NBA's King of Talking

The two left the training facility and got into Reggie's Ford pickup truck.

Reggie drove Jia Fei for a spin in the suburbs. In the car, he sighed, "I thought I could showcase the results of my offseason training in practice, but I never expected Russell Westbrook to beat me so easily!"

Jia Fei comforted him, "There's nothing shameful about getting crushed by him. It doesn't mean your offseason training was meaningless. I feel you were too hasty today, too eager to prove yourself."

Reggie felt that Jia Fei had hit the nail on the head, and he gave a wry smile: "I wanted to show myself. You should know that it's not easy to get into the rotation."

Jia Fei naturally realized that getting into the rotation for the Thunder in the current season would be a very difficult thing for both Reggie and himself.

Reggie Jackson was drafted higher than him, but he can only play guard, and specifically, a guard who needs the ball in his hands. Clearly, Westbrook is the starting ball handler for this team, while Harden is the bench player. There aren't enough ball-handling opportunities for either of them, so where would other guards get the chance?

Starting shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha, despite being called a guard, is really just a 3-and-D player, touching the ball less often than power forward Serge Ibaka. Backup guard Eric Mayno is also a ball-handler who dribbles across half-court, meaning Harden gets all the ball.

Relatively speaking, if Jia Fei can truly develop into a qualified 3D player, then he might even have a better chance of getting playing time than Reggie, because this ability is more scarce on the team.

"Reggie, I consider you a friend, so I'm giving you some advice: don't be too hasty. Just train hard to improve yourself and wait for your opportunity. Realistically speaking, this team doesn't yet have any rotation spots for either of us!" Jia Fei said seriously.

This is a very realistic and direct statement. Reggie actually knows in his heart that he can't beat either Harden or Westbrook.

"Jia, I consider you a friend too. What you said is hard to accept, but it's the truth!" Reggie had no choice but to accept it.

Jia Fei looked out the window. He wasn't a young man without dreams! When he graduated, he thought he could do anything! But after being beaten down by society for a few years, he learned a lot.

NBA teams are like miniature societies. Even if you have the ability, you still need some experience! If you, a rookie, want to kick out the team's veterans and enter the rotation, let alone whether you have the ability, even if you do, doesn't the coach need to consider the feelings of the veteran players?

Locker room stability is so important. Some coaches have terrible tactics and skills, but they can still get a big contract because they can give motivational speeches and control the locker room.

The training camp continued the following day.

This is already the third day of the training camp, and as the camp progresses, there will be more competitive matches.

Jia Fei doesn't pursue personal statistics during games; instead, he consistently performs a blue-collar role. He starts on defense, moving from guarding the ball handler to switching onto the inside, helping on rotations, and actively returning to defense. On offense, he stays in the corner, sometimes roaming along the baseline, and making off-ball runs.

Reggie's attitude has changed significantly today compared to yesterday. He no longer deliberately pursues individual ball possession and attack, but actively runs to create space for his teammates. On the defensive end, he seems to have been influenced by Jia Fei, and his enthusiasm has increased significantly compared to yesterday.

Head coach Brooks was very satisfied with these results.

The match is underway on the field.

On this side, Jia Fei was responsible for defending Durant. Westbrook passed the ball, but Durant didn't receive it and was instead quickly stolen by Jia Fei!

Jia Fei launched a counter-attack with the ball, easily completing a one-handed dunk in the attacking third, where he had a 1-on-0 advantage!

Assistant coach Cheeks on the sidelines shook his head slightly, looking quite surprised.

"What's wrong, Morris?" Brooks asked.

Coach Cheeks turned to Brooks, his eyes still filled with surprise: "So similar, Scott, who do you think Ja's running and jumping resembles?"

Brooks thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I can't think of anything."

"Just like AI, exactly the same!" Cheeks exclaimed. He had coached Iverson with the 76ers, and if anyone present knew Iverson best, it was him.

Brooks laughed and said, "Jay is indeed fast. Take that ball just now, for example. After he stole the ball and launched a counterattack, it was obvious that KD and Russ gave up immediately. They didn't have time to chase him at all."

Cheeks said, "Yes, Ja gives me the feeling of a 2-meter-tall AI. That's terrifying. If he could have the ball-handling and dribbling ability of an AI, I can't even imagine how difficult he would be to defend."

"But that's impossible, haha, Morris. I'm more optimistic about his performance on the defensive end. He's a really talented defensive player. Look at his aggressive defensive attitude, quick movement, good physicality, and ability to defend multiple positions. He has the potential to become an excellent perimeter defender!" Brooks said.

At this moment, Jia Fei, who was playing on the court, was unaware that the head coach and assistant coaches on the sidelines were talking about him. He continued to play defense diligently, believing that his performance was something the coaches had noticed.

The training camp lasted a week from start to finish, and Jia Fei trained with the team for that entire week. On December 18th, the team announced a day off, and the preseason games would begin on the 19th.

Because this season is a shortened season, the preseason has also been shortened, with only two games. The Thunder's two preseason opponents are both the Dallas Mavericks.

Jia Fei was excited; he finally had the chance to represent the team. Generally speaking, the starting rotation players don't get much playing time in the preseason; instead, bench players and fringe players get more playing time. Since preseason results don't count towards the regular season standings, these games not only give the starting rotation players a feel for the game but also provide an opportunity for the team to evaluate new players.

Not only Jia Fei, but also Reggie, both need this opportunity.

On the evening of the 18th, Jia Fei logged into the system to see if there were any tasks available, but found that there were no preseason tasks to claim. He had previously claimed a task to appear in the regular season, and there weren't any other tasks available for the time being. He planned to check back after the preseason ended.

Before going to bed that night, Jia Fei suddenly received a call from Kemba Walker. Seeing the familiar phone number, he was deeply moved. After all, Kemba Walker was his first friend in this world, and currently his best friend.

"Jia, are you asleep?" Kemba Walker's familiar voice came through the phone.

"Baby, what are you doing? Are you asleep? Baby, what are you doing? Why aren't you replying..." This song played in Jia Fei's mind.