basketball never sleeps

Chapter 332 2008

"Screw the Lakers, a bunch of cowards! They've been bragging for so long, but they can't even defend their own Christmas home court!"

"It's a fixed match, it must be fixed! They played so well at the beginning, but suddenly they couldn't hold onto the ball at the end. And they still say it's not fixed? Geneva, give us our money back!"

"Didn't Kobe say he wanted to leave this summer? The team should trade him for Mo!"

Christmas is supposed to be a time for family celebration, but the Los Angeles fans who attended the event let go of traditional thinking and shared their holiday wishes for the Lakers before leaving.

The average ticket price for the Staples Center Christmas game is a whopping $260, nearly three times more expensive than a weekday ticket and five times the league average. In addition to the exorbitant ticket price, fans are also paying the price of one precious day of Christmas time, which only comes once a year.

It's fair to say that the fans didn't throw drinks onto the field, which means they drank them clean.

The Zen Master, who maintained his composure throughout the match, couldn't help but feel a headache coming on at the thought of what he would have to face afterward.

Ever since Shaq left the team, the Los Angeles media, which had been suppressed for three years due to the Lakers' poor performance, have been praising and extolling the Lakers' formation of the Big Three non-stop in the summer.

The current Lakers have a Big Three, a Shaq-Kobe team, and an MVP.

That's right, the Los Angeles media, with their overflowing sense of humor, even helped Kobe get an MVP loan.

What? Kobe's stats and record are both a level below Moriarty's?

This is where we have to praise the great sacrifice of the snail shell.

The Lakers have everything they could want right now, but what's the result?

After the first three quarters, although they failed to deliver the crushing victory they had envisioned, the Los Angeles media were actually quite satisfied. If the game continued to unfold in this manner, they would accept it regardless of the outcome.

The SuperSonics are a championship team, while the Lakers are just a newly formed Big Three. It's understandable that they need time to gel. A small loss is a win, and a small win is a big gain.

However, the Lakers' collapse in the final quarter rendered all arguments meaningless.

When the buzzer sounded, with a 22-point deficit, all the previously planned praise was rendered useless. It felt like a construction crew coming to demolish a house after a laborer had finished mopping the floor. It was hard for the Los Angeles media not to be on edge.

As expected, the Lakers' post-game press conference was filled with a variety of pointed questions.

"Coach Phil, what do you do for a living?"

"Losing by 20 points after just 10 more free throws, can the team adjust? Should we consider rebuilding?"

"Did our players go out partying last night? Their performance in the final quarter was nowhere near that of the SuperSonics."

The Zen Master is quite capable. He grasped the central theme of "a major holiday" and used the theory of "poor player performance" as the core to refute the reporters' unreasonable questions one by one. Of course, in addition to assessing the situation, the Zen Master also used the universal formula that many famous coaches use to deal with interviews after playing against the SuperSonics.

"As we all know, Mo is such a great player. In my opinion, his control of the game has surpassed that of Michael Jordan. As long as he wants to score, no one can stop him. What's even more terrifying is that he can also exert his influence on his teammates. When he gets into the zone, we have absolutely no strategy to deal with him..."

Compared to the Lakers, who were in a state of "reflection," the SuperSonics' press conference was much more relaxed. Hill had already adapted to his status and job as a renowned coach. The team's outstanding record and peaceful locker room environment meant he didn't have to worry about the traditional coaching work, so his daily routine became "talking big."

Praise Mo Wen, then praise the other players on the team; praise Mo Wen again, then praise the opponents; praise Mo Wen again, then praise yourself.

The job of a great coach is simple, unpretentious, and tedious.

As for Mo Wen, the media are tired of talking to him about basketball. When the microphone is handed to him, apart from the routine brief comments about his feelings about today's game, they spend most of the time focusing on other things.

For example, when will he marry Catherine the Great, when will he release a new song, when will Magic Shoes be restocked, and how should one view a certain rising pop star's declaration of love...

With too many endorsement contracts, Mo Wen can't act recklessly. He can only try his best to play the role that the media needs, just like Danzi.

The game started at 6 o'clock, and Mo Wen didn't finish his work until almost 9 o'clock, when he arrived at the governor's villa in Los Angeles.

Because little Catherine was pregnant, Mo Wen didn't let her go to the noisy scene, and the governor happened to be having a Christmas dinner at home.

Compared to previous gatherings, little Catherine's relatives were noticeably more enthusiastic this time. Whether in the East or the West, family members' identities and relationships are not based on marriage certificates, but on offspring.

However, Mo Wen and Xiao Catherine have recently been discussing getting their marriage certificate first. Both sets of parents do not want their eldest grandson to be an unmarried child. However, the marriage procedure in the United States is different from that in China. They need to apply for a permit first, and after obtaining the permit, they must hold a wedding ceremony and have it notarized within 180 days to be considered a legally married couple.

As the gathering drew to a close, the governor hosted a small get-together with his son-in-law and mother-in-law.

