NBA's King of Talking

Jia Fei didn't care what Kemba Walker said, but he genuinely enjoyed watching Sharapova play. Her indomitable spirit and wildness were truly captivating.

As a result, Jia Fei went to watch Sharapova's second match. Her second-round opponent was Yakimova, whom she easily defeated in straight sets to advance to the next round.

After the match, Jia Fei asked her for an autograph again.

On September 2, 2011, in the third round of the women's singles at the US Open, Sharapova faced Pennetta.

In this match, Sharapova was out of form, made frequent mistakes, and ultimately lost to her opponent, suffering a shock defeat.

Jia Fei went to watch the game again...

Sharapova lost, and Jia Fei also felt quite disappointed, but both tennis and basketball are competitive sports. Winning and losing are very normal in competitive sports. Everyone hopes to be a perpetual winner, but that's simply impossible.

A sport where only one side always wins loses its appeal as a competitive sport.

Sharapova appeared somewhat dejected after the match, clearly dissatisfied with her performance. However, she still insisted on taking photos with fans and signing autographs for those who supported her.

Jia Fei squeezed to the front again, still wanting his autograph on his T-shirt. For three consecutive matches, even if Sharapova had face blindness, she noticed him. Clearly, she didn't have face blindness.

Sharapova certainly noticed Jia Fei. First, his height was different from that of ordinary fans. Even in the United States, a height of 2 meters would make him stand out among ordinary people. Second, he had the appearance of an East Asian man, with yellow skin, black eyes, and black hair, making him very eye-catching among many fans. Third, he was really handsome. His smile was like a warm spring breeze, which would make you forget some of your troubles and feel warm inside.

At that moment, Sharapova felt very depressed and frustrated. But when she saw Jia Fei's smile and his clear eyes, she felt much better.

"Thank you for coming to watch my match!" Sharapova said after signing autographs for Jia Fei.

"Don't be discouraged, I will always support you!" Jia Fei said with a smile.

"Thank you!" Sharapova still couldn't manage a smile, but she was definitely in a better mood.

Back in the locker room, Jia Fei's smile still lingered in Sharapova's mind. She wondered if the tall man was a basketball player. Her current boyfriend, Vujacic, played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, so whenever she saw a tall man, she couldn't help but think he might be a basketball player. She knew a bit about the NBA, but she simply couldn't think of any player who looked like him.

When Jia Fei returned to his lodgings, Art Mayork saw him lying on the bed in a daze and couldn't help but ask, "Jia, did you finish watching the US Open?"

Jia Fei nodded expressionlessly.

"Did the player you were supporting lose?" Art Mayork asked.

Jia Fei nodded again.

“Then we don’t need to go!” Art Mayork said. He suddenly understood Jia Fei’s feelings. It wasn’t that the loss of their favorite player was the end of the world, but rather that they were all incredibly bored lately, almost to the point of madness. When the hell is the NBA lockout finally ending? Can’t we get some definite news?!

It was already September, but by the end of September, there was still no news of the NBA lockout ending.

In fact, on August 31, representatives from both labor and management held six hours of negotiations. After the negotiations, Fisher said that the union had not changed its position, and both sides felt a sense of urgency.

On September 7, Stern said that both sides had agreed to hold as many negotiations as possible to see if progress could be made.

Jia Fei told Art Mayor and the others that the shutdown would end in November, but they still couldn't believe it. It felt a bit like the end of a bear market in the A-shares market; no matter what positive news you told them, nobody believed a bull market was possible.

It's now October, and three full months have passed since Jia Fei and his group arrived in New York...

These three months felt like a whole year to them...

On October 10, a new round of labor negotiations concluded without an agreement, and the league canceled the first two weeks of the regular season. Stern said, "The negotiations were amicable, but there is a chasm between us. The two sides have been unable to close the gap on the revenue sharing of basketball-related expenses."

By the end of October, the shutdown was still not over...

Jia Fei sensed that his teammates were on the verge of collapse...

February has arrived...

On November 15, the NBA officially notified all teams in the league that 103 games in the first two weeks of December were canceled. This is the third time the league has announced the cancellation of two weeks of games.

斯特恩在10月28日宣布取消了11月15日至11月30日的比赛，在10月10日宣布取消了常规赛前两周的比赛，在10月4日宣布取消了NBA季前赛。

Finally, on November 26th, a major piece of good news came! The two sides finally reached an agreement, ending the 149-day lockout. If the 66 regular season games that Stern mentioned can be guaranteed, the season will have lost a total of 240 games, and the regular season will be reduced from the original 1230 games to 990 games.

On the evening of the 26th, when the lockout ended, Jia Fei and Art Mayok had dinner and a party at Kemba Walker's house. The NBA lockout was over, which was good news for these three rookies.

"Wishing all three of us a bright future in the NBA, cheers!" Kemba Walker said, then toasted with Jia Fei and Art Mayok!

"Kemba, I really want to thank you for taking us in during this time. Without you, I don't know where I would have gone," Jia Fei said, deeply moved.

Art Mayork nodded in agreement. Kemba Walker not only found them accommodations but also arranged commercial competitions so they could earn money.

"Why are you two being so polite? We're brothers!" Kemba Walker laughed.

“Yes, brother!” Jia Fei and Art Mayork said in unison.

Jia Fei and Art Mayor left New York on the 27th. They went to the airport together; one boarded a plane to Oklahoma City, and the other boarded a plane to Los Angeles.

This time, Jia Fei's mindset was completely different when he went to Oklahoma City.

Jeff Schwartz has informed him via email that his contract is under negotiation and will be finalized soon. He was thrilled to hear this.

Even if the contract is small, Jia Fei still needs it; he needs to survive.

After arriving in Oklahoma, Jia Fei checked into a hotel and began looking for an apartment.