The longest river

Chapter 208 Your Lean Back Has No Wine, Because It Tastes Like Rust

Yang Shuai and Rondo watched the documentary together.

The documentary begins with his conversation with Barkley at the Nike training camp.

Of course it's been edited.

Do you want to be the next Michael Jordan?

"Do not."

"I want to be the first version of myself."

After a brief opening monologue, a black screen appears, and the main feature begins.

The documentary is divided into three parts.

The first segment tells the story of his background, including his adoption and high school experiences, all the way up to his entry into the NBA.

This section includes previously unreleased footage from his high school years.

This is like throwing out a trump card right from the start, maximizing its appeal to the outside world.

To be honest, Yang Shuai was completely engrossed after watching the first part.

Because of the original owner's experiences, combined with what he accomplished in high school, this story of an ordinary person's inspirational comeback is not only the "American Dream" but also a "Chinese-style struggle."

The second segment covers Yang Shuai's ups and downs and successes after joining the Pacers.

Bird, Miller, and Byron Scott all entered the country in this segment.

They were all very enthusiastic about participating in the filming of Yang Shuai's documentary.

The only regret is that Larry Brown declined to join, just like Karl Malone declined to join the Jordan Last Dance documentary.

The third unit covers the part after Yang Shuai joined the Trail Blazers.

Compared to the first two segments, which featured elements of comebacks, this segment is clearly much grander.

Portland needs a savior, and Yang Shuai is that savior.

His arrival transformed the team's chaotic situation, shaped the team culture, and led to the most prestigious championship in NBA history.

The documentary is 105 minutes long and leaves a lasting impression, even more so than many movies.

The director of this documentary is Bud Greenspan, who specializes in sports documentary filmmaking and has won seven Emmy Awards.

Rondo made the right choice in drafting players.

Then there's the movie's name.

There are currently five names to choose from: "Beyond Jordan", "Path of Glory", "Throne of Thorns", "Proof", and "Path of Conquest".

Yang Shuai initially set his sights on "Throne of Thorns".

The name originally meant that the road he had traveled was full of thorns and hardships.

Portland is famous for its roses, and roses are all thorny.

This name is quite fitting.

But he eventually looked away from the name.

Because it is so specific, the first thing viewers will think of when they see it is roses. In comparison, it is more suitable for a documentary about him achieving greater success in Portland someday in the future.

He ultimately chose "The Road to Conquest".

He won over the fans and his opponents.

Moreover, he overcame the hardships of his childhood, conquered the NBA court, and even conquered the greatest player of this era.

This name is more fitting for the documentary.

Two weeks later, "The Road to Conquest" was officially released in theaters.

It is not limited to North America; it has also been launched simultaneously overseas, including in China.

The documentary received a huge response as soon as it was released.

Documentaries generally dare not be released in theaters because the sunk costs are too high.

However, Yang Shuai's current popularity alone is enough to attract many people to the cinema to watch.

Especially since he just finished his Asian tour, the box office revenue in Asia alone must be substantial.

Moreover, the documentary itself is of high quality, and its reputation is growing, with the number of viewers increasing day by day.

Although it's only the beginning, HARK's move into film and television has been incredibly solid.

Around this time, the preseason games of each team came to an end.

Just like last year, ESPN released a power ranking list.

In this power ranking, the defending champion Portland Trail Blazers are ranked second, while the Los Angeles Lakers are ranked first.

ESPN's reasoning is that the Lakers possess the best talent in the league, but they have consistently failed to live up to it, and Phil Jackson is the one who knows how to use the Lakers.

As for the Trail Blazers, they also gave a rather controversial reason in their analysis.

The championship in a shortened season is less prestigious.

"ESPN people are so biased."

Before training began that day, Billups held a newly published newspaper, filled with righteous indignation.

Yang Shuai's documentary has just been released, and the last segment focuses on the significance of the Trail Blazers' championship.

As a result, ESPN did this, which is practically like trying to gain negative traffic.

And it would be tolerable if the Spurs or Wizards were ranked number one, but the Lakers?

The Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by them last season, and were even beaten by 58 points!
"You know what, the Los Angeles media even invented a really interesting term for us."

