CHAPTER 472: CHAPTER 384: OFFSEASON

In August, the basketball team invited Zeng Xingyang to participate in the Asian Cup, but Zeng Xingyang did not attend.

Unless it’s the Olympics or World Cup level events, Zeng Xingyang doesn’t want to play.

Zeng Xingyang wants to let his body rest as long as possible.

Such games don’t have much significance for him.

Even without him, the national team wouldn’t be too weak in Asia.

Zeng Xingyang increasingly cherishes the time spent with his family, and problems that can be solved with money are basically not problems.

While undergoing special training in China, Zeng Xingyang occasionally appears at domestic events.

No way around it, many fans found out he returned to his hometown and often come back to idolize him.

Zeng Xingyang does this to divert fans’ attention a bit.

On September 13, Zeng Xingyang’s first appearance at a domestic event ignited the entire venue.

Before Zeng Xingyang returned home, Xiao Ding repeatedly emphasized how terrifying his popularity is in China.

Zeng Xingyang didn’t feel it before, but when he visited that city, almost paralyzing local traffic, he realized how terrifying it was.

The event site was crowded with people, fans shouting MVP!

Almost all the fans were wearing Zeng Xingyang’s Nuggets jerseys.

The events would reach a climax right at the beginning of the game.

Because the introduction before Zeng Xingyang’s appearance was too long.

"Let us welcome this year’s All-Star starter, Best Defensive Player, First Team All-NBA, All-Defensive First Team, Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP—Zeng Xingyang!"

Usually, fans would get excited before the host even finishes speaking.

These words represent Zeng Xingyang’s current status in the basketball world.

Occasionally, other NBA players would join Zeng Xingyang’s commercial events, and they would all be amazed by such popularity.

For example, Klay and Barnes who came to China...

Thompson thinks that Kobe’s popularity back then is nothing compared to Zeng Xingyang’s now.

For a week straight, Zeng Xingyang visited five cities, making fans nationwide ecstatic, and each city tested local management capacities.

From transportation, accommodation, to food...

A fan even followed Zeng Xingyang to every city, bringing him lots of local specialties, making both his hometown and himself go viral online.

In one city, one night, Zeng Xingyang snuck out with friends and bodyguards for a late-night snack and encountered fans, then treated them to a snack, making those fans go viral....

...

September 20.

Penguin launched a basketball reality show called "This is Dunk", starting a wave of basketball variety shows.

Penguin spent big money to hire Zeng Xingyang as a training mentor, specially coming to his hometown, allowing the players to train with Zeng Xingyang for a week while filming the show.

Zeng Xingyang didn’t join the show for the players but was slightly interested in the gorgeous assistant coaches.

The first day, they all added Zeng Xingyang on WeChat.

Zeng Xingyang chatted warmly with them online.

Zeng Xingyang, being handsome and charming, quickly made headlines when gossip media caught two female assistants coming out of his home...

In three days, a dozen people puked from training, a few dehydrated, and some even quit the show.

In addition to training, Zeng Xingyang would go on the show to play one-on-one with them.

Without exception, as long as Zeng Xingyang defended seriously, it was hard for them to score.

As for offense, Zeng Xingyang could score every round, playing against them like playing with kids.

Some players boasted they could play professionally, but none remained prideful facing Zeng Xingyang.

The gap, visibly noticeable.

Of course, the show wasn’t entirely fruitless, as Zeng Xingyang discovered a player with the potential to join the national team.

The guy with the nickname "Great Demon King."

Zeng Xingyang encouraged him and helped him connect with a CBA team for a tryout.

By Zeng Xingyang’s standards, this guy is much stronger than many CBA slackers, and his passion for the game is rarely seen among domestic players.

His aura is similar to Xiao Ding’s; they are game-centric players, going all out on the court.

This is a role model for all basketball enthusiasts.

Zeng Xingyang’s participation made the show popular even before airing.

Zeng Xingyang lived very comfortably at home, sometimes appearing on shows, treating them as enjoying life rather than work.

By the end of September, "This is Dunk" was fully filmed, and Zeng Xingyang returned to Denver to start preparing for the team training camp.

In August, Harris reached a sign-and-trade agreement with the Nuggets, a 4-year, 60 million US Dollar contract, and was then traded to the Celtics for Bradley and a future first-round pick.

Bradley, a guard known for his defense and team play, ensures the Nuggets’ defense doesn’t drop much while Butler rests.

Connelly now maintains certain trade principles, where the incoming player must have good defense and team awareness, so as not to drag down the Nuggets.

After the Harris trade, the Nuggets successfully signed two rookies.

Dillon Brooks and Xiao Ding both signed guaranteed contracts.

Dillon, the first-round pick, has a 2+2 guaranteed contract, while Xiao Ding’s contract is 1+1.

After the training camp started, the entire Nuggets team gradually found its groove.

On the first day of training, Mike Malone emphasized to the whole team, "We are the defending champions, and our goal this season is still to win the championship!"

Thus, everyone worked hard.

Not working hard wasn’t an option, primarily because Zeng Xingyang led by example with very diligent training.

Butler, Siakam, and Brogdon are all hardworking players, treating training games like official matches, making Mike Malone worried every time they had 5V5 scrimmages, afraid big names would get injured in practice.

However, such high-intensity scrimmages had benefits, helping everyone recover their form faster, showing what they trained in the summer in practice games.

If you want more playtime this season, you must first conquer everyone in practice games.

Otherwise, with so many strong players in the Nuggets, how to arrange playtime?

This season, the Nuggets’ salary cap is still just past the poverty line, which is incredible.

This team is the strongest in the league.

This is thanks to Zeng Xingyang, Jokic, Siakam, and others still being in rookie contracts, with Butler having the highest salary in the team.

A day before the preseason games start, Mike Malone organized another 20-minute 5V5 scrimmage.

"Team A: Zeng Xingyang, Bradley, Pope, Gordon, Jokic."

"Team B: Dejounte Murray, Brogdon, Butler, Siakam, Zubac."

"Others be ready to come on at any time."

Mike Malone intentionally grouped Butler with the new guys, as last season showed that Butler would bring out the Nuggets’ momentum with a few young players.