You should cross the mountains like a brave man

Chapter 130 My Pride
In mid-September, Wei Xia will participate in the preseason training camp held by the Lakers at the Toyota Center.

The training camp is a place for players to get in touch with each other, and it is also a place for establishing their personal status.

If a rookie plays well against veterans, he will be able to lock in the team status more quickly. On the contrary, if he does not play well, his playing time in the new season will also be affected.

A year later, Phil Jackson took power again, and Wei Xia didn't want to leave a bad impression on his old man.

Although they had some unexplainable frictions in the trial training before the draft, Wei Xia knew the truth that his fingers couldn't break his fists, and he couldn't go against the Zen master when he first came.

Wei Xia came neither too early nor too late, half of his teammates had already arrived before him.

The person in charge of the statistics is Gary Vitti, the old trainer of the Lakers. He nodded slightly to Wei Xia, neither friendly nor malicious, just nodded slightly.

Wei Xia entered the locker room with what he needed and found his locker.

There is another person here.

He is tall and thin, with a bald head and purple armguards on the forearms of his left and right arms.

Although he is not a superstar, he is one of the biggest gains in the Lakers' trade of the Sharks to Miami - Lamar Odom.

Wei Xia's first impression of him was omnipotence.

Statistics such as 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game should be his standard configuration. What he lacks most is concentration and the driving force to continue to ignite himself.

If he can ignite himself like Kobe every game, he may not be a top ten player in the league, but he is undoubtedly a special star. At least when we mention the left-handed magician, we don't think of his brain-dead collection, but he deserves it.

"It's you, you're that~~that~~~" Odom's hand was like a gossiping woman pointing at a prisoner parading in the street, "it's that~~~Vaughn Weaver!"

Wei Xia's face was about to turn bright.

Odom laughed contagiously: "Just kidding, please don't mind, you must know who I am, it's Lamar, you can call me Lama, what should I call you? Visa? Or Felix?"

"As you like." Wei Xia put down his things and quickly changed into a sports suit.He has no other equipment, only clothes and pants, so the change of clothes is very fast.

Bynum is adjusting the distance between the two armguards.

In his eyes, it seems that it is not an armguard, but a couplet. If it is crooked, something ominous will happen.

"Visa, I watched the news today, and I laughed to death." Then he didn't tell Wei Xia the funny part of the news, so he laughed for a long time.

After appreciating his screaming laughter, Wei Xia waited for his emotions to subside before politely asking: "Really, what's so funny?"

"It's like this." It might be really too funny. He just wanted to tell Wei Xia the funny news, and the story engraved in his heart was rubbing his laughter in a clever way.

Then he didn't hold back, and Wei Xia looked at him inexplicably and laughed wildly for half a minute.

"That's right! The Los Angeles Daily News said that when the Lakers traded Shaq and the Heat, they traded me and Caron, and now they traded Caron for two draft picks to get you, so in fact the Lakers traded one Shaq and two draft picks to get you and me. Hahaha, isn't that funny? It's the first time I've found out that I'm so valuable!" Then he laughed wildly for nearly a minute.

Maybe, it's funny, but Wei Xia can't laugh.

Odom was the first Lakers pick he knew, and many others came after him.

Wei Xia didn't see Kobe, so he can be sure that he has already come.

He didn't believe that Kobe would be late, and not seeing it now is the ironclad evidence that he came to the training camp early.

Later, Weixia and Odom walked to the Toyota Center training ground together.

Jackson was still wearing loose short sleeves and shorts, and his tense face seemed unaware of Wei Xia and Odom's arrival.

The team assembled, about 22 people.

Most of them have been locked in the big list.

In addition to Wei Xia and others, the Lakers have some ridiculous gains in the free market this year.

Their leak-picking behavior has been described by New Yorkers as "cleaners."

Who did they pick up?

Sprewell, who claims that without 1000 million, he cannot support his family.

The Lakers are not stupid, so they gave Sprewell a multi-term contract of 1 million for one year.Madman needs to do a lot during the new season to get his full salary.

There is also the famous Bryon Russell (Bryon Russell). Those who can't remember who he is can recall Jordan's two lore against the Jazz in the finals. The man who defended him is called Russell.

That's right, Russell may be the most well-known unknown in NBA history. He is honored to be on the highlights of Jordan's career. The NBA wants to make a promotional video. Jordan's shot of the century is indispensable, so Russell's appearance is also indispensable.

Even, Jordan later thanked Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Danny Ainge and Russell in his Hall of Fame speech.