Lu is still the Alliance's intelligence king; he has firsthand information on everything.

Yang Shuai didn't pay much attention when Billups was speaking, but when Billups opened his mouth, he immediately attracted Yang Shuai's attention.

The other team members in the locker room also looked at Lu with curiosity.

"Win a real ring."

(Win a real championship ring)
After Lu finished speaking, the Trail Blazers players immediately became angry.

These Los Angeles media outlets really lost both the game and their reputation.

Last season, they swept the Lakers, defeated the Spurs, and then gentlemanly swept Jordan's Wizards. Their achievements were truly remarkable.

Yang Shuai couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

He had only ever heard this phrase before when James won the bubble championship, and he never expected it to happen to him.

One reason is that uncontrollable external forces caused teams to be short-handed, resulting in a sharp drop in the overall strength of the league. The other reason is that some players lacked self-discipline during the shortened season, leading to poor performance.

These two things are not entirely unrelated, but they are completely unrelated.

"That's a good thing."

However, he then spoke up.

His words also aroused the curiosity of the other team members.

"Don't we have another reason to defend our title?"

Yang Shuai's perspective on the problem initially surprised his teammates, but after they understood, they burst into whistles and laughter.

Indeed, learning to look at problems from different perspectives can turn bad things into good things.

Of course, what Yang Shuai didn't say was that he was currently trying to find external stimuli to get into the "zone" state, and now people are coming to him without him having to do anything.

Two days later, the 1999-2000 season officially kicked off.

The Trail Blazers' opening game opponent is the Lakers.

With ESPN's previous hype, this game has become particularly anticipated.

During the open training session on the day of the match, a reporter asked Yang Shuai about ESPN's rankings.

"We all know that the championship is not determined by media votes."

If so, then James would be the true GOAT in history.

"Kobe was in excellent form during the preseason, and some people say he's already close to being a player like you. What do you think?"

Ah Dou.

To be honest, Yang Shuai didn't train with Kobe this summer, so he doesn't know how much Kobe has improved.

"I think I'll beat him to a pulp."

Yang Shuai: If I don't beat A Dou to a pulp, do you guys really think he's on par with me?

Before the competition began that evening, there was another very important part: the championship ring award ceremony.

Unlike Yang Shuai's previous ring award ceremony in Indiana, this one was quite a grand affair.

The most striking feature of this spectacle was the championship ring displayed in the center of the arena, its shimmering white light reflected in the camera lens, a testament to the numerous blue and white gemstones embedded within it.

According to Portland media, this championship ring cost as much as $50!
This was in 1999.

Moreover, it's not just the players and coaching staff who get rings; the Trail Blazers also provide a simplified version of the championship ring, costing $1,000, for everyone else involved in the team's season operations, down to the team's security and cleaning staff.

According to estimates, the Trail Blazers will spend tens of millions of dollars just on making the rings.

Allen: Everything you hear about "ritual" is created with money.

The Trail Blazers players had heard rumors from the media before the game, but when they actually saw the dazzling championship rings on display, their excitement was impossible to hide.

Especially for a rookie like Lue, last season was a shortened season, and his after-tax salary was less than $15. In the new season, it is estimated to be just over $40, which is roughly the value of this ring.

All I can say is how fortunate it is to have a boss who is both wealthy and willing to spend money.

The awards ceremony began quickly, and everyone from the management and coaching staff to the players couldn't hide their smiles when they received their championship rings.

Even Yang Shuai couldn't resist kissing the ring.

Although talking about money is vulgar, money can indeed make the same things more romantic.

These scenes made the Lakers players so envious their eyes almost pop out.

The Lakers are one of the top two highest-paid teams in the league, but even if they win the championship, there's no way they could spend that much money to build a championship ring.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Lakers: Ron Harper, Kobe Bryant, Glen Rice, A.C. Green, Shaquille O'Neal
Trail Blazers: Billups, Young, Pippen, Wallace, Sabonis

ESPN is optimistic about the Lakers, and besides Phil Jackson, another important reason is the Lakers' subsequent offseason improvements.

