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Chapter 597 - 258. Brother Yao, you lost weight!

Chapter 597: 258. Brother Yao, you lost weight!

Kobe was ranked first, Duncan second, James third, Nowitzki fourth, Nash fifth, Garnett sixth, Yao Ming seventh, Iverson eighth, Wade ninth, Kidd tenth, McGrady eleventh, Stoudemire twelfth, Zhang Yang thirteenth...

Silenced by the ranking for quite a while, Zhang Yang finally spoke, "I’m actually ranked thirteenth... Are these guys really that good? They actually put me so far upfront?"

Before Zhang Yang could finish, Felton butted in, "Right? They are so shameless. James is already third, and you’re just ranked thirteenth... What? They are good? Jack, you must be delirious," Felton exclaimed.

Zhang Yang said, "I thought they’d rank me in the twenties or even thirties to spark controversy, to stir up discussions. I didn’t expect that they didn’t plan on using me to create buzz at all... Uh, boss, look at the comment section!"

Felton picked up the mouse and skimmed through the comments for quite a while before returning his gaze to Zhang Yang...

Looking into Felton’s clear and naive eyes, Zhang Yang pinched his thigh. When it came to basketball-related matters, little boss Felton was becoming more and more sensitive and autonomous, but he still had that innocence in his eyes for other affairs.

Zhang Yang explained, "Since I won the FMVP, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to rank outside the top twenty—I’d definitely be criticized for an unfair ranking by the fans. And being placed in the top ten isn’t quite right either, since people would say they are overhyping me. Between eleventh and twentieth would be just about right.

I was certain they wouldn’t put me in the top ten, I thought they would place me in the twenties or even thirties to create controversy, to generate buzz. It seems I overestimated myself; the moment this list came out, the slight buzz from being underranked wasn’t even worth their attention."

Felton somewhat understood and refocused on the comment section.

Row upon row of comments pertained mainly to James and Nowitzki.

Some comments claimed James was ranked too high, others suggested shady dealings behind his ranking, arguing he didn’t deserve to be so high; some said if James could be in the top three then Wade and Zhang Yang should be too; fewer claimed James didn’t belong in the top ten at all, yet the main controversy revolved around his exact ranking, and then there were the more extreme statements.

Comments about Nowitzki were far more brutal, filled with mockery and curse words. Some called him a softie, and some even said he was worse than Bosh, the Heavensent, Jamison... Nowitzki, who was upset by the eighth seed, seemed to have been expelled from All-Star status by the fans.

Comments solely about Zhang Yang were rare, and on the occasional one that did appear, people were surprised ESPN didn’t rate him too low.

The amount of commentary on Zhang Yang’s ranking wasn’t even as much as the uproar that Ray Allen didn’t make the top twenty, or O’Neal being ranked only eighteenth.

After looking for a while, Felton finally got it and said, "They put James at third on purpose to stir controversy, to create discussion? Same goes for Nowitzki?"

Zhang Yang added, "Also, look, some are cussing out the Lakers for having three of the league’s top ten huddled together."

Felton didn’t care about that. His concern lay elsewhere. He said, "But weren’t they the biggest supporters of James? I can understand using Nowitzki and the Lakers to stir controversy, to generate buzz. Did they fall out with James?"

Zhang Yang corrected him, "No, it’s not James they support; it’s newspaper sales, viewership ratings, and internet traffic.

And for James, it isn’t a bad thing. If they ranked him between sixth and tenth, nobody would talk about him.

They only put James in the top five or even top three, or outside the top ten, so as not to let him miss out on the online buzz from the players’ first-ever ranking.

They still have high hopes for James, if he really delivers a top three performance next season, they hit the jackpot, and even if he doesn’t, they’ve already cashed out on this wave of traffic.

From the perspective of internet traffic, I’m the one who’s lost out the most... damn, and I thought they were the good guys!"

Listening to his little brother’s words, Felton felt a tingling in his scalp. The world of interests was too complicated—he’d rather not think about this. He should focus on being a good leader and driving the team forward!

Zhang Yang glanced at the rankings again. Saying he didn’t mind would be a lie, but being currently ranked thirteenth wasn’t bad at all, higher than Anthony, Bosh, Arenas, and Billups.

He looked further down the list—Okafor was twenty-first, Felton forty-ninth. All three cores of their Bobcats team were in the top fifty.

If they included Gerald Wallace, who had left, then they had three in the top thirty—Gerald Wallace was placed at twenty-fourth—after all, it was the championship roster of the previous season, and all four cores made the top fifty.

Gerald Wallace’s two new teammates, Parker and Gasol, were ranked nineteenth and twenty-second, respectively. From a certain point of view, the Grizzlies had become a highly anticipated new power in the eyes of the media.

