Chapter 466: Sloan Conversation
While everyone was focused on the fact that Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansson would finally face off at Madison Square Garden, Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant suddenly told reporters: "I don't like Scarlett anymore. I swear, I will never have any feelings for her again. I take back what I said."
Kevin Durant's words quickly attracted a siege: "Who do you think you are?" Scarlett has never had any interest in you from the beginning to the end. Whether you like her or not is none of her business. She now has Super Yang, who is ten thousand times better than you.
If Kevin Durant could still compete with Yang Mo in basketball, then in the entertainment industry, he would be blasted to pieces in a matter of minutes. Their popularity was simply not on the same level.
Kevin Durant's statement clearly didn't clear him of the issue as he'd hoped. Instead, his bathwater comment became a laughingstock. Amidst the constant mockery, Kevin Durant seemed to be devastated. In truth, he'd already fallen from grace after Scarlett publicly announced her love for Yang Mo. His scoring average in recent games had plummeted to under 20 points, completely wiping out his threat to Yang Mo on the scoring charts.
Speaking of scoring, Yang Mo, who's been enjoying a recent surge in love, has been incredibly impressive on the court. Besides a nine-game winning streak, he's also averaged an incredible 38.1 points per game in those nine games. If it weren't for the recent news surrounding Scarlett and Jessica, Yang Mo's stats would surely have caused a stir in the NBA. After all, Michael Jordan's peak season averaged a mere 37.5 points per game.
If there weren't only three games left, Yang Mo would have a real chance of surpassing LeBron James for the scoring title. Even if he didn't win the scoring title this season, everyone still considered Yang Mo the strongest contender for next season's title. He's already shown exceptional offensive proficiency, and... his field goal percentage is the highest of all perimeter players. Even LeBron James can't come close.
The night before the game, Yang Mo was called over by Stockton to have dinner with Sloan. Yang Mo initially thought she was just a local companion, and that she wouldn't be able to join in the conversation with these veterans. However, upon arriving, Sloan enthusiastically took Yang Mo's hand, pulled out a photo of Yang Mo in James Bond, and said, "Yang, sign it for me! My little granddaughter is a die-hard fan of yours, and she insisted I get your autograph or she won't be returning to Salt Lake City."
Yang Moke hadn't expected Sloan to ask for his autograph. He was slightly taken aback, then quickly wrote his name and handed it back to Sloan. Sloan took the autographed photo, chuckled, and said self-deprecatingly, "Now I don't have to worry about getting home."
His words caused Karl Malone and Karl Stockton to burst into laughter. Karl Malone even said jokingly, "I didn't expect you to be afraid of someone. We were the most afraid of you back then."
"You'll understand when you become grandfathers." Sloan chuckled, not arguing with the two former players. After they sat down, Sloan actually gossiped again, "Yang, can you tell me in advance, between Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba, who would you choose as your girlfriend?"
After he asked this question, he found that the three people around him were looking at him in surprise. He couldn't help but add awkwardly: "This is also what my granddaughter forced me to ask."
After hearing what he said, the three of them suddenly realized what was going on. Then, Yang Mo replied helplessly, "Actually... I haven't even thought about choosing any of them. I already have a girlfriend."
"You actually have a girlfriend?" Sloane said with a horrified expression. "That's it! If my granddaughter knew, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She's always thought you and Scarlett were the perfect match. She's already beaten her once-favorite brother three times in a row because he thought Jessica was better."
"Um... I'm sorry." Yang Mo said with a sense of self-blame, "I didn't expect such a gossip scandal would cause conflicts within your family."
"This incident has such a huge impact right now. I heard that my granddaughter's school has been divided into two factions. Those who support Scarlett are refusing to talk to those who support Jessica." Sloane shook his head and said helplessly, "Sometimes I really don't know what's going on in these little guys' heads."
"I think they're getting familiar with their voting rights ahead of time." Stockton shrugged and mused, "The country should lower the voting age to under ten. That way, the problem of groupies will be solved forever."
