The Pacers' home court, broadcast live across the United States, last season's No. 1 in the Western Conference VS last season's No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.
Such a matchup is extremely popular in a basketball city like Indianapolis.
Two days before the game, Wayne noticed that many advertisements on the streets of Indianapolis had been changed.
All of them were replaced with promotional posters of Timberwolves VS Pacers.
Many shops even posted notices on their doors in advance: "Closed on the night of the game."
This is very Indianapolis.
You can choose not to make money, but you can’t choose not to watch basketball!
The fans are happy, but Wayne is suffering!
During the two days of confrontation training before the game, Wayne found it more difficult to defend O'Neal.
The most important thing is that it became very difficult for him to score over O'Neal's head. For the sake of the Wolf King, O'Neal really put all his strength into competing with Wayne.
What the hell... Is it possible to farm growth points properly?
Although Garnett publicly refuted O'Neal, O'Neal did not respond.
But you can see that he is still very angry.
It’s just that Xiao Ao and Gang Tai behave differently when they get angry.
If it was Gangtai, he would definitely have exchanged 300 rounds of insults with Garnett in front of reporters and then kept muttering in the locker room.
But O'Neal chose to remain silent and kept his anger on the basketball court.
It's a pity for Wayne. Before the game starts, he has to help KG experience O'Neal's anger.
After a training match, Wayne was exhausted.
I used to never feel tired even if I played with Tony for a whole day, because I could get points by playing with Tony!
Now seeing that the points were being pinched, Wayne really couldn't muster up the motivation.
The points required for the next upgrade are already high, so how long will it take to get them?
At this time, Wayne glanced at Gangtai beside him.
"Ron."
"I'm listening."
"Anything tonight?"
Hearing Wayne's question, Artest immediately stopped what he was doing.
What? This guy wants to take me to a nightclub?
You must be free then!
"I'm fine."
"Great, let's stay and play a few rounds of bullfighting later!"
"Uh..." For some reason, Gangtai couldn't help but look at his chest.
The piercing pain told him: "This game cannot be played!"
"Well, I suddenly remembered that I have a meeting over there, and they're waiting for me to order food. So I'll go over there first, and I'll call you after I'm done."
After Artest finished speaking, he prepared to run away. This young man is really energetic.
Wayne knew this would happen. After all, Artest is not like Tony, who is willing to be a gym rat.
If you want Tony to play with you, all you have to do is tell him, "We have to work hard to get to the NBA."
But to deal with Gangtai, we have to use different methods.
So Wayne took out a tennis ball from the locker and threw it into Gangtai's hand.
"What the hell? You want to bribe me with a tennis ball? I love watching tennis, but I don't like this kind of ball!"
"Let's make a bet, Ron."
"What are you betting on?"
"If you can play five rounds of bullfighting with me every day for half a month, I will call that girl and ask her out. If you can't hold on, I can challenge you anytime in the future. How about that?"
"Tsk, what does it have to do with me whether you date her or not..." After saying that, Artest threw the tennis ball back to Wayne, then turned his head away proudly.
…
…
…
"...When you called her, did you dare to use the speakerphone in front of everyone?" After a few seconds of silence, A Tai slowly turned his head.
He couldn't hold it in any longer.
The socialite Wayne has Artest under his control!
Given Gangtai's personality, would he let go of the opportunity to tease a rookie?
"It's just turning on the hands-free function. What's the big deal? Why would I be afraid?" Wayne readily agreed to Artest's condition.
Seeing that Artest is about to fall into the trap, we have to increase our efforts.
"Okay! It's settled! Let's go now. From today on, let's have a good fight!"
"Aren't they still waiting for your order over there?"
"What do you want to order? Basketball is the most important thing in my life, bar none!"
"Fuck..." Wayne really wanted to applaud Artest. When it comes to being shameless, Artest is definitely number one.
Seeing that Artest was going back to practice more, everyone was shocked.
Wayne smiled slightly, thinking that his move was simply amazing.
With Artest's character, there is no way he could last half a month!
By the time the whole team knows about the gambling, Artest can't put down his dignity and can only submit and serve as a tool.
There is absolutely no flaw in this plan!
So Wayne and Artest happily spent a sweaty night in the training hall.
Although it is difficult to score in front of Artest, the growth points given are really high.
If you score one, you won’t lose anything, and if you score three, you’ll make a huge profit.
After five games, Gangtai won all five.
After all, he is the best defensive player, and Wayne's current one-on-one ability is not enough to compete with Gangtai.
But Wayne was like an indestructible cockroach. He showed no sign of being depressed at all and became more and more excited as the fight went on.
After playing five games, I still want to play 100 million games.
There's no point in being depressed when I can gain growth points this way!
A year ago, wasn’t I also tortured badly by Teacher Tony at the beginning?
But now?
So, failure is the mother of success. If you don’t persist now, how can you become stronger in the future?
"Alright, alright, I'm really tired. Just five innings a day from now on, no more." Artest waved his hands, his jersey collar completely wet.
"Yeah, your defense is really strong, Ron."
"Hmph, that's right. Have you forgotten what happened to Paopi a few days ago?"
While Artest was bragging about himself, Wayne noticed that the attribute interface had new improvements, so he opened it and took a look.
As a result... my ball control ability actually increased by 1 point.
Yes, it is not surprising that the ball-handling skills will improve when facing the pressure of the best defensive player.
Damn, Artest, the tool man, is really an upgraded version in all aspects.
Not only can you gain points, but you can also directly gain abilities.
NBA is so cool!
"Next game... do you think you and Jermaine can really get the MVP?"
