In fact, like Xu Yong before, because of long-term training and games, there is no time to fall in love, which is very common in the NBA.

You have to know that this is the highest level of basketball in the world, and the level of competition is far from being comparable to other leagues.

But people are not machines after all, and in order to alleviate the pressure caused by this high-pressure life, many people will choose to have some pets.

The more common ones are, like cats and dogs, Clay Thompson's dog, and Stoudemire wants to keep some fish.

Of course, more people still like to raise some alternative and unpopular, such as Danny Green's python, Arenas's shark, Gortat's piglets, and so on.

But most of those are still artificially controllable, but the two big guys in front of them, or the big cats, look domineering and leaky, and they are a perfect match for O'Neill.

Xu Yong knew only one of the two big cats, a white Bengal white tiger, and another he didn't recognize.

"It's Charles." O'Neill apparently has a soft spot for the other one, and introduces it to Xu Yong.

"Prince Charles?" Xu Yong asked tentatively.

"No, no, Charles Barkley, that's its name." O'Neill explained with a smile.

Perhaps hearing his name, the tiger opened its mouth and barked.

"What kind of tiger is it?" Xu Yong was immediately happy when he heard this, and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"There are only two ligers in the world, one is with me and one is with the prince of Dubai."

Xu Yong looked puzzled, what is the lion and tiger beast? Does this sound like the name of Yu-Gi-Oh?

"When a male tiger mates with a lioness, the offspring produced is called a tiger lion, and the offspring produced by a tigress mating with a male lion is called a liger." O'Neill said as he started feeding it with meat.

Xu Yong was stunned when he heard it.

He knew that a mule could be obtained by crossing a horse with a donkey, but he really didn't know that a tiger and a lion would give him.

But this tiger is a crossbreed, also called Barkley, how can he think O'Neill is a little distracted.

When the two tigers were fed, a professional caretaker went over to put a chain and protective gear on Buckley, and then let him out for a walk.

Barkley is still very pro-O'Neal, and when he comes out, he rubs his head against O'Neal, and it seems that O'Neal should have been raised from childhood.

And after walking around the yard, it ran to Xu Yong's side with interest and sniffed.

Xu Yong's heart was a little hairy, although these two big cats should not be adults, but they were really out of control, and Wu Song could not be summoned in this place.

O'Neill was also very hospitable, and left Xu Yong to have a barbecue in the yard.

This wave has brought the relationship between the two a lot closer.

"I have a chef cook Chinese food for me now, and you can come and try it tomorrow morning." The Chinese are courteous, and Xu Yong also sent an invitation to O'Neill after eating.

O'Neill nodded without hesitation.

Early the next morning, as soon as Xu Yong finished training before breakfast, O'Neill rang the doorbell.

Because there is a daily training this morning, O'Neill will definitely get up early, but this time he stepped on the point, O'Neill is obviously a foodie now.

Like NBA players, they generally control their diet, but everyone eats differently, basically just avoid pork, high-fat and high-sugar foods.

Like the average NBA player, the staple food will generally be fried rice, beef, salad, etc., and the vegetables will include tomatoes, beans, broccoli, carrots, etc., and then there will be chicken breast, salmon, squid, eggs and other high-protein foods.

You must know that the energy consumed by NBA players every day is very huge, and O'Neal's size has to eat five meals a day.

Xu Yong's words, because he is gaining weight, actually eats a lot every day, but many of the recipes that Grover set for him are Chinese food.

For example, I had breakfast here.

In addition to eggs, there are also special foods that Xu Yong invited O'Neill to taste.

Looking at the white food in front of him, which looked like cheese and water, O'Neill's eyes were full of curiosity.

"This is tofu?" Fortunately, O'Neill has also seen the world.

"Tofu's brain." Xu Yong said jokingly.

O'Neill was a little confused.

"Just kidding, it's called tofu brain, a semi-finished product before it is made into tofu, do you want to eat sweet or salty?" Xu Yong then asked.

