Thanos

Chapter 19 Signing
"Coach Rudy, and everyone here, please look at this photo."

FOX reporters showed the photos to everyone.

This is the shot of Ye Heping choking after the game. Although his head was covered by a big towel, the number 24 behind him showed his identity.

"At the last moment, Yeh was very relaxed about Billups' defense. It can even be said that he took it lightly. Couldn't this be the reason for the team's loss? The most ridiculous thing is that he cried! A basketball player, in this men's game, actually cried..."

Snapped!
Before the reporter could finish speaking, Tang Shuai jumped up against the crime.

"Sir, what do you want to express?"

Tang Shuai's face was full of anger, which stunned everyone and frightened the FOX reporter.

"I……"

Before he could speak, Tang Shuai interrupted: "He made a mistake and then cried, why is he not a man anymore? On the contrary, his performance shows that he wants to win, which shows that he has self-esteem. With this desire to win, I believe he will become better, and soon!"

Tang Shuai was almost roaring, without any of his usual elegant demeanor.

The press conference fell into a deathly silence.

Only Kobe smiled.

Tang Shuai, it has always been like this.

When he was a player, he was fighting to protect his teammates, but he was headshot by Washington, ending his brilliant player career early.

During the coaching period, he also loved soldiers like a son, especially for hard-working players, and took great care of them.

"All right!"

Kobe appeased Tang Shuai and said to the reporters: "There is only one reason for the loss!"

As soon as he made a sound, the silent atmosphere was immediately broken. Everyone hurriedly cooperated and shone the spotlight on Kobe one after another, as if what happened just now had never happened.

"That means I'm not strong enough!"

"I am the boss of this Lakers team. As long as I lose, it is my problem. There is no need to escape from this."

Kobe said.

"But, you've already scored 45 points!"

A reporter reminded.

"Then what if I can get 50 points, or even 60 points..."

Kobe clenched his fists.

The feeling of losing is really annoying!
……

Early the next morning.

Los Angeles.

The underground training facility at the Staples Center.

Ye Heping's clothes were already soaked, obviously he had been training for a long time.

What he didn't know was that in the corner of the second floor, there were two elderly men staring at him intently.

"Rudy, you called me over early in the morning just because of this kid? Damn it, today is a rare holiday!"

Lakers general manager Kupchak complained.

Tang Shuai's face was full of spring breeze, and he didn't seem to be affected by last night's loss at all.

"Mitch, you want to sign Ye! Immediately! Now! Immediately!"

Tang Shuai used three urging words in succession.

Kupchak gradually became serious when he heard Tang Shuai's words, but he didn't agree immediately.

"Rudy, I only played 4 games in the preseason. Is it too early? Besides, Green's performance is also good. I personally prefer to sign Green."

Tang Shuai smiled: "Green is good, but not what we urgently need. Atkins is not enough for an offensive No. 1 position? Do you expect Green to also grab the ball with Kobe? Besides, we still have Butler and Vujacic to develop. And Ye, who can help us on the defensive end, doesn't need any possession. Mitch, to be honest, our current team defense is very bad!"

As the head coach, Tang Shuai knows the team best.

In fact, this Lakers team is the fourth in the league in points allowed per game in the regular season.

(Average points conceded, the average number of points allowed to the opponent per game.)
Kupchak was silent for a moment, then nodded.

He is also a player, and he can still understand Tang Shuai's words.

"But even so, we don't need to be so anxious, we can wait until the end of the preseason."

Tang Shuai shook his head: "Last night, Larry Brown asked me for Ye's contact information, and he said that Prince needs a substitute."

"All right!"

Kupchak suddenly fought straight, with an extremely serious expression: "I'm going to prepare the contract right now, and let Ye come to my office."

When Kupchak's back disappeared, Tang Shuai suddenly laughed.

The matter of Larry Brown asking for contact information was compiled by Tang Shuai.

As a head coach, if you want to get the players you need, you always have to use your brain.

And nowadays, the Lakers really need a defensive leader, and Ye is obviously the closest one.

……

This was the first time that Ye Heping met Lakers general manager Kupchak. A one-year guarantee contract of 27 yuan was considered a basic salary contract, but Ye Heping signed it without even thinking about it.

Even though the tax in Los Angeles is relatively high, Ye Heping does not have an agent, and the commission is reduced by about 4%. After the tax is deducted, he can still get about 14.

It can't be compared with other NBA players, but it can be regarded as a wealthier middle-class family income in the entire United States.

More importantly, the first requirement of the basketball talent tree has been fulfilled.

When Ye Heping walked into the empty locker room, the lightning mark on his hand lit up.

# # #
"Talent Index: 1-2"

"Open the second layer of talent, speed."

"There are three branches of speed: straight-line running speed, lateral movement speed, and starting acceleration. Please make a choice for the host."

# # #
Straight-line running speed undoubtedly affects the speed of offensive and defensive transitions.

The speed of lateral movement affects the ability of defensive breakthrough, supplementary defense, and auxiliary defense.

Starting acceleration is a sharp weapon for breakthroughs.

These three things are really alluring, and Ye Ping wants them all.

But he also knew that he could only choose one.

In the end, Ye Heping still chose the lateral speed according to his team positioning, a defensive vanguard.

"The host chooses the traverse speed, and the traverse speed is increased by 30%."

Existing panels: projectile speed +20%, traverse speed +30%.

Just after making the choice, the lightning imprint on Ye Heping's hand grew another branch, and there were two branches in total.

Ye Heping couldn't wait to experience the new speed, and the basketball talent tree responded again.

# # #
"The host completes the mission for the first time and gets a chance to draw a lottery."

"The host is being matched with players of similar stature."

# # #
In an instant, the names of countless NBA players flashed in Ye Heping's head.

The most powerful is Michael Jordan, and the worst is Zhou Qi who has only played a few games.

And in some years, some are before 2004, and some are after 2004.

As the matching progressed, these names continued to decrease, and finally there were less than 400 left.

But even these names made Ye Heping very excited.

Elvin Johnson (Magician) is 206 cm tall and weighs 98 kg.

Larry Bird (Big Bird) is 206 cm tall and weighs 100 kg.

The names are orange and there are only two people.

Scottie Pippen (second child of ten thousand years) is 203 cm tall and weighs 95 kg.

Moses Malone (king of offensive rebounds) is 208 cm tall and weighs 98 kg.

……

These names are purple, and there are five or six people in total.

Peja Stojakovic is 208 cm tall and weighs 104 kg.

Rudy Tomjanovich is 203 cm tall and weighs 99 kg.

Andrey Kirilenko is 206 cm tall and weighs 100 kg.

……

The names are in blue and there are a dozen of them.

Tayshaun Prince is 206 cm tall and weighs 98 kg.

Trevor Ariza is 203 cm tall and weighs 97.6 kg.

……

The names are green and there are more than 50 of them.

Jason Kapono is 203 cm tall and weighs 98 kg.

James Posey is 203 cm tall and weighs 98 kg.

Steve Novak is 208 cm tall and weighs 100 kg.

……

The names are white and there are more than 300 of them.

(End of this chapter)