Reborn in 96, I started by taking charge of the Dallas Mavericks.

On October 7, the NBA 1996-1997 season preseason officially began.

Unlike regular season games, preseason games are usually scheduled for the afternoon.

Early in the morning, Chen Fang led his team to Houston by bus.

Dallas is 389 kilometers from Houston, a mere 3-hour drive, making it very convenient.

After arriving in Houston, Chen Fang and his group went to the Rockets' home arena, Compaq Center.

At that time, the Rockets' home court was located at the Compaq Center. It wasn't until 2003 that the Rockets moved into the Toyota Center, which fans will know from today.

Chen Fang did not intend for the players to stay overnight in Houston, but planned to return directly to Dallas after the game.

After all, the two cities are not far apart, so it's more comfortable to go home and rest than to stay in a hotel overnight.

Chen Fang is very generous when it comes to player compensation.

After a major overhaul, all the Mavericks players are living in Dallas for the first time.

The capable players had already found their own accommodations, but Chen Fang arranged separate accommodations for rookies like Kobe and some players who joined on minimum contracts.

……

At 3 p.m., the players from both teams had already begun their pre-match warm-up.

Meanwhile, in the studio of CCTV Sports Channel, Zhang Weiping and Sun Zhengping once again teamed up to commentate on the match.

While the players were warming up, Coach Zhang and Coach Sun started chatting.

"Hello everyone, this preseason game between the Mavericks and the Rockets will once again be commentated by Mr. Sun and me."

"Before the match begins, I'd like to ask Coach Sun a question: Which team do you think will win this match?"

Coach Zhang first greeted the viewers in front of the TV, and then, as usual, began to dig a hole for his old partner.

Sun Zhengping pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Judging from the two teams' strength on paper, I think it's very difficult for the Rockets to lose."

"Oh, so Professor Sun is optimistic about the Rockets?" Zhang Weiping asked again to confirm.

Upon hearing Zhang Weiping's tone, Sun Zhengping immediately understood that the other party was up to no good, but just as he said, it would be really difficult for the Rockets to lose given their strength.

It's worth noting that this year's Rockets acquired Charles Barkley, forming an unprecedented Big Three with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, and they are determined to win back the championship they lost last season.

It can be said that they are a team with the strength to compete for the championship.

On the other hand, the Mavericks traded away all their players from last season during the offseason and drafted five rookies, clearly indicating they are a rebuilding team.

It's obvious who will win when a championship contender faces a rebuilding team.

Although it was just an insignificant preseason game, Sun Zhengping couldn't think of any reason why the Rockets would lose, so he made a bold prediction.

"Yeah, I think the Rockets will win this game, by at least 20 points."

Seeing that Sun Zhengping had indeed jumped into the pit, Zhang Weiping said with a smile, "My opinion is exactly the opposite of Mr. Sun's. I think the Mavericks are not without a chance in this game."

Anyone who only looks at the team's strength on paper and hasn't done any in-depth research on the Mavericks would think, like Sun Zhengping, that the Mavericks would suffer a crushing defeat.

But Zhang Weiping was different. As early as after the Mavericks defeated the Chinese men's basketball team in the Summer League, he had a deep understanding of this new Mavericks team.

You don’t know this until you understand it, and you’ll be shocked once you understand it.

Putting aside the other players, just this year's five rookies are all incredibly talented.

When he learned that all five rookies were personally selected by Mavericks owner and head coach Chen Fang, he became particularly optimistic about the Mavericks for the new season.

"The starting lineups for both sides have been announced. Let's take a look at who the starting players are."

"For the Rockets, the center is the familiar Hakeem Olajuwon, the power forward is Charles Barkley who just joined this year, the small forward is Clyde Drexler, and the backcourt is the combination of Matt Maloney and Mario Elie."

"Overall, this lineup was not unexpected before the game. Now let's take a look at the Mavericks' starting lineup."

After receiving the starting lineups from both sides, Coach Sun began by introducing the Rockets' starting lineup.

Then, Coach Zhang picked up a whiteboard and began to introduce the Mavericks' lineup.

"The Mavericks' starting lineup is..."

Just as Coach Zhang saw the Mavericks' starting lineup on the whiteboard and was about to read it down, he suddenly stopped.

"Coach Zhang, are you seeing things? Or should I lend you my reading glasses?"

Fortunately, Teacher Sun reacted quickly and defused the crisis with a joke.

Keep in mind that this was the first official game they played under their NBA contract, and countless viewers across the country were watching them.

If not handled properly, it would be a live broadcast mishap.

With Coach Sun's intervention, Coach Zhang quickly recovered and explained, "The Mavericks' starting lineup is a bit unexpected."

"For the Mavericks, center is Shawn Bradley, and power forward is Oliver Miller..."

"Of this year's five rookies, only one, Kobe Bryant, made the cut."

After Coach Zhang finished reading out the Mavericks' starting five, Coach Sun picked up the conversation and asked a question.

"I think this lineup is quite reasonable, so why is Coach Zhang surprised?"

Upon hearing this, Coach Zhang said very seriously, "Teacher Sun, do you still remember the Summer League? Mavericks head coach Chen Fang fielded a starting lineup entirely composed of this year's rookies, and the results were quite good."

Zhang Weiping still remembers that during the Summer League, the five rookie players led by Kobe completely overwhelmed the Chinese men's basketball team.

However, when the preseason came, Chen Fang did not use the same lineup as before, which puzzled him greatly.

"What's wrong with this?"

"Most of the opponents in the Summer League are players who can't get playing time in the NBA, making it perfect for developing rookies."

"The preseason is to prepare for the regular season, so of course we should play with the normal lineup, there's nothing wrong with that."

Sun Zhengping thought this was reasonable, but he felt that Zhang Heli was completely unreasonable today.

While the two were chatting, the game between the Mavericks and the Rockets began.

Shawn Bradley and Hakeem Olajuwon jumped for the ball at center court. Taking advantage of his height and wingspan, Shawn Bradley managed to win the jump ball over Olajuwon's head, giving the Mavericks possession.

After receiving the ball, power forward Miller passed it directly to Kobe.

At this time, Kobe had already been handpicked by Chen Fang to be the core of the Mavericks' future team building, which meant that Kobe was the leader of this Mavericks team.

The first attack of the game was assigned to the team leader, which was a special arrangement made by Chen Fang before the game.