Capítulo 1299: Chapter 525: The New Season Begins (2)

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At 7:20 in the evening, at Tuhang Stadium, the entrance ceremony began, with the Bobcats facing their season opener opponent—the Miami Heat.

3 vs 3, this popular topic that has lasted for several years is still sizzling.

Veteran Iverson returned to the 76ers with a one-year minimum salary before the season. Even if he didn’t say it, everyone knew this was his last season. Considering his average of 20+7 last season, expectations remain high for this season.

In his 7th year in the career, with one foot in the veteran category and at the age of 28, Wade, at his peak, was ranked in the top five in the league by the three major media outlets during the preseason.

Paul and Zhang Yang, just entering the mid-generation player category, have both emerged very early. Zhang Yang was the Finals MVP in his second year, double MVP in his fourth year, and Paul nearly snatched the MVP from Kobe in his third year.

Even though Zhang Yang is very young, he holds the top spot on all three major media’s player rankings!

Paul, ranked slightly lower, also made it to the top five in Sports Illustrated, right after Zhang Yang and Kobe as third.

Their fans span almost all age groups, and the media has been hyping this for years, yet the enthusiasm from fans remains high, making it a classic showdown.

Therefore, for the season opener, Stern arranged for a showdown between Zhang Yang and Wade, the Flash and the Big Shark, a former champion combo now turned opponents, is also a highlight.

First to appear was the Miami Heat, with Beasley, Big Q, Little O’Neal, and Arroyo entering one by one.

Zhang Yang focused on Arroyo, who returned to the NBA after a year of gold-digging in Spain.

At 30, with still some battle power left, this Puerto Rican mountain was a key acquisition target for Carlisle this summer. Arroyo’s bold playstyle, no matter who defends him, was very suitable for the Bobcats’ backup point guard role, but he was refused.

It wasn’t a salary issue; the Heat offered the minimum too, but the Bobcats couldn’t satisfy Arroyo’s request for at least 20 minutes per game in a main rotation role, while the Heat directly promised him a starting position.

The Heat’s starting five, along with Chalmers, Haslem, Alston, James Jones, and DaQuan Cook making up a ten-man main rotation, received Zhang Yang’s evaluation—it was a pretty good structure. Replace Big Q with James and Little O’Neal with Bosh, and they can contend for the championship.

Big Q’s salary is 9.35 million, Little O’Neal’s is 23 million, together more than the starting salary for two max contracts, both expiring contracts. Haslem also received a ridiculously high one-year, 7 million renewal during the offseason, for last season’s performance, that salary should be cut in half… Come summer 2010, the Heat besides Wade and Beasley’s combined 20 million, had no other contracts, and this year they don’t even have any rookies.

After Wade was the last to enter, it was the home team’s turn to appear.

Okafor, Millsap, Hill, Felton, and Zhang Yang entered amid the fans’ frenzied cheers.

Seeing Okafor replacing Felton as the first runner, and Millsap entering second, the commentator sighed as O’Neal was no longer the first choice for the center position in the championship team, marking the complete end of an era.

After the entrance ceremony ended, the Bobcats held the awarding ceremony, with Boss Qiao giving a lengthy championship speech, raising the championship banner, and awarding rings.

Among the 15 champions, only 8 left the team, and the remaining ones had to wait to receive their rings when they visit Charlotte.

When Hill received his ring, he didn’t break down crying like he did at Staples Center, but kept grinning. This was a ring he earned as a key player, mainly defending Kobe and sometimes switching to Garnett, and playing with all his might. This past summer, no one said he was just holding someone’s thigh!

However, for the opponent’s star player, this award ceremony didn’t spark any envy.

Big Cheek: Among the four great number 3s, I’m the first to get a ring!

At 8:00 PM, the first game of the 2009-2010 NBA season began.

In the opening phase, the Bobcats starting five, who have been together for two years and won the championship, played extremely well against the Heat, and the score was 14-7 in the first 4 minutes and 30 seconds with the Heat getting thoroughly beaten.

Once into the rotation, the Heat fared better, managing to retaliate.

The Bobcats subbed in Marion and O’Neal, whose performances were average. The former was still in recovery, while the latter, though not weighing a ridiculous 160 kg as he did in the later Heat days, had grown to 155 kg this summer. Although he lost a bit during the preseason, he was still overweight. Offensively, it wasn’t a problem, but defensively the rim protection wasn’t done well.

Additionally, the Heat’s second lineup was stronger than last year’s, with Big Q and Arroyo starting and Beasley moved to power forward. Chalmers and Haslem, both of starter quality, played as substitutes, greatly enhancing the second lineup.

As a result, Wade benefited, with a significant reduction in playing time.

Zhang Yang originally thought that the tactician used over double the market price to sign Big Q for 9.35 million annually to block cap space for 2010 so they wouldn’t be tempted to sign any exceptional player trying out. But it now seems that reducing Wade’s burden was also a goal.

If the tactician had offered four or five million, the Knicks would likely match it. They gave 9 million for three years, and two years at 9 million isn’t much different for Dolan, but at a higher price and with Dolan wanting to use a long-term contract for Big Q to play as a backup to future stars, it wasn’t possible. It would affect the Knicks’ plan to clear cap space for a max contract next summer, and leaving a year would have been better for Harden to play more… that tactician clearly understood Dolan’s intentions well.