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Chapter 559 - 242. Kobe: I’m not mad!

Chapter 559: 242. Kobe: I’m not mad!

"Aren’t you riding with Steve? Why did you come here?"

"I wanted to ride in the car you bought to celebrate making the playoffs in advance."

Zhang Yang: "..."

Was he really that flashy?

Seeing Kobe in Nash’s car, Zhang Yang decisively chose to drive and follow. He found the garage, which had several cars, and he drove the newest-looking one... The car keys were conveniently hanging on the garage wall.

The garage used fingerprint unlocking, so car thieves who couldn’t unlock it couldn’t get in, and for those who could, having the car keys didn’t matter.

But he didn’t expect that after driving out, seeing Kobe standing outside the yard, he then realized this car was bought to celebrate making the playoffs in advance...

Forget it, if you like to sit, just sit, if you like to stare, just stare; he’s not embarrassed, the embarrassed one is the other person in the car.

Just now, when Zhang Yang was searching for news related to him, he saw a video of him being interviewed after the Lakers’ regular-season finale in which they beat the Rockets 99 to 90 to clinch a playoff spot at the buzzer.

Reporter: "With Kobe leading the team, the Lakers had 24 wins and 28 losses, with you leading, 20 wins and 10 losses. Have you become the new leader of the Lakers?"

Zhang San: "No, I don’t think so."

Reporter: "But you said you were the strongest player on the Lakers."

Zhang San: "That doesn’t conflict."

This Zhang San here, is really so Zhang Zang.

Cannot suffer losses; after suffering losses at the Spurs, he forced Popovich to use him to trade for Howard. When he arrived at the Lakers, he declared himself the strongest, wanting the boss to become the second when he returns... He clearly wasn’t like this in previous years.

Is it that the stronger the ability, the more flashy one becomes?

Think about the timeline in the ’80s, graduating in his senior year and entering the NBA, mature playing style, strong immediate combat capability, he entered the NBA and went straight for the "Big Bird."

No, this is not Zhang San’s character! Absolutely not!

Zhang Yang, carrying Kobe, followed Nash’s car and 20 minutes later, they arrived at the Staples Center. They left early and encountered no traffic.

Leaving the mansion district, Zhang Yang knew that he, Kobe, and Nash all lived in Beverly Hills.

At the arena, Zhang Yang followed Nash and Kobe to participate in an event sponsored by a domestic brand. No wonder they had to be there by 8 in the morning, as it was to coincide with the evening live streaming time back in China.

It wasn’t just the three of them participating. Metta World Peace and Gasol, five of the immensely popular Lakers players in China, all took part.

The event’s theme was their comeback to make the playoffs, which was presumably the name of the event... A future children’s song started playing in his head.

When the event started, the BGM that played was indeed that future children’s song...

...

The event was successfully completed, a live stream lasting just over 20 minutes, kind of like an old-school version of selling goods. During the live stream, Zhang Yang nearly shouted "Family, hurry up and place your orders."

After the event, they left the Staples Center and went to the Lakers practice facility at the Toyota Center to prepare... and they met an ’old acquaintance,’ Bernie Bickerstaff.

When Zhang Yang was looking up the Lakers’ season earlier, he had seen Bickerstaff’s name, the team’s tactical coach.

This season, the Lakers had gone through three head coaches.

Mike Brown coached 5 games, 1 win, 4 losses, and was swiftly dismissed.

The general manager, Kupchak, appointed Bickerstaff, who was then the lead assistant coach, as the interim head coach. Bickerstaff impressed right off the bat, the ’Four Giants’ truly showed what they were made of, going 4 wins and 1 loss in 5 games.

However, due to age and physical issues, Bickerstaff declined Jerry Buss and Kupchak’s offer to make his position permanent.

Jerry Buss had no choice but to look for another head coach and after much deliberation, appointed Mike D’Antoni as the head coach.

When D’Antoni came, he brought his brother Dan D’Antoni with him, and Bickerstaff stepped down from the lead assistant position to become the tactical coach.

Bickerstaff took the initiative to greet: "Hello, Jack, good morning."

Zhang Yang replied: "Bernie, you’re here early too."

Bickerstaff: "Getting older, can’t sleep much. I came early to make preparations, but Mike came even earlier, he spent last night at the training facility."

Was that remark in defense of D’Antoni?

It seems D’Antoni isn’t very popular within the team... Zhang Yang casually responded, "Then he’s been working hard."

Bickerstaff was not surprised by Zhang Yang’s reaction at all; from the moment he joined the Lakers, ’Zhang Yang’ hadn’t really taken to D’Antoni.

After a brief exchange, Zhang Yang didn’t linger, apologizing as he headed to the locker room to learn from ’Teacher Nash’. If possible, he wasn’t opposed to asking for advice from the one in the suit.

He wasn’t familiar with this timeline’s Bickerstaff, but the latter seemed quite familiar with him, so Zhang Yang decided to keep contact minimal and strictly professional.

After Zhang Yang left, Kupchak, who had been observing covertly, approached Bickerstaff.

Kupchak: "Even with making the playoffs, Jack still doesn’t like Mike."

Bickerstaff: "Jack started his career on defense, which is too different from Mike’s style. It’s normal for Jack not to like Mike, and it’s not Mike’s fault; Mike has been trying hard.

Primarily, it’s because Jack had a tough start when he first came, starting with 1 win and 5 losses, ridiculed by the media in the City of Angels."

Kupchak sighed, "I also didn’t expect Mike to be so naïve. The first half of the season had already proved that Paul couldn’t play run-and-gun. Just before the All-Star weekend, he slowed down the tempo, and we won three in a row. I thought he had finally accepted reality, but after trading for the young Jack back, seeing Kobe injured, he started run-and-gun again...

In reality, when old Buss decided to make Mike the head coach, I already knew it was a mistake, not just me, but the media, the fans, even the rivals... everyone knew Mike was not suitable for us, but I didn’t expect him to perform this poorly.