NBA: Rising Superstar!-Chapter 123 - 108, First Appearance, Let Okafor Be Frustrated!

Chapter 123: Chapter 108, First Appearance, Let Okafor Be Frustrated!

The 76ers have a very long team history, and it spans the era of NBA development.

Their last wild era was during Allen Iverson’s time, when the 76ers had a lot of fans.

But as Allen Iverson’s performance declined, the team had no choice but to start rebuilding and tanking.

The 76ers’ tanking became even crazier than before, getting more intense every season.

Last season, they had an 18-64 record and got the third pick, selecting Okafor, but there’s no sign of improvement in their performance this season.

The 76ers have already lost 8 games in a row since the start of the season!

This record is also one of the unfavorable factors for Okafor’s Rookie of the Year evaluation.

Although the Nuggets’ record isn’t great, they at least manage to win games, while the 76ers struggle to win even one.

The Nuggets don’t seem too strong, with the most famous player being just a rookie, so the 76ers players eager for victory want to put up a fight at home.

Zeng Xingyang and Jokic studied the 76ers’ footage the night before the match and found them not difficult to handle.

The 76ers currently have the best stats with Okafor, followed by Ishmael Smith’s average of 14 points and 7 assists, and Covington’s 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Zeng Xingyang also found the 76ers strange; while they’re rebuilding, their rotation includes many undrafted and second-round picks.

Ishmael Smith, Covington, Canaan, Hollis Thompson, TJ McConnell—these guys are on the edge of NBA, and don’t seem like they can be developed.

These players would struggle to even get short-term contracts with other teams, yet the 76ers have made them millionaires.

They’re vigorously cultivating these players.

One can only say their management wants to spend the least money possible to tank.

Who gets the salary doesn’t matter, as long as they pass the poverty line.

In memory, the previous life of the 76ers should have won only 10 games this season.

Thus, it’s still difficult for the Nuggets to lose to such a team.

After watching the footage, Zeng Xingyang had nothing to do, so he lay in bed playing with his phone.

With a longer away game time, it’s not possible to train constantly.

Browsing through domestic Weibo. freewebnøvel_com

Zeng Xingyang now has over 6 million Weibo followers, with his fame in the NBA drastically boosting his attention.

Zeng Xingyang still only follows some classmates and friends.

Scrolling through some news, finding it uninteresting, then looking at pretty girls’ pictures.

Hey, this chick has a nice figure.

Like and follow her.

Hey, those legs are long.

Like again and follow.

This sister’s yoga looks good.

666, give her a follow.

Even though the behavior is a bit nerdy, Zeng Xingyang doesn’t feel anything wrong with it.

He’s not like Neymar, sending harassing messages to these girls.

Men, they all have this penchant.

Looking isn’t illegal.

After liking posts, Zeng Xingyang also replied to some private messages.

He chatted with some female college students he knew before becoming famous.

There are girls from China, the United States, and Europe.

Zeng Xingyang discovered a significant advantage of fame.

When he sends messages to others, almost everyone replies immediately.

Sometimes, if their response is slow, they’ll even explain themselves.

These girls occasionally flirt with him, and Zeng Xingyang also bantered with them.

Who can’t banter?

After chatting until midnight, Zeng Xingyang went to sleep.

Only after falling asleep did he not anticipate that his liking activities would appear on Weibo hot searches.

Early the next morning, Zeng Xingyang felt a bit speechless upon seeing the hot search.

He personally reposted the hot search, teasing: "Not a hacked account, confirmed it’s me liking, haha."

Seeing more private messages, the girls he liked yesterday sent him messages proactively.

It’s clear that they also want to further communicate with Zeng Xingyang.

Zeng Xingyang is very loving, adding them all on WeChat.

As long as it’s safe, not traps or close affairs, Zeng Xingyang doesn’t mind adding beautiful girls who pique his interest.

...

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

At 4 PM, a warm-up at the arena.

At 7:30 PM, at the Wachovia Center, the game officially began.

