In the preseason games that followed half a month, O'Neal did not play much. The longest he played was the last preseason game, where O'Neal played 20 minutes.
Xiao Yang could not be bothered with the fat man. It should be this season anyway. He did not want to see this lazy fish on the team next season.
Kobe's later games were not as stunning as the first game, but for a rookie, 22 points, 5 rebounding, and 6 assists were enough to make people look forward to his future. The Los Angeles media saw Kobe as the future of the Laker, the son of hope.
Xiao Yang also wrote down a few names and handed them to Plank. They were all rookies from the 1996 class, all in the middle and late stages of the first round. The rookies in the early stages of the lottery were basically given a shoe contract by the company as soon as they were selected by the team.
Iverson, Marbury, and the other NCAA geniuses had even been approached by companies with endorsement contracts before the draft. It was just that Kobe's contract this year had overshadowed the brilliance of the others.
Xiao Yang didn't write too much. He only wrote two names, one was the future son of the wind, Steve Nash, and the other was Jermaine O'Neal.
Both of them were late blooms. Nash, the future MVP of the two seasons, had a style that was very entertaining to watch, especially his elusive passing. He was one of the few players in history who could make fans climax with passing.
The representatives of such players were like Magic and White Chocolate, both of whom were loved by fans. Even if Nash only reached his peak after 30 years old, Anderma had treated the first few years as an emotional investment. The subsequent returns would definitely not disappoint Xiao Yang.
Moreover, Xiao Yang's offer for Nash was a ten-year,$10 million contract.$1 million a year was not a big expense for An Dema, but for a rookie in the middle of the first round like Nash, it was like a pie falling from the sky.
As for O'Neal, Xiao Yang vaguely remembered that because he did not have a position in the Blazers, he wasted a few years in vain. It was only when he went to the Pacers that he gradually grew into a 20 10 star player. Although there was a saying that players in the post did not sell shoes, Anderma could not just sign all the players in the post. Therefore, Xiao Yang also gave him a seven-year endorsement contract of 4 million USD, which could be considered to fill the market for Anderma's big players.
As for the few rookies from the Laker team, each of them had signed an endorsement contract worth hundreds of thousands. It was worth mentioning that other than Kobe, no one else had their own autographed shoes. After all, Xiao Yang had nurtured Kobe as the best player in Anderma.
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On November 1, 1996, the Los Angeles Clippers played against the Phoenix Suns at home. The first game of the regular season officially began. The 96-97 season began.
The starting lineup for the Laker was O'Neal, Horry, Jones, Bobby Fields, and Fisher.
Xiao Yang had told Harris that Kobe was only 17 years old. Strictly speaking, his body was not fully mature yet, so he was not allowed to start for the time being. It would save him the trouble of facing a group of muscular players in the league. He would play on the bench first. At least, he would be facing someone else's bench, so the pressure would not be as great. Moreover, there was another advantage to being on the bench. The ball was basically Kobe's alone. He could play however he wanted, unlike the starting lineup, where there were a few big shots who wanted the ball.
Xiao Yang was also worried sick about Kobe. He only hoped that Kobe's performance next season would give him the confidence to trade Shaq.
Bobby Philes was also traded by West for the former Laker center, Ayrden campbell. In this day and age, the inside lane was more valuable than the outside lane, not to mention that campbell could score 14 7 last season. However, Philes was not bad either. He could score 14 3 3 last season in the Cavaliers. More importantly, he could shoot 44% of his three-point shots. He was a shooter.
Xiao Yang had specifically instructed them to ensure that there was enough space on the court, especially with O'Neal's presence this year. The attraction of the inside line would be unprecedented, and the outside line would easily gain a lot of shooting space. Therefore, the players that O'Neal paired with basically had shooting ability. Even Horry was a space type 4.
On the bench were Kobe, Bowen, Big Ben, Byron Scott, Fleming, Jerome Corsi, and Tyrese Knight. Of course, there were also a few water fountains.
The Suns 'starting lineup was Hort Williams (a 2.11-meter tall, 98-kilogram bamboo pole), Danny Manning, Ceballos, who had just been traded by the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason, and Wesleberson and Kevin Johnson in the backcourt.
On the bench of the Suns, there were two future Hall of Fame players, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. Kidd was John Xun's substitute, and Steve Nash was Kidd's substitute. In addition, there were Michael Finley and others.
