Chapter 72: The King of Showboating

"Idol, this is Phoenix, not Los Angeles."

Wade Dong's eyes were fixed on Kobe as he said softly.

"So what?"

Kobe's eyes were murderous as he faced Wade Dong and took a three-pointer.

"Clang!!!"

The ball hit the rim and bounced off.

"You're still so iron!"

Wade Dong mocked, dribbling the ball to the frontcourt.

Facing Kobe's defense, Wade Dong responded with a three-pointer of his own.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went cleanly through the net.

92:72!

The lead was now 20 points.

As Wade Dong returned on defense, he said to Kobe, "This is what a three-pointer looks like!"

The game was like this, with trash talk being a part of it. Wade Dong was relatively polite to Kobe. The notorious Matt Barnes, who had been defending Wade Dong in recent games, was almost brought to tears by Wade Dong's trash talk.

"How are your wife and Fisher doing?"

This line kept echoing in Barnes' ears, the most vicious trash talk he had ever heard.

Tonight, the Lakers' defensive stalwart was benched by Coach Brown, who decided not to let him provoke Wade Dong anymore.

....

Time ticked away, and some Lakers fans were already leaving the arena.

The score was no longer in doubt, and Kobe hadn't created any miracles against Wade Dong and the Suns.

With 30 seconds left in the game, the score was 117:98!

The Lakers were down by 19 points, and the game was essentially over.

Wade Dong dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and then just stood there, lightly bouncing the ball, waiting for the game to end.

At that moment, Barnes, who had been put back into the game, suddenly rushed over and stole the ball from Wade Dong!

"Boo!!!"

The crowd booed loudly, and the entire arena erupted in jeers!

Barnes looked a bit embarrassed, but since he had already stolen the ball, he had no choice but to go for a layup. Perhaps affected by the crowd's boos, he missed the open layup.

Dudley grabbed the rebound and made a long pass back to Wade Dong.

Wade Dong placed the ball on the ground and stepped on it with one foot, looking at Barnes with a challenging gaze, as if saying, "Come and take this ball from me again!"

Barnes sheepishly walked away.

"Beep!!!"

The referee's whistle sounded, and the game ended.

117:98!

The Suns secured another big win at home, taking a 3-1 lead in the series.

Game statistics:

Wade Dong: 47 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks.

Kobe: 41 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

Iverson: 23 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.

Gasol: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks.

Nash: 19 points, 6 rebounds, 17 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks.

The Suns not only defeated the Lakers but also outscored Kobe in the scoring duel.

...

Zhang Yang, sitting courtside, saw Wade Dong's final act of stepping on the ball and turned to the woman next to him, saying, "That move is too showy..."

"It seems to have a bit of your style."

The woman laughed softly.

Zhang Yang joked, "China doesn't allow such showy people to exist."

"Haha..."

The woman was amused by Zhang Yang.

This woman, whose beauty rivaled Li Jiajia's, was named Wang Xingya!

...

After the game, Kobe was in a terrible mood.

He only shook hands with Wade Dong, Iverson, and a few others out of courtesy before heading to the locker room.

However, before leaving, Kobe went to the sideline to greet Zhang Yang.

Wade Dong was surprised when Zhang Yang approached him after the game and extended his hand, "Hello, I'm Zhang Yang."

"Wade Dong!"

Wade Dong shook hands with Zhang Yang.

As their hands clasped, Zhang Yang's eyebrows furrowed slightly and then relaxed.

Wade Dong had the same feeling!

It was as if their minds were connected, and Wade Dong felt that Zhang Yang was like him.

Releasing the handshake, Zhang Yang said, "Your name is really well chosen. Wade Dong, does it mean 'Guard the East'?"

"Yes!"

Wade Dong smiled, "Guard the East, protect China. When I was young, I wanted to be a soldier."

"Very good, very good."

Zhang Yang nodded, "I have a very good friend who is a soldier. Maybe you two would have a lot to talk about."

Li Jiajia saw Wade Dong chatting with Zhang Yang and also came over to greet him, "Hello, Teacher Zhang."

"You're a student at Beijing University, right?"

Zhang Yang looked at Li Jiajia, remembering her from his time as a lecturer at the university.

"Teacher Zhang has a good memory."

Li Jiajia said, "I'm Wade Dong's girlfriend. We're both students at Beijing University."

"Both are top students, making me, a Beijing Film Academy person, envious..."

This was just a joke.

"Hahaha..."

Wade Dong also laughed. Meeting a fellow Chinese person in Phoenix made him very happy.

And this person named Zhang Yang, although not as handsome as him, had an incredibly strong presence. Even in his previous life, Wade Dong had met some top-tier billionaires, but their presence was still three notches below Zhang Yang's.

If it weren't for the close conversation, he might have been misled by Zhang Yang's carefree demeanor...

Li Jiajia said, "Teacher Zhang, I'm preparing to apply for Professor Zheng Qing's graduate program."

"Do you need to take an exam for Professor Zheng's graduate program?"

Zhang Yang laughed, "I can just put in a good word for you."

Li Jiajia was a bit speechless but still said, "I want to get into Professor Zheng's graduate program through my own efforts."

This was a difference in attitude. Wade Dong was a reincarnated person with a mature mindset, while Li Jiajia was still a senior student, showing respect for her teacher.

"I'll be in the US for a while. When you make it to the Finals, I'll come watch you play."

Zhang Yang said this to Wade Dong and then left with Wang Xingya, laughing and chatting.

...

That night, Wade Dong and Li Jiajia talked about Zhang Yang, both curious about him.

Li Jiajia's feelings towards Zhang Yang were similar to a student's respect for a teacher, so he went online to search for information about Zhang Yang, but... there was almost no news about Zhang Yang on the internet.

Whether positive or negative, there was nothing.

An international superstar with no news about him on the internet could only mean that Zhang Yang's status in the media industry was sky-high.

However, there were still some collections of Zhang Yang's works online, mostly poems, films, and songs. Wade Dong didn't recognize any of these poems or films.

Since meeting Zhang Yang, Wade Dong had suspected that Zhang Yang might also be a transmigrator, possibly even having a system.

But looking at these materials, even if Zhang Yang was a transmigrator, he definitely wasn't from the same world as Wade Dong.