Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The Timberwolves' team training hall was empty, with only Wu Dao and his trainers sweating on the court.

Although the young players of the Timberwolves also have relatively high demands on themselves, they have just won the championship and cannot quickly devote themselves to daily training like Wu Dao.

For most players, this is far from enough rest.

Everyone knows that being a player requires self-discipline, but not every NBA player who can stay in the NBA will restrain himself in this way.

In other words, most of the players are unable to withstand the rigorous training of martial arts.

If O'Neal were given the same training intensity, his ankles and knees would have been overwhelmed long ago.

Wu Dao's training today focused on shooting. Even Barkley's arrival did not make Wu Dao suspend his training.

Barkley, who originally wanted to say hello to Wudao first, saw that the players on the court ignored him, so he tactfully came to the sidelines and sat down without disturbing Wudao's training.

He misunderstood Wu Dao's purpose. He thought that Wu Dao did not stop training and greet him immediately because he wanted to give him a warning and establish his position in the team.

Barkley, who has been in the NBA for many years, naturally understands the ways of the world. As a newcomer, he has already made his position clear. Even though Wu Dao treated him like this, he sat calmly on the sidelines and watched Wu Dao train.

Just a show of force.

Then give the star player some face and quietly "enjoy" this show of power.

Wu Dao had no idea what Barkley was thinking at the moment, he just continued his training step by step.

The intensity of his shooting training is very high. After shooting from the 3-point corner on one side of the court, he will quickly move across the entire court to the corner of the other half of the court and catch the ball and shoot again in the same position.

Before every catching and shooting 3-pointer, he needs to cross the entire court.

This training method not only improves martial arts' physical fitness, but also simulates the real situation on the court to a certain extent, enhancing martial arts' ability to catch and shoot the ball and the stability of shooting under high-intensity exercise.

"Shh!"

"Shh!"

Barkley was watching the martial arts training on the sidelines. At first, he didn't take the martial arts training seriously. He just thought that the Timberwolves' young star player was just posturing and using this method to intimidate him.

But as time went by, Barkley suddenly realized that Wu Dao was really devoted to high-intensity training. Realizing this, Barkley changed his mindset, sat up straighter, and watched Wu Dao's training.

In the basketball court, from time to time, a crisp sound of the net being hit can be heard.

In such training, Wu Dao's 3-point shooting rate is very terrifying. Since Barkley sat in the rest area, Wu Dao has run back and forth more than 10 times in the court. Among more than 20 shots, only one or two were missed. The terrifying 3-point shooting stability also opened Barkley's eyes.

Barkley is most famous for his big butt, but in fact, he is also a famous bad shooter in his career. Players like him will have 2 to 3 three-point shots per game, and the hit rate of three-point shots is also poor, which can not be used as a regular weapon at all.

Barkley's position in the team and his self-confidence make him take such unreasonable shots in every game, but the person who knows his abilities best is of course himself. Although Barkley is aware that he has the ability to shoot three-pointers, he also knows that his three-point shooting percentage is not high.

For example, the 3-point shooting training that Wu Dao is doing now is not even included in his normal training.

Barkley also knew clearly that if it was himself who was training on the court at this time, he would definitely not be able to maintain the same level of shooting accuracy as Wudao.

It is very good that he can score half of the shots out of more than 20 shots. This is just on the training ground. If there are interference from defensive players on the court, his hit rate may not even reach %.

The terrifying efficiency that Wu Dao displayed during training also made Barkley secretly sigh in his heart. Wu Dao is worthy of being the most powerful offensive star in the league.

A player like Wu Dao who can shoot freely at any point on the court must work harder than other players off the court, and Barkley has witnessed it with his own eyes now.

A show of force. It was indeed a show of force.

It's just that he wasn't just pretending, but he really showed his terrifying strength in front of Barkley.

After running back and forth nearly 25 times and completing 50 shots, Barkley saw Wu Dao stop.

Wu Dao, whose jersey was already soaked with sweat, asked the assistant coaches to take a short break, and he walked slowly towards Barkley.

Seeing this scene, Barkley stood up from his seat, took off his sunglasses, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

The two were several meters apart. Wu Dao, who had suspended training, stretched out his hand early and walked towards Barkley. It was very formal and official. To be honest, black players didn't really buy into this. But at this time, Barkley also stretched out his hand early and took the initiative to walk towards Wu Dao.

"Hey! Budo! I finally see you."

"I didn't expect you to ask me to meet you at the stadium. You know, I haven't stepped foot on a basketball court since the playoffs ended."

"You are really self-disciplined! You are worthy of being the one who can lead the Timberwolves to defeat Michael Jordan."

"I'm not as good as you."

Barkley is a very sweet-talker and very humble person, without any of the airs of a veteran celebrity. When the two met for the first time, Wudao felt that Barkley was a very cheerful person.

Barkley was able to show such grace in front of a player who was more than a generation younger than him, which shows his emotional intelligence. No wonder he was able to make a living even in TNT after retirement.

Even Barkley's influence after retirement is greater than his influence as a player.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Charles."

"Actually, I didn't want to ask you to meet me at the stadium. To be honest, I knew you were coming, so I prepared a few bottles of good wine."

"But it was just a coincidence. I made an appointment with the trainer in advance before I knew you would arrive in Minnesta today."

"I haven't touched a basketball in a long time. Today I just wanted to stretch my stiff body."

Wu Dao and Barkley held hands tightly together. The two men, who had only met for a few times, were as enthusiastic as old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.

In addition to fighting on the court, Wu Dao and Barkley also had some contact before and after the All-Star Game. The All-Star Game posters and other things were taken by several people together, and the two had some communication to a certain extent.

