Chapter 243 242. Kobe: I’m not angry!

"Aren't you in Steve's car? Why are you here?"

"I want to ride in the new car you bought to celebrate making the playoffs early."

Zhang Yang: “…”

Is he so flamboyant?
Seeing Kobe in Nash's car, Zhang Yang decisively chose to drive and follow the car. He found a garage with several cars in it. He drove a car that looked the newest... The car keys were hung directly on the wall of the garage, which was convenient.

The garage is unlocked with fingerprints, so car thieves who don't know how to open the lock can't get in. For those who know how to open the lock, it doesn't matter whether you have the car key or not.

But I didn't expect that after I drove out, I saw Kobe standing outside the yard, and then I knew that he bought this car to celebrate entering the playoffs in advance...

Forget it, forget it, sit if you want, stare if you want, he is not embarrassed, the one who is embarrassed is the other person in the car.

When Zhang Yang was searching for news related to him just now, he saw a video of him being interviewed after the Lakers defeated the Rockets 99-90 at the buzzer in the final game of the regular season and advanced to the playoffs.

Reporter: "When Kobe led the team, the Lakers had a record of 24 wins and 28 losses. When you led the team, it had a record of 20 wins and 10 losses. Have you become the new leader of the Lakers?"

Zhang San: “No, I don’t think so.”

Reporter: "But you said you are the best player on the Lakers."

Zhang San: “This is not a conflict.”

Zhang San here is really flamboyant.

He can't stand losing. After suffering a loss in the Spurs, he forced Popovich to trade him for Howard. When he arrived at the Lakers, he claimed to be the strongest and wanted to make the boss become the second after his return... It was obviously not like this in previous years.

In other words, the stronger you are, the more ostentatious you become?

Think about the 80s timeline, when he entered the NBA after graduating from his senior year. His playing style was mature and his combat effectiveness was strong. He would beat Bird as soon as he entered the NBA.

No, this is not Zhang San's character! Absolutely not!
Zhang Yang drove Kobe and followed Nash's car. After more than 20 minutes, they arrived at the Staples Center. They left early and there was no traffic jam.

When leaving the villa area, Zhang Yang found out that he, Kobe, and Nash all lived in Beverly Hills.

After arriving at the stadium, Zhang Yang followed Nash and Kobe to participate in the event. It turned out to be an event sponsored by a domestic brand. No wonder they had to arrive at the scene at 8 o'clock in the morning, because they had to catch the domestic evening live broadcast time.

Not only these three participated, but also Metta World Peace and Gasol. All five of the Lakers' most popular players in China participated.

The theme of the event was their comeback to make the playoffs, which was probably the name of the event… A nursery rhyme from the future rang in his mind.

When the event started, the background music was the song that would become a nursery rhyme in the future...

...

The event was successfully completed and the live broadcast lasted only more than 20 minutes. It can be regarded as an old-fashioned version of live streaming. During the live broadcast, Zhang Yang almost shouted, "Family members, hurry up and place your orders."

After the event, several people left the Staples Center and came to the Lakers' training hall, Toyota Center, to prepare for the game... and met "old acquaintance" Bernie Bickerstaff.

When Zhang Yang checked the situation of the Lakers this season, he saw the name of Bickerstaff, the team's tactical coach.

The Lakers have had a total of three head coaches this season.

Mike Brown coached 5 games, 1 win and 4 losses, and was fired at lightning speed.

General Manager Kupchak appointed Bernie Bickerstaff, the top assistant coach at the time, as interim head coach. Bickerstaff impressed everyone as soon as he took over, and the "Big Four" really played like the Big Four, with 5 wins and 4 loss in 1 games.

However, Bickerstaff rejected Jerry Buss and Kupchak's requests for regularization due to age and physical problems.

Jerry Buss had no choice but to look for another head coach, and after a round of searching, he appointed Mike D'Antoni as the head coach.

When D'Antoni came, he brought his brother Dan D'Antoni with him. Bickerstaff retired from the position of first assistant coach and became a tactical coach.

Bickerstaff took the initiative to greet: "Hello, Jack, good morning."

Zhang Yang responded: "Bernie, you're here so early too."

Bickerstaff: "I'm old and can't sleep. I came early to prepare for the game. Mike came early. He didn't go home last night and stayed in the training hall all night."

Are you speaking in support of D'Antoni?

