Chapter 262 [Officially join, the only protagonist]
On July 3, the Chinese men's basketball team arrived in the United States and checked into an ordinary hotel in Long Beach, preparing to participate in the summer league. The training before the Olympics entered the final stage, and Yang Jian was finally about to officially join the national team.
Long Beach has an urban population of more than 500,000, making it the seventh largest city in California after Los Angeles and the second largest city in Los Angeles County. It has beautiful scenery and a pleasant climate, and is a famous seaside resort.
However, the members of the Chinese men's basketball team did not feel that the air here was sweet and fresh, nor did they feel strange and luxurious. They were under great pressure just because there was an extra superstar in the team.
This is the first time that the Chinese men's basketball team has participated in the NBA Summer League. The players have just concluded the first season since the establishment of the CBA. Now they have to play with the NBA championship and FMVP, which is an experience they have never had before.
Young players are a little excited, imagining that if their strength is not much different from that of Yang Jian, they may go to the United States to play in the NBA and become super rich in the future.
The veterans are a little worried that Yang Jian has an arrogant personality and plays a big name, which will be very troublesome to cooperate with. Some of them are well-known in the country as big-name football stars, but Yang Jian does not need to give them face.
Not only the players are worried, but the head coach is also worried that he will not be able to direct Yang Jian. And once there is a problem within the team, all fans will definitely stand on Yang Jian's side. Before they left for the United States, many domestic media were worried that their level was too poor.
Holding Yang Jian back.
The protagonist of this year's NBA Summer League is Yang Jian, the only one. He has created a historical record and is the only NBA All-Star player to participate in two summer leagues.
As we all know, the main players and main substitutes of each team will not participate in the summer league. The participation of a famous star like Yang Jian made the Chinese team's game suddenly popular. Many local fans asked about the ticket sales time and wanted to watch it in person.
Tickets for the summer league are very cheap, but they can see superstars perform, and all fans feel that they have made a lot of money. No one pays attention to other teams. Even if all the high-ranking rookies combined, their popularity cannot be compared with Yang Jian.
This of course included the No. 13 pick Kobe Bryant, whom the Lakers acquired in exchange for star center Divac. At this time, O'Neal had not yet agreed to sign with the Lakers, and Kobe naively thought he was about to become the new king of Los Angeles. He
I can't wait to compete with the Chinese team and defeat Yang Jian to prove myself.
Yang Jian had not yet met anyone from the national team, but it triggered a butterfly effect. Point guard Adijiang came to the United States with the national team. In a parallel world, he did not participate in the Olympics.
In 1996, Gong Luming, who was only 39 years old, became the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team. At that time, Ah Dijiang was the eldest brother of the team. He was a big-name player and also served as the captain. Gong Luming must have enough prestige to intimidate the team.
Team, he is also a stern coach who can't help but be very strict in management.
On the eve of the Olympics, Gong Luming fired Ah Dijiang for violating team rules.
At that time, we were preparing for the Olympic Games. Gong Luming was very dissatisfied with Ah Dijiang's slackness in training. After many attempts to persuade him, it had no effect, and the conflict between the two became more and more serious. And the next thing happened.
This conflict exploded, completely irritating Gong Luming.
The Chinese men's basketball team was training in Liuzhou. Ah Dijiang violated discipline and brought his wife to the training base. Gong Luming, who was already unhappy with Ah Dijiang, became even more dissatisfied and made the decision to expel Ah Dijiang.
Ah Dijiang's ball-handling skills are very good. The Chinese men's basketball team is still in a period of lack of point guards. Ah Dijiang is a veteran player of the national team. The leaders of the Bayi team came to dissuade Gong Luming, but he insisted on expelling Ah Dijiang.
The move sparked heated debate.
Many media and fans were dissatisfied with Gong Luming's decision. Later, the Chinese team reached the Olympic quarterfinals, and the doubts gradually subsided.
This world is different. The players of the Chinese men's basketball team all practice very hard, no one slacks off, and no one plays a big role.
Adijiang still took his wife to the training base but was not punished. He was only criticized a few times. Members of the men's basketball team often saw news about Yang Jian. After "Glow in the Night", Yang Jian went straight to acting in TV series.
There were rumors of an affair with another female star.
