8. How about trying to grow a beard?

Zhang Yang guessed right: when they mentioned DeRozan's childhood friend, the first person he thought of was Harden, as he had seen news about their friendship in his past life.

It was Harden who had just graduated from middle school... His height was slightly shorter than both him and DeRozan, but he looked to be at least 20 kilograms heavier? Quite the chubby one.

Unlike the extremely introverted DeRozan, Harden had run over to DeRozan with a 'duangduangduang', shouting, "DeMar, you have to reimburse me for the bus fare, I've already spent all my pocket money, and I even borrowed the fare from my brother."

DeRozan was prepared and pulled out some change from his pocket, handed it to Harden, who didn't hesitate and pocketed it immediately.

Zhang Yang was embarrassed by their way of communicating.

But he could understand.

Compton and Hidden Mountain were both small cities in Los Angeles County, not too far apart. It takes over an hour by bus, and driving could cut that by a third. The fare wasn't expensive, but to two kids from families that weren't well off, being exact with money was best.

With the bus fare settled, Harden looked at Zhang Yang and asked, "DeMar, is this the new friend you said has a great talent for basketball?"

Zhang Yang was surprised; DeRozan had spoken highly of him behind his back.

Having spent a few days together, he understood DeRozan very well; he wasn't one to praise others easily.

DeRozan nodded, "This is Jack... Jack, this is my friend from childhood, James Harden."

"Hi, my name is Zhang Yang, English name Jack, from China," Zhang Yang greeted him, feeling Harden's gaze on him was a bit strange.

Harden didn't respond but said to DeRozan: "DeMar, your new friend is… really handsome."

Zhang Yang: !!??

If he didn't know this chubby kid's preferences, he wouldn't dare turn his back on him.

Harden continued, "If the two of us play basketball with him, the girls will all be watching him; no girls will watch us play."

Zhang Yang sweated.

DeRozan was speechless and asked, "Is that really important?"

Harden: "Of course, it's important!"

Zhang Yang continued to sweat, curious about how these two completely different personalities ended up together.

Seeing Zhang Yang's reaction, DeRozan felt rather embarrassed and said, "Let's go, don't waste time here, let's find a place to discuss how to play this afternoon's game."

After he spoke, DeRozan started walking away, with the other two quickly catching up.

While walking, Harden asked Zhang Yang, "Jack, why were you staring at my face earlier? Is there something dirty on it?"

Zhang Yang: "Uh… no, it's just that I think your face shape really suits a beard, like… Baron Davis's style, it definitely could attract girls' attention."

DeRozan walked even faster, thinking what are these two even talking about!

Harden, however, slowed his steps; he had touched his chin, having purposely shaved his beard that morning, perhaps he should try growing it out?

He had always been annoyed about how early he started growing a beard, which extended from his chin to his sideburns, even connecting with his hair.

Now that Zhang Yang mentioned it, he suddenly wasn't so bothered anymore.

If a handsome guy thinks his beard might attract girls' attention, it must be right!

...

Minutes later, the two arrived near a park next to the bus station.

Hidden Mountain's infrastructure was well developed, with parks everywhere, nearly all containing basketball courts and open spaces, some with high usage, others less so.

This park was more secluded, mostly visited by those coming to catch the bus. Given the high rate of car ownership in the USA, not many people came here, and even fewer came to play basketball.

Actually, this kind of place was more suitable for Zhang Yang and DeRozan to practice basketball on their own.

They decided to practice in the previous park for two reasons: it was closer to home, and its greener environment made them feel more at ease.

When they arrived at the court, the three of them started discussing how to play the game in the afternoon.

Harden said casually, "We just go up there and blow them away, aren't they just a bunch of older punks?"

DeRozan nodded, his thoughts similar to Harden's.

Zhang Yang smacked his lips and said, "Going straight in is brave, but they're targeting DeMar, we must win this game. If we play well together and maximize both of your strengths, our chances of winning will be much higher. If possible, we should not only win but win beautifully!"

His voice grew louder, and by the last sentence, it was strong and high-pitched, instantly igniting DeRozan and Harden's enthusiasm.

Harden responded excitedly, "Exactly, we have to win, and win beautifully!"

DeRozan routinely nodded.

Zhang Yang was pleased.

Although he felt that their basketball perspectives were still immature, he didn't plan on lecturing them to correct this. After all, these two were only fourteen or fifteen, a very normal age for such thoughts. He chose phrases they might like.

The approach worked well, getting them to buy into the idea of playing with teamwork.

Harden, caught up in the heat of the moment, suddenly realized something was amiss and asked, "Why is it about maximizing DeMar's and my strengths? What about you?"

"Uh…" Zhang Yang suddenly felt awkward playing basketball with these two talents, and said somewhat embarrassingly, "Didn't DeMar tell you? I just started learning basketball, I'm not very good..."

…

"I thought you were being modest when you said you weren't good at basketball, but I didn't expect you to be this weak!"

After a three-player teamwork drill, Harden couldn't help but make a comment.

Zhang Yang rolled his eyes: "...Didn't I say I only started playing basketball not long ago?"

Alright, he found a common trait between the two—they both could be overly direct at times.

Harden, seeing Zhang Yang's expression, realized he was being too rude and quickly added, "But your passing is really beautiful, the rhythm of the shot was just perfect when I received the ball, much better than DeMar's. It would be even better if you could control the strength of your passes a little more."

DeRozan: "Then I'm really sorry for you, and I wish you better teammates when you go to Lynwood High School."

Harden coughed and turned to Zhang Yang saying, "Jack, I didn't expect you could set up strategies."

He felt helpless, after pacifying one, he 'offended' another; what could he do but try to change the subject? After all, 'betraying friends and hometown' to move to the big city was indeed his issue.

DeRozan's attention was successfully diverted: "Yeah, Jack, I didn't expect you would just point out our playing style and come up with a strategy that suits the three of us."

Zhang Yang thought the two might start arguing, but the topic suddenly shifted. He felt a bit regretful and said, "It's not that impressive. I just read some basketball-related books and watched videos these past few days and learned a few things. It's mainly because your two styles naturally match well, probably because you are teammates. And my playing style is very simple and basic, I don't need to do much, which suits teaming up with you guys."

DeRozan's playing style was completely in the style of a player from Los Angeles, even could be said in the style of the God of Basketball, capable of breaking, shooting, and passing, much more all-around than his future NBA days, Zhang Yang figured DeRozan made some compromises with his style when he got to the NBA.

Harden's playing style was quite a surprise to Zhang Yang.

It wasn't the kind of 'flexible fatso' he expected, nor was it the Thunder Team kind of all-around warrior style, nor was it the step-back three-pointer plus flopping style that came after being enlightened by the elbow of world peace, but more like the first half of his name.

He relied on a bulky 185 cm + 95 kg frame for overpowering breakthroughs to score and to pull off three-pointers.

At this stage, DeRozan was stronger than Harden, after all, DeRozan was the top high school player in Southern California, even Zhang Yang's original self who didn't play basketball knew DeRozan's name, whereas he had never heard Harden's name before.

Zhang Yang wasn't being modest; overall, both were capable of breaking and shooting, their positions interchangeable, adding his cutting into the frame, it was easy to come up with a suitable strategy.

Harden: "That's already impressive, you've only been learning basketball for a few days? Anyway, I can't match you in this aspect; I need to work harder. If you start practicing now and end up surpassing me, I won't have any face left."

DeRozan nodded, worthy of being his best friend since childhood, sharing the same thought on this matter.

…

…

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