The Knights players were now very cautious about speaking, they wanted to discuss the hottest topic of the afternoon, but talking about it was like a slap in the face to their leader. Yet they couldn’t think of anything else, as the Bobcats’ mascot was circling around outside... The atmosphere in the visiting team’s corridor was very tense.
On the other hand, the atmosphere in the other corridor was very lively, some were discussing that trendy post, others were debating what kind of mascot would be best...
Zhang Yang listened to his teammates even considering whether changing the mascot meant that they should change the team name as well... He despised this era obsessed with entertainment to death, finding it ridiculous that such a topic could become popular.
What was most outrageous was that before he warmed up for the game, he browsed the internet and saw that many IPs endorsing the ’petition movement’ were from North or South Carolina!
Looking at Rufus riding the unicycle outside, Zhang Yang felt pity for their mascot and thought they needed to find a way to protect it.
Their owner wasn’t too reliable; if he took the local fans’ jokes seriously and actually replaced Rufus, then they wouldn’t have a mascot to scare off the opponents after the games anymore!
The Bobcats’ pre-game activities ended, and at 8:40 pm, players from both teams entered the court.
When the Knights players made their entrance, there were boos... surprisingly not that many, and there were even cheers when James entered.
But James was not pleased with the cheers, feeling nothing but discontent and anger.
Behind the technical table, some fans were holding a long banner, with big letters that read — "Thank you, LeBron. Every time you come, you bring us victory."
James roared inside: why target me?
All he saw was the Bobcats fans’ mockery aimed at him.
But what the Bobcats fans saw was James with 47 wins ranked fifth in MVP standings, and Okafor with 56 wins ranked sixth; they heard ESPN claiming James was stronger than anyone on the Bobcats team, who had four All-Stars; and they heard the hype about James, who had no titles, being touted as the successor for their Bobcats’ owner...
After both teams entered the court, Zhang Yang looked at the big screen showing the key players’ performance in the regular season and first round.
James averaged 26+6+6 in the regular season, 25+7+5 in the first round; Hughes averaged 17+4+6 in the regular season, and 19+3+7 in the second round.
Okafor came over to Zhang Yang and said, "That forward duo is formidable, but don’t worry, take the field, get your shots in, and leave those two to us."
Zhang Yang, "I know, I’m just surprised that James actually handed off more control of the ball in the playoffs, it’s not quite like the guy I knew."
Okafor, "People change, his previous style was at most a taller version of Francis or Davis. They didn’t have as easy a time against the Toronto Raptors as we had expected; he has to play more efficiently and more as a team, otherwise they might not beat the Raptors."
"True, things are starting to get interesting," Zhang Yang said, rubbing his chin.
At this tone, Okafor felt something weird and commented, "Jack, you don’t have a beard."
Little Duncan clearly hasn’t read any Overlord Literature, eh? Maybe I should get him a copy sometime.
Little Duncan might not look at it, so I’ll send a copy to Duncan first. Duncan would definitely read it, and then I’ll tell Little Duncan it’s Duncan’s favorite book... The plan’s solid!
After chatting with Okafor for a bit, Zhang Yang saw Iverson and Big Bird among others at courtside and joined Okafor, Felton, Rondo, Millsap, and the rest of the Big Brother Group to greet them.
Iverson enthusiastically cheered for Zhang Yang. They both wore jersey number 3, with eyes only for the hoop... who else could be his fan if not them? Surely not that guy with number 24, right?
Zhang Yang wasn’t surprised by Iverson’s enthusiasm; the veteran number 3 could be called the leader of the flatterers. Last year when James won the All-Star MVP, Iverson praised him to the skies.
But Big Bird was surprisingly passionate as well...
After returning to the bench, Zhang Yang asked their boss, "Michael, did you charge Big Bird for his ticket?"
Jordan replied, puzzled, "Of course it’s a complimentary ticket, how could I charge money for it? What’s odd to me is, do you always see me as that stingy? Why do you always think I’m tight-fisted?"
Zhang Yang, "emmm... that’s not important, it’s a big loss to not charge for tickets. I feel like he wants to poach me for their team... How many acres of land would you have to farm to earn back the price of one playoff ticket in the first row?"
Jordan didn’t know how to respond at that moment, as there were too many points to pick on.
Yet their Bad Kid Jack, who played like Big Bird, didn’t seem to think of leaving, at least for now, and that was enough.
However, thinking of farming land, Jordan recalled another one of Big Bird’s nicknames — "Hick."
He was sure Big Bird had taken an interest in Zhang Yang, and he guessed that if Zhang Yang called Big Bird a "Hick," Big Bird would absolutely buy a few acres in Indianapolis and plant something just to say, "You’re right."
Soon, the time approached 9 pm, and Okafor won the tip-off against Big Z to start the game.
The Bobcats’ starters: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Perkins.
The Knights’ starters: Snow, Hughes, James, Gooden, Big Z.
Zhang Yang ran upcourt to receive the ball, attempting a one-on-one drive against James. He made it to the free-throw line but couldn’t shake him off, so he leaned into James to create contact and stop abruptly.
James also stopped promptly, and when Zhang Yang stopped and faked a left move, he immediately shuffled right.
But Zhang Yang was only leaning his upper body left while he pulled the ball behind him, pushed off with his left foot to hop right, passed the ball from his left to his right hand behind his back, took off and shot a mid-ranger... It went in!
The home crowd erupted into wild cheers and screams!
The one-on-one play had James lunging in the completely wrong direction, creating a huge opening for the jump shot... The director amusingly switched the live big screen’s footage to Iverson first, then to Jordan.