"Doesn't it have to be cooked?" O'Neill wasn't so sure.

Xu Yong shook his head, it sounded like O'Neill should have eaten tofu elsewhere before.

"Sweet." O'Neill finally made his choice.

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then couldn't help laughing.

"What's wrong?" O'Neill looked confused.

"It's fine." Xu Yong smiled and added sugar to the tofu brain.

Generally speaking, those who eat sweet tofu brains are heretical.

O'Neill took the sweet tofu brain and ate it, and his eyes lit up at the first bite he took in his mouth.

Tofu brain is tender and smooth, but it's not cloudy like cheese, and it's a very refreshing thing.

If it is sweet, it does not add any seasoning, which best reflects this quality.

In the blink of an eye, the small bowl of tofu brain was completely eaten up by O'Neill.

For a person who drinks mineral water as if it were oral liquid, it is really too little.

O'Neill then turned his gaze to the bowl in front of Xu Yong, who had already begun to add ingredients to it.

Sesame oil, soy sauce, dried shrimp, balsamic vinegar, peanuts, chili, chives, ......

Salted tofu brain, that's the taste of normal people.

Just as Xu Yong finished the seasoning and was about to eat it, he noticed O'Neill's longing eyes.

He put down the spoon and asked with a smile, "Would you like to try the salty ones?" ”

O'Neill smiled and nodded.

For first-time attempts, the distinction between a "sweet party" and a "salty party" may not yet exist.

Xu Yong pushed the one in front of him over, he often eats it, and he doesn't care about this bowl.

O'Neill happily took it, and then quickly tried.

His expression was very strange when he fed it to his mouth, as if he had eaten something familiar but not the same.

However, he quickly took the second bite, and then he couldn't stop as if he had chewed Xuanmai, and in a short time he finished the bowl as well.

And he still couldn't get enough of picking up the bowl and drinking the remaining soup in the bowl at all, and finally even gave Xu Yong a thumbs up.

"This first bite is amazing, but I don't feel much after eating it, it may be like this for sweets, but this, the first taste is a little special, but I can't stop eating too much, I like this." O'Neill said as he pointed to the salted tofu brain he had just eaten.

Seeing this, Xu Yong stretched out his hand and smiled and bumped fists with him: "We are the same kind of people. ”

"Can I come and eat this every morning?" O'Neill asked with some unfinished thinking when he saw that there was no more on the table.

"It's a reward, a reward after training in the morning." Xu Yong explained.

"You train every day before breakfast?" O'Neill looked a little surprised.

"My trainer is Tim Grover." Xu Yong used an explanation that O'Neill would most acceptable.

O'Neill suddenly realized, then nodded with a smile.

In fact, whether it is as an opponent or a teammate, Xu Yong gives him a very incredible feeling.

Kobe, who is still sitting on the bench in the second year, will definitely not be able to compare with Xu Yongbi, and if he feels the most similar, it has to be his teammate "Penny" Hardaway on the Magic team back then.

Before the injury, of course.

Now it seems that Xu Yong really responded to that sentence: I'm not afraid that others are more talented than you, but I'm afraid that talented people will work harder than you.

It is really not surprising that Xu Yong was able to play such a performance in the first two years of his career.

"So if I train with you in the morning, can I get a reward like this?" O'Neill asked with a smile.

Xu Yong didn't expect O'Neill to ask like this, but O'Neill's question made him touch his chin with interest.

O'Neal's injury problem is actually a big concern for the Bulls.

Although the Heat won the Christmas game, his absence had a big impact on the game.

Because if O'Neal plays, he and Yao Ming take turns hammering the Heat's interior line, and Spoelstra is estimated to be forced to give up his defensive tactics without half time.

But now O'Neal has begun to hang up the exemption card, and if he can't play a high-intensity game due to injury like the Celtics in history, the Bulls' loss will be great.

So train with him, control your weight a little, maintain a competitive state in the regular season, and have the strength to fight in the playoffs?

That sounds pretty good.

