Chapter 340 339. Name the trophy!

Zhang San knew that if he attended Qiao Tu's birthday party, this guy would definitely be jealous of him.

有媒体统计了乔丹作为代言人时期拿到的球鞋代言费总额，8250万，还不及张杨刚完成续约的这份合同大……乔丹84年签下的代言合同是5年250万，89年续约时是4.5%钩子干股+年均千万的终生合同。

As for AJ's independent operation in 97, Jordan directly received tens of millions in dividends in the first year; the 80 million in the late 300s was no less than the million now; at that time, Bird, who had the second highest sneaker endorsement fee, only made million... Based on Zhang San's understanding of Bald Jordan, this guy would not care about these things, and indeed Bald Jordan did not care, he was just jealous.

He won't tolerate it. He will fight back when necessary. Of course, it's someone's birthday, so he should be polite when speaking.

Unexpectedly, Baldy Qiao didn't argue to the end like he did before. He just made a few sarcastic remarks and ended the topic happily.

Zhang Yang remembered that since last month, Jordan had been talking to him more and more like a boss.

Zhang San still likes the unruly Qiao Tu from before...

But people always change.

Boss Joe, who stood at the forefront of all the bosses and had a passionate argument with the players' union representatives, has arrived.

After Jordan exchanged greetings with Zhang Yang's family, he asked the Filipino maid to take Zhang's parents to meet the players' relatives and friends, and he took Zhang Yang to greet the industry leaders.

Zhang Yang has gradually gotten used to the necessary social engagements, and he politely helped Boss Qiao save face.

Jordan entertained Zhang Yang for a while, then went to drink and chat with old friends such as Pippen and Barkley. Zhang Yang was arranged to be with the players who were drinking and playing cards.

Many active and retired players came to Jordan's birthday party. The entire Bobcats team and their families came, and almost all the players participating in the All-Star Game were also present.

Seeing Zhang Yang coming, those who were on good terms with him came up to greet him, and mentioned in a joking, teasing, or enviously the fact that he had received hundreds of millions in endorsement fees.

Theoretically speaking, James and Zhang Yang have a bad relationship. They have many grudges on the court and have no interactions in private.

In the past two days, fans of various basketball stars have been competing over endorsement fees and arguing fiercely. The most fierce ones are the fans of James and Zhang Yang.

But James is the one who looks the most enthusiastic, generous and cheerful.

When Felton and Alan Anderson saw Zhang Yang coming, they didn't give him a hug... They have known each other for so long, and this is not on the court, so why would they hug in private? The three of them felt scared just thinking about it.

But James gave Zhang Yang a big hug and congratulated him on getting the big contract.

After the hug, Zhang Yang spread his hands and said helplessly: "I don't want to take so much, but they insist on giving it to me. What can I do? I can only accept the money helplessly."

These words caused laughter and scolding from the crowd.

In front of those industry leaders, he is a gentle and polite 19-year-old athletic boy.

In front of his teammates and other players, it is different. He is the flamboyant Zhang San who became famous at a young age, is known as the No. 1 basketball talent in history, the youngest FMVP in history, has just received the largest endorsement contract in basketball history.

However, his cocky look is in line with the psychological expectations of these NBA players. If he were humble and reserved, others would think he was pretending.

After saying hello, everyone went back to playing their own games.

Zhang Yang went to his teammates' table and placed two bets... He really had no luck and lost $200.

In a private place, Zhang Yang took a glass of red wine, sat on the sofa beside him, and sighed.

Hill was unlucky today and was ready to take a break. As soon as he sat down, he heard Zhang Yang sigh.

Hill: "You sighed when you lost $200, but I didn't say anything when I lost $8000."

Zhang Yang: "It's not because of this. I'm not interested in gambling or drugs. I just placed two bets to fit in. I was just lamenting that when I attended such gatherings before, not so many people came up to say hello."

Hill: "This is normal. In the past two years, they only thought of you as a talented person with a bright future. But who among those people was not a talented person with a bright future? But there are very few people who can hold that trophy. After Michael retired, the championship was almost monopolized by O'Neal and Duncan. Only the Pistons players and you are special cases. After you held the championship trophy, in their minds, you are already the same as Duncan, and their attitude towards you is naturally different."

Zhang Yang nodded and did not continue talking about this. Of course he knew this was the reason, but he was just expressing his feelings.

