The longest river

Chapter 48 Teasing Kobe 2.0
The Pacers didn't have any plans for Yang Shuai on the second day of the draft, but Yang Shuai was unusually busy that day.

Yang Shuai once watched Yao Ming's documentary "The Year of Yao" in his previous life, and there was a segment in it that he remembered vividly.

That was Yao Ming's first time participating in All-Star Weekend. He moved from room to room and participated in one event after another, just like a whirlwind tour.

At the time, Yang Shuai thought it was just a program effect for a documentary, but now it seems to be the most authentic portrayal.

Participating in talk shows, filming Chinese short films, giving various interviews, and attending various events, his legs felt like they never rested, and his newly bought phone kept ringing non-stop.

Incidentally, he also received a check for $50 from the trading card company upper.deck.

Yang Shuai experienced the busiest day of his two lives. Only after everything was over in the evening and he trained hard on the court did he feel like he had come back to life.

If every day in the future is as busy as today, he will probably have a hard time playing well.

Just as Yang Shuai was thinking this, his phone rang again.

This time it wasn't related to the event, because the call came from Walsh.

The Pacers' summer league schedule has been cancelled.

On July 1, 1995, after lengthy negotiations, the two sides were unable to reach a new agreement, and the NBA officially entered its third lockout in history.

The so-called shutdown means that everything in the league has been put on pause.

The players will no longer receive salaries and will be unable to use any facilities associated with the team, including the stadium and training facilities.

The rookies suffered the most; they not only lost their salaries, but they also missed out on playing in the Summer League.

However, since Yang Shuai had already signed an endorsement contract with Reebok, he won't encounter financial problems like other rookies.

After returning to Cleveland for a short rest, he and Rondo flew to Philadelphia.

"Which university are you going to?" Yang Shuai asked Rondo on the plane about his college choice.

Rondo will go to the NBA to help Yang Shuai, but that will be after he graduates from college.

"I can get a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania." Although Rondo didn't have the chance to make it to the NBA, his SAT score was much better than Yang Shuai's.

Yang Shuai nodded. The University of Pennsylvania is in Philadelphia, and they can visit the campus while they're playing the game.

What's your major?

"Business management."

Upon hearing this answer, Yang Shuai turned to look at Rondo, who had never previously expressed interest in business administration.

However, he quickly understood the other party's intention.

Business administration is the major that is most likely to be helpful to him in the future.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, Yang Shuai first met up with Garnett, and then took him to see Eskridge.

In response to Yang Shuai's return to the league, which included Garnett, Eskrich took them directly to the most famous local restaurant, Le Bec-Fin, and treated them to classic cheese steak.

Moreover, Yang Shuai did not stay in the school dormitory this time, but was directly arranged to stay in a hotel.

With good food and lodging, Yang Shuai and Garnett naturally led the team on a winning streak.

Furthermore, because both players loved to trash talk on the field, their team earned the nickname "Nightmare Team".

This does match Yang Shuai's nickname back in the Cleveland baseball league.

Yang Shuai is racking up points, but the only downside is that Sonny Hill's league level is not high, which limits his ability to improve his competitive level.

It was at this moment that an old acquaintance appeared.

Kobe returned to Philadelphia after completing his second ABCD training camp.

Compared to last year's training camp, Kobe's performance this year can be described as a complete transformation.

He wore number 134 when he entered the training camp, but by the time he finished, he was wearing number 3, a jump of more than 130 places.

He is now considered by some media outlets to have surpassed Tim Thomas and become the top high school player of the class of 1996.

Kobe's appearance at the Sonny Hill League drew cheers from the sidelines; he looked much more muscular than last year.

However, he was not alone this time; Hamilton was with him.

Before the game even started, Kobe took the initiative to challenge Yang Shuai and started chatting with him.

"I heard you were selected as an NBA lottery pick."

“I also heard that you won the AAU Championship while I was away.”

Kobe's face darkened. "What do you mean, 'while you're not here'? Yang Shuai is still as annoying as ever."

However, he immediately spoke with high spirits: "I heard you were here, so I rushed over as soon as the training camp ended."

Last year, Yang Shuai quickly rose to the ranks of the top high school students in the United States thanks to his AAU championship and outstanding performance at the Nike training camp.

This year he not only did the same thing, but he did it even better than Yang Shuai.

So now, if he can beat Yang Shuai, who has already become an NBA lottery pick, it will prove that he can also become an NBA lottery pick.

"So you're a fan of celebrities too."

"..."

"Negative energy from Kobe Bryant +378".

"I'm here to defeat you!" Kobe's gloomy face instantly turned red.

Yang Shuai smiled and reached out to take the ball.

When Kobe saw Yang Shuai with the ball, he immediately engaged in physical contact, and his eagerness was evident in every movement.

However, he ultimately failed to prevent Yang Shuai from turning around and driving to the basket for a layup after his back to the basket.

Yang Shuai has grown another 2 centimeters in the past year, reaching a height of 2.01 meters with shoes on. With a wingspan of 2.14 meters, he is a size larger than Kobe.

In addition to his physical advantage, it wouldn't be easy for Kobe to defend him in a one-on-one situation.

"Ah Dou, your defense hasn't improved much, has it?" Yang Shuai commented to Kobe after scoring.

A Dou? When Kobe heard Yang Shuai stop calling him number 33, he felt that Yang Shuai was showing him some respect, but what the heck was A Dou?!
But he soon came to his senses.

