68: 67.

This person is not worth befriending deeply, but makes a decent tool for use (asking for first subscription).

68: 67.

This person is not worth befriending deeply, but makes a decent tool for use (asking for first subscription).

Zhang Yang, “…please don’t try it recklessly!”

Harden had entered into his fantasy mode of ‘I, the great Harden, will play ball with Luo and Zhang San’.

He was not listening anymore.

Watching Harden stroking his buzz cut and muttering “It’s too short to part in the middle,” Zhang Yang facepalmed.

It was his, Zhang San’s, fault.

He knew well enough that Harden was a bit silly, yet he still teased him.

Hey?

Can I register the trademark for that hairstyle?

Could I collect royalties from that guy in the future?

Zhang Yang opened the ‘Gate of Trials’, spent over 30 days, and accumulated another 40,000 shooting value, earning a +1 talent in jumping as a reward.

He noticed that he was only a few points short of the shooting value, so he purposely chose to play one-on-one with DeRozan to complete the task, treating basketball as a part of life, which should have a bit of ceremony.

Improving his jumping was good.

Thinking about Jordan’s jump shot in the air as if leaning against a wall…

Nothing was cooler than that.

However, the growth rate of the shooting value had begun to slow down.

His mid-range shooting was already very accurate.

To achieve another qualitative improvement, he would have to spend a lot of time, and seeing that the new mission reward was exactly the three-point talent, he decided to start practicing three-pointers!

Practicing three-pointers was beneficial for strengthening long two-pointers, and in 10 years, that guy would usher the NBA into the era of small ball.

Three-pointers were a skill he must develop.

However, the three-point line in high school was about the same as the NBA’s long two-pointer.

If possible, he would like to extend his three-point shooting distance to NBA standards before leaving campus.

On July 10th, Zhang Yang, DeRozan, and Harden were invited to participate in a training camp hosted by Tyronn Lue at the Great Western Forum arena, with Tatum making the connection.

After the Lakers moved from the Great Western Forum arena, this venue, which once held NBA glory in the ’80s, declined rapidly.

Without concerts, major events, or entertainment activities, it nearly went bankrupt within just a year.

Eventually, an evangelical church bought the arena, once valued over a hundred million US dollars by the late ’80s, for a bargain price of 20 million US dollars.

That’s why they say Jews know how to do business.

After they took over the arena, they immediately changed the business model, selling nostalgia, marketing the Lakers, and bringing in Lakers players from the ’60s and ’70s as endorsers…

Surprisingly, they actually revived the business.

Now, every year, a large number of role players from the Lakers and former Lakers hold various training camps and youth competitions here.

The charges are high, and parents are willing to spend money on their children.

Of course, the majority of the profits go to the evangelical group.

Zhang Yang and the brothers were invited as ‘selling points’, with no fees required, and transportation, meals, and accommodation were covered.

Last year, before the three had made a name for themselves in high school, Tyronn Lue was already quite nice to them, leaving a good impression, which is why they accepted the invitation.

The players who hosted training camps at the Great Western Forum arena were mostly there to make money.

They would just lend their names for the cash, and didn’t care what the camps were actually like.

They would say nice things at the start of the camps, pretend to arrange training instructors in front of the children and parents, and then consider it done.

Tyronn Lue was an ‘exception’ among these people.

He was genuinely enthusiastic about participating in all aspects of the camp, actively taking part in teaching, patiently guiding, even personally teaching children basic movements.

When people asked questions, he patiently answered…

If it wasn’t for the uncle’s sincere involvement, Tatum wouldn’t have called Zhang Yang and DeRozan over, to avoid wasting their time.

The invited high school talents were not limited to them; there were two other nation-wide talents.

One was a man who caught DeRozan’s attention as soon as they met—formerly the strongest middle schooler in America, a 9th grader last season who had been compared to LeBron James, known as ‘the next Michael Jordan’…

OJ Mayo from Rose Hill Christian High School in Kentucky.

DeRozan had been called ‘the former strongest middle schooler’ but had to add the prefix ‘of California’.

He felt hostility towards Mayo, who wore the prefix ‘nation-wide’.

However, Zhang Yang wasn’t interested in Mayo.

He was interested in the other talent—Kevin Love from Lake Oswego High School in Oregon.

Besides these two, Zhang Yang also met another future talent, little Jason’s neighbor, the 11-year-old Bradley Beal.

Beal was 5 years older than little Jason, and when Tatum introduced Beal, he used the phrase “changed Jason’s diapers,” which led to his brother chasing him around…

After several days of the training camp, Zhang Yang got to know a bit about the two future NBA high draft picks.

He got to know them in different ways; with Love, he quickly became familiar.

This white player had a rather soft character, giving Zhang Yang a sense of docility.

Zhang Yang didn’t take the initiative to contact Mayo; it was DeRozan who brought trouble to him.

The first time DeRozan challenged Mayo to a one-on-one, it was best of three rounds and DeRozan lost 1 to 2.

Mayo mocked that all players from Compton High School were trash.

DeRozan vehemently retorted, claiming the strongest in their school wasn’t him…

Then, Mayo came looking for Zhang Yang for a one-on-one.

Zhang Yang was a year older than DeRozan, Mayo, and the others.

As his fundamental skills and techniques improved, his physical advantages became increasingly prominent…

He had no advantage over Harden, who, after growing taller, became faster.

