Rukawa Kaede.

For the entire 48 minutes of the game, this guy didn't even get a second of playing time, so much so that Sakuragi, who was focused on the game, forgot that he still had a companion on the opposing team.

"Ha......" Sakuragi Hanamichi wanted to laugh, but after laughing, he found that his voice was a little hoarse, and after a little pause, he smiled really embarrassedly: "Please eat?" ”

"Just don't drink, the team has a plane for tomorrow morning."

"Speak like you've drunk." Sakuragi Hanamichi finally really laughed, and put up the packed bag: "Let's go, I know a very good sushi restaurant!" ”

Inviting Rukawa Kaede to dinner is something Sakuragi Hanamichi has been thinking about for a long time, and in the half year of Lakeside High School, he has eaten a lot of Rukawa Kaede's breakfast for nothing.

It's a pity that when he got his first salary, this guy had already gone to Charlotte City, where North Carolina and Washington are located in the extreme west and east, and this is the first time the two have met since the draft.

There are many sushi restaurants in Seattle, and the names are very simple, either Japanese restaurants or sushi, which is simply the English translation of sushi.

The external environment looks no different from the street shops in Japan, and the Japanese are quite confident in this regard, neither engaging in flashy gimmicks, but also daring to open such small shops on the side of the road on the most expensive section of the city center.

The two ordered something and sat down, and the familiar Japanese restaurant made both of them find a rare tranquility in this bustling foreign land.

Sakuragi has very few words, although it is a happy thing to reunite with old friends after a long absence, but now he is really not in the mood to recall the good things of the past, and he has no idea of chatting.

So he was basically listening to Rukawa Kaede, and Rukawa Kaede didn't have any polite jokes between his parents and some friends, and he was nothing more than calmly talking about his situation in Charlotte Bobcats during this time.

"The environment is much worse than I thought, and the NBA is not the carefree school we used to be......"

I haven't seen him for a few months, but Rukawa Kaede, who is only in his early 18s, has already grown a shallow beard, and the whole person looks a lot haggard and mature, as if he is in his early twenties.

"At the beginning of the season, I still had an average of ten minutes per game, bench, no one paid attention, outside projection was rarely targeted, and I scored 12 points in a single game in the second game, but that day, a few black people on the team gave me an excuse to celebrate and go to a bar to play together, and then called a lot of women, opened a lot of good drinks, and spent about 200,000 dollars, but in the end they wanted me to pay, so I naturally left...... Hehe, now that I think about it, my personality is a little too straight, and after that, no one passed the ball to me anymore. ”

"Actually, I know that even if I paid at that time, they would still be xenophobic, but it should be a little more slow, maybe when I don't have the money to pay, then maybe I can play a statistic that other teams can look at first, but it's a pity that ......" Rukawa Kaede said with a smile: "After that, my data began to plummet, and the playing time naturally continued to decrease, and I couldn't even play in the last two games." ”

"A new team that was formed in a hurry, the owner was a black man with a mouth full of trains, the coach was black, and the teammates around were all black, and they didn't think the same way as we did, brutal, brutal, and their world was full of sex and violence, not the pure basketball we dreamed of...... Victory is not the only goal they pursue, it is difficult to fit into the ......"

"Do you have any plans?" Sakuragi asked.

"Not yet, I can only take one step at a time." Rukawa Kaede paused, smiled and looked at the silent Sakuragi Hanamichi, and changed the subject: "I don't know much about the situation inside your supersonics, but recently I heard rumors that you seem to be planning to make a deal with the Grizzlies?" ”

Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded: "There is a possibility that I will be sent away." ”

"Guess what, I've been watching your game."

"Actually," Rukawa Kaede laughed, looked into Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes, and said slowly: "Saying so much just wants to tell you, no matter what happens, cheer up, don't leave here easily, and don't let yourself be sent away easily, the outside world is much colder than you imagined......"

"I'm not afraid of the cold." Sakuragi Hanamichi quickly picked up the conversation, and looked at Rukawa Kaede in the eyes, and his eyes were no longer moist and cowardly when he was on the court before: "I'm just afraid of losing everything here." ”

Rukawa Kaede was stunned and laughed.

"Then try to face it instead of worrying about it." He raised the teacup on the table and said with a smile: "The game between the guys and the Cavaliers the day after tomorrow, I will watch the broadcast in Charlotte, your draft pick is higher than mine, if you preempt me in a worse environment and become the first Japanese player to be swept away by an NBA team, it will be a big shame!" ”

Sakuragi Hanamichi was stunned, and Rukawa Kaede was waiting for him with a teaglass.