When Jackson joined the Lakers, he also brought Ron Harper, the former starting point guard for the Bulls, with him to replace Derrick Harper, who retired after the end of last season.

Furthermore, they also strengthened their power forward position with the nickname "Iron Man," AC Green, the one who held a Bible and kept women out of the door.

The Lakers have undergone a complete overhaul from top to bottom compared to last season.

Of course, the most crucial factor was O'Neal. After a series of defeats, O'Neal really learned from his mistakes during the offseason and worked hard to lose 20 pounds.

He is now truly strong, with both weight and physical strength, looking just like a "diesel engine".

This change was immediately apparent after the opening.

O'Neal beat Sabonis in the jump, and then, once in the frontcourt, he dominated Sabonis with a quick hook shot for a score.

With a perfect combination of power and skill, O'Neal looks to be at his peak this season.

Moreover, the Lakers started with the triangle offense, which widened the offensive space on the strong side, making it more difficult for the Trail Blazers to double-team O'Neal.

Phil Jackson brought more than just Harper to the Lakers; he also brought his golden partner, Tex Winter, the mastermind behind the triangle offense.

On the defensive end, Harper and Green also demonstrated their full potential.

After the Lakers traded Jones last season, Kobe had to take on more defensive duties, which limited his offensive output.

Now that Harper has arrived, that task can be given to Harper.

As for Green, although he doesn't have the same shooting range as Horry, he is better at physical confrontations than Horry, and his movement speed is not slower than Horry's.

This characteristic prevents him from becoming a weak point for opponents in the low post, and he can also protect O'Neal by switching defenses with him.

Yang Shuai's choice was to dribble and break through directly.

Harper's advantage lies in his size. As a point guard, he is 1.96 meters tall with shoes on, which means that even when he is mismatched against a shooting guard, he will not be at a disadvantage when defending against post-ups.

However, the biggest difference between Yang Shuai and shooting guards of this era is that he does not primarily rely on back-to-the-basket offense.

Harper was a star player with the Cavaliers and Clippers, but became a role player with the Bulls, not because he had a good overall view or was willing to sacrifice for the team, but because his knees were failing.

前一个赛季场均还能贡献20分6板4.6助攻1.9抢断的他，到了公牛队之后场均只有6.9分2.3板2助攻（乔丹赛季末才复出）。

Yang Shuai was targeting this point: Harper's knee injury affected his ability to break through defenses and limited his lateral movement speed.

Yang Shuai's crossover dribble after closing in directly bypassed his defense.

Then, after Green came up to help defend, he passed the ball to Wallace, who caught it on the baseline and drained a mid-range shot.

Yang Shuai's level of importance and playing style differed significantly between playing against the Chinese national team and the Lakers.

After scoring, Yang Shuai turned to look at Jackson on the Lakers' bench.

Jackson is indeed much better than players like Rambis, but can he change O'Neal's weaknesses on the defensive end?

As long as the Lakers still have Shaquille O'Neal, he will always be the Trail Blazers' weak point on the court.

Five minutes into the game, the score was tied at 12.

Yang Shuai's current playing style is the same as his "championship mode" from back then; he starts by getting his teammates into the game.

However, the Trail Blazers really didn't have many options on the defensive end against Shaquille O'Neal at his peak.

The game has only just begun, and the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy isn't working well yet.

At this moment, Yang Shuai turned his gaze to Kobe.

Before the game, a reporter said that Kobe was on the same level as him, but he had never seen Kobe demonstrate that skill.

Yang Shuai and Pippen switched on defense.

"Ah Dou, you gave it your all to make it into the starting lineup, just so you could run back and forth on the field?"

After the switch, he immediately increased the intensity on Kobe.

Upon hearing this, Kobe leaned against Yang Shuai and reached out for the ball.

Unlike last season's offseason, Kobe spent the entire offseason this season in the training facility.

He's such a competitive person, and the fighting spirit he showed after being swept one after another was no less than that of Shaq.

Moreover, after a summer of rigorous training, he is very confident in his current strength.

Kobe successfully received the ball and launched an attack the instant he received it.

His speed was much faster than Yang Shuai had expected.

