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Chapter 389 - 183. The All-Stars’ Apprehension_2

Chapter 389: 183. The All-Stars’ Apprehension_2

Harden: "Yeah, I can shoot 300 times during training before I feel tired, but if you ask me to shoot 30 times during a game, I just can’t handle it. Training and games are completely different... I’m so lucky to have witnessed you scoring 82 points. I missed Kobe scoring 81 points because I happened to go back to school that day and didn’t even see the live broadcast. Now I have no regrets."

DeRozan responded with a sour tone: "It’s just the Rookie Challenge after all. Kobe’s 81 points were in the regular season, you can’t compare the two."

Zhang Yang gave DeRozan a look: "Yeah, yeah, your Kobe is the best in the world."

DeMar seemed aloof and cool, but in Zhang Yang’s eyes, he was no different from an ordinary high school student, for instance, in defending his favorite players, just like when Zhang Yang himself was in high school in his previous life, thinking that the 35 seconds 13 points was the best in the world.

DeRozan also realized that what he had just said was rather childish and quickly changed the subject, "Jack, you don’t seem to care much about scoring 82 points?"

Harden: "Not care about 82 points? Jack, how many points do you want to score!"

Zhang Yang: "Didn’t DeMar say it? It’s just a Rookie Challenge, it was enjoyable at the moment... Thinking about it now is quite thrilling as well, and even though it was exhausting, I’d be willing to get tired like that again. But that kind of game is over when it’s over, you can’t take it seriously, otherwise, it might affect your game mentality."

DeRozan agreed: "Exactly, like you said, Felton, Paul, Williams, they were passing the ball to you specifically. You won’t get that kind of shooting opportunity again."

Harden nodded and added: "Right, and the 2006 class wasn’t strong either. Most of the players on the Rookie team are just substitutes for their own teams. Farmar can only be a substitute for Parker, averaging 4 points and 2 assists, yet he’s already a starter for the Rookie team. You’ll probably never come across such opponents again."

Zhang Yang: "Yeah, don’t mind the media hype and the fans’ lively discussions too much; they’re just following the buzz. The All-Star Weekend is about entertainment, it’s not to be taken seriously... Are we done eating? If so, accompany me for a walk. I’ve been in Sin City for so many days without even going out. I need to clear my head and completely put last night’s game behind me."

Harden’s eyes lit up, asking, "Where are we going?"

Zhang Yang: "Caesars Palace."

Harden: "I remember that’s a casino, right? We can’t get in there."

Zhang Yang: "Aside from the casino, there are restaurants, swimming pools, and other leisure facilities. We can’t go to the casino, but we can still go to the pool, right?"

Harden: "Oh... But why go there?"

Zhang Yang: "A movie star that I like shot a movie there... You wouldn’t know him, a film star from our country..."

When they switched to these topics, DeRozan reverted to his aloof and cool mode, just followed along...

...

The three wandered around Sin City for a day, taking photos at the places they wanted to visit, but as expected, they couldn’t get into any of the legal venues.

It was actually hard to tell apart Harden and DeRozan’s ages. A few years had passed, and they were no longer the green adolescents they had been at fourteen or fifteen. They were tall, and standing next to adult black men, it was difficult to tell who was older.

But Zhang Yang was too conspicuous; not only did he look young, but he was also famous. Wherever he went, there were people asking him for photos and autographs.

The places they couldn’t legally enter didn’t interest Zhang Yang. It’s hard to say what DeRozan thought, whereas Harden wanted to go but didn’t have the money.

Zhang Yang had wanted to bring Felton and Rondo along for fun, but the two of them went with other teammates to legal venues, completely ignoring the three of them who were under 21.

Although Rondo actually wasn’t yet 21, he was only about ten days away from it. A few days earlier, a policeman had checked his driver’s license and didn’t bother him, making Zhang Yang and Harden envious.

Having played around for a day, Zhang Yang’s somewhat agitated heart finally calmed down, thoroughly setting aside the previous day’s Rookie game. He might have appeared calm in the morning, but he was somewhat affected by it.

His physical recovery was indeed excellent. After a day of fun, he felt much better physically. A back-to-back game tonight seemed daunting, but with another night’s rest, he felt he could make another twenty or thirty throws the next evening, provided that a certain player with little kindness didn’t target him.

That evening, he, along with his parents, his younger brother, DeRozan, Harden, and high school coaches, returned to the Thomas & Mack Center to watch the Skills Competition.

This year, the Bobcats only had one player in the Skills Competition, last year’s Skills Challenge runner-up Felton.

There were a total of six players in this year’s Skills Challenge: the three top point guards from the 2005 class, Felton, Deron, Paul.

The other three participants were the defending champion Wade, last year’s participant James, and first-time entrant Kobe.

There were rumors that the original invitation list included the three big stars from the 2003 class and the three talented point guards from the 2005 class, but when the list reached Stern, he crossed out Anthony’s name and invited the former champion Nash instead, and Nash accepted. However, just a week before the All-Star Weekend, Nash got injured, which led to Kobe being invited instead.

This was the first official NBA event Kobe was invited to since the 2003 Eagle County incident.

Before that incident, having won the Dunk King title and frequently going on three-point shooting sprees, Kobe was the league’s darling. Each year during the All-Star festivities, the league would invite Kobe to participate in the dunk contest and the three-point contest.

After that incident, Stern thought Kobe was finished, and the league stopped promoting him.

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om