, and John Starks left the hotel after dinner.
"Anyway, the system doesn't have any missions, so I'll do whatever I want," Zhao Dong muttered as he watched them leave. He grabbed a ball and went to the gym for training.
In the evening, when Oakley returned, Zhao Dong had just finished his ball training and was about to take a shower.
"You really worked hard, young man!" Oakley said with a smile.
Zhao Dong smiled and replied, "Charles, how many times did you have a good time? You won't be weak in tomorrow night's game, will you?"
"Three times," Oakley said with a smug grin. "Your legs might be weak, but mine won't be."
In reality, however, Oakley's legs were weak. Ewing's legs were weak too.
"Damn it, your uncle, why did I get stuck with a bunch of lecherous teammates?" Zhao Dong cursed after they lost the game.
The Hawks were a strong team, ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference. In this game, many Knicks players had weak legs and were in poor condition. The Knicks suffered a big defeat, losing 88-71.
Ewing didn't take many shots due to his weakness. Zhao Dong, however, had 20 attempts, often being double-teamed. He managed to make 10 of them, along with 5 out of 7 free throws, putting up 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers, and 4 fouls.
After the loss, the Knicks rushed back to New York overnight since they had a back-to-back game against the Bucks at home the next day. On the plane, Zhao Dong looked at Oakley and the others, who were drowsy, and worried that the team might fall into a losing streak. His fears were confirmed. On January 5th, the Knicks faced their first losing streak of the season. Despite the setback, with a 25-7 record, they still ranked second in the Eastern Conference. On January 1st, the Knicks broke their losing streak with a win against the Mavericks at home. They flew to Boston on January 7th.
The Knicks were set to travel to the Celtics on the 10th, and then return home for a back-to-back game against the Celtics. This season, the Celtics, like the Spurs, had been struggling from the start, with their main objective being to tank for a top pick, particularly for Tim Duncan. Several teams were competing for the worst record to secure the No. 1 pick.
From his memory, Zhao Dong knew the Spurs had performed poorly in the early season. General Manager Popovich took an unconventional approach by firing the head coach and stepping into the role himself, which ultimately helped them secure Duncan. With the Celtics performing poorly as well, the Knicks managed to win both their home and away games against them, claiming their 27th and 28th victories.
(End of this chapter)
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