Nuggets starters: Nelson, Harris, Zeng Xingyang, Galinarli, Jokic.

This time, Mike Malone finally aligned with public calls, and arranged for Zeng Xingyang and Jokic to start.

On the court, Zeng Xingyang and Jokic were eager to fight, as this was their first start, and neither wanted to lose.

If they lost to the 76ers, Okafor on the opposite side would be too smug.

Going to pin down such a guy.

The 76ers starters: TJ McConnell, Canaan, Covington, Jerami Grant, Okafor.

TJ McConnell was an opponent Zeng Xingyang faced during college, standing only 185 cm tall with mediocre athletic talents.

Canaan is even shorter at 183 cm, more extreme.

The 76ers’ backcourt looks very short.

Covington is 3D, his defense is good, and his three-point shooting is decent.

Jerami Grant is the only starter who seems able to run and jump among them.

Okafor, seeing Zeng Xingyang and Jokic on the other side, gritted his teeth.

Blocking Zeng Xingyang and crushing Jokic is his goal for tonight.

Okafor felt such a goal shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.

Zeng Xingyang might be tricky, but the chubby center across looks easy to bully.

Pick the softest tomato!

As the game began.

Okafor used superior bounce to beat Jokic, tipping the ball to TJ McConnell.

Winning the jump ball boosted Okafor’s confidence.

Yes, Nikola Jokic, you’re destined to be crushed by the great third pick, and looking back, you’ll be honored that brother crushed you!

Okafor felt extremely confident!

TJ McConnell dribbled the ball to the front, guarded by Nelson.

Zeng Xingyang was assigned to guard Covington.

Covington’s offensive capabilities were clearly not as good as the superstar players Zeng Xingyang had faced before.

This gave Zeng Xingyang a feeling that playing as a starter is quite relaxed....

Covington was working hard on his positioning, but TJ McConnell didn’t even look at him, instead passing the ball to Canaan.

Okafor was positioned low against Jokic, struggling, but he managed to get the position.

Canaan passed the ball inside to Okafor, bending over and calling for the ball.

When Okafor caught the ball, Jokic pushed him back a bit.

"F*ck!"

Okafor hadn’t expected such pressure from Jokic.

Okafor gritted his teeth, refusing to be defended in the first round.

Put the ball down.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Okafor bumped against Jokic.

Okafor’s low-post offense was his specialty; he didn’t push Jokic away, but he still decided to turn around for a hook shot.

Jokic seemed to have given up on blocking.

Ha, rookie, how about it, my offensive methods are plenty.

Okafor was a bit smug, ready to hook the ball out.

But a big hand stretched out from Okafor’s side, directly pinning the ball down!!

The audience gasped, and Barkley stood up and shouted, "Nikola Jokic was left behind, but Zeng Xingyang came over for backup, his timing to leap was very accurate, he perfectly used his height and wingspan to block Okafor."

"Zeng Xingyang’s defensive coverage is vast, Okafor didn’t anticipate that Zeng Xingyang would sweep into the paint, and was unprepared."

"Zeng Xingyang will become the shadow over Okafor’s head!!"

After the block, Jokic quickly controlled the ball.

Zeng Xingyang immediately launched into a fast break.

Jokic advanced with the ball up the middle.

The 76ers’ players had average defensive awareness, leaving lots of space without bothering Jokic’s dribbling speed.

Covington responded quickly, sticking closely to Zeng Xingyang.

But Jokic observed the situation excellently, passing later.

Zeng Xingyang exerted a bit of force to push Covington away, and Jokic’s bounce pass arrived.

This was like a ball leading a player.

Zeng Xingyang barely needed adjustments, just flew up for a layup to score.

2-0

Covington’s defense against Zeng Xingyang didn’t cause much interference.

Smith shouted, "Zeng Xingyang’s fast-break ability has really improved, this was a contested layup, does playing as a starter boost him?"

Barkley said, "Haha, indeed, Zeng seems well-suited for a starting role."

On the court, Zeng Xingyang turned to high-five Jokic in celebration.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