NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 104 Driving History
On March 3, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 15-108 at home.

On February 2, the second week after the All-Star Game, the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a trade, with the Phoenix Suns sending their star player Larry Nance, who averaged 25 points and 21.1 rebounds per game, to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cavaliers fans cheered after hearing about this deal. The Cavaliers' overall structure and core players remained unchanged, and they gained an All-Star level big man. This team is going to take off!

As it turns out, they did take off.

It's just taking off in the opposite direction.

After Larry Nance joined the Cavaliers, he showed some symptoms of acclimatization and was visibly unable to integrate into the team. The Cavaliers lost 10 of the first 8 games.

The Cavaliers fans who initially supported Larry Nance began to turn from fans to haters and attacked Larry Nance. After all, the team's record did not improve but declined after the new player came, and it was a Waterloo-like decline. It was difficult for fans not to point their guns at the new guy.

Everyone started to criticize Larry Nance, saying he was a stat-gambler and that criticizing him would only hurt the team.

Phoenix fans are unhappy. How come our precious baby has become a brush in your hands?
Larry Nance's seven seasons in Phoenix have left many fond memories for the fans. He has won the Slam Dunk Contest and made the All-Star team. He is the fans' favorite big guy. Every game night Larry Nance's fast break dunks can cause an earthquake in the Suns' home court.

When Meng Jin first entered the league, some commentators said he was like Larry Nance. The reason was that they were both big men with strong athletic abilities. They were very impactful on fast breaks and their dunks were very entertaining to watch. But as the game progressed, such voices almost disappeared. Now almost no one says Meng Jin is like Larry Nance. Larry Nance plays too gently, and "gentle" is not a compliment in the NBA, and Meng Jin is much tougher than him.

After 10 games, the media said that this was another failed deal for the Cavaliers, and Larry Nance seemed so out of place in the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers' offensive ability this season ranks fifth from the bottom in the league, and the media joked that Nance is like a wild horse hitched to a broken car.

But the players' views are completely different from those of the media. Anyone who knows basketball knows how terrible this Cavaliers team is.

They are young, powerful, and most importantly, this is a multi-core lineup.

The biggest advantage of a multi-core lineup is that it is difficult to limit. At critical moments of the game, Brad Doherty, Larry Nance, Mark Price, and Ron Harper can all stand up.

Who are you suitable to defend?
This kind of lineup is the most troublesome, and all they need is some time to get used to each other.

孟进这场比赛31分7篮板3助攻1盖帽，乔丹28分10篮板9助攻3抢断，双核依旧发挥稳定。

When returning to the locker room, Jordan scolded Grant. Tonight, Jordan assigned Grant a task, which was to help him collect statistics.

Just one minute into the fourth quarter, Grant told Jordan that his assists had reached double digits. But when the game was over, Jordan looked and saw that there were only 9 assists?
Are you lying about military intelligence?
Meng Jin gave Grant a look with a wicked smile. He thought this was Grant's plan to play a prank on Jordan, but Grant spread his hands and said he felt innocent.

Grant really didn't mean to play a prank on Jordan today, he was just simply bad at math.

Now Grant is not so afraid of Jordan getting angry. He has the habit of bringing his own dry food after the game. He no longer wears AJ sneakers, but Meng Jin's MJ first generation.

After the win, the Bulls immediately flew to Washington, and in the next game they beat the Bullets back-to-back.

Now is the sprint stage at the end of the season. There are two situations among the teams. One is to fight hard for the playoff ranking or playoff spot, and the other is to have no desire and play badly.

The Bullets belong to the latter. After Moses Malone was injured, they basically lost hope of entering the playoffs. Bernard King also sat out tonight, so the game lost suspense before the third quarter was over.

Jeff Malone had a great time tonight, taking 33 shots and scoring a game-high 39 points. He said he finally experienced the happiness that Jordan had.

The Bulls' next two opponents are the Celtics, one at home and one away. The Bulls won one and lost one. For the players, this result is acceptable.

Before going to Boston, head coach Collins deliberately emphasized to the players not to go out at night, especially Meng Jin.

Meng Jin was voted first in the latest vote for Boston's most hated player. Plus, this is the place with the most serious racial discrimination in the United States, so the coach is afraid that Meng Jin will not be able to come back once he goes out at night.

Even without the coach's reminder, Meng Jin would not go out. Although he could handle three or five hooligans with his current skills, this was free America. Meng Jin showed his fist, and the opponent took out an American Iai from his waistband and said, "Sir, times have changed."

So the night before the game, Meng Jin played Landlord in Michael Jordan's room.

Meng Jin lost more than he won tonight, and Jordan was very lucky. However, what made Meng Jin speechless tonight was not that he lost to Jordan in the Landlord game, but that Jordan suddenly said in the middle of the game: "You were voted as the most hated player in Boston? Who the hell counted it! Isn't their most hated player the man who scored 63 points in the TD Garden in the playoffs?"

