NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 248: The Second Battle with the Knicks

Since Jia Fei made those remarks in the car, Art Mayork has not been in the rotation for two consecutive games, but he has not been upset at all. Instead, he has trained even harder, always arriving at the gym first to practice shooting, and doing extra practice after the game. He seems to be becoming a gym rat.

On November 6, the Hawks lost to the defending champion Spurs on the road, failing to achieve a two-game winning streak.

The team maintained its rotation lineup for the third consecutive game, and in this game, they lost again during the rotation phase, and the performance was poor.

The Hawks' coaching staff is being criticized for their incompetence, stubbornly refusing to change despite significant problems with their rotation. Veteran captain Elton Brand has also become a target of criticism; media and fans alike believe he's no longer fit into the rotation and should make way for younger players—he's too old!

On November 8, the Hawks lost to the Hornets in overtime on the road, suffering their second consecutive defeat.

The following day, the Hawks, back at home, lost to the Knicks in a back-to-back game, suffering their third consecutive defeat.

After a three-game losing streak, their record stands at 1 win and 4 losses, placing them second to last in the Eastern Conference...

Who would have thought that the Hawks, who made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, would have such an embarrassing start to the new season, even with their full roster back and further strengthened?

The outside world is mocking them, and Jia Fei has been ridiculed by the media as "a player who has stats but can't win games".

For a time, everyone was laughing at the Hawks, and some media predicted that they would miss the playoffs and become the first team to prepare for next season...

What's most baffling is that some experts joked that the Hawks didn't trade for a first-round pick because they know their first-round pick next season could be a top-3 pick, making them very valuable, so they're unwilling to...

The outside discussions put enormous pressure on the Hawks, and even the usually composed Coach Budenholzer couldn't sit still anymore...

At this point, the old captain took the initiative to ask the coaching staff to disqualify him from the game, because his performance in the past 5 games had been too poor. He brought it up himself as a way to save face for himself.

The old captain brought it up himself, and Coach Buden went along with it, calling a team meeting and announcing that Art Mayork would replace the old captain as a substitute in the next game.

That evening, at Jia Fei's home, Art Mayor gave a thumbs up.

"Jia, you're amazing! It's exactly what you predicted!" Art Mayor was now completely in awe of Jia Fei.

Jia Fei remained calm: "What's the big deal? You should make the most of this opportunity and not let it slip away again..."

“Well, I won’t waste this opportunity!” Art Mayor said, showing off his strong muscles.

November 11th, Singles' Day, Madison Square Garden, The Big Apple.

The Knicks' record isn't great, but that doesn't dampen the city's basketball market. This is New York, the largest metropolis in the United States. All roads lead to Rome, but some people are born in Rome.

Renowned director Spike Lee, sporting an odd hat and a broad smile, stood beside a stunningly beautiful woman with an incredibly voluptuous figure. Her deep cleavage seemed to be telling any woman with an A-cup: "To hang around a big director like that, you need to have the assets!"

There were many Hawks fans in attendance, including many of them Chinese, who came specifically to see Jia Fei. New York truly lives up to its name; even the number of Chinese fans is unmatched by other cities.

The two teams just faced off in Atlanta, where the Hawks lost, suffering a humiliating three-game losing streak.

This game was broadcast live on ESPN, with ESPN's chief commentator Mike Breen and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy providing the commentary.

Before the match even started, the two commentators began to warm up the atmosphere.

Mike Breen: "Jeff, there are confirmed reports that the Hawks will be changing their rotation for this game, with Elton dropping out of the rotation. What do you think of this adjustment?"

Van Gundy displayed the composure he had as an NBA head coach: "Putting aside Elton's issues, I think this adjustment was necessary. When your team is on a losing streak, has a poor record, and can't play well, then adjusting the rotation is the first step, and Coach Buden did the right thing."

"Do you think the Hawks, with their new rotation, can end their losing streak tonight?" Mike Breen continued.

Jeff Van Gundy dodged the question, saying, "We'll see about that later; the starting lineup is out."

The starting lineups for both sides have been announced, and the Hawks' starting lineup remains unchanged.

The Knicks' starting lineup consists of Shawn Larkin, Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Hardaway, and Dalembert.

The Knicks' head coach is Derek Fisher, who was Jia Fei's teammate on the Thunder.

On June 11th of this year, Fisher became the Knicks' new head coach with a 5-year, $25 million contract.

Fisher becoming the Knicks' head coach is not surprising, because when Phil Jackson became the Knicks' president of basketball operations, everyone knew that the Knicks were about to start playing the triangle offense.

As Phil Jackson's protégé, Derek Fisher and the two had a wonderful working relationship in Los Angeles. It would be perfect to have someone familiar with the triangle offense as head coach.

Before the game started, Jia Fei went up to Fisher and gave him a hug. The two had wonderful memories together with the Thunder, where Fisher had even coached Jia Fei on shooting techniques and shared his game experience.

The Knicks also have Jia Fei's former teammate, LaMarcus Aldridge, but he doesn't get much playing time here.

Art Mayork was particularly excited today, frequently slamming the ball to the basket with powerful dunks during practice, as if he had inexhaustible energy.

Jia Fei could certainly understand his feelings. It was like if you had been single for over 20 years and had a date tonight, you would be excited and restless.

The starting players for both sides have entered the field, and the match is about to begin.

Old Yu, dressed in a suit and tie, stood on the sidelines with his shiny bald head, which made Jia Fei feel somewhat uncomfortable.

For a role player, coaching is naturally a good career path after retirement. Many players really don't have any other job skills besides basketball, and if they were to look for work after retirement, they might not even be able to compete with blue-collar workers who do manual labor.

Horford and Dalembert jump for the ball; the game is about to begin.

In Jia Fei's opinion, Dalembert has always been a useless player, but he has switched teams several times and still often gets to start. Isn't that amazing?

Dalembert's jumping speed is still good. He won the jump ball against Horford, and the Knicks took the first possession. Larkin dribbled the ball over.

The Knicks started playing the triangle offense.

The triangle offense wasn't invented by Phil Jackson, but he certainly popularized it.