Xiao Yang looked at Kevin John's message on the court and suddenly thought of the NBA players. As long as they were called Kevin, they would be awesome. Thinking about Kevin Johnson, the fierce player who once competed with Jordan, Kevin Garnett, who was about to become the Wolf King in the Timberwolves, Kevin Durant, the God of Death in the future, and Kevin Love, the God of Love in the future, all of them were frequent All-Star players. In the future, ask their scouts to keep an eye on players named Kevin, Xiao Yang thought as he rubbed his chin.
At the start of the game, O'Neal jumped to the ball without any suspense. Fisher did not play quickly after receiving the ball. This was unlike Xia Lian or the preseason, where young players could run a few steps while playing fast attacks. Now that there was a big shark on the court, the Los Angeles team could only wait for the shark to get into position. However, this was also the advantage of the Los Angeles team. After all, O'Neal's dominance was historical.
O'Neal landed in the low post and did not box out. He directly waved at Fisher.
Fisher didn't dare to refute the boss's words. He obediently made a straight pass and passed the ball in.
Poor Williams could not affect O'Neal at all. With less than 100 kilograms in weight, O'Neal stood in front of him and almost covered Williams completely.
O'Neal did not waste any time when he got the ball. He turned around and took off. Williams only felt darkness above his head. A mountain of meat blocked the lights above Staples. Then, with a bang, the floor shook. When Williams came back to his senses, he saw O'Neal walking back to the Laker's half of the court.
"Hey, buddy, are you alright?" Danny Manning looked at Williams and asked with concern, afraid that his teammate would be traumatized by Shark.
"I'm…I'm fine." Williams shook his head.
"Yes, I'll come over and pincer O'Neill with you in the next round.”Manning patted him on the shoulder and passed the ball to John.
It was the Suns 'turn to attack. John Xun used his own rhythm to play around with Fisher. After all, he was not an old fish. He was an old monster who could not compare to the Suns in terms of experience. John Xun broke through Fisher and went straight to the basket. O'Neal was not slow either. He threw Williams to cover up the defense. John Xun calmly passed the ball behind him to Ceballos, who came in through the air. He followed the inertia and blocked O'Neal. Ceballos received the pass and saw that no one was blocking him. He immediately jumped up and dunked as O'Neal's counterattack.
"Ah ~~~" Ceballos was extremely excited after dunking. Before the game, he had threatened to teach his old team a lesson. At this time, this slam dunk seemed to be a footnote for his pre-game ravings and to prove his worth to the management of the Los Angeles team.
O'Neill looked at Jones gloomily, hinting at him not to miss anyone.
The Clippers continued to slowly take their positions. After all, there was a bug. If they did not target this point and beat the opponent, it would only prove that the head coach was an idiot. Harris was Silver Fox, who had won the best head coach award. The strategy he had set up was to force O'Neal to eat. Before the Suns made an effective response, the Clippers only had this strategy.
O'Neal took the ball, took a step, and thud. Williams even heard the muffled sound of his sternum. He gritted his teeth and continued to hold on.
Danny Manning saw Williams grimacing and guessed that he could not defend anymore. He left Horry behind and chose to pincer O'Neal with his teammates.
O'Neal was about to attack for the second time when he saw another player from the Suns ready to pincer him. He did not pass the ball and grabbed the ball in advance. With a flexible turn, he passed through the middle of the two players before Manning's pincer attack was formed. Just looking at this movement, it was absolutely impossible to imagine that a fat man who weighed more than 300 pounds could do this.
Xiao Yang was watching this scene from the sidelines with his mouth wide open. A nimble fatty…there really was such a person.
After returning to the court, O'Neal drilled through the two people's encirclement and faced the unguarded basket directly. He jumped decisively and prepared to dunk.
Manning watched as O'Neal jumped up in front of him. He did not care if the referee could see it or not. He grabbed O'Neal's jersey and tried to pull him down. Williams also reacted the same way. He grabbed O'Neal's other jersey. He would rather let O'Neal go for a free throw than let him cause a ruckus in the penalty area.
Unfortunately, both of them underestimated O'Neal's strength. O'Neal, who was carrying two players, was not pulled down. Instead, he relied on the huge momentum to carry the two players to the end line. The Overlord lifted the tripod, Shaq's slam dunk, and Duang. It could be said that O'Neal carried the weight of three people to make a destructive slam dunk. The powerful force made the backboard shake.
"Creak, creak, creak." The basket rang twice, and then the entire basket collapsed. The three players who had just fallen to the ground were hit by the backboard.
This Staples exploded, and the flashes lit up. The dumbfounded referee also reacted. Damn it, the basket was completely collapsed. He had to check if anyone was okay first. Fortunately, the three players were only hit by the backboard and were not injured.
The game was over. They had to change the basket before they could continue.
For the sake of being 24 years old, please support me, everyone!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。