One Year Left to Play-Chapter 211 - 71: I Missed You So Much

"I told you that you could definitely make it to the starting lineup, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. You're really lucky. Back when I first entered the NBA, I still had Brellock as a teammate at point guard.

Do you know Brellock? He's amazing! Two years ago, he, Boggs, Stockton, and I were all competing to be the assist leader. Unfortunately, none of us could beat Stockton..."

Randy Whitman just left when a chatterbox came up next to Zhang Hao.

Kenny Anderson was much more excited than Zhang Hao.

"Yeah... starting."

When he actually started, Zhang Hao wasn't as excited as he had imagined. He felt it was only natural.

The subtitle prompt had already appeared.

"Mission: Setting Sail, Goal 1 Triggered: Special contract player Zhang Hao must achieve the highest score in the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Pistons in the regular season opener.

Mission reward: Silver Medal: Heart Return."

Looking at this mission, although it diluted the excitement of starting, it brought pressure, but Zhang Hao wasn't particularly upset about it.

The first game as a starter, will there be less starts in the future?

So his earlier desire for the debut substitute reward 'Bench Mobster' wasn't that big anymore.

"Go for it! I must aim for the best reward! It's not impossible, right? Hill isn't a star player who mainly scores, is he? Houston may not be much stronger than me; on our side... I think I can do it, so here I go!"

At this moment, Zhang Hao noticed one of his teammates was feeling really down.

...

You never understand my sorrow...

Jason Williams's current mood wasn't really that upset. Perhaps others would think he was sad, but he wasn't particularly so.

The concept of empathy is quite rare.

There was indeed a sense of sadness, but for some reason, even after a month had passed and he hadn't successfully secured a starting position, he wasn't particularly frustrated, nor was he overly jealous. He was just sad about his own abilities...

His enthusiasm was definitely low.

He had been excited about ordering some exceptional takeout for tomorrow night's post-game indulgence, but even that didn't seem appealing anymore.

Maybe by tomorrow night, his appetite will be good again, since it's recommended by his buddy Terry Mills who plays locally.

Terry Mills of the Pistons was a rookie in the same year as Jason Williams. Both were once Brooklyn Nets players and had known each other since college. Unfortunately, they never became teammates; when Terry Mills left, Jason Williams and Almon Gilliam were traded here. For the first game of the new season in Detroit, Terry Mills recommended Jason Williams his favorite store's star product.

Knowing that tomorrow night's takeout is more advanced than the other teammates', even though it's been bustling...

But which store isn't bustling?

Few people visit those with few patrons.

Jason Williams's mood suddenly brightened considerably.

Zhang Hao initially wanted to comfort Jason Williams. As he walked over, he found his expression was unpredictable, suddenly even appearing a bit sly...

Did losing the starting position mess up his mind?

Zhang Hao felt a chill run down his spine, forgetting the comforting words he had thought of just now.

At this moment, Jason Williams noticed Zhang Hao's arrival, looked at him, and suddenly remembered... tomorrow's takeout costs 500 bucks!

Jason Williams jumped up and stretched his hand towards Zhang Hao: "Pay me back! Give me my 500 bucks back!"

"What 500 bucks?" Zhang Hao was baffled.

"That time when you almost got beaten up by Auntie, I was fined 500 bucks!"

That incident... it's not that Zhang Hao forgot, he just hadn't thought of it again. He was indeed grateful to Jason Williams for standing up for him at that time, and it certainly improved his perception of Jason Williams.

So Zhang Hao spread his hands and said, "It's not like you wanted to hit me; why is your fine my concern?"

"..."

Jason Williams was momentarily speechless, feeling that Zhang Hao made a lot of sense.

Wait!

When Jason Williams felt that his intelligence seemed to have been insulted, and he came to his senses, Zhang Hao had already pulled Kenny Anderson and dashed out of the conference room.

A shrill shout came from the conference room: "Pay me back..."

...

It's absolutely impossible to pay that money back.

Why should I repay money owed through skill? Also, it's not like he, Mr. Zhang, was the only one fined for technical fouls that someone else paid for.

It's definitely not because he's stingy about those 500 US Dollars!

Since Jason Williams is still thinking about debt collection, Zhang Hao figured the opponent probably wasn't too heavily affected.

So everything is fine. The starting position is his, and would Mr. Zhang let someone else have it?

Obviously impossible.

Returning to his room, Zhang Hao didn't plan to go out for a stroll. As the saying goes, "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall." Even experienced black players did not dare to go out at night for fear of being robbed, let alone a fragile freshman like him?

He planned to read some sports medicine books for a while. Before doing so, Zhang Hao took a look at the latest ability ratings for his teammates.

Zhang Hao would check his own ability rating daily, but as for his teammates, he wouldn't notice it every day. It had been a long time since he last checked, and wow, what a surprise!

"Kenny Anderson, 25 years old, height 183 cm, weight 79 kg, ability rating 89, offense 89, defense 74, passing 94, three-pointer 82, mid-range shot 85, layup 90, strength 76, speed 95..."

Looking at Kenny Anderson's ability ratings, compared to when he first saw them, his strength decreased by 3 points, weight dropped by 9 kg, and speed increased by 4 points...

Among these, his speed, top-notch!

"This is the kind of ability rating a player averaging nearly 20+10 per game should have... This is the All-Star starter the year Jordan retired!"