Starting in the second half of 07, the Federal Reserve's multiple interest rate cuts failed to stop the spread of the subprime mortgage crisis. The bursting of the US housing bubble was imminent. Although the subprime problem had not yet fully erupted, the upper echelons of capital and politicians already knew that a financial crisis was inevitable.

The governor was also very upset about this. His predecessor, Davis, was ousted because of his disastrous economic policies. During his first term, Davis was able to raise the banner of environmental protection and talk about political correctness, but after being ousted, he turned to the establishment and wanted to do something practical. He had previously done a fairly good job imitating Reagan, but with the financial crisis, it seemed that all his efforts were about to be wiped out.

However, the family gathering was not a place for complaining. This small gathering was to discuss how to make more money during the upcoming crisis. After all, the governor spent $3000 million of his own money to run for office, did not receive a penny of salary during his five years in office, and even suspended his lucrative acting career. This was not simply for the sake of serving the community.

Financial crises are crises for ordinary people, but opportunities for capital, just as famine years facilitate land consolidation by landlords.

How much money can you come up with right now?

Mo Wen held up four fingers, then thought for a moment and withdrew one.

"Only 3000 million? You're getting married soon. Young people should be more careful with their money after starting a family. You can ask me more questions about investments and listen less to those self-important guys bragging," the governor said earnestly.

He had heard that his son-in-law earned a lot of money, but now he could only come up with so little. It seemed that his investment had failed. After all, sports stars were notorious as easy targets in the financial world.

“I can only come up with 3 million for now. My family in China is planning to enter the real estate market, so I need to keep some aside,” Mo Wen replied with a smile.

Schwarzenegger: "?!"

Are you referring to your country's currency?

"Knife Music".

"Could it be that Nike gave you an advance on that 2 million contract?" A man next to Mo Wen, who was Mo Wen's brother-in-law, asked curiously.

"No, it's mainly my own investment returns," Mo Wen said with a smile, shaking his head.

So far, his salary and advertising revenue are less than 1.5 million, but it's hard to lose money on Transcendental Investment.

He bought Google stock at the initial offering price of $85, and sold it last month at $750. He started cashing out his shares last month and now has more cash than ever before.

3 million isn't even enough for him to pay next year's capital gains tax.

My father-in-law is right. He really needs financial advice, especially on tax avoidance. If he honestly pays taxes, he'll lose 1 million yuan. Who can stand that?

Schwarzenegger opened his mouth. He had been acting for most of his life, and only accumulated a net worth of 200 million before running for office. After taking office, he worked diligently and split the profits 30/70, which only doubled his assets in the last two years. And now you're telling me that while he was still taking performance-enhancing drugs, his eldest son-in-law earned about the same amount of money after playing basketball for four years...

He's having a bit of a headache. His eldest son-in-law is so outstanding, no wonder his second daughter is so attached to him. But how will he choose his second son-in-law in the future?

As night fell, after the party ended and they returned to Little Catherine's room, Little Tina happened to be there as well. Mo Wencai chuckled and squeezed between the two of them after locking the door behind him.

His hands deftly slipped inside the sisters' robes, but instead of the familiar soft, smooth touch, he felt the texture of another layer of clothing. "What is this, darling?" Mo Wen caught a glimpse of red in the direction of the baby's food storage.

"Surprise! How about it?" Tina said, lifting her nightgown twice to reveal a sexy Christmas limited edition red outfit underneath.

The bright red color added a touch of pink to her already fair skin. The dress was neither too long nor too short, and its position was just right, revealing her rounded upper body and ending at her pert bottom, perfectly showcasing the girl's graceful figure.

On the other side, little Catherine wasn't showing yet, but the subtle allure of a young married woman was even more captivating.

"Let's get this straight, this is Tina's idea. The doctor said I can't play along with your nonsense." Little Catherine said, but her eyes revealed both longing and struggle.

At midnight, snowflakes began to fall outside the window. Santa Claus had gone far away, but the little reindeer still had to carry the burden.

……

After the Christmas game, the SuperSonics had one more game in 2007.

The team has also entered the new year mode, with routine training and video sessions suspended. From management to coaches and players, everyone is enjoying the rare holiday time. Even the hard-working Ray Allen remembered his social role as a father and took a rare trip back to his family.

As for Mo Wen, he continued his training with unwavering self-discipline... at least that's what the reports said.

"I should let others know how you really train!" said Catherine, who was slumped on the vaulting box, wanting to observe Mo Wen's training results.

She recently wanted to write a book about how to transform a bottom draft pick into the best player in the NBA, so she was always looking for material, but it always ended up like this.

"Just write some inspirational stories as I say. I believe that most people who like to play basketball don't like reading. If your book can even save someone from eating a bucket of fried chicken, that would be a great deed."

Mo Wen has never been a fan of fitness books. The endorphins that come after hardship can't beat the dopamine that comes from playing a game. Even someone as disciplined as him couldn't resist when this little tiger girl touched his abs a couple of times. As for the others... oh, most of the other people's fitness instructors are male, so it's fine.

"To be honest, if you really want to promote your fitness philosophy, you can do what Jane Fonda did and make a series of videos, but I don't recommend you do that."

