Chương 124: Chapter 124: New Season Player Rankings
"A one-on-one is no problem."
Wade Dong reminded Green, "But if you dare to pull any dirty tricks during the one-on-one, I'll beat the crap out of you!"
Green: (╯﹏╰)b
Wade Dong's words were clearly directed at him, making Green feel incredibly wronged. Was he the kind of person who played dirty?
"Can you do that?" Wade Dong asked again.
"I can do that!" Green nodded in agreement, despite feeling the immense malice.
Wade Dong said, "Green, you'll defend me in the low post. I'll take five shots. If you can stop even one, you win this one-on-one."
"This...," Green hesitated.
Everyone knew that Green played the power forward position and was a defensive-minded player. Wade Dong was challenging Green at his strongest point, aiming to dominate him.
Wade Dong provoked Green, "You won't be able to stop even one shot, will you?"
"Of course not!" Green spread his arms, ready for the challenge. "Let's go."
"Old Nash, you pass the ball," Wade Dong said, positioning himself in the low post against Green.
"Alright!" Nash picked up the ball and passed it to Wade Dong.
Wade Dong received the ball, and Green immediately pushed against him, trying to use his strength to overpower Wade Dong. However, Green quickly realized his mistake.
Wade Dong's first shot was straightforward, using O'Neal's signature power move. He pushed his way to the basket and dunked it in.
"Rookie, welcome to the NBA~"
This wasn't said by Wade Dong but by his Suns teammates, teasing the newcomer.
Next, Wade Dong used a dream shake to create space and scored with an easy hook shot.
"Rookie, you'll soon realize that even though you know I'll score this way, you still can't stop me."
Wade Dong chuckled and proceeded to use the dream shake three more times.
After the one-on-one, Green felt dizzy, almost losing his sense of direction from Wade Dong's moves.
Gortat watched intently from the side. He had spent the entire offseason practicing the dream shake and thought he had made some progress. However, seeing Wade Dong's dream shake again, he realized there was still a significant gap.
"Dong Ge, I'm convinced!" Green said, feeling the harsh reality of the NBA even before playing a single game.
In fact, it was normal for Green to be unable to stop Wade Dong. When Wade Dong played the power forward position, he faced the likes of Duncan, Griffin, Gasol, and Bosh. Green's role on the court wasn't to defend players like Wade Dong. Almost no one in the league could defend Wade Dong one-on-one.
During the Olympics, Wade Dong had been triple-teamed by Kobe, James, and Durant.
[Talent Point +5...]
After two one-on-ones, Wade Dong felt like he hadn't even warmed up. Dragic, Tucker, Bynum, and the others were hesitant, but Wade Dong wasn't about to let these easy talent points slip away. He challenged each of them in turn.
Finally, Wade Dong was satisfied and stopped.
...
As the preseason began, the Suns were fully healthy, which was a good sign.
With the days passing, the preseason officially started, and fans eagerly awaited the new season.
The Suns played eight preseason games, which were essentially practice matches. They didn't achieve the eight straight wins that fans hoped for, finishing with a record of 6-2.
Wade Dong played only about ten minutes in each preseason game. Even if the team was losing, he didn't return to the court.
After eight preseason games, the Suns' leading scorer was Bynum.
As the regular season approached, a prominent US media outlet released its new season player rankings and championship favorites. These lists sparked widespread discussion among fans.
The media outlet ranked James first, followed by:
NO.2: Durant
NO.3: Duncan
NO.4: Paul
NO.5: Kobe
NO.6: Rose
NO.7: Parker
NO.8: Anthony
NO.9: Westbrook
NO.10: Wade
Wade Dong was ranked only 11th, behind players like Gasol, Randolph, Curry, Harden, and Griffin.
This media outlet claimed to be the most authoritative, but ranking Wade Dong only 11th shocked everyone. Looking at the top ten, many of them had been defeated by Wade Dong.
Even without considering the Olympics, during the playoffs, Wade Dong had defeated Duncan, Parker, Paul, Kobe, James, and Wade. Facing so many players he had beaten, Wade Dong was ranked only 11th?
In response to the criticism, the media outlet's explanation was simple: Wade Dong's achievements were not enough. His only notable honor was the FMVP. His various scoring records, such as 60+, 50+, 40+, and quadruple-doubles, were not considered reliable indicators. Many players in the NBA had brief moments of brilliance, and it was unclear whether Wade Dong was just a flash in the pan.
"Nonsense!"
"This media outlet is doing it on purpose!"
"Wait for Dong Ge to prove them wrong!"
Fans were outraged, suspecting that the media outlet was deliberately stirring controversy. Even ranking Wade Dong 5th or 6th wouldn't have caused such a strong reaction.
Ranking him 11th, outside the top ten, was clearly provocative.
As soon as the player rankings were released, Jin Te Li tweeted, "Some media outlets just like to flaunt their ignorance as a personality trait!"
He then created a secondary Twitter account and liked his main account's tweet.
Suns teammates also took to Twitter to criticize the media outlet's ranking, and many NBA players voiced their opinions. Some stood up for Wade Dong, while others felt they should have been ranked higher.
...
After seeing the updated player rankings, Wade Dong was annoyed. However, he received two phone calls during this time.
The second call was from Daisy, who said, "Dong Ge, I can make this media outlet disappear!"
"No need~" Wade Dong declined, knowing Daisy was just venting. "Let them jump around for a while."
In fact, before Daisy called, Luo Qingyan had already asked Wade Dong if he wanted to take action against the media outlet.
Although it was a US media outlet, Big Bull Entertainment could still make things difficult for them if they wanted to.
Wade Dong declined both offers.
It was just a player ranking, and although he was annoyed, there was no need for immediate retaliation.
Waiting until the end of the season to see the media outlet proven wrong would be much more satisfying.
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