"Hahaha! Don't dream about you! Sakuragi Hanamichi finally laughed, and tears came out of her eyes...... However, his demeanor suddenly became a lot more relaxed in an instant, and he also picked up the teacup on the table, as if he had regained his former activity, and shouted, "How can I lose to you?" I'm a genius! ”

Boom!

The two teacups collided, making a splash of water.

………………

- On December 8th, the SuperSonics will host the Cleveland Cavaliers!

- A fateful showdown, from the Nike Summit to the NBA regular season!

- The battle between the champion and the leader!

- The Super Dark Horse Knight, who has won sixteen consecutive victories, and the SuperSonics who has won eight consecutive victories after Nirvana's rebirth, who will be the final winner!

In the past two days, Seattle has undoubtedly been surrounded by all kinds of warm-ups and propaganda for the battle between the SuperSonics and the Cavaliers, and all kinds of propaganda posters have filled the streets and alleys and local mainstream media, and almost the entire city is watching this battle.

Frankly speaking, although Seattle is a big city, although there are many die-hard supersonic fans, but to be honest, compared to the city's other sports representative, the Seahawks, the supersonic are undoubtedly much less famous and influential, so that the basketball market is actually not big.

It's not that Seattleites don't like basketball, it's just that they prefer American football right now.

Compared with the superSonics' record in the NBA in recent years, the Seahawks invited Mike Hoimgren, a famous coach who had won the 31st Super Bowl in the past two years, to win the division championship.

Frankly, basketball is on the verge of death in Seattle, but it's just a niche crowd who like it.

And the streets are all over the street to promote a regular season game, and the last time this happened was back in the Finals with the Bulls in '96.

This is obviously due to the fact that Lin Dong has set off various hot topics in the United States in Seattle and even Washington State since he joined Lakeside High School.

After all, he is a media darling, as long as it is related to Lin Dong, there are people who watch it, so it is reported so much that even Seattleites who don't watch basketball know that there is such an Asian celebrity who plays basketball and lives in the same city as him.

And now the battle with the Cavaliers has attracted the attention of the national basketball community, and the media has seized on various hot topics and gimmicks to operate fiercely, making Seattle's somewhat cold basketball market become hot again, which is naturally logical.

The tickets for the 10,000 seats in the Key Arena were sold out early.

Many ticket sellers have put out tickets on the Internet that have exceeded the original ticket price by more than two or three times, but they are still sold out as soon as they are put on the shelves, and the supply exceeds the demand.

Frankly speaking, except for the Seattlemen who support the home team, there are really few people in the national basketball world today who are optimistic about this bumpy supersonic team at the start of the game.

Although the SuperSonics currently have an eight-game winning streak, after all, everyone knows that their eight-game winning streak is a weak team, and the advantages and disadvantages of run-and-bomb tactics have long been known in the entire league, and the Cavaliers are now known as the top interior double-tower combination in the East, and it is a lineup that naturally restrains run-and-bomb tactics, plus the Wizards who have just won with Yao Ming and Jordan, so that the momentum of this Cavaliers is as good as the sky.

So all parties predicted that the two sides would open three seven, the supersonic three, and the knight seven!

After all, it is the attention of the whole United States now, which casts a layer of color on this regular season that is not quite the same as ordinary games.

The SuperSonics are naturally doing all kinds of pre-war preparations, and although the game will not be played until 9 p.m. the next day, the whole Cavaliers team has already come to Seattle in advance at noon on the 7th.

I went to the key arena to get familiar with the playing venue, and then stayed in the hotel early to recuperate, showing that I attached great importance to this game.

Hotel Room ......

John Lucas walked into Paxson's room with a starting line-up list.

As the head coach of the Cavaliers, he doesn't have much say and control over this team, he only became the head coach last year, his coaching career record is mediocre, his ability is average, and the reason why he can become the head coach of the Cavaliers is only because the Cavaliers want to mess up, and he happens to be cheaper.

This season's Cavaliers won Wade, who was the eye of the draft list, and the team owner obviously had certain ambitions for this season's results, originally wanted to change the coach, but first, he did not find a suitable candidate for the time being, and second, the Cavaliers actually won all the way after the start of the season, there is really no reason to change the coach, and third, because of the Paxon of the team manager.

And the reason why Paxson protects him is also very simple, that is, Lucas knows how to read words and colors, to put it bluntly, obedient.

Paxson took the list he handed him and glanced at it.

