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Chapter 258 - 133. Playoff Debut

Chapter 258: 133. Playoff Debut

The damned third overall pick turned out to be Okafor’s nephew!

This must be the unluckiest uncle and nephew duo, both peaked as rookies.

One sustained a severe injury in his second NBA year, destroying his athleticism, turning from an all-around talented center into a blue-collar grunt; the other also suffered a major injury in his sophomore year, but the injury was the least of his problems. The NBA had changed eras, entering the era of small-ball, and his low-post, static style left him with no role on the court.

On the flight to Cleveland, Jahlil Okafor sat next to Zhang Yang asking all sorts of questions. Jahlil Okafor’s curious inquires didn’t get many answers, but Zhang Yang found out everything he wanted to know.

years old, 183 cm... currently in the fifth grade of elementary school, switching to junior high later this year.

He’s always loved basketball; his idol isn’t Okafor nor Duncan, who Okafor often mentioned during high school, but some blacksmith. His jersey in elementary school was number 8, and he plans to switch to number 3 in junior high because he wants to be like Zhang San.

Becoming a fan of Zhang San started with a game-winning shot against Yao Ming, making him one of the earliest fans.

Jahlil Okafor’s dream is to become a scoring guard who shoots as freely as Zhang Yang, but his dreams were shattered by Zhang Yang’s remark, "You might be taller than me in a couple of years," leaving him slumped in his chair as if life had lost its dreams, the sky its color.

Zhang Yang understands a bit about the Okafor family, his father and grandfather were merchants in Nigeria, and it was only from Okafor’s generation that they settled in Texas. The family is wealthy, some quirks of arrogance, understandable.

After chatting idly, Zhang Yang found Jahlil Okafor to be quite interesting, a lively elementary student.

Zhang Yang remembers that the future third overall pick has a poker face, almost like the second pick, and somewhat resembles the first pick... probably got his style twisted by the second pick later on.

Now that he knew him, Zhang Yang felt he should remind his great nephew not to develop into a static center; static centers are dominant now, but they’ll have no future in ten years.

But the great nephew was only 11, not even in his second growth spurt. Waiting another four or five years until the boy was in high school to remind him wouldn’t be too late, by then there wouldn’t be many traditional centers left in the league. The dominant ones would either be big forwards like Nowitzki, playmaking power forwards like Gasol, or versatile, floor-spacing types like Duncan... by then, the reminder would carry more weight.

...

Upon arriving in Cleveland, the Knight team stayed at the hotel to rest and conserve energy for their playoff debut tomorrow.

They had completed all necessary preparations yesterday, and having defeated their opponents in all three encounters over the past three months, the Knight team was brimming with confidence, unshaken by the overwhelming media hype.

The media frenzy was led by some media outlets, hyping that the Knight team came to the playoffs to avenge their regular season losses.

The reason for such bold coverage—Larry Hughes had returned in the final game, securing 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

ESPN described the impact of Larry Hughes’s return on this series—as if KING James had also gained an assistant like Gerald Wallace.

Yesterday at noon when Zhang Yang saw this report, he directly pulled Gerald Wallace in front of the computer and pompously said, "Look Gerald, ESPN says you’re assisting me."

Gerald Wallace went speechless for a moment, placating like one does with a child, "Sure, sure, I’m assisting you," then went off to play cards with Felton, determined to settle the score, as playing cards was the teammates’ pastime yesterday during lunch break.

Zhang Yang also thought Larry Hughes was a formidable player. In the 04-05 season, Larry Hughes’s skills and performance were even better than this season’s Gerald Wallace, and though Larry Hughes might still be strong now, what use was it...

That evening, Zhang Yang watched the live broadcast of the playoff opener between the Spurs and the King team.

The Spurs won, but the best performer of the game was a King player.

It wasn’t Bibby, not Artest, not Brad Miller, not Rahim, but the second-generation madman, Bonzi Wells.

Bonzi Wells, placed at power forward at 196 cm, continuously penetrated the inside, shot 9 out of 15, plus 7 out of 10 from free throws, exploding for 25 points and 12 rebounds, blowing up Duncan, reminiscent of Barkley in his era... and this year was his contract year.

Zhang Yang remembered that Bonzi Wells would decline a 5-year contract averaging 7 million US dollars each summer, uttering something similar to the madman who turned down a 3-year 21 million contract—"This money isn’t enough for me to spend."

The outcomes of both seemed quite similar...

April 23, the historical first playoff game day for the Knight team had arrived.

This morning, the Knight team received good news—Bickerstaff edged out Philip Saunders, Avery Johnson, and Popovich to win the Coach of the Year award.

This was expected, as Bickerstaff’s coaching performance this season was similar to Doug Rivers in the 99-00 season, and Rick Carlisle in the 01-02 season, all leading initially underrated teams to respectable records.

Once the Knight team’s winning percentage stabilized at 50%, the media had already seen Bickerstaff as the prime candidate for the best coach.

Even if the Knight team, like the 99-00 Magic team, didn’t make the playoffs, maintaining that win rate till the end would ensure the Coach of the Year award.

Compared to the best coach, the simultaneously announced Best Manager award attracted more attention.

Elgin Baylor, who had been a general manager for 20 years, won his first Best Manager award.