It seems that D'Antoni is not very popular in the team... Zhang Yang replied casually: "Then he has worked hard."

Bickerstaff was not surprised by Zhang Yang's reaction at all. Since joining the Lakers, Zhang Yang has not liked D'Antoni very much.

After the greetings, Zhang Yang didn't talk much. He apologized and went to the locker room. He was going to learn some skills from Teacher Na. If possible, he could also ask the man in the suit for advice.

He was not familiar with the Bickerstaff in this timeline, but the other party seemed to be quite familiar with him, so he decided to have less contact and just talk about work.

After Zhang Yang left, Kupchak, who had been observing secretly, came to Bickerstaff's side.

Kupchak: "Even after we made the playoffs, Jack still didn't like Mike."

Bickerstaff: "Jack started out as a defensive player, and his style is very different from Mike's. It's normal that Jack doesn't like Mike, and it's not Mike's fault, as Mike has worked very hard.

The main reason is that Jack was badly screwed by Mike when he first came. He had 1 win and 5 losses when he first came, and was ridiculed by the media in Angel City. "

Kupchak smiled bitterly, "I didn't expect Mike to be so naive. The first half of the season had already proved that Paul couldn't play the run-and-gun game. He slowed down the pace before the All-Star Weekend, and we won three games in a row. I thought he finally recognized the reality. But after Jack was traded back, he saw Kobe was out and the young Jack came, so he started playing the run-and-gun game again...

In fact, when old Buss designated Mike as the head coach, I knew that this decision must be wrong. Not only me, but also the media, fans, and even opponents... everyone knew that Mike was not suitable for us, but no one expected him to do such a bad job.

Not to mention whether his coaching style is suitable for us, he is totally unable to control so many superstars. He does not have as rich a coaching resume as you, nor does he have Phil's ability to control the team... It is better to let your son leave the Rockets and coach our team. "

Bickerstaff: "John? He can't. He doesn't have the talent to be a head coach."

Kupchak: "But at least he can use your name to suppress the players, and I heard that he is very good at communicating with the players, right? No matter how bad it is, it won't be worse than Mike. Being a transitional coach is always better than Mike."

After D'Antoni came, conflicts in the team quickly broke out. Howard and Gasol were not on good terms, Howard and Kobe were not on good terms, Howard and Artest were not on good terms, Howard and Nash were not on good terms... A series of internal conflicts made Howard unhappy, and the whole team was unhappy.

Not only does D'Antoni have a single coaching style, but his communication with players is also path-dependent. When he saw Howard, a high school genius, he treated him as a player like Stoudemire, asked Howard to learn mid-range shots and listened more to Nash and Kobe, but Howard and Stoudemire are completely different.

Bickerstaff: "It's too late to say all this. Letting Mike be the head coach was the last decision that old Buss made for the team before he died. Who dared to refuse?"

Kupchak rolled his eyes at Bickerstaff and said, "As long as you agree to coach for two more months, everything will be fine."

Bickerstaff: "Oh, Mickey, you're going to go to hell for saying that."

Kupchak: "I'll just take care of myself so I don't get fired. Jack hasn't renewed his contract yet. If he's unhappy with the playoffs and decides to leave, our team will be finished for the next few years, and I won't be far from being fired..."

As he was talking, Kupchak's cell phone rang. He took out his phone and saw the caller ID. He hung up secretly and said, "Let's go to the boss' office."

Bickerstaff followed Kupchak to the president's office.

President Jim Buss and Vice President of Business Operations Jeanie Buss were both there, as were assistant coaches Eddie Jordan, Steven Clifford and Darvin Ham, but head coach Mike D'Antoni and chief assistant coach Dan D'Antoni were not there.

Bickerstaff: Finally I don’t have to work under a running mate!

He is 70 years old and accepted Kupchak's invitation to be an assistant coach in order to win a ring with the Big Four. However, after one year, he ended up in this situation. His disgust for D'Antoni has reached the extreme.

But at his age, he doesn't want to offend anyone, so he keeps his dissatisfaction and disgust deep in his heart.

When Kupchak brought up this matter, instead of supporting it, he spoke for D'Antoni, but all he said was that Mike was working very hard.

This doesn't help at all... Hard work is important, but the NBA has never lacked hard-working people.

...

On the other side, Zhang Yang went to the locker room to change into training clothes, and took Nash and Kobe to the training ground.