Only Barkley himself knew how much he believed what Wu Dao said at this time, but Barkley also showed his elegant side on the surface. After a few pleasantries, the two of them became good friends. "To be honest, when Coach Philip told me that you were coming to the Timberwolves, I didn't believe it."

"I never thought I would be so lucky to play on the same court with a superstar like you, Charles. I believe that I and the players from Forest will not let you down."

Wu Dao behaved very politely, and his politeness even made Barkley feel that he came to the Timberwolves to be the boss.

However, Barkley's reaction was also very quick. During his time with the Rockets, he had already gotten used to getting along with stars of the same level.

Yes, in Barkley's eyes, Wudao, who is more than a round younger than him, is a player of the same level as him.

If we only talk about honors, Wu Dao, who has won the championship and the FMVP of the finals, is even more famous than Barkley.

Although Barkley has won many honors, the only thing he lacks is a championship.

The lack of honor also makes him inferior to Wudao. Of course, Barkley also has a great honor that Wudao does not have, the regular season MVP. Coupled with Barkley's qualifications, he feels that he is a player on the same level as Wudao.

Although Wu Dao was polite, Barkley did not respond to Wu Dao's words. Before meeting Wu Dao, Barkley had already prepared himself mentally. It would be best to confirm the priority immediately when meeting for the first time, so as to avoid conflicts later, which would affect the relationship between the two and even further affect the team as a whole:

"No, no, no, Budo, you said something wrong."

"It's you and the Timberwolves players who will satisfy me. It's me who will definitely satisfy you and the Timberwolves players."

"As I said on the phone before, I came to Minnesota and came to the Timberwolves to assist you."

"You are the best player I have ever seen. When all the rookies have not yet realized their talents, you are already the champion."

"I hope to help you and the Timberwolves win more honors, such as three consecutive championships!"

"In fact, in my opinion, three consecutive championships is not even the limit for you and the Timberwolves."

Hearing such words from Barkley's mouth shows that Barkley thinks highly of Wu Dao. Such humble attitude and flattering words also made Wu Dao stunned.

During the All-Star Game, there was no communication between him and Barkley like there is now.

At that time, Barkley still looked down upon young men like Wudao with the attitude of an elder who looked down upon them. Although the two had a brief conversation at that time, Wudao could feel that Barkley still had the arrogance of a celebrity.

But this time when he saw Barkley again, Wu Dao did not feel the so-called arrogance from Barkley at all. His relationship with Barkley also made Wu Dao feel like a spring breeze, even a person like him could not stand Barkley's flattery.

The sedan chair was carried by everyone.

Since Barkley complimented him so much, Wudao naturally praised Barkley with a smile, mentioning that Barkley once won the MVP over Michael Jordan; he also talked about Barkley's wonderful performance in the Olympics and praised Barkley as the best player in the NBA league.

Wu Dao's words explicitly or implicitly praised Barkley and stepped on Jordan.

Although Barkley knew very well that Wu Dao was complimenting him, the smile on his face never stopped when he heard this young player praising him as a better player than Michael Jordan.

When they met for the first time, the communication between the two was very pleasant.

Barkley's agent Nat Jones, who accompanied Barkley to the stadium, was also watching the two people getting along well with a smile on his face, and he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

In the public's perception, the player Wu Dao is not an easy character to get along with.

In Nat Jones's opinion, Wu Dao, who was so young, had already won the championship and MVP, so he was naturally arrogant. And judging from Wu Dao's performance on the court, this player seemed to have a prickly personality.

He played basketball irrationally; he dared to kick Karl Malone; he also dared to attack Michael Jordan.

Before the Timberwolves won the championship, Wu Dao was just a rookie, and his fame and status were not comparable to what they are now. However, he never showed mercy when facing those famous players in the NBA league.

It's hard to imagine that a person who performs like that on the court is a humble guy.
Barkley's agent Nat Jones originally thought that Barkley's biggest difficulty after joining the Timberwolves would be getting along with the Timberwolves' star player. Even if Barkley deliberately lowered his posture, if he encountered that kind of arrogant boss who pressed his limits, Barkley would probably not tolerate it given his hot temper.

But martial arts is unexpectedly reasonable.

This private meeting also completely changed Nat Jones's inherent impression of martial arts.

When Wu Dao and Barkley met for the first time, they didn't actually have much to talk about. In order to avoid embarrassment, Wu Dao invited Bagley to play two games with him.

Wu Dao is a pure person, and since both of them are basketball players, the best way to communicate is naturally basketball.

Of course, inviting Barkley to train “for fun” is the real way martial arts prepared for Barkley to show his strength.

As the leader of the Timberwolves, no matter how Buddhist his martial arts skills are, there are some things that must be fought for.

Although it can be seen from the conversation between him and Barkley that Barkley does not intend to compete with him for the position of boss.

But Wu Dao also knew clearly that how could the arrogance in the heart of a player like Barkley disappear just because of the so-called "team status"?
He didn't want to find out that Barkley didn't cooperate with him when he was on the court. Obedience in words has no meaning in martial arts. Communication between players doesn't need so many fancy words. It's enough to beat the opponent on the court.

"Practice?!"

When Barkley heard Wu Dao's invitation, he immediately agreed with a smile. In fact, when he learned that he would meet Wu Dao on the court, Barkley had already thought of this, and it was for this reason that he was wearing sportswear.

He had a one-on-one fight with Budo in the arena.

But a competition is a competition and a bullfight is a bullfight.

Barkley actually wanted to show his strength in front of Wudao. Although he recognized Wudao's status as the leader of the team, Barkley didn't want to be treated as a little brother who could be ordered around at will.

Although he is famous, Barkley also knows very well how to get along with other players.

(End of this chapter)