His father, Joe Bryant, was nicknamed "Jelly Bean" when he played in the NBA!
Turning around, Kobe had the ball, his eyes bloodshot.

Hamilton then made a beautiful off-ball run on the weak side using a screen.

However, Kobe did not pass the ball; instead, he opted for a crossover dribble followed by a pull-up mid-range jumper.

Yang Shuai correctly predicted the direction of his breakthrough, but failed to keep up.

Kobe not only gained weight, but also improved his core strength and explosiveness.

However, Kobe's shot didn't score because Garnett seized the opportunity to help defend after noticing that Kobe wasn't passing the ball, and blocked his shot.

The ball was blocked and sent to the three-point line. Yang Shuai rushed out and grabbed the ball. After dodging the opposing player's attempt to steal the ball with a behind-the-back dribble, he drove the length of the court and delivered a fast break dunk.

Yang Shuai raised his right biceps in celebration after landing.

"Your teammate helped you just now," Kobe emphasized after returning to the frontcourt. If it weren't for Garnett, he would have made that shot.

"Adou, you need to know that basketball is about teamwork." Actually, Yang Shuai didn't expect Kobe to be so selfish in high school. He remembered that Kobe wasn't so obvious last year. Is it that the stronger you are, the more selfish you become?
However, considering how many points Kobe had contributed to his career, he felt it necessary to offer some advice to the other party:
“The word ‘team’ doesn’t contain ‘I’ (self).

Kobe didn't respond to Yang Shuai, but simply reached out and asked for the ball again.

Moreover, this time he didn't even look at his teammates' positions before choosing to drive to the basket.

This time, Yang Shuai consciously took a small step back in advance and successfully kept up with Kobe.

In terms of defensive experience, Yang Shuai now has far more than Kobe.

Seeing that he couldn't shake off Yang Shuai, Kobe opted for a sudden stop followed by a turnaround fadeaway shot.

That was a beautiful play; the improvement in core strength has further enhanced Kobe's skills.

However, knowing that Kobe wouldn't pass the ball, Yang Shuai only needed to focus on Kobe's shot. At that moment, he jumped up almost simultaneously to give Kobe a strong interference.

"when!"

Kobe missed a shot, and Garnett grabbed the rebound.

During the transition between offense and defense, Yang Shuai continued to reach out for the ball.

"There's no 'i' in 'team'?" Kobe asked Yang Shuai, who had been playing one-on-one since the start of the game.

Yang Shuai smiled slightly, then suddenly broke through and took a three-pointer.

Kobe was guarding Yang Shuai's drive, and he couldn't keep up with the three-point rhythm at all, so he could only watch Yang Shuai score.

After scoring, Yang Shuai stopped his follow-up motion, smiled at Kobe, and said, "'Team' doesn't have an 'i', but it does have 'me'!"

"..."

"Negative energy from Kobe Bryant +748".

During the break, Kobe sat on the bench, his entire upper body rising and falling with his heavy breathing.

The amount of hard work he put in over the past year is unimaginable to others, all to prove that he didn't rely on his father's reputation but on his own abilities.

He did it; he became the best high school student, and he wanted to prove he could go even further.

But Yang Shuai gave him a very real slap in the face, still "slapping and cursing at the same time".

At the other end of the court, Yang Shuai was chatting and laughing with Garnett, appearing relaxed.

"Is there some kind of grudge between you two?" When talking about Kobe, even Garnett, who loves to trash talk, thought Yang Shuai's trash talk was too harsh.

"No, I was just respecting him," Yang Shuai said seriously, repeating what Rondo had said before.

Garnett was successfully amused.

"Kevin," Yang Shuai turned his head at this moment and lowered his voice, "the league level here is too low for us. We can only try to find some meaningful matches."

Garnett was stunned for a moment, then gradually understood.

The cancellation of the Summer League has had a significant impact on them. If they can't find something that helps them, they might as well go back to training instead of playing against weaker opponents here.

When the second quarter ended, while Yang Shuai was still having a close conversation with Kobe, Garnett did something quite unbelievable: he switched to guard Hamilton.

As a result, the audience saw a 2.11-meter tall guy running all over the court with a 1.96-meter guard. The key point is that although he looked very tired, he was able to keep up most of the time.

Yang Shuai couldn't help but laugh when he saw it. Garnett was practicing his physical fitness and getting around screens on the court!

However, this scene made him immediately recognize Hamilton; wasn't this the guy who supposedly made his dog vomit?

Ultimately, Yang Shuai and Garnett's team easily defeated Kobe and Hamilton's team.

And so, the familiar scene reappeared.

Yang Shuai often saw Kobe Bryant intently watching the game from the sidelines.

However, unlike before, this time Kobe frequently switched teams to face Yang Shuai.

It's clear he really wants to beat Yang Shuai.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Yang Shuai not only honed his skills in his match against Kobe, but also gained a lot of points.

Although Kobe never won, he became more determined with each setback, and his skills and mentality improved significantly.

Sometimes, when it comes to basketball, you really need to have a bit of the Wolfy personality.

However, Yang Shuai didn't continue playing with Kobe like that, not because he didn't want to, but because he received a call from Fraser.

One bad news and one good news.

The bad news is that labor and management are close to reaching an agreement, and the new terms clearly stipulate the rookie contract and its duration.

The good news is that the NBA lockout is finally coming to an end, and he can go to Indiana to report for duty.

-Dividing line-

①: A type of candy whose main ingredients are sugar, starch and syrup. It has a sugar coating on the outside and soft candy inside. It is very popular in the United States and Europe.

(End of this chapter)