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Chapter 561 - 242. Kobe: I’m not angry!_3

Chapter 561: 242. Kobe: I’m not angry!_3

Zhang Yang: "I heard your daughter doesn’t even want you to teach her basketball because she says you’re an old man who doesn’t understand the game."

Kobe: "..."

So infuriating!

But the thing was, it was actually true!

Nash couldn’t help but snicker on the side, seeing Kobe deflated like this was too delightful!

It was said that Zhang Yang was ’bullying’ Kobe by taking advantage of the situation before renewing his contract, but even if Nash were given the same conditions, he wouldn’t have been able to get Kobe worked up with just a few words.

After the commotion died down, Nash stepped in to play the ’peacemaker,’ soothing Kobe and urging Zhang Yang to hurry up and say what he wanted to learn.

Nash really wanted to teach Zhang Yang more. He had thought about it three years ago when he viewed Zhang Yang as his successor... who would have expected Steve Kerr to be unwilling to even offer Zhang Yang a salary of three million a year, resulting in Zhang Yang’s departure to the Spurs, where he became Ginobili’s disciple, learning the Euro step, and incidentally picking up a bit of Parker’s floater, and maybe even Duncan’s slow and steady post-up moves, nearly infuriating Nash to death!

He was determined to leave a more significant mark on Zhang Yang! He was the one who first discovered the genius in him!

Zhang Yang expressed his shortcomings in ball handling, and how his skill development plateaued after a certain level due to insufficient ball-handling abilities.

After hearing this, Nash exhaled in amazement and said, "You’re only 24 years old, you think your skills aren’t good enough? When I was 24, I was still coming off the bench!

Even Kobe, at 24, didn’t have skills as good as yours. Don’t look at his average of 28 points per game at 23; he didn’t play any defense that season just to ensure he scored, and at your age, he didn’t have the efficiency you do now. He never matched your shooting percentage this season in his entire career."

"If you had O’Neal under the hoop like he did, you wouldn’t need to worry about shooting efficiency, and you could score even higher than he did."

Zhang Yang fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

When Zhang Yang analyzed his ’12-13 regular season data in the morning, he felt his play was very steady.

At that time, he didn’t see anything wrong with a steady game.

But now that he thought about it, it was very problematic! During the ’12 finals, although most of his scoring was through tactics, his playstyle was not conservative at all.

Was this influence from the Spurs this season?

When he thought about it carefully, it seemed very likely! Before the All-Star break, when his playing time and shot attempts were limited, his shooting percentage was nearing 50%, and he was primarily a one-on-one shooter.

This steadiness seemed to carry over to his time with the Lakers, where the team’s one-on-one play relied on him, Gasol, and Jamison, and he still maintained a shooting percentage of 47%.

Nash’s comments had inadvertently troubled him—he hadn’t played conservatively for a while, and his hands were a bit rusty.

But with Nash saying this out loud, he also helped him solve some problems: he had a reason to play the way he did in ’the just-ended playoffs.’

It was Nash’s idea for me to play this way. If anyone’s to blame, it’s Nash; the plan is seamless!

Kobe, who was beside them, didn’t like what he heard when he overheard the conversation and glared at Zhang Yang.

Then he saw Zhang Yang nodding and saying, "Steve, you’re right. I should move toward Kobe’s style of play. After all, I am here to take over his role, and playing more freestyle would be more familiar to his old teammates."

Kobe: I’m not angry, I absolutely won’t get angry again, getting angry is bad for the health and the villains enjoy it...

He seriously suspected Nash deliberately let slip his worry about Zhang Yang not renewing his contract, allowing Zhang Yang to freely upset him.

And there was Nash, with his high salary for three years, immovable from the team and unwanted by others in a trade.

Both of them had him pinned down; he absolutely couldn’t afford to get upset, or who knows how they would toy with him.

Nash didn’t expect Zhang Yang to interpret his words that way after pondering for a while and said, "Uh... that’s not what I meant, but never mind, it’s up to you. Let’s talk business, though. You don’t need to be anxious about your skills not being strong enough, but finding a way to improve your ball sense to prepare for further technical advancement is indeed very necessary."

Zhang Yang quickly pulled his wandering thoughts back and nodded earnestly.

Nash: "About that, I think the problem stems from you starting basketball too late. I heard that at 15, you started learning basketball just because you wanted to steal Iverson’s girlfriend who was a fan of his..."

Zhang Yang: "Wait, wait, what’s that all about? Where did you hear that from?"

Nash: "That’s what fans in California say. They claim you used your family’s wealth to forcibly snatch a high school basketball prodigy’s girlfriend from Hidden Mountain, but even though you got the girl, you didn’t win her heart. She liked guys who were good at basketball, so in order to conquer her heart, you bravely stepped onto the basketball court and eventually became the NBA Finals MVP."

Zhang Yang: "When did I ever do something like that?"

Nash: "You didn’t sleep with Iverson’s girlfriend? Was it little Iverson, then?"

Seeing Nash’s gossip-hungry expression, Zhang Yang angrily retorted, "I slept with you!"

Kobe: "Please, let’s stay on topic!"

Nash coughed twice and said, "Let’s talk business. You’ve been playing basketball for less than 10 years so far. When I was 15, I had already been exposed to basketball for over a decade. By the time I was your age, I had been playing for 20 years, and I even played soccer without ever worrying about my ball sense. Ball sense for perimeter players needs to be developed from a young age; you missed the best opportunity. In less than 10 years, your ball handling is already excellent, better than most point guards in the league; it’s just that your standards are higher."

Zhang Yang: "So there’s no way to solve it? Do I have to wait another 10 years to develop a ball sense and improve my handling? I might retire in 10 years."

Nash: "It’s not that there’s no way; I have an idea. Do you want to try it?"

Zhang Yang: "Let’s hear it?"

Nash: "Learn techniques! Learn more ball-handling techniques! Go through all the techniques you can, and cannot, master, constantly challenge the limits of your ball-handling ability!"

Zhang Yang: "Steve, what you’re saying seems very reasonable, but I still feel like you have other ideas."

Nash: "What other ideas could I have? I’m 39 and coaching you despite my injuries; what could I be thinking?"

Hearing the hint of desperation in Nash’s tone, Zhang Yang felt the other party definitely had ulterior motives, but there was no downside for him, Zhang San. So, he pretended not to notice.