Moreover, his choice was very decisive. After breaking through, he drove to the free-throw line and immediately executed a big step-back fadeaway. Yang Shuai seized the opportunity to lunge, but Kobe clearly anticipated it, and his fadeaway was accompanied by a drift, allowing him to completely avoid Yang Shuai's interference.

The basketball flew through the air in a super high parabola.

"Shh!"

Then it fell straight into the net bag.

A commotion immediately broke out at the scene.

Kobe actually scored against Yang Shuai one-on-one!

Kobe was quite excited after scoring, and put his hand to his mouth to make a "shush" gesture to Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.

He really underestimated Kobe.

The Trail Blazers' offense saw Yang Shuai continue to break through Harper's defense.

But unlike before, this time he did not choose to pass the ball to his teammates.

After encountering Green's help defense, he changed direction twice and broke into the three-second zone, raising his knee against O'Neal's huge body, and executed a "horseback shot".

With his improved jumping ability and larger physique, Yang Shuai's release point was incredibly high, making it impossible for O'Neal to stop him.

"Shh!"

The basketball fell into the net with pinpoint accuracy, as if it were equipped with a tracking device.

Answerball!

The stadium was instantly filled with cheers from the fans.

And the cheers from the fans never subsided.

In the next round, although Yang Shuai did not speak again, he waved to Kobe, signaling him to continue.

Kobe readily accepted the challenge.

After scoring a goal against Yang Shuai, he is now bursting with confidence.

The crowd began to boo.

Yang Shuai and Kobe have so much in common, and their rivalry is the biggest highlight besides Jordan and Yang Shuai.

Kobe once again opted for a back-to-the-basket spin move.

Clearly, a large part of his technical moves are imitations of Jordan's.

However, Yang Shuai was clearly more focused this time, and he was very familiar with this style of play.

So when Kobe took another step back and made a jump shot, Yang Shuai had already taken a step forward and jumped to block the ball.

Kobe was forced to increase the angle of his backstep, and he managed to avoid Yang Shuai's block.

Kobe must have really been working out his back this summer.

The basketball eventually passed Yang Shuai's fingertips, but after being strongly interfered with by Yang Shuai, the shot was obviously a bit short.

"when!"

The basketball bounced off the front edge of the rim, and Kobe's shot ultimately missed.

The ball had a high arc and bounced far, and Pippen caught it in one go.

The Trail Blazers capitalized on the opportunity to launch a fast break, and Yang Shuai received a pass from Pippen and immediately unleashed his signature tomahawk dunk, igniting the entire arena.

After Kobe made that fadeaway jumper, Yang Shuai scored 4 points in a row.

The camera focused on Phil Jackson on the sidelines.

Clearly, Kobe's one-on-one play helped the Trail Blazers break the deadlock on the court.

Jackson didn't move; he wasn't the type of coach who micromanaged.

However, Winter, who was standing next to him, got up and signaled to Harper to continue using O'Neal's low-post tactics.

O'Neal received the ball in the low post and drove hard, drawing Sabonis' second personal foul.

Carlisle replaced Sabonis with Barkley and also replaced Pippen with Walter Williams.

With Barkley joining, Carlisle has more leeway in player rotation and no longer needs to make substitutions at set times as he did last season.

Yang Shuai didn't go to the free throw line at this moment, but chatted with Kobe outside the three-point line.

"You've improved a lot since last season."

Yang Shuai rarely praised Kobe so much.

Kobe's lips curled up in a smile as he was praised; the shot he had just made against Yang Shuai had given him a lot of confidence.

"But Phil doesn't seem to trust you very much. He stopped letting you continue after you only missed one shot. I was thinking of continuing to compete with you."

As soon as Yang Shuai finished speaking, Kobe's upturned lips instantly disappeared.

What Yang Shuai didn't know was that Jackson and Kobe didn't get along well after Jackson joined the Lakers.

When Jackson first arrived in Los Angeles, Kobe was not there, but he still bought a copy of Jackson's "The Sacred Hoop" and went to visit Jackson at his hotel in Los Angeles.

He had thought it would be a heartfelt exchange between master and apprentice, but instead, his enthusiasm was met with indifference.

Jackson didn't seem to like him much.

