CHAPTER 1281: CHAPTER 518

Among the 13 players, there are 9 aged between 19 and 25, and today Okafor, who just turned 27, is already the fourth ’oldest’ in the team. You should know that last season Okafor was one of the ’young saplings’.

The main reason is that last season more than half the players were over 30, with several veterans aged 33 and above, and the average age over 30. Now, besides O’Neal and Hill, the only ones qualified as veterans are Marion, who is 31 from the ’99 class, and Perkins, who will soon be 25 from the ’03 class.

After organizing the test reports he went through, Zhang Yang went home to change into more formal attire, brought the prepared gift, and then headed to Okafor’s house to celebrate his 27th birthday with his teammates.

In the past, Okafor never celebrated his birthday with people outside of his family. This time, it’s because he bought a new house and his wife thought they should celebrate.

This is a house built in 2003. Before 2005, the former owner was short on funds and put the house up for sale. Okafor liked it in 2006 and even mentioned it to Zhang Yang, but never acted on it. This summer it finally dropped to his psychological price, more than cut in half from its peak, from 9 million to 4 million.

The subprime mortgage crisis severely impacted Charlotte’s economy because the city’s industries included tourism, agriculture, textiles, light industry, and power, with computer technology development as a supplement. The core industry was... finance. Five out of the 12 largest banks in the United States are headquartered here. Ten years ago, the core industry here was computer technology. The internet bubble burst, and the subprime crisis, Charlotte faced them head-on.

Even in the wealthy district where property values hold the best, prices have continued to fall because most of these houses have now become bank properties. If banks don’t sell to recoup cash, they risk going bankrupt themselves.

This house might still have room to drop, but there were other buyers interested, so Okafor didn’t hesitate and decisively bought it.

Okafor’s birthday party wasn’t as lively as Yao Ming’s birthday, but not as quiet as Kobe’s; the entire team showed up, and even Tyronn Lue, who hasn’t got a formal contract yet, came to join the fun.

Zhang Yang once again witnessed the Big Shark’s social skills. O’Neal is in his element in such settings. Whether it’s raunchy or clean fun, he has all sorts of ideas, crucially, he can lead the games.

O’Neal has long gotten acquainted with most of the teammates. The team’s return date is indeed today, but the rookies came to Charlotte at the latest by the start of the month. Other teammates, none like him went to train in Los Angeles till a few days ago. While exploring ’new maps’ around Charlotte, he would always call up a few teammates; inevitably, they got familiar with each other.

However, Zhang Yang found that O’Neal’s addition led to a bit of ’siding’ in the team again. It’s not about fighting for team status; even the Crown Prince couldn’t stand the contention and left. This team has nothing in that respect to compete for. Mainly, with an additional big shot who brings little brothers along for fun, teammates have more options to choose whom to hang out with. It’s not just splitting into two groups, but several ’small groups’ have emerged.

Cunningham and Ibaka have clearly become O’Neal’s bag carriers; both are too taken by O’Neal’s boss vibe.

Afflalo and Millsap have grown closer, likely due to both needing to assume more responsibility this coming season.

The ’Big Brother Group’ has shrunk, leaving only the three young ones. Of course, that doesn’t mean their influence has diminished; instead, it’s grown. Teammates don’t need to join their small circle to show their allegiance. That was a product of the team’s initial formation and is now outdated. Now, whether it’s fans or players, when mentioning the Bobcats, they think of Zhang San, Fatty, and Little Duncan.

With old teammate Collison’s instigation, Afflalo found Zhang Yang and called themselves the ’California Group’.

Hill gets along well with O’Neal but doesn’t like to hang out with him. Both prefer being the ’main characters’ or at least one of them in chats. O’Neal mingling with Jordan all day makes him seem ’inconspicuous’.

He still prefers to hang out with Zhang Yang and Felton...

Some prefer solitude, like Marion and Matthews.

Matthews is truly a loner; the only one he gets along with is Afflalo, who provided him with a place to stay.

Watching Matthews’ restless demeanor at the party, Zhang Yang could imagine how uncomfortable Kobe must have felt dealing with O’Neal...

Marion isn’t really a loner. This new teammate gives Zhang Yang the impression that he’s... insecure? No matter who talks to Marion, they always get a smiling response, but he rarely initiates conversations.

Zhang Yang feels like he’s joined a ’girls’ dormitory’ scene. Just over ten people are livelier than the thirty or fifty in the high school team, which is pretty interesting.

Tyronn Lue brought the Tatum brothers too. The eldest nephew may not have a shot at the NBA, but young Jason, who just graduated from the fifth grade, shone brightly in the Northern Louisiana youth basketball tournament this summer. At just 11 years old, he matched seventh and eighth-graders age thirteen or fourteen without faltering, catching the eye of multiple prestigious high schools even before middle school.

Jahil Okafor also attended his little uncle’s birthday party. Just in eighth grade and almost 14 in two months, he’s already as tall as Zhang Yang.

After betting twice and losing 200 bucks, Zhang Yang stopped decisively and pulled Little Okafor aside to chat about the NBA’s direction, mainly talking about how Duncan and Okafor are both shedding weight for a lighter play style... Like Okafor, Little Okafor idolizes Duncan, likely influenced by Okafor. Okafor has often bragged about his grandnephew’s low-post offensive talent...