am i proud?

Chapter 261 Let's play well, why do we have to fight?

After losing to the Pacers, the Clippers had a record of 34 wins and 26 losses this season, and fell to seventh in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies have been gaining momentum recently. They have been competing with the Clippers for the sixth position in the Western Conference. After all, the Lakers are currently second in the Western Conference. Who the hell wants to meet this powerful opponent in the first round of the playoffs?
There is one thing to say, at the beginning of this season, the Lakers made great strides all the way, almost invincible, but in the middle of the season, they deliberately strengthened the rotation of the lineup, so that "F4" got more rest, especially O'Neal and Malone.

One of the two is overweight, and has always had a lot of hidden dangers of toe injuries, and the other is too old, and it is no longer possible to give his best in every game.

The average playing time of Kobe and Payton this season has also decreased a lot compared to before, especially Kobe, whose average playing time reached 41.5 minutes last season, and this season has dropped to 35.6 minutes.

Payton can get more rest time, mainly because the Lakers still have Derek Fisher on the bench. He was the starting point guard of the Lakers last season!

On March 3, the Clippers finally ushered in good news-Artest's ankle injury has healed and he can return at any time.

And Bobby Simmons, who was injured before, has also recovered, and the old Dunleavy is ready to let him return in the game against the Grizzlies at home on March 3.

For the Clippers, their strong return is tantamount to double happiness, and Wang Dalin can finally breathe a sigh of relief... During this period of time, it was too hard for him to fight alone, and besides, he was still suffering from the side effects of "super god pickled peppers" in the next game. With Artest, he didn't have to force so many shots!

On March 3, Wang Dalin took the time to accept an exclusive interview with the CCTV team.

This time the CCTV team was still led by Zhang Weiping. Wang Dalin saw "Guide Zhang" again after many days, and saw that he was a little fatter, probably because he had not exercised less during this period.

This interview used the form of questions and Wang Dalin's self-report, so the interview location cannot be just indoors, and many of the contents need to be filmed in the "Staples Center" and various places in Los Angeles.

The indoor questioning session was arranged at Wang Dalin's home. Anyway, the living room of his villa is big enough, so he will feel more relaxed in his own home.

The mansion on the hillside of Beverly Hills is still under construction. According to Bruce Tully's information, the current construction progress is still normal, and it will be completed in early June.

Of course, at the beginning of June, all the construction work was completed, and you have to wait at least another 6-6 months to move in... How can a new house not be decorated?
In other words, Wang Dalin will have to move into his new house at least by the end of November this year. If he is a little bit unlucky, it is not uncommon to wait until February or March next year.

The location shooting went smoothly. Wang Dalin not only took "Director Zhang" and them to visit the team's daily training, but also took them to play around in Los Angeles.

As for the indoor Q&A session, "Director Zhang" and Wang Dalin were friends who had forgotten their past years, and they were just chatting nonsense!

After the interview, Wang Dalin took them to the "SLS Hotel", where the Michelin two-star restaurant "Somni" is definitely one of the most popular restaurants in Los Angeles.

This restaurant only has 10 seats, so it is conceivable how difficult it is to get a seat. Even Wang Dalin, a local star in Los Angeles, has to make a reservation several days in advance, and it is not always possible to make a reservation. This time it is pure luck.

On the evening of March 3, Wang Dalin received a call from Schwartz.

This phone call was mainly about the renewal of several commercial endorsement contracts. He originally had three-year endorsement contracts with the three brands of "Tissot", "Versace" and "Ford".

Of course, the amount of the contract he signed at the beginning could not be very high. Now that his popularity and strength have skyrocketed to the level of the league's top superstars, the amount of endorsement will naturally increase.

此次“天梭”给王大林的报价是5年3500万美元，“范思哲”是7年5000万美元，“福特”则是5年5000万美元。

The merchants have expressed extraordinary sincerity, and Wang Dalin is naturally very satisfied with these renewal prices, especially for "Ford", the contract amount of 5 million US dollars for 5000 years has definitely reached the ceiling of the industry.

In fact, "Ford" charged him such a high price mainly because several competitors came this time.

For example, "Toyota" offered Wang Dalin a price of 4 million US dollars for 3600 years, and "Mercedes Benz" also offered Wang Dalin a price of 4 US dollars for 3200 years.

Speaking of which, Wang Dalin should really thank them. If he didn't feel the fierceness of his competitors, how could "Ford" offer him such an astonishing offer?

In addition to these, the three quotations from "Ford", "Tissot" and "Versace" all agreed on a certain dividend ratio.

That is to say, Wang Dalin can actually get much more money than this amount, maybe the dividend income alone can exceed the income of the endorsement contract itself.