Look, if it wasn't an honor to be the background of God, why would Russell enjoy such popularity with his card?

However, Russell is also not the crazy man who dared to challenge Jordan who is playing baseball, warning him not to come back or let him die.He is old, and the Lakers just met Zen Master's needs, recruiting experienced veterans who can defend to make up for the loss of Caron Butler.

By the way, the Zen master also recruited his former disciple Tony Kukoc, another aging veteran.

This is why New Yorkers ridicule the Lakers as cleaners.

"Just because the Lakers gave Sprewell 1 million for one year, it can be concluded that they are crazy."

Bill Simmons is even more enthusiastic about blacking out on his blog: "I guess, when negotiating with the Lakers, did Sprewell squeeze Mitch Kupchak's neck while forcing them to provide tens of millions of annual salary?"

Two rookies, three veterans who are ready to retire with one foot, coupled with a bad team that couldn't even make the playoffs last season, the Lakers in the new season are already considered to be booked in the lottery zone for the 2005-06 season.

Wei Xia and Bynum and Weaver of the same class stood on the sidelines. George Mumford, who followed Jackson to the Lakers, burned sage, and cigarettes wafted on the training ground.

"I hope you can completely calm down in the training camp." Jackson said to the players, "The upcoming journey is long and hard, and we must be prepared and courageous to overcome difficulties."

His low voice contained the authority of the coach of the dynasty, and no one dared to speak out to break the field dominated by the Zen master.

"Next, we will train in groups and play a black-and-white match after 30 minutes."

Wei Xia is in a group with Weaver, Kobe and Kukoc.

In the group that combines old, middle-aged and young people, Wei Xia feels that he may be the worst shooter in the group.

The coaching staff provides a training plan, which they need to complete within the specified time.

The two young guards need to keep up with Kobe's pace to practice defensive footwork, and also perform 10 sets of 5 times with confrontational layups with confrontational interference.

"It's faster and more convenient for us to be in a team of two." Kobe's tone was not discussing with other people, and he said directly to Wei Xia, "You and I are in a team."

Wei Xia asked, "Can I refuse?"

Kobe turned his head immediately, his sharp eyes almost wiped Wei Xia from the Toyota Center.

"Just kidding, don't be nervous." Wei Xia explained.

Kobe smiled. If such a terrifying smile is what Wei Xia wants, then he must be crazy.

Kobe gave Wei Xia the scariest stern smile ever and said: "It's very funny, I hope you will always be optimistic and always make me laugh."

The two went to the corner alone to prepare for a defensive footwork drill.

Seeing Kobe's attitude of wanting to scrap Wei Xia, Weaver said frightenedly, "Where does Wish have the guts to joke with Kobe?"

"I saw this episode," Kukoc told Weaver. "Michael punched Steve because he couldn't hold his tongue."

Weaver's understanding was top-notch. He took Kukoc's words as if Kobe would give Wei Xia a punch today and let him be a good man.

Kobe's defensive footwork is different from others.

Holding the ball, he hooked his fingers at Wei Xia like teasing a silly dog ​​on the side of the road: "Come and guard me."

"I'm not questioning the Lakers' training, but do you practice defensive footwork like this?" In Wei Xia's understanding, defensive footwork is to quickly step on some props and perform boring and arduous but absolutely effective high-speed lateral movement training.

One attacking with the ball and one defending, what kind of defensive training is this?
"Yes, just practice like this, and guard against me."

Bryant continued to be provocative and successfully called Weisha to his face.

Wei Xia stared at Kobe who was dribbling, with his hands outstretched.

Kobe knew how much Wei Xia weighed. He was watching the championship game more than half a year ago. At this time, they were going to start a one-on-one match without a basket.

Kobe's speed and explosive power are not top-notch. His advantage lies in his changing rhythm. After dribbling the ball under his crotch, he swayed left and right.

He was elbowed away by Kobe, and then broke the defense.

Kobe stared at Wei Xia jokingly: "Didn't you mean to say 'foul'?"

Wei Xia is still a little confused about the situation, one thing is for sure, he has indeed become Kobe's teammate.And their first training as teammates was a one-on-one duel with Kobe. In the duel, Kobe gave him an elbow in order to disarm him.

He will always remember it and what he said to Kobe.

"You say that because you know that it's a foul if you use that move in the game." Wei Xia's voice was soft like an announcer telling a love story, "If you need to use foul moves to break through my defense, that's my honor."

(End of this chapter)