The Cavaliers started with center Zashinas, power forward Carlos Boozer, small forward Jumaine Jones, scoring guard Ricky Davis, and point guard Dwyane Wade.

This is a continuation of the previous 16-game winning streak in the starting lineup, but Lucas seems to have some new ideas, otherwise there would be no need to ask for special instructions.

"LeBron's recent performance has actually been very good, and I think he's recovering pretty quickly." Lucas said with a smile: "On the contrary, Jones, the statistics of the last few games are mediocre, and now the media propaganda has mentioned the old things of LeBron and Lindon, I wonder if I will take this opportunity to help LeBron to the starter, what do you think?" Mr. Paxson? ”

Lucas, with a flattering smile on his face, was also watching Paxson's reaction.

In the Cavaliers, LeBron is known to be Paxson's man.

After all, long before LeBron washed his reputation, he was the first to propose to recruit LeBron at the team's top management meeting, and it was he who persuaded the team's top management to sign this young man who may be crippled with a second-round sign.

In the summer training camp, LeBron, who returned two months late, performed quite well, and in Lucas's opinion, he was enough to replace Jumaine Jones as the starting small forward for the Cavaliers.

But the strange thing is that Paxson, who is supposed to be in the same boat as LeBron, just doesn't mention letting him start.

Lucas is a very cautious person, his immediate boss doesn't mention it, and he naturally never mentions it, and he feels that the relationship between Paxson and LeBron doesn't seem to be as simple as it seems.

So he has always been in the hands of the scale, this season LeBron has averaged seven or eight minutes per game, but the actual performance is not as good as when he was training in the summer.

Only getting a statistic of 4.4 points per game is decent, and it doesn't matter if you don't pay attention to it, but if you bring him up to start or give him more playing time, he may also play a little bit of performance, which is on par with Jumaine Jones.

Until this time to play the supersonics, there were many people in the media who were hyping up the grievances between LeBron and Lin Dong back then, as if LeBron who was a substitute on the fringe of the team suddenly became the protagonist of the much-anticipated scene.

So Lucas wanted to take this opportunity to test it seriously to see what kind of attitude Paxson had towards LeBron.

Unexpectedly, this mention seems to have fallen into the hands of Paxson.

He laughed and said: "I also have this meaning, give young people more opportunities, and the topic of the two people hyped by the media this time is also hot......"

"Let LeBron play and let him start." The folds on Paxson's face were smiling: "I'm looking forward to his performance!" ”

Lucas suddenly, a suspenseful boulder in his heart fell to the ground.

Paxson still seems to want LeBron to play the head, he should have thought too much, and now he finally has no worries: "Okay! Then I'll change the list! ”

It wasn't until Lucas left the room that Paxson got up from the couch.

It's been a long time since I've been so happy......

Since LeBron came to the Cavaliers, although he hasn't done anything superfluous, he hasn't mentioned the recording to him again, and he has a respectful face when he sees Paxson, but it always makes Paxson feel like a thorn stuck in his throat, awkward and uncomfortable.

But after all, he is a rookie he just gotten, and the other party has his handle in his hand, so he can't come forward to clean him up, and if the team owner is dissatisfied with him and takes the initiative, it must need a reason.

So he has been secretly affecting the operation of the team, not letting LeBron start, only giving a little playing time to test his recovery.

If the recovery is good, then you have to try your best to secretly put pressure on him, compress his playing time, and don't give him a chance to play, then if you stay for a season or two, this person will either be wasted, or you can't bear to transfer to other teams.

After all, Paxson didn't want to watch LeBron climb up under his hands, which would not only make him panic, but also seriously threaten his position as a knight, after all, he had already learned the madness and ambition of that madman......

But now it seems that the average playing time of seven or eight minutes per game, but only 4.4 points, is obviously no longer the chosen son who once dominated the American high school basketball world, even if he is helped to the starting position, he will not be able to play much brightly.

And the supersonic Lin Dong seems to be LeBron's destined nemesis, every time he meets Lin Dong, this guy will always be deflated.

Then just correct him in this battle, and wait for him to fail miserably in the hands of Lin Dong, or when the enemy meets with an unbalanced mentality and does something radical...... He only needs to go to the boss and casually mention it and say 'good things' for LeBron, and the Cavaliers owner who has always been unfamiliar with him and dislikes the team's small leagues may send a message to him to get out.

When the time comes, it will be solved at one time, and it will save you from seeing him awkward in the team all day long.

Paxson happily thought that tomorrow would be a fun game!

(End of chapter)