In addition, several of his domestic endorsement contracts are about to expire. Currently, Wang Dalin's domestic agent team is actively negotiating with several major businessmen.

……

The current record of the Grizzlies is 37 wins and 24 losses. If the Clippers win them, they will have the opportunity to regain the sixth position in the Western Conference. If the Grizzlies win, their sixth position in the Western Conference will be more stable.

The Grizzlies are in the Southwest Division, while the Clippers are in the Pacific Division. They are currently ranked third in their respective divisions. The ranking depends not only on the records, but also on the confrontation records between them.

The Clippers had already played against the Grizzlies once on February 2. The Clippers lost that game, but only by 11 points.

As long as they can win the game on March 3, and the net difference is not less than 6 points, then they can temporarily return to the sixth position in the Western Conference by relying on the point difference advantage.

This game was not originally planned to be broadcast live across the United States, but Mark Tatum thought the game was a gimmick, so he communicated with ESPN and TNT, and temporarily added this game to the national live broadcast.

Of course, Barkley is very happy to be able to live broadcast the Clippers game again. He is looking forward to whether Wang Dalin can tie Jordan's record of scoring 9+ points in 40 consecutive games!

At the beginning of the game, Wang Dalin did not attack with the ball too much, but frequently appeared at the top of the three-point arc, and started dealing cards at high positions.

He knows his own affairs... The side effects of "Super God Pickled Pepper" have not passed, even if he wants to attack with the ball, the efficiency is probably not high.

And during this period of time, the role players of the Clippers are getting better and better. How can Wang Dalin not give his teammates a chance to perform?

In fact, whether it is Wang Zhizhi, Eddie House, Matt Barnes or Kyle Korver, they are all young players with great potential and certain immediate combat power.

As long as you give them full trust and give them more playing time and ball rights, their progress will naturally be much faster than their original time and space, and it is entirely possible to enter their peak period ahead of schedule.

比如本赛季的王治致，赛季初时他的场均数据只有5.8分3.3篮板1.3助攻0.6盖帽0.2抢断，现在已经上升到7.2分5篮板1.8助攻0.4抢断0.8盖帽，投篮命中率和三分命中率分别达到了50.2%和39.4%，比之前提升了很多。

Currently in the Clippers' bench lineup, Wang Zhizhi ranks second in points per game, first in rebounds per game, and first in blocks per game.

Of course, this has something to do with his increasing playing time... He averaged less than 14 minutes per game at the beginning of the season, and now he has steadily exceeded 18 minutes per game.

At this stage, apart from Korver who is the sixth man, none of the substitute players can match Wang Zhizhi's playing time. Of course, his performance is also worthy of the trust of the old Dunleavy.

Of course, Wang Dalin is very pleased about this... Wang Zhizhi not only did not have the "non-return incident" in the original history, but also played better and better in the NBA. In this offseason, whether he renews his contract with the Clippers or goes to other teams, he will definitely be able to get a decent contract.

In Wang Dalin's favor, the "Li Ning" company signed an endorsement contract with Wang Zhizhi this season, and also released him the first star-exclusive sneaker-"Chasing Wind 1".

Although the price of this contract is only 4 years and 1 million yuan, which is far from the 7-year 5000 million dollar contract signed by Yao Ming and "Reebok", but compared with the original history, Wang Zhizhi's situation is obviously much better.

In the second quarter of the game, Wang Dalin finally increased his personal offense. His shooting touch was not good, so he tried his best to hit the inside of the Grizzlies.

At this stage, the Grizzlies boss Paul Gasolton felt a sharp increase in pressure.

On the one hand, he has to show the most powerful defensive attitude, because Wang Dalin's current strength, except for O'Neill, is almost unrivaled in the league;
On the one hand, he didn't dare to be too tough, so as not to be fouled by Wang Dalin... Nowadays, Wang Dalin's back-up attack technique is not something that ordinary people can defend, just a single move of "dream dance" can make many people lose face.

Of course, Wang Dalin attacked the inside line many times, mainly to create more offensive opportunities for his teammates. He didn't have much confidence in his own state.

Speaking of which, Paul George can be considered the top small forward in the small ball era of later generations. Except for LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhilun Nader, all small forwards in the league should be inferior to him.

Especially when he was still the boss of the Pacers, he was almost comparable to James and Durant at that time, and his overall strength was even higher than Leonard.

But after arriving in the Clippers, due to the overlapping positions with Leonard, and there may be some psychological problems, his performance in the playoffs was dismal!
In the 2020-2021 season, he has appeared in the situation of "one game and three games" many times. It is estimated that the system designed the "Super God Pickled Pepper" trick based on this, right?

