No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 1434: Afterword 5
Ewing, an 11-year veteran, renewed his contract with Bird Rights for a maximum salary of 3 years, totaling 42 million.
Zhang Yang, on the other hand, used the temporary clause to sign a 3-year, 100 million extension contract, becoming the only player to use this clause that summer, which henceforth became known as the "Saint Jack Privilege."
The Knicks formed a super team with Zhang Yang, Barkley, and Ewing.
Zhang Yang and Jordan began a three-year epic battle for dominance, with the winner taking home the championship each time.
Nevertheless, Zhang Yang himself didn’t know the final outcome. In ’96, he only managed to tie Jordan’s regular season record with a 70-win season finale...
... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Time Line.
In ’17, after toppling the Warriors of the Universe, Zhang Yang hadn’t trained here for several years. When he returned, it was the end of the 14-15 season, he was already 27, and the "him" here was almost 34 by the 2021-2022 season.
From the first championship with the Lakers in 2014 until the 2020-2021 season, they won an overwhelming 8 consecutive titles!
Starting from the 17-18 season, countless teams engaged in an arms race hoping to challenge the Compton Three Giants. Additionally, numerous star players jostled to join, with some even clashing with their current teams and buying out their contracts to join in...
A few years later, most teams just gave up on competing for the championship; they couldn’t compete in the arms race, so reducing expenditures and earning more money seemed better, especially with the ever-increasing NBA broadcasting fees.
In the end, only a few big city teams in the East continued to fight for dominance: the Sixers with Durant, the Bulls with James, the Knicks with Leonard and Paul George... and the small-market, tenacious Bucks, built around Doncic to contend for the championship.
The West... was emptied out!
Most teams pinned their hopes on one young superstar and a group of shooters, letting the young star rake in stats and attention to make money.
The prevalence of the three-pointer was simply exaggerated, with games occurring where both teams scored only within close range or beyond the three-point line! Mid-range shots were rare and none scored.
Zhang Yang glanced at the bench, seeing a host of former All-Star players not too old and even some once considered superstars, making him momentarily dazed... was the bench full of Hall of Famers?
"He" and Harden, DeRozan, really brought about the NBA finale!
...
Returning to the summer of 2016, after reuniting with Harden and DeRozan in New York, Zhang Yang, who hadn’t trained for a year, finally embarked on a new round of training.
Already 28, with almost maxed-out abilities and in his prime, he was curious about what kind of training it would be, perhaps using his vast experience to play on a "smurf" account?
He thought it was alright, in the past, he was a "big account" on a "smurf," but now it was reversed.
This training even had a name—"Launch with a Maxed Out Big Account, Tremble NBA."
Upon "waking up," he found himself at the 2001 draft. David Stern called his name first, but the logo on the hat he wore... wasn’t the Wizards, but the Brooklyn Nets!
Feeling a bit bewildered, as he descended from the stage, Jason Kidd came up to hug him!
After the draft, he returned to the hotel to hurriedly catch up on news.
The Nets, under Stephen Marbury’s leadership, had consecutively finished at the bottom for two years and secured the first overall pick.
Before this year’s draft, the Nets traded Marbury to the rebuilding Phoenix Suns for Kidd.
The "him" here, born on June 6, 1979, moved to the US early in ’91 with his parents for study exchange and started middle school, showcasing astonishing athletic talent in his first PE class.
After two and a half years of training, at 14, he led Lynwood Middle School to win the Southern California Youth Basketball Championship; from 15 to 18, he led Lynwood High School to four consecutive California championships, and was named California Mr. Basketball for three consecutive years from sophomore to senior years.
In ’97, he joined UCLA, breaking the tradition to become the first freshman since the 1970-1971 season to start at UCLA. The last player granted such treatment was Bill Walton.
Under his leadership, UCLA won the NCAA championship for three consecutive years from the 98-99 season to the 00-01 season, dubbed as UCLA’s Second Dynasty. The last dynasty, or the last NCAA dynasty, was a 7-peat completed by Jabbar, Bill Walton, and others.
There were many consecutive NCAA championships, some even 4 years 3 titles, but only UCLA had a 3-peat or more.
In the 00-01 season, in his senior year, several teams tanked to the extreme; the Brooklyn Nets were the big winners, securing the first overall pick, and fortunately encountered the rebuilding-minded Phoenix Suns to get Kidd.
After the Nets selected "him," without having played a single game yet, on draft night, "his" and Kidd’s pairing was already hailed as the "strongest backcourt in the league."
After catching up on the news, Zhang Yang checked his ability assessment, all lining up in the 90s, including 96 speed, 95 jumping, 90 strength, 94 stamina... and he was not yet 22 years and one month old! The talent he accumulated over 11 years wasn’t entirely tapped by his real self, but here, it was definitely better tapped!
Zhang San: This version of me was incredibly strong from the start!
(The end of the book)
