Chapter 109: Angry Kobe Again
Just as Pat Riley was worried about the possible leadership struggle in the future, Kobe Bryant, who once competed with O'Neal for the leadership position and successfully achieved his goal, hit another three-pointer on the court.
After Kobe hit a difficult three-pointer, he immediately turned around and said to Yang Mo: "Rookie, see, this is how you shoot a three-pointer."
"Oh, I see." Yang Mo agreed indifferently, and then reminded him: "But don't forget to write your signature better when you go back, otherwise others will think it's a forgery."
Yang Mo kept poking at Kobe's scars, letting him know that no matter how good he was at shooting three-pointers on the court, he couldn't beat her, whereas she had already beaten him in a game.
Kobe was so angry when he saw Yang Mo talking about autographs again: "You 're not done with winning a game, are you? Come up and challenge me if you dare!"
But Yang Mo just didn't go up, and even if he did, he wouldn't go directly against Kobe. Yang Mo wasn't stupid, and he knew he couldn't defend Kobe now, so how could he go to fight him one-on-one? Yang Mo never played without confidence!
Seeing Kobe fuming on the court, Pat Riley beside him couldn't help but smile. This was the first time he saw someone make Kobe Bryant so uncomfortable. Yang Mo was really a natural winner. No matter what the situation was, no matter who the opponent was, no matter whether it was good times or bad times, he gave people the intuitive feeling that he had the upper hand.
Ultimately, it’s the temperament of the stadium.
Some players are scared before they even go on the court.
Some players play very well when the wind is with them, but become completely exhausted when the wind is against them.
Some players become more courageous as they face more setbacks, and their fighting spirit becomes higher as they face more adversity.
There is another type of player, like Yang Mo. No matter whether you are leading or lagging behind, they always exude a sense of arrogance of a "winner", as if lagging behind is just giving in to you and teasing you.
This feeling is very similar to Michael Jordan. No wonder Michael Jordan took a fancy to Yang Mo at first sight and was willing to trade her with any player. The reason is that birds of a feather flock together.
Pat Riley used to think that chief scout Powell's comment that he was a "Michael Jordan-like player" was a bit exaggerated. Now, after such a long period of careful observation, he also thinks so.
When Dwyane Wade brought the ball across half court to attack, Pat Riley came up again and asked, "Young, what are your plans for your career?"
"Plan?" Yang Mo frowned, thought for a moment, organized his words, and said, "There is no plan, it's just progress step by step."
"So where do you think your ceiling is?" Pat Riley asked seriously.
"Where is the upper limit?" Yang Mo pondered the question for a moment. He wanted to speak his true thoughts, but was afraid of scaring Pat Riley, so he restrained himself and said, "Become the best basketball player in China."
In fact...what Yang Mo wanted to say was to become the best basketball player in history.
But even so, Pat Riley was still a little surprised. The best player in China means better than Yao Ming. Yao Ming is already the best center in the NBA. Is he going to become the best forward in the NBA?
Surprised, he smiled and said, "Are you sure you can surpass Yao Ming?"
"Of course! Why not?" Yang Mo answered seriously: "I think I can do better than him."
Seeing that Yang Mo was serious, Pat Riley quickly said, "Oh, I believe it too, man."
Pat Riley really believes that Yang Mo can surpass Yao Ming, even though Yang Mo's physical talent is much worse than Yao Ming's. Because in his opinion, Yang Mo is a player who does not allow himself to be mediocre. This kid's desire to win is the strongest he has ever seen. Although he doesn't say anything, he shows it vividly on the court. He fights for every ball and every rebound.
But...precisely because of this, he is extremely worried that there will be power struggles within the team in the future.
Yang Mo's growth will inevitably weaken Wade's control over the team. Now Wade can tolerate Yang Mo because he treats Yang Mo as his younger brother. When Yang Mo's strength poses a threat to him in the future and takes away some of his ball rights, it is inevitable that conflicts will not break out.
"Oh! Never mind! We'll talk about it when the time comes. With Yang's current rate of progress, it will take at least two or three years to reach maturity."
Pat Riley muttered to himself, patted Yang Mo on the shoulder, and focused his eyes on the court.
Yang Mo was not on the court, the Heat's interior defense was already bad, and Gasol, Bynum and Odom were all good at interior attack, so the weak interior defense was instantly turned into a hornet's nest. Without interior defense, there was basically no suspense in the game, even though it was only the beginning of the first quarter.
Yang Mo watched half of the quarter and couldn't bear it anymore. Wade was the only one struggling on the court, Beasley occasionally had a flash of inspiration, and the rest were just running back and forth.
"My feet hurt a little, I'll go back first." Yang Mo sat for a few more minutes and said this to Pat Riley.
Pat Riley also knew that Yang Mo couldn't stand it . In fact, he couldn't stand it either. If it weren't for his position as the general manager, he would have left long ago. Those guys on the court played too ugly. So, he didn't keep Yang Mo, but told him to have a good rest.
Yang Mo waved to him and walked quickly towards the player tunnel.
Before leaving, he did not forget to shout to Kobe on the court: "Hey, Kobe, don't forget the one thousand autographed photos!"
Kobe was so angry that he trembled and clenched his teeth, vowing to vent all his anger on the Heat. He thought to himself: You are so arrogant just because you won an insignificant game? Do you think I will owe you a thousand autographed photos?
So he scored more points and shot more crazily from beyond the three-point line, just to prove that his three-point shooting ability was no worse than that of the rookie.
Unfortunately, Yang Mo just left.
In the end, the game ended with a score of 121:88, and the Heat were beaten! Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 49 points in this game, including 8 of 15 three-pointers.
In an interview after the game, Kobe Bryant said to the media with a sullen look on his face: "Tonight's game is not worth discussing because the Heat's best defensive player and best three-point player did not appear on the court. I hope that next time we meet, I can compete with Yang in three-point shooting."
The media didn't know what happened between Kobe and Yang Mo. They only knew that Kobe Bryant suddenly mentioned Yang Mo. They thought it was a prelude to Kobe Bryant teaching Yang Mo a lesson. So many Americans who hated Yang Mo were overjoyed and very happy, looking forward to the Lakers' home game against the Heat in a month.
They were so excited that they didn't know that their Kobe Bryant had been beaten up by Yang Mo before the game, even when Yang Mo was wearing a suit.