Just like only the national team can make Yao Ming change his mind, for O'Neill now, only the food he is interested in can give him some motivation.

"Of course you can, and I can let you try the others if I have the chance, but if you miss training, then the reward will be gone." Xu Yong said with a smile.

O'Neill smiled and reached out to touch his fist with Xu Yong, and the two reached an agreement.

……

The Christmas offseason isn't over yet, and voting for the first round of voting for the new year's All-Star Game has begun.

This year's All-Star Game was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the voting willingness of American fans was still relatively high.

However, it is clear that the main force of this year's vote is not on the side of the United States, but on the other side of the ocean.

The Bulls are now the league's No. 1 team, holding the Heat Big Three in the East, and the league holding the defending champion Lakers.

To paraphrase the words of some domestic fans: This year, the Bulls are absolutely all-star three starters, and I said, even if the king of heaven is here.

This is really not a boast, and when the first round of voting came out a few days later, at the end of December, American fans said they were stunned.

The person who became the king of the first round of votes, yes, is Xu Yong.

Xu Yong received 1.12 million votes, the only player among all players to get more than one million votes in the first round.

Yes, even though the NBA has many restrictions on votes in China, Xu Yong still easily broke one million.

In comparison, Kobe Bryant, who ranked third, only got 730,000 votes.

And James, who was voted second among the Eastern forwards, only got 540,000 votes, not even half of Xu Yong's votes.

This is Xu Yong's popularity today.

This is already the momentum of Grant Hill when he pressed Jordan to be the league vote king.

Even with this posture, Xu Yong may have broken the all-star vote king's vote record.

This is the real popularity and value, not the business value that only exists in theory like other people.

This wave can only say that the Bulls and AJ have made a lot of money.

In addition to Seo, Rose also topped the Eastern Conference guard list with 600,000 votes.

Yao Ming received 850,000 votes, the first center in the East and the second-most player after Xu Yong.

……

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another month has passed.

This past month, as last year, American fans have protested against the vote of Chinese fans and canvassed for players in the United States.

But in the end, as it did last year, it didn't change anything.

Because Stern's attitude is firm, although he is angry with Yao Ming's decision, he will not get along with money;

Second, the Bulls' performance this year, especially after entering January, is still stable and rising, shouldn't they get so many votes?

So when the four rounds of voting are over and the results come out, there are only two words for Bulls fans to feel: comfortable.

Xu Yong, got 4.02 million votes!

He not only broke Howard's record of 3.15 million votes two years ago, but also raised the record to an order of magnitude.

He averaged 24 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks per game before the voting results this year, shooting 50.8% from the field and 40.5% from three-point range, plus his style of play and popularity in China.

It can't hold this number of votes at all!

Rose also received 1.9 million votes and was selected as the starting guard in the East along with Wade.

Yao Ming received 2.9 million votes second only to Xu Yong and was successfully elected as the starting center in the East.

Howard also got about 1.9 million votes, but with Yao Ming in his hand, he not only lost the vote king, but also had to experience the feeling of not being a divisional All-Star starter anymore, just like O'Neal back then.

Final All-Star starter results, West: Paul, Kobe, Durant, Anthony, Noah;

East: Rose, Wade, Xu Yong, James, Yao Ming.

And shortly after the voting results came out, the coach also selected the substitute lineup.

West: Westbrook, Deron Williams, Ginobili, Nowitzki, Duncan, Griffin, Gasol

East: Rondo, Pierce, Joe Johnson, Garnett, Bosh, Stoudemire, Howard

However, after this list came out, Xu Yong had something worth paying attention to.

In the endorsement contract he signed with AJ, there was a bonus of 4 million.

In his rookie season, because he won the best rookie, that year's bonus was triggered.

But this year, the conditions for him to get the reward are more complicated, but there is one that is the fastest and most convenient.

That's right, All-Star Game MVP.

It's the last day of the month, don't forget to vote for the brothers who have a monthly pass, thank you

(End of chapter)