His strength was still unmatched among his peers, and Zhang Yang had to win with technique.

He was about the same height as Mayo and a few kilograms heavier.

He was good at using his body, rarely committed turnovers due to good ball-handling, his skills were increasingly comprehensive, and he could defend.

DeRozan found it difficult to play against Mayo, completely unable to stop his breakthrough.

But for Zhang Yang, the not-yet-good-at-shooting Mayo was easier to defend than the mid-range handsome guy.

His success rate of disruption was higher, and the ‘continuous jumping ability improvement’ played a significant role when defending Mayo.

The first one-on-one was a narrow victory for Zhang Yang.

After that, Mayo kept challenging him to one-on-one every day.

Mayo’s arrogant attitude, his proud and impolite character, his swearing speech…

Arrogant, proud, no manners…

If it were just one issue, Zhang Yang could tolerate it.

Every teammate in the school team had some of these problems to a certain extent—Tatum was very arrogant, DeRozan was very proud, and both Monroe and Kanter swore constantly…

But all of them combined really gave him a headache, and he had no interest in being friends with Mayo.

However, Zhang Yang was still very happy to have Mayo take the initiative to be a “sparring partner”.

If Zhang Yang won, he didn’t need to say anything—Mayo would come looking for a one-on-one challenge again in a couple of hours.

If he lost, Zhang Yang only needed to throw out a harsh taunt to stir up the other’s anger…

There was no need to be friends, but using him as a tool worked just fine.

Zhang Yang had the upper hand against Mayo, winning more one-on-one games than losing, but the one who felt the impact the most was Tatum.

Tatum had challenged Mayo to one-on-ones earlier than DeRozan, got hammered in the game, and was also mocked ruthlessly.

DeRozan lost more than he won against Mayo, and while Tatum was regretful, he also felt a small sense of joy—hey, no one could beat him.

But then Zhang Yang won…

Moreover, Tatum wasn’t faring any better in his one-on-ones against Harden, though for now the losses and wins were evenly matched.

But back in August last year, on Harden’s birthday, he had a one-on-one with Harden and he was clearly winning back then!

After a brief period of shutting down, Tatum entered a state of eager striving once again.

He had long realized that he was nowhere near Zhang Yang in terms of talent.

He was envious, but far from jealous, since the other person played better after only one year of basketball than he did after ten—the gap in talent was too big to be jealous of.

There was a time when Tatum believed his uncle, Tyronn Lue, was the strongest basketball talent in the world, but after watching his uncle only warm the bench in the NBA, the huge letdown made him understand that even among geniuses, there are vast differences.

Like his little brother and the neighbor’s kid, they both had more talent than he did when they were younger.

He wouldn’t break down, never gave up; not because he was cheerful by nature, but it wasn’t like he didn’t understand anything.

Unable to beat these three, Tatum decided to have some fun and dragged them all to go ‘educate’ Bradley Beal.

Zhang Yang was very interested, Harden liked to join in the fun, and although DeRozan was indifferent, he went along since his friends were going.

So, the young Bradley Beal faced trials he shouldn’t have faced at his age, and his little heart was left with indelible scars…

On July 21st, the 10-day training camp hosted by Tyronn Lue came to an end, and Tyronn Lue treated a few of the talented high school students who came to make an appearance to a lavish meal.

After lunch, Zhang Yang, DeRozan, and Harden said goodbye to the Tatum brothers, Love, and Beal, and boarded the car arranged by Tyronn Lue to return to Hidden Mountain.

Zhang Yang felt pretty good about this training camp.

Although Tyronn Lue was just an average player in the NBA, he had many years of experience.

Zhang Yang didn’t learn much in terms of technical skills, but Tyronn Lue, after observing his training and one-on-ones, gave him very targeted suggestions for detailed adjustments.

During break times, Tyronn Lue would also share anecdotes about Kobe, O’Neal, Jordan, McGrady…

and other superstar players, stirring up the youngsters’ passion for basketball.

Dribbling past mid-court against Kobe, Jordan, and McGrady wasn’t an easy task; for many point guards, it was a nightmare, but for Tyronn Lue, memories of being with these legends became his ‘treasure’.

Little Jason, after listening to his uncle’s stories, would shout “Kobe” while shooting.

Zhang Yang, out of curiosity, asked why he shouted Kobe’s name, and little Jason said Kobe was cooler than the other three.

Cool…

indeed, that’s the only point to be made.

The vile blacksmith, corrupting the youth.

What’s the use of being cool, can you be the GOAT?

Back at Hidden Mountain, the three of them continued training.

On the 24th, Thomas ended his summer recruitment efforts and went back home to rest.

Zhang Yang’s parents invited Thomas and Andy to a meal.

Zhang Yang inquired about the recruitment, and found out the biggest gain of the summer—the prodigy from San Jose, Drew Gordon, a 15-year-old big man with a height of 206 cm and a weight of 100 kg.

Thomas was so excited when he mentioned Gordon, Zhang Yang could understand why.

Compton High School had never recruited a top big man talent before, and had only managed to recruit Miller, who was considered first-rate.

Last year’s freshman, Alfred Aboya, showed amazing talent when he was in 9th grade, but that was an unexpected delight.

Aboya was unknown in middle school, he applied to join the basketball club on his own, earned a spot on the freshman team on his own, and fought his way into the reserve team during the freshman season.

Recruiting a middle school big man of Gordon’s level was a first for Thomas.