"Don't do that, I'd rather my kids be fans of celebrities than be manipulated by politicians." Karl Malone immediately offered a different opinion: "At least celebrities won't hurt kids."
"Can you bear the thought that your child loves a stranger more than you?"
"Why not? Children have the right to choose who they like. The reason they like a certain star must be because they find emotional projection in that person."
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Sloan quickly tried to smooth things over: "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about basketball. We are all basketball players."
"What to talk about?" Stockton suddenly didn't know what to talk about. Karl Malone was also a little confused. His mind was completely focused on the question of whether the children should pursue idols, and he had no time to retreat.
"Let's talk about him." Sloan pointed at Yang Mo and said, "I'm really thinking about coaching him. His progress has amazed me. I feel like his body is an endless treasure."
"You absolutely mustn't coach him. He might listen to our guidance on technique, but when it comes to tactics, he almost always follows his own lead." Stockton shook his head and said kindly, "You have a strong personality, and he has an even stronger one. I can't guarantee that you two won't come to blows if you work together."
"That's right. Every time I sit behind the Knicks bench, I feel that Stein is too wronged. As the head coach, he has almost no power to give orders. All the tactics are executed by this guy." Karl Malone also quickly agreed. His views on this issue are surprisingly consistent with Stockton's.
"What? You mean, all of the Knicks' tactics were planned by him?" Sloan was shocked when he heard Malone's words. He pointed at Yang Mo and asked in astonishment, "Did he design all those ingenious tactics?"
"Yeah!" Stockton was a little confused as to why his old mentor was so surprised. He didn't think it was unusual; he thought it was perfectly normal. "Don't you know? D'Antoni was fired because he interfered too much with his ideas. Stein was the head coach he promoted. Normally, Stein was only responsible for the team's defense; all the specific on-the-spot reactions were his doing."
Stockton's explanation surprised Sloan even more. He suddenly patted Yang Mo's shoulder heavily and said, "That's amazing! That's amazing! I've carefully studied the two games where the Knicks defeated the Lakers. They're classic examples of underdogs. We're likely to meet the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs this year. We definitely can't beat them based on our physical strength. But... the Knicks game gave me hope and showed me that the Lakers aren't invincible."
"Ahem!" Yang Mo coughed dryly twice, somewhat embarrassedly, and then said, "Actually, playing against the Lakers was a lot of luck. Although my record against the Lakers has been relatively high over the past two seasons, it was also due to coincidence..."
Before Yang Mo could finish his humble words, Sloan interrupted him: "This is definitely not a coincidence. I've analyzed the game. You were able to accurately kill the Lakers' momentum every time. Whenever the Lakers were about to build up a rhythm, you were able to quickly and actively strangle them in the cradle. Every time the Lakers played out of their normal mode, this is your greatness!"
Great? Is this great?
Yang Mo was a little speechless. He didn't think that his tactics could be called great. Almost every change of tactics was forced upon him. There was no other way. The team was not as strong as his opponent, so he could only be clever.
"Actually, they're not as strong as you say. You know the Knicks aren't strong enough, so we can only achieve victory by surprise..."
"No, it's talent. In this league, less than 30% of players can understand a coach's tactics and faithfully implement them. Less than 10% can understand a coach's tactics, integrate into them, and play to their strengths. And I've only ever seen someone like you who can create your own tactics, change your style four or five times per game, and still integrate them perfectly. You're the only one in the NBA, historically and historically."
Sloan praised Yang Mo to the heavens, and Yang Mo couldn't help but blush: "I...this...please don't be like this, I will really be proud."
"Haha!" Sloan laughed heartily, patted Yang Mo's shoulder, turned around, and said to Stockton, "Your passing skills are very poor. This guy still can't pass. If he could pass, it would be really difficult for us to win tomorrow's game."
"No!" Before Stockton could say anything, Yang Mo said confidently , "Even if you can't pass the ball, you won't win tomorrow."
"Oh, why?" Sloan laughed. He was in a good mood and even joked, "Could it be the power of love?"
"You'll know when the time comes!"