He looked around the room and saw that most people were gathered in a small group. On their side, teammates gathered together. Paul greeted them and went to play with Anthony, Wade, and Bosh, who had formed a deep friendship with the Dream Team 7. Yao Ming greeted them and sat down to chat with Hinrich, Rasheed Wallace, and Billups. Nash, Iverson, Nowitzki, Duncan, Garnett, and several MVPs sat at a separate table, and Kobe Bryant mixed in...

There was only one man who looked anxious, who jumped here to place a couple of bets, and then sat down to have a drink there.

This guy looks good in every way at this time, and seems to get along well with everyone. Many of his contemporaries are his fans. Some people say that he is fake and pretentious, but if he can pretend for a lifetime, then to others there is no difference between him and the real person. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to pretend for a lifetime.

When I get old enough, I find that I am still a long way from wearing a crown, so I can only wear it myself...

...

After a busy afternoon, Zhang Yang and his teammates went to the New Orleans Arena in the evening to watch the Rookie Challenge and cheer for Millsap and Rondo.

Yao Ming also went there, and was interviewed together with Zhang Yang and Yi Jianlian.

Yi Jianlian has played 46 games in his rookie season so far, averaging 11.5 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.5 steals and 1 block per game. In early January, his average score reached 1 points, but dropped again due to fatigue and injury in the middle of the season. However, his average of 12+11 points per game was enough to be selected for the rookie team.

There are currently only three players in the 07 class who average double-digit points per game: Durant, Al Thornton, and Yi Jianlian.

In fact, there were three players in the 07 class who were able to score in double digits in their rookie year, Horford, Conley, and Jeff Green. However, the first two did not have many shots due to their role positioning, while Jeff Green had too many competitors and his playing time was limited.

After dealing with the official nonsense, Zhang Yang and Yao Ming came to the stadium and waited to watch the game.

The director had very sharp eyes. When he saw Zhang Yang coming, he immediately turned the big screen camera to Zhang Yang, causing the fans at the scene to go wild and shout "Jack" and "bad boy" loudly.

Last year, Zhang Yang scored 82 points, 'surpassing Kobe' to become the active player with the highest single-game scoring... Although it was in the Rookie Challenge, isn't tonight the Rookie Challenge?

Hearing the cheers, Zhang Yang's originally sloppy posture immediately straightened up, revealing a handsome smile, and turned 360 degrees to wave to the fans at the scene. After sitting down, he maintained an upright sitting posture.

Yao Ming: “…” If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, the little giant couldn’t have imagined that Zhang San, who had just been chatting with him about whether the breasts of the young lady across from the technical desk were real or fake, could instantly transform into the King of Duan.

Not long after, at 7: in the evening, the entrance ceremony began.

The first to enter was the rookie team, consisting of nine players including Navarro, Conley, Al Thornton, Jamario Moon, Durant, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, Scola, and Noah.

Navarro and Scola are actually from the class of 02. Navarro was selected by the Wizards with the 11th pick in the second round, and Scola was selected by the Spurs with the 25th pick in the second round. Both of them had the ability to play in the NBA very early, but for various reasons they only came to the NBA this year.

The 07 class currently does not seem to be as strong as advertised before the draft, but Zhang Yang knows that this class of rookies has great potential, and many players will need a year or two to adapt before they can gradually become the main force.

The next to enter was the sophomore team to "defend the title" and meet the challenge, consisting of Rondo, Daniel Gibson, Jordan Farmar, Roy, Gay, Ronnie Brewer, Millsap, Aldridge, and Bargnani.

The 06 class looked very promising in their rookie year, and by their sophomore year, they didn't look that bad. At least the strongest ones had become the main force or even the core of their respective teams.

Farmar is really lucky here. Jordan snatched Rondo, whom Ainge wanted to select, and then Ainge went to snatch Farmar, whom the Lakers wanted.

Farmar, a sophomore, became the main point guard after the Celtics began to play badly. He played 31 minutes per game, scored 10.6 points and 5 assists. His shooting percentage was only 39.2%, which was a bit dismal. He took 8.9 shots per game and only made 3.5 of them.

After all, he is a substitute player. If he is forced to be the core point guard, it is already good enough that he can play like this.

The game starts at 8pm.

When Zhang Yang was watching the news before the game, the media predicted that the rookie team had a high chance of winning, and the fans also supported this statement.

After all, the class of 06 looked too miserable, with Zhang Yang scoring only 82 points last year.

But the facts have proved that turning the Rookie Showdown into the Rookie Challenge was a failure. No matter how mediocre the overall talent of the Class of 06 was, it was not as bad as the Class of 2000. Being able to pick out a few top talents, the advantage of playing one more year in the NBA is too great.

