One Year Left to Play-Chapter 312 - 103: All It Takes Is One Goal to Make Them Cheer
It’s not surprising at all... Anthony Miller, a second-year fringe player, was publicly shamed. He heard Del Harris specifically emphasize Anthony Peeler, feeling quite redundant on the team...
Zhang Hao also guessed that the starting shooting guard should be Anthony Peeler. When he arrived in Los Angeles, Pelinka had already gathered the Lakers player’s off-court information. Zhang Hao took a quick look, and it turned out Anthony Peeler was part of the 1988 All-American high school team. Back then, his high school ranking was probably similar to Zhang Hao’s when he finished his senior year, except Peeler smoothly entered college, graduated, and was selected in the middle of the second round of the NBA draft.
He is very talented. Logo Man picked Anthony Peeler 15th in the second round of the 1992 draft. In his rookie year, he averaged 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, and in his second year, he averaged 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Unfortunately, this still didn’t meet Logo Man’s expectations. After his rookie contract ended in his second year, the Lakers gave him a 3-year, 4 million contract, but the Lakers no longer pinned their future hopes on him for the backcourt. After those two seasons, the Lakers selected two more talented players, Van Exel and Eddie Jones.
But now, with no one on the outside, Anthony Peeler can step back up.
Soon, the players from both teams were about to enter the court.
Zhang Hao and his teammates came to the entrance of the player tunnel.
When the Pacers players entered, there was no strong reaction from the crowd; Lakers fans couldn’t be bothered to boo the Pacers.
Anthony Peeler leaned over to Zhang Hao: "Exel, can you smile?"
"What’s up?"
"Nothing, I just haven’t seen you smile in two days. You don’t need to worry too much. Look, you’ve made the starting lineup, so cheer up a bit."
"I was a starter when I joined the NBA."
"..."
"But with what you just said, I feel quite happy." Zhang Hao said, smiling at Anthony Peeler.
What’s the point of stabbing a second-round pick?
Anthony Peeler felt a bit depressed, but he had a good impression of Zhang Hao.
He was among the Lakers players happy about Zhang Hao’s trade, so he came over to chat with Zhang Hao. If Zhang Hao had immediately and warmly smiled, Peeler wouldn’t have felt much, as it would be evident he was just being polite.
But Zhang Hao’s joking stab felt quite different.
Though he seemed cold, he could joke, it’s just that the other party might not always respond.
When Reggie Miller was the last to come out from the Pacers side, scattered boos finally arose.
This doesn’t mean the visiting team fans would be happy. Not long ago, when Zhang Hao, as a visiting player, came here to play, he also felt uncomfortable being ignored by the fans.
When it was time for the home team players to enter, the fans became much more enthusiastic. Van Exel was the first to come out, greeted by loud cheers.
Anthony Peeler and Campbell also received plenty of cheers when they came out.
After Campbell came out, Zhang Hao, substituting for Divac, took a deep breath and ran out onto the court...
As Zhang Hao’s figure appeared at the entrance, overwhelming boos erupted!
Zhang Hao’s steps faltered— "Damn it..."
After pausing, Zhang Hao continued running out of the player tunnel.
Divac was considered the last player from the Magician’s era, holding an extraordinary place in the hearts of Lakers fans. Divac’s departure marked the complete end of the Magician’s era.
The player who brought the Lakers five championships was, in the hearts of fans, unmatched by any other superstar in Lakers history.
Originally, the Lakers fans were very unhappy about Zhang Hao’s trade. Seeing Zhang Hao start right off the bat made them even more dissatisfied.
It seemed like a comparison was being made, as the boos turned to cheers immediately when Sibaros came out last...
The cheers were so loud that Sibaros was startled— "Since when am I this popular?"
Teammates felt somewhat sympathetic for Zhang Hao. With such treatment, one might think he was the star of the Celtics entering the court.
From the Pacers side, Dale Davis watched this scene, laughing continuously.
Reggie Miller shook his head— a rookie, excelling as the top scorer at the Brooklyn Nets, forced to play in the big city, receiving this kind of treatment.
But he also thought the Lakers paid an excessively high price in terms of trade chips for Zhang Hao, which would be about right for someone his age of 30 like Reggie Miller.
Having been a little startled, Zhang Hao’s expression didn’t change much. It was expected, just slightly overboard.
Some teammates had been paying close attention to this new high-school teammate. Seeing Zhang Hao face all this calmly, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.
When emotions like "sympathy" and "admiration" emerged, for some reason, they magnified...
Arriving at the bench, Zhang Hao glanced around. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
"X?×! Divac? Yes!"
"We don’t need X."
"X doesn’t deserve to wear a Lakers jersey."
"Get out; we want Divac!"
"..."
"..."
Zhang Hao looked at many people holding signs opposing him. Without recent strict actions against racial discrimination from the NBA, with the Chinese market being a crucial focus for David Stern, these signs would have been screened before entering the arena to keep any that were overly discriminatory in terms of race, country, etc., outside the venue. He reckoned there might have been even more offensive remarks.
