One Year Left to Play-Chapter 324 - 105: Just Focus on Attacking
No time to chat, the camera crew, producers, and wardrobe staff are all set, and the two of them are quickly getting to work.
Although Zhang Hao has done advertising before, this is his first time as the main character in an ad.
In his rush, Zhang Hao wanted to strike a Kun-style pose to reinforce his image of someone who has been practicing basketball for two and a half years.
But from the clothes to the props being basketballs, and from the director’s demands... it all required masculinity, which left him quite disappointed.
Though he didn’t understand how drinking coffee could relate to basketball or require using basketball, shooting the ad definitely needed to be done this way.
They filmed many shots, but eventually, only a few would be used. A lot of material was collected, yet an entire afternoon didn’t suffice, and by the time they finished, it was already dark.
He wanted to interact more with Xiaotiantian, but they both were dog-tired. Despite their mutual interest, neither wanted to talk much; they just wished to go home and sleep.
...
...
On December 7th, the Lakers’ home schedule kicked off with three games over four days. The Pistons had played the Kings in the first of a back-to-back yesterday, which was a positive sign for the Lakers.
In the morning, Zhang Hao arrived at the arena and continued to train on movement techniques, part of his positioning rhythm.
He met a future superstar, although the person had yet to achieve fame and wasn’t that multimillion-selling record artist. Zhang Hao found it impossible to brag about it to anyone.
But on game day, Zhang Hao didn’t have the mindset to care about future stars.
Meeting and collaborating happened in just half a day, so it wasn’t enough to say they got familiar.
Sacramento is close to Los Angeles; just before 10 AM, the Pistons arrived at the Great Western Forum to prepare for that night’s game.
Scott Collins, the former Inglewood High School basketball coach, felt very frustrated.
Back in the day when he was coaching the high school team here, the Lakers were the earliest NBA team to offer him a player development assistant coach position, but he declined. Later, wanting to help a student get into the NBA as an assistant coach, he chose the Pistons, where his brother was, and after many twists and turns, the student he wanted to help now played for the Lakers!
Thinking about how in the shitty place of Detroit he didn’t dare go out alone, while his student was carefree and enjoying life in Los Angeles, was infuriating!
They said they were preparing, but really, it was just to do some interviews and then head back to the hotel for a nap.
If this were a regular playoff team, there wouldn’t be so much media attention, and they could just head straight to the hotel upon arriving in Los Angeles, but they had Grant Hill, the sophomore superstar who attracted significant popularity.
Grant Hill, with his experience, smoothly completed the interview and returned to the visitor’s training court.
"Grant, finished with the interview?"
"Yes, coming to Los Angeles always feels like going to war, and today they asked even more questions, all about Aix."
"Aix is playing here, and the journey is tough, but his personality is quite stubborn. I believe he can handle the pressure."
"Uh... Today’s media kept asking if I was afraid to encounter Aix."
"Hm?" This was beyond Scott Collins’s understanding.
"The Lakers fans’ most hated teams are the Celtics and us, and Aix broke the debut scoring record against us... If only we had picked Aix back then."
"..." Scott Collins felt even more heartbroken.
Initially, Grant Hill didn’t know Scott Collins was Zhang Hao’s high school coach. Back when Scott Collins had just joined the Pistons, he and Grant Hill weren’t familiar.
Later, Grant Hill and Scott Collins became more familiar because Scott Collins’s main task was to unlock the players’ potential. The sophomore Grant Hill, just 23, had significant potential, which was tapped successfully. Despite the roster not increasing much from last season, Grant Hill truly converted his stats into the ability to help the team win, and the Collins brothers played a crucial role.
Collaborating for a while naturally led to familiarity. Others on the Pistons might not know it, but Grant Hill was already aware that the team originally planned to select Zhang Hao in the later first round.
Seeing Grant Hill’s face full of regret, Scott Collins didn’t want to say more — talking wouldn’t help but bring tears...
As they were chatting, the person they were discussing showed up at the training court.
"Grant, hello..."
After Zhang Hao entered the visitor’s training court, he first greeted Grant Hill, then walked over to Scott Collins, examined him for a while, and finally said once they were both puzzled, "Coach, it really is you. I was worried I’d mistaken you."
"..."
"..."
Grant Hill was momentarily speechless, though not surprised because the head coach and player development assistant resembled each other greatly. At first, they would mix them up too, but after seeing them appear together frequently, they could distinguish by the quite obvious differences in their attire.
But for someone who didn’t regularly see the two together, the likelihood of mixing them up was high because there was no frequent comparison to identify the differences.
With some mischievousness, Scott Collins said, "Aix, how does it feel to be back playing in Los Angeles? Does the fans’ enthusiasm make you feel moved?"
Zhang Hao replied, "Of course, every Lakers game sells out, the fans are much more enthusiastic than the Brooklyn Nets fans; seeing the tickets sold out every day makes me happy."
