Chapter 654: Chapter 202: The Benefits of Being an Innocent Victim, Big Fatty’s Fury (Part 3)
In Ben Wallace’s view, Zhang Hao seemed unhappy. The reason for this... was probably because this morning, when they gathered at the Time Warner Cable Arena, O’Neal, still limping without his crutches, showed off about being selected among the 50 greatest players.
"..."
Looking at Ben Wallace, Zhang Hao refused to answer the question, and instead asked back, "Ben, how tall are you?"
Why this reaction? Ben Wallace couldn’t figure it out, so he answered the question first: "Barefoot 6 feet 9 inches, what’s up, boss?"
"I’m also 6 feet 9 inches, uh, with shoes on."
"..."
"..."
Zhang Hao looked down at Ben Wallace, who claimed to be 206 cm barefoot and insisted on being a center; Ben Wallace looked up at Zhang Hao, who claimed to be 206 cm with shoes and insisted on being a power forward; they both fell into silence.
Ignoring the issue, Zhang Hao pulled out a pen and paper from his bag in the locker, quickly wrote down an address, and handed it to Ben Wallace: "Hurry up and take a bath with ice, call Boss Kenny and Jason later, you come too, I’ll treat you all to dinner."
The boss is treating us to dinner! Ben Wallace chose to ignore the height issue as well, happily went to shower, and then iced down...
...
...
In situations where 90% of the selection choices had no controversy, the remaining 10% did. The greater the controversy, the more attention, hotter the topics, and more discussions it led to.
This time, with the NBA’s 50 greatest players, there was actually not only controversy surrounding O’Neal; three or four others were not guaranteed picks either. As the criticism of O’Neal and the 51st man Zhang Hao cooled down, the media started to hotly debate who shouldn’t have been selected and who should have been.
The exclusion of players like Dominique Wilkins, Payton, etc., created quite a buzz.
The blunder with Zhang Hao, and O’Neal truly being selected, was the key starting point for this selection list becoming the focus of public opinion.
After this operation by the NBA, the title of 50 greatest players really exploded in popularity!
The career experiences of many veteran stars from the ancient times of basketball have now been dug out and become hot topics for fans.
By November 1st, the first match day of the NBA 1996-1997 season arrived.
On the first match day, three games received special attention: the Bulls hosting the Rockets, the New York Knicks hosting the Lakers, and the Spurs hosting the Utah Jazz.
Jordan, Pippen, Robert Parish, Drexler, Olajuwon; Magician, Barkley, Ewing; David Robinson, Stockton, Malone.
Among the 12 active 50 greatest players, 11 of them would appear in these three opening games!
The only one absent is due to injury.
In the morning, Zhang Hao followed the team back to Madison Square Garden. They had already prepared as much as possible in the afternoons of the previous two days. The tactical meeting and training this morning were simple, just a review.
During the team’s tactical meeting and training, O’Neal sat quietly on the side, not disturbing anyone. He knew very well the impact his absence had on the team, and he couldn’t continue to affect others. Before he could return, the team still needed to rely on his teammates to have a good start; otherwise, it would be very tiring to catch up later.
Especially can’t disturb that guy...
But when the training ended, O’Neal limped over to Zhang Hao, who was conducting a Jabbar-style post-training therapy to trigger the "Health Care Master (Bronze)" effect.
When Zhang Hao tried the Jabbar-style therapy after training once, he discovered that this medal not only triggered after matches but also had a triggering prompt after training. This meant that the exhaustion caused by training would also be treated, so he became more attentive in this respect.
Playing long, living long...
Suddenly, a chubby man in a suit appeared next to him. Zhang Hao was about to politely greet him when O’Neal spoke up, "Aix, don’t be discouraged, don’t be disheartened, wait another 10 years, and you’ll definitely be in the 60 greatest players!"
The implication was—
Zhang Hao glanced at O’Neal, didn’t speak, and walked away after finishing his therapy.
A bit mad! Needs to find a way to retaliate.
Have Big Ben beat up O’Neal?
The weight difference is too large; if it were a few years later and Big Ben was at his peak of just over 110 kilograms, it might be possible, but not now.
But no! Still need to find a way!
"Oh right, didn’t I have an interview this afternoon? Give it to him..."
...
In the afternoon, after a midday break, the Lakers began warming up for the 5:30pm game against the New York Knicks.
O’Neal also came. He received an exclusive interview invitation, with the broadcasters suggesting it be conducted on the practice court, to allow him to express his regret over missing the "active 50 greatest players opening day" and a chance to encourage his teammates.
Today’s interview was one of the few recently that made O’Neal genuinely pleased. He was undoubtedly happy about being included among the 50 greatest players, and friendly broadcaster Time Warner Cable Sports asked kind questions.
While O’Neal was joyfully conducting his interview, another 50 greatest player, Barkley, and Zhang Hao, who just missed out on selection, crashed in.
"Coming to steal some spotlight? That’s just life when you’ve got high popularity, let them come steal some spotlight!"
Just when O’Neal was about to show off a little, Barkley spoke first, "Shaq, have you ever watched fireworks?"
O’Neal asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Aix and I want to set off fireworks to celebrate your being named one of the 50 greatest players!"
"Really?"
"Really, are you ready?"
"What? Lighting them here? Isn’t that unsafe!"
"Don’t worry, it’s very safe!"
O’Neal was interested too; setting off fireworks inside Madison Square Garden sounded like fun. If they said it was safe, it should be fine, and even if there were issues, it wouldn’t be his problem.
Just then, O’Neal saw Barkley pull out a firecracker... Er Pang, you’re calling this fireworks?
O’Neal was about to lose his temper when he saw Barkley snap his fingers and made a "whoosh" sound with his mouth.
"What’s this idiot up to?"
O’Neal watched Barkley as he made a "whoosh" sound while holding up the firecracker, and instinctively looked up at the firecracker’s movement from his seat.
He thought there had to be some trick, it wouldn’t be this dumb.
Then...
"Boom!"
O’Neal was startled by the sudden "explosion," instinctively covering his face, his first thought being that the firecracker Barkley raised had exploded.
Then he suddenly realized it was wrong and heard laughter!
Opening his eyes, he saw Barkley laughing maniacally, the "explosion" seemed to have come from behind him. He turned around to see Zhang Hao standing expressionlessly with two large clappers, still trembling with sound!
This... O’Neal realized he’d been tricked and reached out to grab Zhang Hao, who dodged his grasp nimbly...
He then turned to grab Barkley, but Barkley had backed off to a safe distance.
As O’Neal got up to chase them, Zhang Hao tossed the clapper aside and immediately ran, as did Barkley, albeit in a different direction!
As O’Neal stood up, pain shot through his calf, forcing him to sit back down heavily.
At this moment, O’Neal was furious!
"If my legs were fine, I’d beat you guys to a pulp!"
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