The preparation meeting will be held at 10 o'clock in the morning. It is not even 9 o'clock yet. I should seize the time to ask the two of them for advice. I don't need to learn it with my body, just remember it with my brain, and then I can practice it formally when I go back.

Nash stretched his body and joked: "You have been here for two months, and you train by yourself every day. Why did you think of training with me today?" Zhang Yang: "You get injured every two games. How dare I train with you?"

Kobe: "I am a gift from someone. I have nothing to do every day. Why don't you train with me?"

Zhang Yang: "You are almost the same. Your Achilles tendon, knee, and shoulder are almost broken. If you get injured during training, won't it be my fault? Really, I should have asked the doctor to check your head as well... ahem..."

Zhang San: Oh no, I just said what was on my mind! What should I do if the old blacksmith gets so angry that he leaves without telling me?

But to his surprise, Kobe just rolled his eyes at him and continued warming up.

Zhang Yang asked Nash in confusion, "Isn't he angry when I said that to him?"

Nash didn't care and responded, "If he gets angry with you because of this and you have a conflict, and you leave, he will become the sinner of the team... Uh, Jack, what does your expression mean? Do you want to deliberately make Kobe angry when you have nothing better to do?"

Zhang Yang: "Oops, you found me!"

Nash: "...You were so loud, he heard it too!"

Hey, Zhang San did it on purpose.

Zhang Yang continued to warm up. He was young and in good health, so it was not a complete warm-up for the game, but just some physical exercise. He moved his joints for a few minutes and then went to the court to try his skills.

It was just as he thought, exactly the same as what he knew '6 years ago', except that his technical movements were more proficient, his shooting was more accurate, and his muscle memory was deeper... This meant that 6 years from now, he would definitely be stronger than when he was nearly 25 years old on this timeline.

He can also learn more skills and increase his talent limit!

It was also just a simple warm-up, but Zhang Yang only took a few minutes, while the two veterans took more than ten minutes.

After Nash finished exercising, he said to Zhang Yang, "What skills do you want to learn from me? I can teach you. Anyway, we are on the same team now. I signed a three-year contract, and there are still two years left. It depends on you how much you can learn."

Zhang Yang: "Are you trying to seduce me into renewing my contract?"

Nash: “You can understand it this way.”

Zhang Yang: "I really don't want to admit it, but it is indeed very tempting."

Kobe felt ignored and interrupted forcefully: "I want to play for at least 20 years."

Zhang Yang: "The temptation is instantly reduced by half."

Kobe couldn't help it after all: "What do you mean? My skills are not as good as Steve's?"

Zhang Yang: "I heard that your daughter dislikes you teaching her how to play basketball, saying that you are an old man who doesn't understand basketball."

Kobe: “…”

So angry!
But this is still true!
Nash was laughing on the side, he was so happy to see Kobe being humiliated like this!

It is said that Zhang Yang is "bullying" Kobe by taking advantage of the fact that his contract has not been renewed, but if the same conditions were given to Nash, he would not be able to make Kobe so angry with just a few words.

After a while of commotion, Nash came out to act as a "peacemaker", comforted Kobe, and told Zhang Yang to tell him what he wanted to learn.

Nash really wanted to teach Zhang Yang more. He had thought about it three years ago. At that time, he regarded Zhang Yang as his successor... Who would have thought that Steve Kerr was unwilling to give Zhang Yang an annual salary of even 300 million. As a result, Zhang Yang left and finally went to the Spurs, became a disciple of Ginobili, learned the Eurostep, and also learned a little bit of Parker's lob shot, and I don't know if he learned it from Duncan, but the slow back-to-the-basket shot almost suffocated him!

He must leave more traces of himself on Zhang Yang! He was the first to discover the genius!

Zhang Yang talked about his shortcomings in ball control and the trouble he had with stagnating after his skills improved to a certain level due to his lack of ball control.

Nash was shocked after hearing this and said, "You are only 24 years old, you think your skills are not good enough? When I was 24, I was still playing as a substitute!

Even Kobe's skills were not as good as yours when he was 24 years old. Even though he averaged 23 points per game at the age of 28, he couldn't even keep any defense in order to ensure his points that season. Moreover, when he was the same age as you, his efficiency was not as high as yours. There was no year in his entire career where his shooting percentage was as high as yours this season.