Ray Allen, merely the twenty-fifth, really wasn’t favored by the media!

...

The next day, a rest day, Zhang Yang still got up early, ready for some extra practice.

He planned to practice mid-range shots more, to see if he could improve to 89 before the regular season started, and also to save up twenty thousand Shooting value points as soon as possible, to grasp the "butterfly step breakthrough" learning method. Being teammates with Hill, he could get some pointers from Hill and try to incorporate "butterfly step" into his rhythm breakthroughs. If he managed to do it before the starting of the regular season, it would probably help his breakthrough a bit. If not, it was okay; strengthening techniques definitely required trial and error.

With the preseason about to start, Zhang Yang still focused on his mid-range fundamentals and breakthrough techniques, mainly because there was not much he needed to adjust in his style of play.

The offensive system, after all, serves the core scorers. Carlisle overhauled Bickerstaff’s offensive system, but still centered it around Zhang San, little Duncan, and little O’Neal.

As a pure scorer, Zhang Yang still had plenty of opportunities for high-post isolations in Carlisle’s system, with his teammates supporting him.

His off-ball offense focused mostly on distraction and fast breaks, with only some new movements required in certain tactics, where he had to take on most of the tactical roles his teammates couldn’t, such as catching and shooting after long-distance running.

In the team, only two people could pull off this tactical role: him and Mike Miller.

Many of Carlisle’s offensive tactics required such a role to mobilize the opposing defense, and also required consistent shooting to be effective in pulling defenders.

Initially, Carlisle wanted to bring in Korver, which would have relieved Zhang Yang from this energy-consuming tactical movement, but because their owner was Jordan, the Jazz Team snatched Korver with an annual salary of six million dollars... Anyway, it wasn’t Zhang San’s problem, definitely not.

Zhang Yang had no choice but to take on this tactical role, cleaning up the mess for the owner. He felt truly selfless and great.

While waiting for breakfast to be delivered, Zhang Yang turned on his computer to check the news as usual.

As he expected, he saw that ESPN had released player and team rankings, garnering a lots of traffic, with other media outlets rushing out their own lists overnight.

Zhang Yang saw that Sports Illustrated ranked him 11th, TNT placed him 17th, and he pursed his lips. These two media outlets, just like ESPN, focused their hype on James, Nowitzki, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

TNT was harsh, ranking James 11th, sparking outrage among James’s fans.

Zhang Yang browsed various forums and saw that the topics were all about James, Nowitzki, and the Lakers... It was frustrating; the limelight of riches had nothing to do with Zhang San.

He consoled himself, telling himself that both he and the team needed to keep a low profile and grow.

Regarding team rankings, interest was much lower. The league had seen big changes over the summer: the assembling of the Lakers’ Big Three, the Chicago Bulls getting Yao Ming for free, the defending champions losing a core player, the runner-up champions trading their main Point Guard for a second-year player and the fourth draft pick, and the team that finished first in the last regular season being knocked out in the first round... Any ranking made sense, as the heat of player rankings was simply too intense, overshadowing the team rankings in terms of discussion.

After spending the rest day in extra practice, on October 9th, Zhang Yang and the team left Charlotte for Chicago. Tomorrow, their first opponent in the preseason—Chicago Bulls.

Arriving at the hotel in Chicago, Zhang Yang had just settled his luggage when the team’s PR Kyle called him, asking him to head to United Center Arena for an interview event, with Jordan accompanying him.

To American fans, the Bobcats playing against the Bulls was just an ordinary preseason game.

But in China, the game attracted considerable attention!

Although CCTV Sports did not broadcast it live, both Beijing Sports and Shanghai Sports channels were televising the game. Jordan was there for this preseason game because of its significance.

At United Center Arena, Jordan, with Zhang Yang and the PR, smoothly made their way to the interview spot, no need for the PR to make calls for directions in the familiar grounds.

Zhang Yang was about to joke with Jordan when he saw Yao Ming already waiting in the interview hall, and his eyes widened in shock!

Seeing the two arrive, Yao Ming first went up to greet Jordan and exchange pleasantries, with the cameras capturing them. Reporters had already been interviewing Yao Ming while he waited.

After greeting Jordan, Yao Ming was about to greet Zhang Yang, but saw Zhang Yang staring at him, his eyes wide as saucers.

Yao Ming: "Yangyang, why are you looking at me like that? Is my shirt on backward?"

Zhang Yang snapped back to reality: "Big Yao, did you lose weight?"

Yao Ming: "Haha, you noticed! I lost 8 kilograms this summer. I feel much lighter. We haven’t seen each other for a few months, but you noticed my weight loss right away. It seems quite noticeable."