Chapter 105: The Difference in Players

August 12th.

Beijing time, 11:00 PM.

Normally, this would be the time to sleep, but tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Outdoor barbecue stalls, hotpot restaurants, bars... TVs were all tuned to the sports channel because tonight was the Olympic men's basketball final.

China Men's Basketball vs. USA Men's Basketball!

This night, bars were packed, and the sports channel's viewership was set to make history.

Even Wade Dong's parents, along with Li Jiajia, went to a nearby barbecue stall to watch the game.

"Tonight's consumption, all dishes at 60% off!"

"If China wins, all drinks are free!"

Merchants rolled out various promotions.

....

The Beijing University basketball team also went to Xu Mei's barbecue stall. Xu Mei's large TV finally came in handy.

Many people didn't have seats and were standing, drinking beer and eating skewers. Xu Mei hired seven or eight temporary workers to handle the crowd.

Xu Mei was closest to Li Tian and his friends, so she reserved the best seats for them.

Before the game started, Xu Mei had several cases of beer brought over and placed at their feet. She said to Li Tian, "Tonight, you guys have to drink a lot."

"Sister Mei, are you challenging our entire basketball team?" Li Tian was confident tonight. The basketball team was all here, and as the captain, his teammates would surely support him.

Xu Mei looked at the handsome young men on the basketball team and smiled, "How about a bet?"

"What bet?"

"Bet on China winning the championship!"

As soon as Xu Mei said this, it immediately attracted the attention of others in the barbecue stall.

"China must win the championship!"

"Believe in Brother Dong!"

"Boss lady, if China doesn't win, you have to drink as a punishment!"

Some teasing voices chimed in.

Xu Mei stepped on a chair, holding a glass of beer, and said, "Let's play a game. If China loses, tonight's consumption is free. If China wins the championship, the consumption is doubled. Do you dare to play?"

...

Before the game, Wade Dong had a serious expression.

The final was about to start, but Wade Dong felt that the team's atmosphere was not good.

The teammates were in a state of self-satisfaction, as if reaching this point was already a success. This was not what Wade Dong wanted. Wade Dong wanted the team to maintain the momentum they had at the start of the Olympics!

[Mission: Win the Olympic championship. Failure penalty: Talent points reduced by half!]

At this moment, the system that had been missing for a long time reappeared and issued a mission to Wade Dong.

This time, Wade Dong did not complain about the system because the mission was exactly what he wanted to do, which was to win the Olympic championship.

As for the penalty of reducing talent points by half, what Wade Dong couldn't accept more was losing the game and ending up with only a silver medal.

The USA men's basketball team had always been the world champion in basketball.

Other countries might have one or two players in the NBA, but the USA had over a hundred players in the NBA, not to mention this team with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, and others. It was a superstar team.

The USA men's basketball team had not lost a game in this Olympics, and neither had the China men's basketball team.

However, defeating the USA to win the Olympic championship was still considered an impossible task by many.

Most Chinese basketball fans watched the game with the mindset of enjoying the process. They shared the same thoughts as some of the players on the men's basketball team, believing that winning a silver medal would be satisfying enough.

...

"They will definitely find a way to target you!"

Before the game started, Coach Deng Hua analyzed the situation. This team had too many players with grudges against Wade Dong.

Kobe Bryant lost to Wade Dong in the playoffs.

Chris Paul lost to Wade Dong in the playoffs.

LeBron James lost to Wade Dong in the playoffs.

Basically, half of the players on the team had lost to Wade Dong in games, and now these players had formed an "Avengers" team to target Wade Dong.

It was easy to imagine the pressure Wade Dong was under in this game. Coach Deng Hua did not intend to belittle his own players, but when Wade Dong won the championship, he had teammates like Allen Iverson and Steve Nash. However, his teammates on the national team did not have the ability to play in the NBA. Could Wade Dong lead such a team to victory?

Moreover, on the road to the championship, Wade Dong successively defeated Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. Now, Wade Dong had to face the "Avengers" team. Thinking about this, Coach Deng Hua felt a bit desperate.

It was no wonder the players were all content and satisfied, because they never planned to defeat the USA. In their minds, winning a silver medal was already a historic achievement and satisfying enough!

As the players entered the court, they greeted each other.

The USA men's basketball team had a huge psychological advantage in the Olympics. There were even players who asked for autographs after playing against them.

In fact, many players on the China men's basketball team also had this thought. When the players entered the court, Kobe Bryant and a few others walked over, and Guo Qi and Guo Yang were particularly nervous. These were their idols!

Kobe Bryant walked over and smiled at Wade Dong, saying, "Idol~"

Wade Dong, "???"

This was his line, why was Kobe Bryant using it?

It must have been Kidd who told the USA men's basketball team. Now, when the Suns players heard Wade Dong call them "idols," they felt a chill down their spines!

"Long time no see."

Wade Dong also hugged Kobe Bryant and asked with concern, "How was the fishing this year?"

"Haha...haha..."

Kobe Bryant laughed awkwardly, "I don't like fishing much."

Wade Dong was truly unyielding, responding to Kobe Bryant's "idol" comment by asking if he had caught any fish.

Chris Paul and LeBron James also came over to greet Wade Dong.

Before the game started, both teams were still quite friendly, even Coach Kidd found Coach Deng Hua to chat for a bit.

However, this also made the China players envious. These NBA superstars were taking the initiative to greet them, but in their eyes, there was only Wade Dong.

As the audience entered, the Olympic men's basketball final was about to begin.

...

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's whistle, the game officially started.

The friendliness between the players was gone, and all that remained was the desire to win.

Especially for players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, during the preliminary round, quarterfinals, and semifinals, they had been praying that the China men's basketball team would make it to the final because they wanted to defeat Wade Dong and avenge their playoff losses.

USA Men's Basketball Starting Lineup: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Tyson Chandler.

China Men's Basketball Starting Lineup: Wade Dong, Yi Nan, Guo Qi, Zhu Gui, Guo Yang.

However, on the USA men's basketball bench, there were still players like Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, and Andre Drummond. Even the substitutes were all-stars in the NBA and would be dominant in the Olympics. This USA men's basketball team was almost invincible.