Meng Jin was stunned. No, you want to compete for the first place too?
Jordan's competitive spirit is so strong that it is incomprehensible to normal thinking.

In short, there is no hope.

In the next game, the Bulls beat the 18ers by 76 points.

After the game, the brothers Jordan and Barkley once again staged a love-hate drama, but this time it was Jordan who had a smile on his face.

On March 3, the Bulls played against the Cavaliers again. The two sides were tied tonight and the game was decided only in the last 25 seconds. Jordan used a fatal mid-range shot to help the team overtake. In the last 30 seconds, the Cavaliers still had a chance to overtake. In the end, Meng Jin used a flying interception to completely kill the game!
Although they lost, Larry Nance clearly got the hang of it in this game.

In the past few years, Nance has been accustomed to leading the team by himself. The Cavaliers are different from the Suns. There are enough excellent players here, including 3-4 players who can score 20-30 points. After Larry Nance no longer carries the pressure on his own shoulders, the team's performance has been better.

With three games left in March, the Bulls defeated the Pacers, Supersonics and Clippers in succession, starting their sprint in April with a series of consecutive wins.

The closer the team gets to the playoffs, the better the condition. Head coach Collins is very satisfied with the players' recent performance. He decided to give the whole team a holiday after playing against the Trail Blazers on April 4.

Before the game started, Jordan looked at Meng Jin who was wrapping a bandage on his foot and asked curiously, "Where is your personal masseur? Why haven't I seen him recently?" "Lao Zhang? He went back to China." Meng Jin replied without raising his head.

"Not coming back?" Jordan asked with a frown.

After helping Meng Jin, Lao Zhang would occasionally give relaxing massages to other Bulls players. His technique was superb and was widely praised by everyone. Jordan also got free massages from Zhang several times.

"I'm on a business trip and will be back in a few days."

After hearing what Meng Jin said, Jordan smiled.

"are you joking around with me?"

It was the first time Jordan had heard of a masseur traveling on business.

Meng Jin added: "He was loaned out by David Stern."

Jordan:? ? ?
Michael Jordan is confused, NBA president + masseur.

What combination is this?
At this moment, David Stern and Zhang Weiping were shivering under the CCTV building.

In order to successfully sign the NBA broadcasting contract with CCTV, David Stern made a lot of preparations and even asked Meng Jin to borrow Zhang Weiping before leaving.

In a previous conversation, Meng Jin told David Stern that he had a friend in the Chinese basketball team, and that friend was Zhang Weiping.

Zhang Weiping led the way, and the two of them stopped in front of the CCTV East Gate Communication Room on Fuxing Road.

Zhang Weiping waved confidently at David Stern, indicating that he would take care of it next.

Zhang Weiping walked up to the guard and said, "Master, I'm looking for Director Li."

The guard moved his reading glasses down his nose and looked at Zhang Weiping: "Do you have an appointment?"

Zhang Weiping smiled and took out a cigarette: "They are all old acquaintances. I used to be in the Chinese national team."

The doorman shook his head: "No appointment, that won't work."

Zhang Weiping stuffed a pack of cigarettes into the guard's hand and said, "Please ask them and tell them it's Zhang Weiping and NBA Commissioner David Stern."

Throughout the whole process, David Stern was watching Zhang Weiping's operations from behind with a smile.

When the guard reported, Zhang Weiping smiled and said to the president, "David, it's done."

Five minutes later, the guard came back and said, "I've asked for you. Foreigners entering Taiwan must be approved by the foreign affairs department and leaders, and must obtain documents. Why don't you register here first?"

In this way, Lao Zhang and David Stern chatted while waiting in the message room.

During the chat, David Stern felt that he had good eloquence and his words were interesting. He suggested that he could develop in the direction of host or commentator, and said that he could be contacted at any time if needed.

Lao Zhang became excited when he heard this. This trip was not in vain. If he could get a job as a commentator or host in the NBA, it would be much more promising than being a masseur!

An hour and a half later, the director of the editorial office finally arrived.

In the previous parallel world, David Stern waited for two hours downstairs of the CCTV building before he met his leader, but this time it only took him one and a half hours.

All I can say is that Lao Zhang has some face, but it’s not big.

After shaking hands with the director, David Stern got straight to the point. He said he was here today to sign a broadcasting agreement and took out several videotapes.

Most of these are Meng Jin's games. David Stern smiled and said this is the pride of China, the flying Chinese.

The negotiations went smoothly and the two sides reached an agreement in less than 30 minutes.

The content of the agreement is that the NBA is obliged to provide CCTV with live game coverage free of charge and to share the revenue from the first sponsorship.

The first point is what David Stern wanted to do before he came, and the second point is a bit dark, just dividing the money directly.

However, David Stern simply agreed. He was considering the long term. As long as he could open up the Chinese market, the cost would be negligible.

So the agreement, which was supposed to be signed in the winter of 1989, was signed ahead of schedule in the spring of 1988.

Meng Jin once again made the gears of history turn a little bit.

(End of this chapter)