One Year Left to Play-Chapter 203 - 67: People Can Never Truly Empathize with Each Other

These days, nationwide broadcast resources are scarce. Generally speaking, teams that aren't very popular only get two nationwide broadcasts a season: one for the opening game and one for the closing game. The league's schedule is set accordingly. From November 1st to 3rd, there are 5 games each day. Across these three days, all 29 teams' 15 opening games will be broadcast.

Weak teams are just supporting roles. Even if they get nationwide broadcasts, it's only to highlight the strong teams. The Brooklyn Nets are one of those supporting teams.

Thinking of this, Zhang Hao's excitement waned a bit.

"Oh well, who said we were weak?"

...

By evening, the Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves were playing their final preseason game.

Originally, Zhang Hao thought his showdown with Garnett, both high school prodigies, would be epic... at least they would compete on the same court, each showcasing their style. But in reality, it was rather uneventful.

Garnett only got 13 minutes of playtime in the final preseason game, while the Timberwolves' star Kristen Lightner played for 37 minutes and Guglielota for 36 minutes. The two of them occupied a total of 73 minutes out of the combined 96 minutes of playtime for the inside positions, with backup center Andrew Lang playing for 10 minutes. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Unlike the first 6 games where Garnett played at least 25 minutes, back then Kristen Lightner only played for a dozen minutes each game. For this final game, Timberwolves coach Bill Blair only gave Garnett 13 minutes of playtime.

The intensity of the preseason's final game was no different from a regular season game. It was a match to test the results of preseason adjustments, so naturally Lightner returned to his normal playtime.

7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, that was Garnett's performance tonight.

13 minutes of playtime and such performance is quite good. In terms of ability, Lightner is indeed stronger right now; Garnett's rating of 78 is outstanding for his age, but Lightner is in his prime with a rating of 84.

Lightner had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in 37 minutes of playtime.

Guglielota was also impressive, scoring 17 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, providing 1 assist, and making 2 blocks.

The Timberwolves' theoretically strongest scoring shooting guard, Isaiah Lyles, also scored 18 points tonight.

But the Timberwolves only managed to score 89 points overall... it wasn't because the Brooklyn Nets defended well, it was because the Timberwolves played shockingly badly!

Looking at Lyles, Lightner, and Guglielota's stats and ratings, Lyles with a rating of 83, Lightner with 84, and Guglielota also at 83, these three leading the team produced such poor results!

Seeing the name of the team opposing them, Zhang Hao suddenly didn't find it strange.

It's the Timberwolves. No matter how good the stars' stats look, it doesn't equate to winning records. Last season, these three led the team and helped Timberwolves choose Garnett in the draft.

The Timberwolves seemed to have no desire to win. When Garnett was on the court, his teammates didn't cooperate with him much. There were times he had no choice but to force his shots. Zhang Hao noticed Garnett wanted to connect the team, but no one paid attention.

Zhang Hao reflected on Garnett's stats throughout the preseason. The only rookie whose stats he consistently followed was Garnett, and it seemed his assist numbers kept trending downward.

Was he being targeted by veteran players, as a rookie?

"This sort of thing shouldn't have any doubts."

As Zhang Hao paid attention to Garnett's preseason performance, he also noticed news about Garnett. McHale praised Garnett daily; obviously, they wanted to cultivate Garnett as the core, how could Lightner, who plays the same position, be happy?

104 to 89, the Brooklyn Nets comfortably defeated the Timberwolves in the final preseason victory with Kenny Anderson scoring 20 points with 7 assists, Chales contributing 6 points with 6 assists, Zhang Hao gaining 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals, PJ Brown putting up 9 points with 11 rebounds, and Gilliam scoring 16 points. Their preseason record turned into 5 wins and 2 losses.

...

After the final whistle blew, Garnett was reluctant to chat with Zhang Hao.

Seeing Zhang Hao play for 28 minutes tonight, watching Zhang Hao's teammates all support him... comparisons could kill your spirit!

Zhang Hao felt a bit regretful, but the game ended, so it didn't bother him anymore. The future is bright.

"Special player Zhang Hao has helped the Brooklyn Nets win 5 preseason games. Congratulations to the host on receiving an additional reward: 5 days of lifespan. Task: Rookie Greeting is complete."

"Remaining lifespan: 374 days. Usable lifespan: 373 days."

After surpassing the minimum threshold of 4 wins, he received a reward of 5 days' lifespan, plus today's participation reward of 1 day and victory reward of 2 days, which brought Zhang Hao's lifespan back to approximately one year. This stabilized his heart significantly.

Though he might use up much of his lifespan, for the moment, he felt much more at ease.

From Garnett, Zhang Hao saw the harsh environment a rookie has to face. Luckily, Mr. Zhang was doing relatively well...

After a three-second silent tribute to Garnett, Zhang Hao also turned and headed towards the player tunnel.

What might be a significant event in one person's mind could be less important than tied shoelaces in another's.

Zhang Hao and Garnett saw this game as quite important. However, it didn't go the direction either had hoped for. Their feelings were complicated, but media and fans didn't take it too seriously. They just watched if there's some buzz; otherwise, there would be more buzz elsewhere to watch.

As Zhang Hao slowly integrated into the team and enhanced his technical skills, many events were happening in the league.

Currently, the biggest buzz was during the preseason when Magician suddenly decided to return, disrupting the Lakers' trade plans. But Logo Man supported Magician, and the Lakers also backed Magician's return.

Over at Malone's end, back then, claiming to be a fan of Magician, when he heard of Magician's return and the Utah Jazz facing the Lakers in the regular season opener, Malone started swearing, saying "For the sake of others, he shouldn't play basketball," which didn't trigger a response from Magician, but rather a fine from the league.

Jordan didn't explode like Malone did; instead, he issued a challenge to Magician for a finals showdown.

This angered the Magic over there...

Orlando's media dared to unite and started blasting Bulls, and for some reason, a few media outlets began discussing O'Neal's injuries, saying he might not play in November's games.

Ultimately, Orlando Media did something rather bizarre from an outsider's perspective. Instead of bashing Jordan, they criticized O'Neal for lacking discipline, leading to Magic being underestimated by Jordan.

The regular season for the new season is about to start; the league is bustling with excitement.

But none of this really affects Zhang Hao. Although he hadn't experienced these events in his past life, he'd heard the rumors, so he didn't pay special attention.

Compared to 20 years later, the channels for spreading information during this era were quite limited. Beyond newspapers, TV, and radio, there weren't many other ways to access outside information. Unlike the future, where if a girl asked in a chat where she could buy cucumbers, a shopping platform would quickly recommend a pile of massage equipment...

Aside from being inconvenient, Zhang Hao thought it was rather nice. It allowed for greater focus on self-improvement.

After completing post-game therapy and returning to his apartment, Zhang Hao reviewed his results since the preseason in games, training, and other areas.

"Passing, definitely need to practice that, too prone to mistakes. Learning turnaround fadeaway progress is quicker than expected. Cutting in and catching for layups...also need more practice. Being able to cut and shoot makes finding scoring opportunities easier..."

Quickly, Zhang Hao scheduled his training projects for the next few days.

Another packed day passed, and on October 25th, the first training day after the preseason arrived.

In the last few days of preparation, the regular season is about to begin.

Zhang Hao was a bit excited thinking about playing against Grant Hill!

Zhang Hao wondered how strong a healthy Grant Hill would be in his theoretical prime at the age of 27 or 28, but new rookie Grant Hill was already very strong!