The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 42 My crime doesn't warrant death!

Hey guys, how are you?

"Auntie, how's Hawaii?"

"The ladies are very enthusiastic, haha!"

Larry Johnson got out of the car, took a suitcase from the trunk, and walked over while gesturing to people.

Looking north, Tang Bei saw that Larry Johnson was very strong, with a solid physique, short curly hair, and a fierce expression. He was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Just then, Larry Johnson's gaze fell on Tang Bei. He changed direction, walked up to him, and began to scrutinize him with a critical look.

"Let me introduce you, Don, this is Larry Johnson." At this moment, Kendall Gill suddenly stepped forward to introduce him.

Tang Bei extended his right hand and said, "Hello, Larry, I'm Tang Bei. You can call me 'Tang'."

“Rookie, I hope you’re not a dud,” Larry Johnson said, shaking hands.

Tang Bei thought to himself, "What the hell? You're not the boss of the Wasps, you're just acting like you're carrying a broom around your ass. What are you trying to prove?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

Kendall Gill and Larry Johnson nodded to each other without saying much.

"The temple is small, but the demons are strong; the relationships within the team are a bit complicated!"

Tang Bei felt a little impatient and disliked the atmosphere when he noticed that Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill seemed somewhat out of place.

According to Fleischer, the Hornets joined the NBA in 88, that year they got the 8th overall pick Rex Chapman, in 89 they got the 5th pick JR Reed, in 90 they got the 5th pick Kendall Gill, and in 91 they got the number one pick Larry Johnson. And this year they are a true young team.

However, Chaps was traded after suffering a serious injury last season, and forward Reed also suffered a major injury last season and became a substitute. Not counting him, half of the four lottery picks ahead of them have already been eliminated.

Of the remaining two, Larry Johnson, the number one draft pick, is undoubtedly the Hornets' most valued player and the core of their interior defense, holding a very high position within the team.

But Kendall Gill was the scoring champion last season, the core of the perimeter, and he was the 5th overall pick in the first round of the 90 draft, which was not low, and he had a high status on the team.

Larry Johnson has just finished his rookie season and is only a sophomore, so he doesn't have as much experience with the team as Kendall Gill.

So far, the Hornets, a team that only joined the NBA in 88, have not yet produced their first leader.

Both Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill are vying for this position and for a say in the team's success.

The leader of a team can reap huge benefits, both on and off the field, including economic benefits, and no one wants to give them up easily.

No player doesn't want to be a leader; a soldier who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier. This is also a golden rule in the NBA.

Fortunately, their competition did not lead to conflict, and their relationship remained on the surface.

Kendall Gill was somewhat dissatisfied with the management because they only gave him a four-year, $732 million rookie contract, far less than Larry Johnson's, with an average annual salary of only one-fifth.

Twenty minutes later, the luggage was put away, the players boarded the vehicle, and they were ready to depart.

Tang Bei went straight to the first row, where there was the most space. With his large build, the seats in the back wouldn't be comfortable.

Normally, novices should sit in the back, but he was too big, so no one said anything to him and everyone just accepted his seat.

Upon arriving at the airport, he boarded a private jet for the first time.

“I also got to ride on a private jet, it feels great, this perk is pretty good,” John Liu said excitedly.

An hour and a half later, the private jet arrived in Miami.

Tang Bei has come to this city once again. His professional basketball career started here, and now his NBA career will also begin here. It seems he has a special connection with this city.

The Hornets' first preseason game was against the Magic. At 6:40 p.m. the next day, Tang Bei came out of the locker room, intending to stroll around the stadium, but unexpectedly ran into O'Neal at the corner of the player tunnel.

O'Neal came out to buy a hamburger; he usually eats a big hamburger at midfield.

Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.

"You bastard, where do you think you're going to run this time?"

Seeing that no one was in the corridors, Tang Bei was overjoyed. He suddenly stepped forward and pinned O'Neal against the wall. "What do you want to do?"