The rookie team built its offense around the dual core of Rondo and Millsap, and the 07 class was completely unable to match them. The two played like superstars in the game.

Last year, Zhang Yang scored 06 points for the Class of 82, and they have been feeling aggrieved for a year, so they took out all their anger on the Class of 07.

靠着隆多喂球，米尔萨普投出了20投16中的残暴表现，加上5中4的罚球，单场拿到36分11板，率领二年级队以151比119狂屠新秀队。

After the game, the Bobcats players entered the court one after another to congratulate Rondo and Millsap for leading the team to victory.

隆多12+6+15、米尔萨普35+10，赢球了，MVP肯定是两人中的一个。

Seeing his younger brother win the award, Zhang Yang was happier than when he won the award himself last year.

After celebrating for a while, Zhang Yang and his teammates prepared to leave the court, leaving the award ceremony stage to his teammates... The teammates successfully retreated to the sidelines, and Zhang Yang was retained by Stern who came to the court.

Zhang San: This is just a rookie game, right? Why is this Jew here? And why did he keep me here?

When the big screen camera turned to Stern, there was a burst of boos from the audience.

Stern nodded silently. That was what it felt like.

He took the microphone handed over by the staff and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to the players of the 06 class for successfully resisting the challenge of the rookie team. I declare that the winner of the 2008 New Orleans Rookie Challenge Most Valuable Player Award is... Paul Millsap from the Charlotte Bobcats!"

Coach Long was a little unwilling to hear this, but he could accept that his former teammate won the award... Wait, San Ge is on the court, is the Jew planning to let San Ge present the award this time? Wow! If I had known earlier, I should have passed the ball less to my former teammate, I should have scored more points! It is still possible to win the MVP on Double 15!
Just when Rondo felt that he had suffered a great loss, Stern did not present the award immediately and continued talking.

"I have another important announcement to make here. In recognition of Jack's outstanding performance in last year's All-Star Rookie Game, the league has decided to name the Rookie Challenge Most Valuable Player trophy as the Jack Zhang Cup!"

When the fans who were booing Stern heard this, the booing stopped abruptly, and the whole audience burst into loud cheers!

Zhang San's eyes widened: "Fuck you! I also have a trophy named after me?"
No, Jew, you should at least let me know in advance!

Jew: Informed in advance? I also saw your team members receiving awards and you were also there, so I made the decision on the spur of the moment...

...

It was a one-sided rookie challenge, and no one put up particularly impressive numbers, so the post-match hype wouldn't have been very high.

But Stern suddenly had an inspiration and named the trophy after Zhang Yang, and the topic became extremely hot after the game!
Although it was a sudden idea of ​​Stern, the award was not questioned after it was named, because Zhang Yang is the best player in the history of the Rookie Game, with 82 points in a single game, which is impossible to be broken.

In his sophomore year, he was able to average nearly 25 points per game. He had Felton, Paul, Deron, Ellis and other passers with strong passing abilities and different characteristics. The players of the same class were all convinced and let him have all the shooting rights. His opponents were also very weak... It is impossible for anyone to replicate such scoring conditions.

As for Zhang Yang, after watching the rookie game, he returned to Boss Jordan's estate to continue celebrating Jordan's birthday. Jordan also threw a night party for Millsap to win the Jack Cup.

Tonight, the Bobcats players and their families were arranged by Jordan to stay at his manor. The manor is large enough, with several single-family houses and plenty of rooms.

The media hyped it up and the fans discussed it enthusiastically, but Zhang Yang was very depressed.

Millsap went around and when he got to Zhang Yang, he saw the look on Third Brother's face and asked curiously, "Jack, why don't you look very happy?"

Zhang Yang: "I went there to cheer you on, but I ended up stealing all the limelight from you. No one is talking about you winning the award."

Millsap: "Haha, you don't have to worry about it. It's my honor to be the first player to get a trophy named after you!"

Felton appeared beside the two men at some point and said, "Jack was worried that he was stunned when Stern announced that the trophy would be named after him, right?"

Zhang San looked at the fat little boss with resentment. The boss is becoming less and less cute.

His expression became even more upset, and he said, "Okay, you guessed it right, Boss. I just came back and watched the video of the award ceremony. I looked so stupid at the time, and I even stuttered when I gave my speech. It was so embarrassing, and it was totally inconsistent with my public image of being an educated and handsome man!"

Millsap: “…”

Felton: “…”

Brother San, you win!
(End of this chapter)