With the "lessons learned" from the previous few times this season, Wang Dalin is really not confident that he can overcome the side effects of "Super God Pickled Pepper", so even if he increases the proportion of offense with the ball, it is mainly to create opportunities for his teammates.

In the first half of the fourth quarter, Gasol pulled Wang Dalin from behind when he was fighting for a rebound, and he fell flat on his back.

This fall was not light, and there was a high possibility of injury...Of course, Wang Dalin had a "copper skin and iron bone badge" body protection, so there was no risk of injury, but he fell sideways on the floor from mid-air, and the pain still made him grin his teeth.

"What the hell are you doing? Murder?" Seeing Wang Dalin being viciously assaulted by Gasol, Artest was the first to rush forward and pushed him back several steps.

Before Gasol could speak, he saw a black figure jumping out from the side, and a punch hit Artest's face, causing him to stagger and almost fell to the ground on the spot.

"Who the hell are you? How dare you do it in front of me?" The man showed disdain, clenched his fists, and seemed to want to give Artest two more punches... This guy is Bunch Wells, who is currently the toughest player on the Grizzlies team!
"Damn it?" Artest shook his body twice, shook his head again, and suddenly said angrily, "You dare to fight me with your shame, are you tired of it?"

After he finished speaking, he jumped up, and aimed at Wells' face with a heavy punch. Wells raised his arms to block it, but how powerful is Artest?Even if he blocked it, he was taken a big step back by the punch.

"Grass mud horse, I won't abandon you today, so my surname is not Artest!" Artest put on a boxing posture, with both fists left and right, and immediately beat Wells back again and again.

"Beep beep..." Several referees hurriedly whistled and rushed over, trying to separate them, but the other players of the Grizzlies and Clippers were also pulling each other, and they couldn't get close at all.

Wang Dalin finally stood up, wrapped his arms around Artest with his right hand, stretched out his left hand, and directly supported Wells who was already crumbling, and then shouted: "Stop it all!"

Artest was still struggling in his arms: "Darling, let me go, I'm going to beat him up!"

Wang Dalin said angrily: "What are you playing? We are here to play basketball, not to beat people! Do you really like being suspended?"

Wells was punched on the left and right sides of the face, and his cheeks were already swollen at the moment. Although he could barely stand and did not fall to the ground, everyone could see that he had almost lost his fighting power.

If Wang Dalin lets go of Artest, with this guy's temper, maybe he can KO Wells on the spot, then the problem will be serious.

Artest saw that the other party was obviously at a disadvantage than himself, so he stopped struggling and just said softly to Wang Dalin: "I'm sorry, it seems that we can only rely on you tonight!"

He also knows that his behavior will definitely be expelled, and he will definitely be fined and suspended by the league after the game.

He has missed 5 games this season due to injury, and this kind of thing happened as soon as he came back, and I am afraid he will have to be absent for a while.

The referees finally squeezed into the crowd, and then gave Artest and Wells each a technical foul, and they were both ejected.

Then they called Gasol a first-degree flagrant foul... His defensive action just now was really big, and only calling him a first-degree flagrant foul has already given him face.

The two sides first executed technical free throws, and then the Clippers executed two free throws and one throw for a first-degree malicious foul.

For the Grizzlies, it was "White Chocolate" Jason Williams who made the most free throws in the team, and for the Clippers, of course, it was Wang Dalin.

Maybe it was the conflict just now that made "White Chocolate" a little terrified, but he failed to score the goal.

In contrast, Wang Dalin's free throws were still very stable. Although the technical foul's free throw missed, the next two free throws were made steadily.

After the free throw, the old Dunleavy hurriedly called a timeout... When this happened, the players must be calmed down.

Sitting on the chair, Wang Dalin couldn't help complaining secretly——

"I'm so unlucky! Seeing Artest come back, I didn't even finish a game and ruined it! Sigh... why are you so impulsive, can't you play well?"

In fact, he is still very grateful to Artest in his heart, after all, he is also trying to help him vent his anger.

If it wasn't for Wells' hot temper and the gentle personality known as "sister-in-law", what would it be to be pushed?
Isn't it just a push...not a punch!
Thinking about the Trail Blazers, Rockets and Spurs who will face him later, Wang Dalin couldn't help feeling dizzy.

The Blazers and the Rockets are okay, but how can the Spurs be good at it?

"Hey...it seems that I have to fight alone for several more times!"

　Thanks to "Tracey Curry" for rewarding 3000 starting coins and monthly pass encouragement, and thanks to "LawieT" for the monthly pass encouragement!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)