In a panic, O'Neal retaliated, reaching out his hands to scratch Tang Bei's face wildly, nearly hitting his eyes.

Tang Bei was startled, grabbed O'Neal's left arm, and twisted around to deliver an over-the-shoulder throw.

"Oh!"

As the world spun around and dust billowed, O'Neal was thrown so hard that his eyes rolled back, his mind went blank, and he stopped breathing.

Tang Bei grabbed O'Neal by the neck with his left hand and demanded, "Tell me, you bastard, do you know what that word means?"

O'Neal felt he was going to die here today, and argued in a tearful voice:

"Tang, don't kill me! I really didn't mean it! I didn't know what it meant, I really didn't! You can't kill me, please, don't kill me! I don't deserve to die, I don't deserve to die!"

Tang Bei wanted to laugh at O'Neal's pathetic state, but he held back and said coldly, "You don't know? You at least know what 'black guy' means, right?"

“You bastard, you’re insulting me, this is racism!” O’Neal said angrily.

"Oh, so you're the only one allowed to discriminate against me?" Tang Bei laughed angrily.

O'Neal hurriedly denied it, saying, "No, I really don't know what that word means."

Tang Bei stopped asking and slowly tightened his grip with his five fingers.

O'Neal was now having trouble breathing and panicked, hurriedly shouting, "I've already apologized, haven't I? I really didn't know, I didn't know."

He struggled and yelled, refusing to admit anything no matter what, knowing that if he did, he might really be beaten to death here today.

"Apologize, louder." Tang Bei continued to tighten his grip.

"I've apologized, sob..."

O'Neal intended to hold on a little longer, but Tang Bei tightened his grip again, and O'Neal immediately couldn't breathe. His face turned red, his heart started racing, and he couldn't speak. He became frightened and hurriedly patted Tang Bei's left hand, signaling him to let go.

"Apologize, or I'll beat you to death."

Tang Bei loosened his left hand slightly while threatening.

After taking a few deep breaths, O'Neal quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I misspoke, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I really didn't know how serious it was, I'm sorry..."

"Say that again and I'll kill you."

After so much time had passed, Tang Bei let it go after venting his anger, as making things worse would not be good for him.

"Oh!"

Before leaving, he punched O'Neal in the mouth, making O'Neal cry out in pain.

"asshole!"

O'Neal only breathed a sigh of relief after Tang Bei disappeared from sight.

He felt his mouth was broken, several teeth were loose, and his mouth tasted salty. He spat out a mouthful of saliva, which was full of blood.

He felt so wronged he wanted to cry. All he did was say that one word, and everyone else was saying it. Why couldn't he say it? Why did they hit him?
He was half-dead from the fall and didn't want to play in this preseason game. Just like at the last rookie camp, he picked up the hamburger on the ground and hurriedly left the stadium, intending to see a dentist first.

The preseason is for fine-tuning the roster, refining tactics, observing new players, and evaluating free agents. The free agents are the ones who put in the most effort.

The key players don't get much playing time and don't need to exert themselves fully, so as to avoid unnecessary injuries just before the regular season starts.

一共五场季前赛，唐北场均25分钟，6.2投3.6中，命中率58.1%，5罚2.6中，命中率52%，得9.6分4.6篮板0.8助攻0.6抢断2盖帽2失误1.4犯规。

Unlike his consistent attacks on the basket in CBA games, he increased his close-to-the-basket offense in several preseason games, using hook shots, floaters, and jump shots, which lowered his offensive efficiency.

But he was a little annoyed because he hadn't taken enough shots in these few games, ranking only fourth in the team, which wasn't as enjoyable as playing in the CBA.

Kendall Gill and Larry Johnson, those two bastards, monopolized the most shot attempts, while Dell Curry had the third most shots on the team.

Instead, he became a laborer doing the dirty work, and his performance was similar to that of Bogues and John Newman, which was inconsistent with his status as the second overall pick.

(End of this chapter)