If you were like him, with Shaq at the rim, you wouldn't have to worry about shooting efficiency, and you could score more than him."

Zhang Yang fell into deep thought after hearing this.

When Zhang Yang looked at his 12-13 regular season stats this morning, he felt that he played very steadily.

He didn't think anything was wrong at the time, and playing steadily wasn't a bad thing.

But now I think it's not right! In the 12 Finals, although most of his points came from tactics, his playing style was not steady.

In other words, is this the impact this season has had on the Spurs?

If you think about it carefully, it is very likely! Before the All-Star Weekend, his playing time and number of shots were limited, and his hit rate was close to 50%. His style of play mainly relies on singles shooting.

This stability seemed to continue into his time with the Lakers. Even when the entire team was relying on him, Gasol and Jamison for singles, he still maintained a 47% shooting percentage.

Nash's words actually caused him some trouble - he hadn't played a steady style of play for a long time, and his hands were a little rusty.

But Nash said it, and it helped him out of some trouble at the same time, and he had a reason to play the way he played in the 'just ended playoffs'.

Nash made me play like this, so if you want to blame someone, blame Nash. The plan works again!

Kobe, who was standing by, was unhappy when he heard this and he stared at Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Steve, you are right. My playing style should be closer to Kobe's. After all, I am here to take over his position. If I play more self-centeredly, his old teammates will be more accustomed to it."

Kobe: I'm not angry. I will never be angry again. Being angry will only make the villain happy if it damages my health...

He seriously suspected that Nash had deliberately let out the fact that he was worried that Zhang Yang would not renew his contract and leave, so that Zhang Yang could be angry with him without restraint.

As for Nash himself, he has been standing there with a high salary for three years. He cannot leave, and no other team will want him in a trade.

These two people have him in their sights, so he must not get angry, otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble these two people will make of him.

Nash didn't expect Zhang Yang to understand his words so well after thinking for a long time, and said, "Uh... that's not what I meant. Never mind. It's up to you. Let's talk business. Although you don't have to worry about your technical strength not being strong enough, it is indeed necessary to find a way to improve your ball sense and prepare for your future technical improvement."

Zhang Yang also collected his scattered thoughts and nodded quickly.

Nash: "Regarding this, I think the reason is that you started playing basketball too late. I heard that you started playing basketball when you were 15 because you wanted to steal the girlfriend of Iverson's fan..."

Zhang Yang: "Wait, what's going on? Where did you hear this?"

Nash: "That's what the California fans said. They said that you took advantage of your family's wealth to forcibly snatch the girlfriend of a high school basketball genius from Hidden Hills. But you got her but not her heart. She likes people who are good at basketball. In order to win her heart, you resolutely stepped onto the court and eventually became the MVP of the NBA Finals."

Zhang Yang: "When have I ever done something like this?"

Nash: "You didn't sleep with the girlfriend of an Iverson fan? Did you sleep with Iverson Jr.?"

Looking at Nash's expression of astonishment, Zhang Yang angrily said: "I slept with you!"

Kobe: "Please stay on topic!"

Nash coughed twice and said, "Let's talk business. You have been playing basketball for less than 10 years. When I was 15, I had been playing basketball for more than 10 years. When I was your age, I had played basketball for 20 years. During this period, I also played football. I never considered the problem of ball sense. The ball sense of outside players needs to be developed from a young age. You missed the best opportunity. In less than 10 years, it is already very good for you to have the ball control now. Most point guards in the league can't control the ball as well as you, but you are just more demanding."

Zhang Yang: "Then there is no solution? I can only wait another 10 years to develop my sense of the ball and improve my ball control? If I wait another 10 years, I might have retired long ago."

Nash: "It's not that there is no solution. I have an idea. Do you want to try it?"

Zhang Yang: "Tell me about it?"

Nash: "Learn skills! Learn more ball-handling offensive skills! Learn all the skills that can be learned and those that cannot be learned, and constantly challenge the limits of your ball-handling ability!"

Zhang Yang: "Steve, what you said seems to make sense, but I always feel that you have other ideas."

Nash: "What else can I think? I'm 39 years old, and I'm teaching you skills despite my injuries. What else can I think?"

Hearing the sense of frustration and exasperation in Nash's tone, Zhang Yang felt that the other party must have some ulterior motives, but since this matter would not harm him, Zhang San, he would just pretend that he didn't hear it.

(End of this chapter)