章節 55: Season is About to Begin, Long-Awaited System Tas
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Inside the Lakers general manager's office, Phil Jackson took off his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows, feeling unprecedented pressure.
The Lakers' lineup for the 2003-04 season could be considered the most luxurious and powerful team in his coaching career. Even the 72-win Bulls team from the 1995-96 season was inferior to this Lakers team in terms of lineup strength alone. After all, this Lakers team had four superstars, and such a luxurious lineup is rare in history.
However, behind this powerful lineup came immense pressure. For a team like this, failing to win the championship would be considered a complete failure—a devastating one at that.
Outsiders might see the Lakers' superstar lineup and nothing else, but those within the organization knew the real challenges they faced. Phil Jackson was well aware that while the Lakers looked great on paper, they had many underlying issues.
The conflict between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant was difficult to reconcile, making it hard for them to return to the stage of seamless cooperation that won them three consecutive championships.
Although Karl Malone and Gary Payton were big names, they were veterans who were past their prime. Their reputation far outweighed their current abilities.
Furthermore, these four were all famous stars. On the court, distinguishing who would be the leader and who would play a supporting role needed to be very clear... In short, it was complicated.
Even Jackson, with his nine championship rings and experience navigating all sorts of ups and downs, felt enormous pressure and was troubled.
However, amidst all these problems, there were still one or two positives.
First, there was the issue of Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers had actually prepared for the worst-case scenario: if Kobe was convicted and sent to prison, they would lose a key player on the outside. But several months had passed, and there was still insufficient evidence regarding the Eagle County incident. Even though the existing evidence could prove that Kobe and the waitress had sex, it could not conclude that Kobe had forced her. Moreover, the situation itself seemed illogical. As a multi-millionaire, Kobe had countless women willing to throw themselves at him; was it necessary for him to force anyone? Therefore, the police did not rule out the possibility of a setup and were not inclined to believe the woman's one-sided claims.
Additionally, being wealthy had its advantages. Kobe hired a professional legal team to exonerate him from the charges by focusing on every detail, and his substantial bail ensured he could move freely and participate in NBA games.
Thus, at least Kobe would not miss games due to the Eagle County incident, which was definitely good news.
Although Phil Jackson was disgusted by such incidents and his opinion of Kobe had dropped to rock bottom—especially given that his own daughter had been harassed in the past—he knew very well that the Lakers couldn't win a championship without Kobe.
The other piece of good news was the sudden rise of Wang Chong.
In fact, when Lakers owner Jerry Buss wanted to acquire Wang Chong, Phil Jackson wasn't very supportive and even opposed it.
He wasn't optimistic about this Asian player. Even though Wang Chong had performed well in the NCAA finals, how many Asians had made it in the NBA? So far, there was only Yao Ming, who had the unique advantage of being a 7-foot-6 giant. Without exceptional physical attributes, it would be difficult to make a name in the league.
Why would Wang Chong be the exception?
But surprisingly, Wang Chong actually turned out to be the exception.
Wang Chong scored 40 points against Carmelo Anthony in the summer league. During team training over the past few days, many assistant coaches had praised Wang Chong's abilities to Phil Jackson. Even O'Neal and Kobe, who rarely spoke to each other off the court, acknowledged Wang Chong's talent.
"The Lakers actually got another genius with the 13th pick?"
Phil Jackson felt that if the Lakers, with their various issues, had any chance of winning the championship, Wang Chong would undoubtedly play a crucial role in it.
"In the preseason, let's give this young man more opportunities to perform. If he can prove himself again, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make him the team's third scoring option alongside O'Neal and Kobe and even develop some tactics around him."
Phil Jackson was deep in thought, unaware that downstairs on the practice court, Wang Chong, who had been practicing catch-and-shoot drills, suddenly paused. His shooting form became distorted, and he missed three consecutive shots.
"What's wrong, Wang! Focus and don't get distracted!" the assistant coach guiding Wang Chong frowned and said.
But at that moment, Wang Chong didn't hear a word the assistant coach said.
Because just then, he heard a long-lost system prompt in his ears.
"Ding—mission activated!"
"Mission: Perfect Debut."
"Mission objective: In the host's first NBA appearance, the score must not be less than 20 points, and the average score in the first week of the regular season must not be lower than that of James and Anthony."
"Upon completing the mission, you will receive a reward: a random silver badge."
A system task! After three months, Wang Chong finally heard the system's voice again.
Since the end of the draft, the system had not issued any tasks. Wang Chong wasn't impatient, as he understood that the system had been silent because the NBA season hadn't started yet. There was simply no appropriate opportunity for tasks.
His guess was correct. The preseason hadn't even started, but with the regular season approaching, the system finally came alive.
A silver-level random badge. To be honest, the reward seemed pretty ordinary, especially given the challenging conditions for this task.
To score at least 20 points in his NBA debut and maintain an average score higher than James and Anthony in the first week of the regular season—this was no easy feat.
Wang Chong couldn't recall exactly how James and Anthony had performed in their debuts and the following week, but by the end of the regular season, both averaged over 20 points per game, proving their outstanding scoring ability in the NBA.
Wang Chong had great confidence in his offensive skills. At this point, he probably surpassed both James and Anthony in that regard.
However, the problem was that neither the Cavaliers nor the Nuggets had as many high-profile players as the Lakers did, like O'Neal, Kobe, and even Gary Payton and Karl Malone.
Even if Wang Chong wanted to score, getting enough ball possession could be an issue.
But since the system had given the task, Wang Chong was determined to complete it. A free silver-level badge at the start of the season? Who would pass that up?
"For now, I'll set aside the regular season. The most important thing is to put up a strong performance in the preseason, at least to secure the starting small forward position!"
End of this chapter
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Chugamc
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