Later, a rumor circulated in Los Angeles media that Jackson did not trust Kobe and hoped that the management could trade Pippen to the Lakers.

However, what strained the relationship between the two was that Jackson set up a team hierarchy system according to his own methods after the start of training camp.

Just as Jordan wielded absolute power with the Bulls, O'Neal was given the same authority by Jackson.

This was the driving force behind O'Neal's weight loss and dedication to Jackson this season, but it also made Kobe extremely angry because it cut off his chance to become the Lakers' leader.

In contrast, Kobe preferred Winter, who had a grandfatherly kindness and gentleness that made him his "Master Yoda." If possible, he would like Winter to be the Lakers' head coach.

However, Kobe has no say in the matter of being the head coach now.

O'Neal missed both free throws.

He has improved in all aspects this season, except for his free throws.

Especially when facing the Trail Blazers, painful memories of last season's playoffs seemed to uncontrollably surface in his mind.

However, he was the first to rush into the paint, grab the offensive rebound, and then slam dunk the ball into the basket.

When it comes to motivating superstars, Phil Jackson is second to none; no other coach dares to claim the top spot.

16 square meters.

It's hard to say whether the Lakers are stronger than the Trail Blazers, but their strength has clearly improved significantly compared to last season.

Yang Shuai arrived at the frontcourt and started running pick-and-rolls with Barkley.

Although Barkley wasn't as big as Sabonis, his agile physique gave Harper a hard time.

Yang Shuai seized the opportunity to quickly break through on the right flank.

Surprisingly, O'Neal displayed his leadership by lunging directly at Yang Shuai to defend him.

Although it was difficult to truly stop Yang Shuai, he bought Harper time to help defend.

However, just as Harper was about to get into position to cover, Yang Shuai had already thrown the ball out.

Barkley immediately rolled to the basket after the pick-and-roll, and after receiving the pass from Yang Shuai, he lightly jumped and responded with a powerful two-handed dunk.

Although he's getting old and has a lot of injuries that won't heal, he can still put on a show in a 1-on-0 situation.

Yang Shuai high-fives Barkley while retreating on defense.

He had already sensed it during the preseason; perhaps it was a connection off the court, but they had an innate understanding on the court.

However, after high-fiving Barkley, he realized that Kobe had Harper pass him the ball from the backcourt, and then he quickly advanced the ball himself.

Then, when they got to the frontcourt, Kobe didn't run the triangle offense. Instead, he signaled to spread out and go one-on-one.

Yang Shuai could only silently give Kobe a thumbs up for his actions.
"Ah Dou, well done! You didn't embarrass us high school students!"

Then he became extremely focused, ready to continue fulfilling his pre-game promise to crush Kobe.

This time, Kobe opted for a direct face-up attack.

His current technical characteristics are modeled after Jordan, but his style is similar to Yang Shuai's, mainly focusing on face-up drives.

Kobe's first step was very explosive, and his ability to stop abruptly after a change of direction was also excellent.

His abilities have all improved significantly over the past summer.

It's no exaggeration to say that Pippen will have a very difficult time stopping Kobe this season.

Unfortunately, Kobe was facing Yang Shuai instead of Pippen, and Yang Shuai was improving as Kobe improved.

Kobe's sudden stop and shot was once again strongly interfered with by Yang Shuai.

Kobe once again demonstrated his core strength in mid-air, twisting his waist and pulling back to avoid Yang Shuai's interference.

Longtime fans who have watched Yang Shuai play for years will definitely recognize this move, as Michael Jordan once made a similar move while being defended by Yang Shuai.

Unfortunately, Kobe's waist was still not as good as Jordan's.

"when!"

Kobe's difficult shot missed again.

After making his first shot under Yang Shuai's defense, Kobe missed two consecutive fadeaway shots!

This time, Buck used his big butt to block O'Neal and secure the defensive rebound.

The Trail Blazers launched another fast break, with Yang Shuai drawing the defense on the fast break and then assisting Walter Williams to hit a three-pointer.

With Kobe Bryant missing several shots, the Trail Blazers capitalized on Kobe's poor shooting to launch a series of fast breaks and begin to build a lead.