Yang Jian is the boss of the national team. Is it okay for a veteran of the team to bring his wife to the training base? At least she is married. Everyone speculates that Yang Jian will bring his celebrity girlfriend to play in the summer league and also take others to participate in the Olympics.
What will the coach do then? Shock the whole team and fire Yang Jian? If he really dares to do this, everyone will respect him as a man, a pure man, but he will lose his job...
Moreover, Yang Jian had already said hello before joining the national team. He would not live in the Olympic Village, but would stay in a high-end hotel outside.
Among the Chinese Olympic delegation, no one is as famous as Yang Jian. He has privileges.
The men's basketball lineup for this Olympics has also changed.
Center: Wang Zhizhi, Shan Tao, Battelle.
Power forward: Gong Xiaobin, Liu Yudong.
Small forward: Sun Jun, Zheng Wu, Li Nan.
Shooting guard: Hu Weidong, Yang Jian.
Point guard: Li Xiaoyong, Adijiang.
Because of Yang Jian's joining, Wu Naiqun and Wu Qinglong, among the three musketeers of the Liao Basketball Team, were not included in the national team's 12-man roster.
Wu Naiqun is known as the "Chinese Flying Man". In the 1994 World Championships, his passionate performance of flying dunk on the US team center Mourning made him a hot topic among fans. However, his height is only 202cm, his shooting ability is average, and he is not good at playing basketball.
The team's tactics are of little use.
Gong Xiaobin used to be a substitute for the national team. This season he performed brilliantly in the CBA, and the coach is more optimistic about him.
It’s not surprising that Wu Qinglong was eliminated. He is a small steel cannon on the back line of the Chinese men’s basketball team. He is 191cm tall and looks a bit fat, but he can run well and has speed. His physical fitness is incomparable with Yang Jian, and his shooting is even further behind.
, I didn’t get a chance to play even when I came.
The national team brought in 22-year-old swingman Li Nan. His three-point shooting rate in the CBA this season is as high as 59%. He may play an important role at critical moments because the team has Yang Jian who can attract double teams.
Hu Weidong looked out the window and sighed: "There are many people outside the hotel, probably all here to see Yang Jian."
"You can see a lot of his billboards outside. It's really awesome. He has reached this level after just one season." Shan Tao laughed.
"Others can be so popular after winning against Jordan. I want to try a one-on-one match with him to see the difference." Sun Jun said expectantly.
Gong Luming laughed and said: "Everyone will definitely have the opportunity to challenge him one-on-one, just don't lose confidence in being abused by him. We have all watched the finals, and Jordan and Pippen can't do anything against him."
At this time, the team leader informed everyone to contact Yang Jian.
Gong Luming asked: "Is he coming to stay in the hotel?"
"He said he would treat the whole team to dinner first and then come back together."
When Yang Jian met with members of the national team for the first time, he adopted the most traditional Chinese way of communicating and treating each other to dinner. He chose a high-end Western buffet restaurant near the hotel. It is difficult to find Chinese restaurants in Long Beach City.
After meeting, Yang Jian smiled and said hello: "It's our first time meeting you. I don't know your taste. It's easiest to eat at the buffet."
After eating, Gong Luming asked a question: "Will you stay in a hotel? Or will you bring your girlfriend here and live outside?"
"I came here on my own. Reporters have been keeping a close eye on me recently. I can guarantee that I will focus on the basketball court and seize the time to complete the run-in." Yang Jian replied.
Gong Luming immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This was much easier to handle and the team's morale was guaranteed.
Yang Jianlian got results in the Olympics, and he definitely didn't slack off when it was time to fight. It's impossible for him to stop training seriously just to have a few more days of love. If the Chinese team lost, he was the one who was most affected.
Jennifer Aniston has no objection to this. She went to work, participated in variety shows, filmed commercials, guest-starred in movies, etc...
Big-name celebrities don't have particularly free time, unless their popularity has declined to the point where they are about to expire.
Gong Luming said: "This is a standard room for two people per room. I wonder if you can live in it?"
"Of course I can, I'm not a spoiled person." Yang Jian said with a smile.
Seeing that he didn't have the airs of a superstar, Gong Luming felt a little better. "You can choose someone to be your roommate, but you don't know them very well, right?"
"I would choose Wang Zhizhi as my roommate. He is the youngest. And he is an inside player. We will definitely have a lot of cooperation during the game."