NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

After finishing the on-site interview, Zhao Dong headed back to the locker room, took a quick shower, and then made his way to the post-game press conference with Ewing.

Coincidentally, just as they walked into the press hall, Jordan and Pippen arrived at the same time.

"Patrick, you won't be so lucky next time," Jordan said coldly.

"We'll be even stronger next time," Zhao Dong fired back.

"Rookie, you don't have a seat at this table," Pippen said, looking down on him.

"Oh yeah? And who's gonna stop me from talking? You? Or this guy?" Zhao Dong said, glancing at Jordan.

"Snort!"

Jordan scoffed and turned away, walking into the hall.

Pippen followed behind, not wanting to be left out.

"Patrick, how about we link up next game and put Pippen on a poster?" Zhao Dong said loudly while walking behind them.

"Bet," Ewing chuckled.

"Snort!"

Pippen clenched his jaw, clearly pissed.

Both teams settled in, and the press conference kicked off.

"Coach Jackson, any thoughts on tonight's loss?" A Chicago Sports Daily reporter, covering the Bulls, asked the first question.

"There's always a winner and a loser in this game. They just got lucky tonight," Phil Jackson said, smiling.

The second question went to a Chicago Daily News reporter. "Michael, what do you think was the key reason behind the loss?"

Jordan took a second to think before answering. "Our interior defense was off. Dennis wasn't at 100 percent. He was maybe at 50 or 60 percent. That's why we lost—plain and simple."

"Michael, do you regret forcing Zhao Dong out of Chicago?" a New York Sports Daily reporter asked.

Jordan's face darkened instantly. "I told y'all before, I didn't do that," he snapped.

This whole situation had been haunting him all season. He had been looking forward to crushing the Knicks and shutting up this damn rookie, but after losing tonight, the topic came up again. It felt like a fire was burning inside him.

"Zhao Dong, any comment on that?" the New York reporter turned and asked.

"I already said it—somebody lied," Zhao Dong replied coolly.

Jordan whipped his head around, locking eyes with Zhao Dong. His frustration turned into straight-up rage.

Zhao Dong didn't back down, staring him down with the same intensity.

The tension was thick as hell. Sparks flew as their eyes stayed locked.

Five seconds later, they both scoffed and looked away at the same time.

Cameras clicked nonstop, capturing the moment.

The press conference ended on a tense note.

On the team bus, Zhao Dong threw on his headphones and immediately fired up the system.

"Congratulations, host! You've completed the fourth option in the God-Level Sniper mission—preventing Jordan from knocking you down. You've been rewarded with 2 random skill points."

"Congratulations, host! You've completed the Team Sniper mission and earned 15 quality points and 5 skill points as a random reward."

"Congratulations, host! You've completed all the conditions for the Rodman Sniper mission and have obtained Rodman's Rebound Prediction skill. Would you like to overwrite?"

"Heh, damn right I do!" Zhao Dong smirked and immediately chose to overwrite.

"Overwrite complete."

"Effect: Rebounding skill upgraded to Level 99."

"Holy shit! Straight to max level?! Big Wor., I appreciate you, man. I won't bully you too much next game," Zhao Dong laughed to himself, beyond hyped.

Now, time to spend some points.

First, he needed to boost his physical attributes. The game had drained him, so he put 3 quality points into Stamina, bumping it up to 90.

Next, 3 points into Injury Resistance—also 90 now.

That left 9 points. He used:

3 points for Flexibility → 82

5 points for Balance → 82

1 point for Speed → 87

"Damn, 15 quality points gone in 30 seconds," he sighed, but he was satisfied.

Now onto skill points.

He needed to boost his pull-up jumper, which was sitting at 90.

"91... 92... 93... oh, that's the cap?"

After 4 skill points, he maxed out at 93.

"A 92 pull-up was solid, but 93? I should be right up there with young Kobe now."

He had 3 skill points left, so he upgraded his Inside Defense from 84 to 87.

Final Attributes:

Physical Attributes:

Stamina: 90

Injury Resistance: 90

Jumping: 97

Coordination: 96

Balance: 82

Flexibility: 82

Strength: 84

Speed: 87

Skills:

Passing: 85

Ball Handling: 85

Shooting: 93

Offense:

Low Post Scoring: 90

Pull-up Jumper: 93

Cutting: 83

Running: 75

Defense:

Perimeter Defense: 71

Interior Defense: 87

Rebounding: 99

Blocks: 91

Steals: 70

Gold Medal Skill: Low Post Scoring

Looking at his overall attributes, everything was above 80, with four elite and four second-tier qualities. No doubt, he was already one of the most complete players in the league.

Just as he was reflecting, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

He opened his eyes—it was Oakley.

"Zhao Dong, you went off tonight!" Oakley grinned.

"When it's Jordan on the other side, I'm giving 200 percent," Zhao Dong laughed.

Oakley nodded, then sighed. "Man, the past few seasons, the Bulls kept sending us home in the playoffs. This year… I really wanna knock 'em out."

Zhao Dong leaned in and whispered, "I told you before—this season's our best shot. Beating the Bulls, and… winning it all."

Oakley's eyes widened. That thought sent a jolt of adrenaline through him.

Yeah… if they could take down the Bulls, how far was a championship, really?

At that moment, Ernie Grunfeld, the Knicks' GM, turned toward Zhao Dong.

"Zhao Dong, after that performance against the Bulls, you're looking like a straight-up superstar. We're gonna push the media to build up your hype."

Oakley asked, "Ernie, where's Zhao ranked in the All-Star voting?"

"Third. Grant Hill's leading with over a million votes, Pippen's got 900,000, and you're sitting at 700,000," Grunfeld said. "Rodman's next at 500,000."

"Got a chance to start?" Zhao Dong asked.

He wanted to be an All-Star starter as a rookie, but looking at the numbers, it was tough. Still, there were a couple of weeks left, and he was determined to win over more fans.

"With a performance like tonight and the New York media behind you? You definitely got a shot," Grunfeld said confidently. "New York's media influence is no joke."

Zhao Dong grinned.

Time to put on a show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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