Phil Jackson's brow furrowed involuntarily.

This time, instead of sitting, he stood up, put his two little fingers in his mouth, and whistled.

This is a habit of Jackson's, roughly equivalent to Popovich's roar or D'Antoni's shout, serving as a reminder to the players on the court.

However, Kobe chose to ignore Phil Jackson's warning.

Yang Shuai's previous words reminded Kobe of many things.

Like other teams, the Lakers also have their own opening ceremony dinner, except that it's held as a players' meeting.

After being given unparalleled power, O'Neal finally expressed his true feelings. He said a lot at that meeting, but it all boiled down to one sentence: If Kobe had stayed with the Lakers, the Lakers would never have won a championship.

Phil Jackson did not punish O'Neal for his actions, as if he had tacitly accepted that what O'Neal said was true.

So Kobe reverted to being himself, realizing that what you can't have, you can't ask for; you can only strive for it with all your might.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Kobe continued to drive to the basket, and this time he was more determined than ever before.

He was like someone carrying a bomb, charging headlong into the enemy's position without hesitation.

Unfortunately, his determination still couldn't free him from Yang Shuai.

Even though he had already jumped first.

However, Yang Shuai, who was much larger, completely blocked his shooting space, and he could only dodge and lean back to shoot by forcibly pulling the lever in mid-air.

From an entertainment perspective, Kobe's gliding and dodging maneuvers were so beautiful that they made you want to applaud.

But it's too difficult to score with that kind of shot.

"when!"

The basketball bounced off the edge of the rim and bounced out again.

Kobe took four shots in front of Yang in the first quarter, but missed three of them!
The first goal gave Kobe a glimmer of hope, but a series of missed shots pulled him out of his reverie.

After landing, Kobe quickly jumped again to try and put the ball back in, but Yang Shuai beat him to it and swished the ball in.

The stadium was instantly filled with cheers from Portland fans.

Kobe has visibly improved, but it's wishful thinking to think he can gain an advantage over Yang Shuai head-on.

Perhaps Yang Shuai's hobby, besides eating and sleeping, could also include playing with beans!

The Lakers' defensive transition was quite fast this time, because once they saw Kobe drive in, the Lakers players knew the shot was likely lost.

Both sides transitioned to half-court offense, with Yang Shuai continuing to run pick-and-rolls with Barkley.

This time he went to the free throw line.

O'Neal didn't dare to rush out again, but Yang Shuai was immediately met with Kobe's help defense as soon as he drove in.

Obviously, Kobe doesn't have the ability to teleport; he simply left his defender behind to come and help defend.

Or, to put it another way, this is what the media calls "the player who chases the ball," meaning a player who prefers to leave his defender behind and then make a steal in order to get an open fast break dunk opportunity.

This approach isn't entirely wrong, because it's essentially a way to increase defensive intensity.

However, doing so is risky, as it could easily give the opponent an opening to break down the defense.

In other words, you need to assess the situation on the field before making a choice.

For example, whether the player you are double-teaming has the ability to quickly pass the ball, whether the player you are guarding has the ability to shoot from the outside, and even whether they communicate with their teammates in advance to rotate and help defend.

Kobe was clearly not thinking that much at that moment; he was just trying to redeem himself after missing a series of shots.

Then, Yang Shuai seized the opportunity.

Actually, if Pippen were still on the court right now, Kobe's choice would have been good, because Pippen's outside shooting ability is extremely inconsistent at the moment.

But just now, when O'Neal was shooting free throws, Pippen had already been substituted by Williams, and Williams made a three-pointer right after coming in.

So this choice ultimately turned out to be very foolish.

Yang Shuai passed the ball steadily to Williams.

Before the other Lakers players could react, Williams got a wide-open shot.

He made a slight adjustment and then took a three-pointer.

"Shh!"

The basketball hit the net again.

Although he is not well-known, he is practically the Portland version of Steve Kerr.

24:16.

The point difference on the court is already heading towards double digits.

Phil Jackson finally reached out and called a timeout.

Smelling the selfish stench mingled with the metallic scent of rust in the air, even he, who never liked pausing, couldn't stand it anymore.

(End of this chapter)