No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 183 - 108. Long-Awaited Rival

After the game, the Hornets players huddled together in celebration, while the fans in the arena erupted into cheers, shouting "Jack," "Wallace," "Felton," "Brezec."

The Knight was the best team the Hornets had beat this season!

The TV commentators said this was the first time the Hornets had a winning percentage of 50% in a single month since their founding, with 8 wins and 8 losses. The camera swept over the audience where Hornets fans were extremely excited.

The game’s high viewership left many viewers puzzled in front of their televisions. What’s so special about an 8-8 record for the month? Worth a special mention by the commentators? Were Hornets fans really that excited?

At that moment, the broadcast displayed the time it took for the last 20 years’ new NBA teams to achieve a .500 winning percentage for a month.

The fastest was the Magic who, after drafting O’Neal, reached their first monthly .500 record in the ’92-’93 season, their fourth season.

The slowest was the Grizzlies, who didn’t achieve a monthly winning rate over .500 until the ’03-’04 season, their ninth, after getting "graced" by the logo man.

Most teams took six or seven years.

The Hornets managed it in their second season!

Charlotte’s basketball fans are a pretty contrary bunch.

At first, they looked down on the Hornets for only making it to the playoffs. When the Hornets were leaving, not only did they not hold them back, they collectively stopped attending games, setting an embarrassing record, since 1983, of less than 40% attendance for a game – only 7,000 plus showed up at the Charlotte Coliseum.

But after the Hornets left, they couldn’t stand it. Hearing that Robert Johnson and Jordan were starting a new team, they petitioned the city hall and state legislature to bring the NBA back to Charlotte.

When the Hornets really got started, they looked down on them too, but while doing so, they still followed the team and patiently waited, thinking that as long as the Hornets rose faster than the Grizzlies, it would be okay...

No matter how contrary the Charlotte fans were, they were still excited and happy to see the Hornets show signs of rising in their second season.

An important fact was that the surge of the Hornets was led by a North Carolina player!

Felton, a bona fide North Carolina lineage.

Zhang Yang, you just say if he is a North Carolina student, if he is an NBA player.

The team’s other two talents, Okafor, had nothing to do with this month’s game.

Gerald Wallace, made the All-Star starting lineup only after being led by a North Carolina student.

Zhang Yang celebrated the victory with his teammates, and when he saw the camera coming... Although it came to interview Gerald Wallace who had the highest score of the game, it paused on him for a while, probably because the director wanted the commentators to introduce him to the fans. He immediately straightened up, his stance steady.

With a nickname like Yangyang, you gotta have the right posture to go with it.

Zhang Yang noticed James, filled with hostility, staring at Felton and Gerald Wallace as he headed down the player’s tunnel, tsk tsk, it’s just one defeat, is it really that serious?

I really pity big baby O’Neal and Prince James.

...

February 1st, a new month had arrived.

Zhang Yang got up in the morning missing his mom and brother – with no one to cook breakfast, he had to do it himself.

While eating his breakfast, he read the newspaper; last night’s game against the Knight made the front page.

The headline was shocking—Felton locks down James on defense.

A clickbait headline for sure, with the content talking about the combined defensive efforts of Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Perkins. But of course, that’s how you write headlines, to grab attention.

High school Center Perkins got a bit of spotlight by riding on the fame of the first pick in his draft year.

Felton and Gerald Wallace earned themselves quite a reputation from that game, with truly good defense.

Zhang Yang’s 21 points were also praised, as he came through when the Hornets needed someone to keep scoring, or when they needed to keep suppressing the Knights at critical moments. Especially his shot at the end of the first half, dribbling past James to make a basket that left James broken on defense and missing two in a row, which was mentioned in the news.

The four of them rode the wave of attention that comes with beating a top-tier player like James.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang arrived at the arena and saw Joe, the boss, giving a tour of the arena. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

When Jordan saw Zhang Yang, he called him over to meet a big shot, the boss of an airline company, in talks about naming rights for the arena.

Zhang Yang had heard that originally Time Warner wanted to name the Charlotte Coliseum but couldn’t agree on a price. Time Warner’s offer was like what the Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors received. Jordan thought it too low; the coliseum wasn’t his, he only got a share of the profits, and such a small amount wasn’t enough to divide. Besides, their team’s attention wasn’t something the Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors could compete with when they were just relocating or starting out. Thus, they opted for a public tender for naming rights.

Zhang Yang guessed that Jordan bringing him to meet the tycoon was a maneuver to win hearts, thinking that if the airline boss liked his image and wanted to sign him as a spokesperson, Jordan could be seen as the matchmaker and earn a favor.

He couldn’t help but think that Jordan was increasingly taking on the appearance of a capitalist. The image of boss Jordan passionately arguing with player representatives, five years on, was already taking shape.

After exchanging greetings, Zhang Yang went back to the practice court and saw a familiar face he hadn’t seen in a while.

"Emeka, are you here for training? I thought Bernie said you wouldn’t join the team until after the All-Star break."

Okafor: "The progress has been faster than the doctors anticipated. I’ve already been doing rehab for a month and a half, and just two days ago, I got the team doctor’s permission to participate in basketball training."

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