At this time, Artest somehow suddenly asked about things related to the game.
"I believe Jermaine." Wayne spread his hands. This was the only way to answer this question.
"I don't believe him." But Artest on the other side gave an unconventional answer.
"Then you still say he should have won the MVP last season?"
“I just hope he takes it, but… OK, I’m so tired, let’s go home.
In any case, the next game is on our turf. No matter whether they were first in the Western Conference last season or not, we must not let them run wild here!
Remember to be tough, Mr. Batman. The guy who always yells likes to bully the weak. "
After saying that, Gangtai stood up and walked towards the locker room.
People say that Gang-tae is a selfish guy who only cares about himself and not the team.
But...Wayne felt as if he saw the back of Gangtai.
He was just...what should I say? Not understood.
Yes, if Wayne didn’t have his clairvoyance, and didn’t know whether Gangtai could become a better person in the future, he probably wouldn’t understand such a guy with a bad record.
Time flies. During training, he was bullied by O'Neal, and during extra practice, he was bullied by Artest.
Before we knew it, it was November 9th.
This day is full of life, but it's fast...
Early this morning, Aunt Jenny came and took Wayne to accept various interviews.
A nationally televised game, at home, is just so busy.
"Your opponent is very strong today, Wei." In the car on the way to the stadium, Jenny and Wayne chatted intermittently.
"Yes, very strong."
"Besides, the other party is a trash-talker."
"Well, so..." Wayne looked at Aunt Jenny's eyes and realized that something seemed wrong.
"Don't think I don't know what you said to Peyton last time. I'm a professional at this. I can roughly understand what you said by looking at your lip movements. I didn't give you that notebook to use indiscriminately."
Wayne scratched his head after being exposed. Mature women are really scary!
"If a reporter asks you about Garnett's provocation later, don't be impulsive. Reporters just want topics, don't be fooled by them." Jenny shook her head and ignored Wayne's trash talk.
And that was outside the scope of her job duties.
All she needs to maintain is Wayne's image in front of the media.
"Don't worry, I'm not that easily fooled. I remember all the answers you gave me clearly."
"Well, just focus on the game, Wei. Today, I will watch your performance from the sidelines."
So before the game, Wayne, like O'Neal, did not comment too much on KG's remarks.
But on the other hand, KG is different.
He couldn't take back his damn, uncontrolled confidence at all.
"We're going to win. Last season, Jermaine was third in the MVP rankings and I'm the MVP. It's that simple."
"The Pacers' three-game winning streak is amazing, but it's a shame their amazing streak has to end here."
"We are ready, we are born for this kind of big game. When we leave, the victory will definitely accompany the team."
"Wayne is very good, but he hasn't experienced a real big fight yet."
Harden's confident interview earned him a lot of hatred in Indianapolis.
In the evening, players from both teams finally met face to face on the court.
Wayne took a quick look at the Timberwolves players and found that there were many hidden talents among them!
Latrell Sprewell, this guy's story is much more exciting than KG's.
In his second year in the league, Sprewell and his teammate Byron Houston got into a fight during training.
Two years later, Sprewell had another conflict with another teammate, Jerome Cosey. This time, he was no longer satisfied with physical combat, but threatened to "shoot Jerome".
Then, in 1997, Sprewell grabbed head coach Carlesimo's neck for 15 seconds during practice.
This battle made Sprewell completely famous, and he was gloriously... banned for one year!
Do you think the ban is over?
No, Madman is not that simple.
During his suspension, Sprewell was jailed for three months for speeding and injuring two people.
After this incident, he said something that sounded like a line from a movie: "I want to be a good person."
Of course, everyone just listens to it. After coming back, the madman was still very crazy. Although he didn't fight with his teammates or choke the head coach, he was still not a good person.
What he is best known for is his last classic quote in the NBA.
"How can I support my family without 10 million? I might as well go home and lie down."
Come to think of it, it seems like this sentence was said after this season...
In addition to Sprewell, Wayne also saw another strange flower, "Sugar Man" Olowokandi.
To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that Kwame Brown received so much attention around the old rogue, he would never have been given the title of the worst top pick.
Olowokandi was the first to disagree.
Although the 1998 draft was not star-studded, it was still full of talent.
Carter, Pierce, Dirk, Lewis, and Bibby are all stars that are familiar to fans.
But there was one person who surpassed all these names and became the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NBA draft. He was the famous Michael Olowokandi.
Elgin Baylor, then general manager of the Clippers, said at the time: "There are only two most important positions on the basketball court, center and open space. I will not miss the opportunity to get an excellent center."
Then, his Clippers sank to the bottom of the sea along with his outstanding center, and they couldn't even paddle out.
This center, who was hailed as the next Olajuwon, was only able to score 12+9 until his fifth season in his career, and that was the only year he maintained that performance.
Carter, Dirk, Pierce and even Jamison in the fifth year of the same class were far superior to him.
If Baylor had made a small mistake at that time, the Clippers would not have sunk so badly.
After being abandoned by the Clippers and traded to Minnesota last year, Olowokandi seemed to have given up on himself.
Alcoholism and fun filled his life, and the boy who once worked hard for basketball was gone.
Last season in the Timberwolves, "Sugar Man" averaged only 6.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game...
Wayne had indeed not noticed before that a small group of timberwolves actually hid two talented people at the same time.
So... the Timberwolves aren't that elite after all! KG is such a jerk.
You said so, Xiao Ao, Xiao Ao?
Wayne turned his head and saw that the game hadn't even started yet, but O'Neal and KG were already arguing with each other near the midfield line.
After enduring for so many days, Xiao Ao is finally about to explode in silence.