NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

On the February 22, the Knicks flew to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers the next day.

This matchup had all eyes on it. Two squads led by dominant bigs, going head-to-head. NBC had it live across the U.S., and CCTV had China locked in.

Zhao Dong had been waiting for a system mission.

Since the All-Star break, five straight games, nothing. Not a single task. That had to change against the Lakers, right?

The last time he got anything was during the All-Star Game, and all it gave him was some quality points, bumping his speed up to an 88.

But the grind never stopped. His work in practice paid off—his core strength jumped two levels, lower body strength by one, and overall strength now sat at 85. His turnaround jumper, spot-up jumper, pull-up, lob, and hook shot each got a boost, too.

He waited… and waited… and waited some more.

Nothing. No mission.

Shaq was out, dealing with a torn right knee tendon. That was one of the two worst injuries of his career, the other being a meniscus tear in 2006.

Zhao Dong thought maybe the system would hit him with a Kobe challenge. But nope. Nothing. Did the system just not rate young Kobe? That was some serious disrespect.

No big deal. If the Lakers weren't worth a mission, then the Jazz definitely would be.

That night, the Knicks took care of business, rolling over a Shaq-less Lakers squad. The next day, they flew straight to Salt Lake City.

This was Zhao Dong's first time in Utah, and he already knew the reception wasn't gonna be friendly. But even knowing that, he was still caught off guard.

Jazz fans were on his ass from the moment he landed. A whole mob followed him from the airport to the hotel, throwing trash and screaming obscenities.

"Get out of our City!"

The more radical ones were losing their minds.

"Man, what the hell is with all this 'Get out of our city' shit?" Zhao Dong thought, shaking his head. "Sooner or later, Karl Malone's gonna be clinging to someone else's leg. Y'all might as well get ready to burn his jersey now."

After checking in, he and Oakley shared a room like usual.

"Charles, what do you think about how we look right now?" Zhao Dong asked.

Oakley was quiet for a second before saying, "Just say what's on your mind."

Zhao Dong didn't look happy. "Ever since the All-Star break, Patrick's been jacking up shots. Before, he was taking like 17 a game. Now it's 23. Against the Lakers, dude put up 25. I'm out here just hustling for putbacks. What's he trying to do?"

Oakley sighed. "You've been dropping a steady 20 and 10, man. Maybe he's feeling some type of way about it."

"Does he actually wanna win a title, or is he just stat-padding? And it's not just him—Houston's doing the same thing. His shot attempts are going up, too. I'm getting fewer and fewer passes, man. I can't deal with this."

Zhao Dong shook his head. "I ain't even trying to take Ewing's spot as the top guy, but if this keeps up, I ain't waiting till next season."

"Next season?" Oakley raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it, Charles. But if I press the front office, you think they'd trade me?"

Oakley's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"

"Look, you said it yourself—Ewing's body's breaking down. I don't have time to wait around. This is my rookie season, sure, but I already said I'm coming for Jordan and the Bulls within two years. How the hell am I supposed to do that if Ewing's out here hijacking the offense?"

Zhao Dong got up, pacing around. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

"I'm done playing the four. I wanna run at the three."

"What?"

Oakley knew exactly what that meant. This dude wanted the ball in his hands. Running the three would give him way more control, like Pippen. The Knicks didn't have a dominant point guard, so if Zhao Dong could show some solid playmaking, it could actually work.

"Shit, are we about to have an internal war?" Oakley thought.

Then Zhao Dong made it even clearer.

"I wanna own the perimeter. That's my bottom line."

Zhao Dong grabbed his jacket. "I'm gonna talk to Coach Van Gundy. This needs to get sorted out ASAP. You coming?"

Oakley sighed. "Yeah, alright."

The two went straight to Van Gundy's room and knocked.

"Come in," Van Gundy said, rubbing his head. His thinning hair looked even worse than usual.

The team was winning, sure, but internal drama was creeping up fast. Management wasn't doing shit about it, either.

"Coach, in the last six games, I've gotten five passes a game. Five. I'm taking 12 shots a night, while Houston's taking 16 and barely looking my way. What's up with that? Does the team actually approve of this?" Zhao Dong asked, straight to the point.

"The team hasn't condoned Houston's actions," Van Gundy replied. "I already spoke to him, but he thinks the winning streak proves everything's fine."

"That's some bullshit. He ain't the coach. What gives him the right to say that?" Zhao Dong shot back. "Coach, I'm coming to you face-to-face instead of sending my agent. That's me showing you respect. But I need to know where you stand."

Van Gundy nodded. "I appreciate that. But Houston and his agent are standing their ground, and management is caught in the middle."

"So the front office is cool with him taking more shots than me?" Zhao Dong's voice had an edge to it. "If that's the case, I might have to let my agent handle this."

Van Gundy shook his head. "I spoke with Ernie Grunfeld. Management isn't on board with how Houston's playing, but we still need his scoring. We're trying to get through to him and his agent."

"Then, Coach, I wanna switch positions," Zhao Dong said.

"You want to play the three?" Van Gundy asked.

"Yeah. I need to take control of the perimeter. I've got the numbers, the impact—I'm more qualified than Houston." Zhao Dong's tone was firm.

Van Gundy turned to Oakley. "Charles, you're the locker room leader. What do you think?"

Oakley let out a long breath. "Honestly? It's Zhao Dong's own damn fault for leveling up so fast. If he was improving slower, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

Van Gundy gave him a long look. "So… the old king isn't quite done yet, and the new king's already trying to take over."

The Knicks had lucked out, getting another superstar just as Ewing was starting to fade. But of course, nothing in life was ever that simple.

And from what Oakley just said, it was clear as day—between Houston and Zhao Dong, Oakley was backing Zhao Dong.

Hell, Oakley's words even hinted that he wasn't exactly siding with Ewing, either.

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