"why?"

"Because I get jealous." As she said this, Mo Wen pinched her hard.

Big Catherine winced and bared her teeth at Mo Wen, but Mo Wen knew she was probably enjoying it, otherwise she would have kicked him right now.

……

On the 29th, the SuperSonics defeated the Jazz 118-89, bringing a perfect end to 2007.

With Kirilenko out due to injury, the Jazz's other usually decent guards risked their best to defend Mo Wen, who only managed 36 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds.

Deron Williams, who used to eat, sleep, and beat Paul, experienced a pain even greater than Paul's once again.

In reality, Mo Wen did not try his best to limit him, but rejected most of his regular pick-and-roll shots, while giving him a lot of open shots that seemed to have no purpose.

Those open opportunities seemed to be deliberately given to him by Mo Wen because he was afraid that the score difference would widen too quickly. Why do I say "seemed"?

Because he dared not think about it too much.

Coach Sloan was quite relaxed about the loss, mainly because they still had Kirilenko as a variable to look forward to. Even though Kirilenko hadn't been able to contain Mo Wen well in previous encounters, he was still convinced that Kirilenko could.

Kirilenko's current position with the Jazz is awkward. He is currently the highest-paid player on the team and will remain so for the next three years, but he has never been able to integrate into Sloan's pick-and-roll system because he lacks a three-point shot and a mid-range jumper, and mainly relies on defense to maintain his presence. As the new "Black and White Duo" system with Deron Boozer matures, Sloan is increasingly reluctant to use him.

Now, the Jazz management and Sloan hope that Kirilenko can seize the opportunity to defend Morey well, so that they can market the Russian as the "Morey terminator" and then take advantage of the league's panic over Morey to get rid of him as soon as possible.

The SuperSonics' second-highest scorer in this game wasn't Ray Allen or Gay, but Millsap. Just like when he coached Millsap in the original timeline, Sloan didn't trust Millsap's three-point shooting and insisted on leaving the corner open, allowing Millsap to make all six of his shots from the corner, which made the kid go crazy. In the end, it was only because Gay couldn't stand seeing his brother driving a Range Rover to compete with him for the corner that Sloan adjusted his strategy with a dark face.

Times Square rang in the New Year, and 2008 arrived.

On the first day of the new year, the league announced the Player of the Month for December, and Mo Wen undeniably won the Western Conference Player of the Month with averages of 32.2 points, 11.6 assists, and 10.2 rebounds.

而东部的月最佳人选则是场均24.3分11篮板4助攻，带队11胜4负，正面交手干碎阿詹的米利西奇。

Larry Brown has once again been thrust into the spotlight. Player of the Month is generally considered a candidate for MVP, and Milicic's achievement means he has officially joined the MVP race, which is practically an MVP award.

The thought of losing two MVPs because of Larry Brown has made angry Pistons fans want to attack the place where Larry Brown was born.

As for his title as a championship coach, it has long been stripped away. After all, from the perspective of today's fans, that Pistons team was simply too strong. The team had an All-Star, a promising rookie like Milicic, and the best player in the league. It's no exaggeration to say that even a dog could win a championship if the coaching staff were tied up on the bench.

After receiving his award, Mo Wen led his team to victory against the Thunder that same night.

The SuperSonics' performance today was mediocre. Mo Wen's shooting percentage was unusually low, making only 8 of 20 shots, including 3 of 8 three-pointers, and he only scored 27 points including free throws.

Ray Allen seemed to be still asleep from his vacation, shooting 5-for-16 and scoring only 13 points.

Other players also had mediocre performances; apart from Tyson Chandler scoring 11 points on a layup, no one else reached double figures.

The SuperSonics won more because their opponents were more confused. Durant and David West each scored 15 points, and Aldridge's 9 points were the third highest on the team. The Thunder only scored 79 points in the whole game, making people think that the handcheck rule had been brought back.

After the game, Du Xiaoshuai was not frustrated despite losing; in fact, he was a little excited because they persevered until the final quarter, and he also saw a "real" Mo Wen.

Today, Morey showed him that catching up was possible. In those reports, highlights, and Excel spreadsheets, Morey was simply too invincible; he didn't seem like a real NBA player at all.

Remembering the jersey exchange that failed last time, Durant clutched the jersey he had just taken off and walked toward Mo Wen, who was giving a post-game interview on the sidelines.

So, what score would you give today's supersonic speed?

"10 points."

"Oh? It seems you're quite satisfied with your performance tonight."

"100 points is the maximum score".

"Huh? 10 out of 100, is it really that bad?"

"You know, our opponent tonight... is a team with great potential, while we are a championship contender. We failed to kill the game in the first quarter and even fought to the end. I really can't use any words of praise or neutrality to describe our performance tonight. To be honest, we, including me, especially me, played like crap tonight."

Durant, who was eavesdropping nearby, did not feel any joy at Mo Wen's self-deprecating remarks; instead, he felt his nose turn red.

"You call yourself dog shit, then what are we?" (End of Chapter)