A joke that only NBA players would understand.

Rookie A: The six-month offseason is coming. Have you decided what to do?

Player B: You only have a six-month offseason, you have a six-month offseason every year!

Well, only players from teams that didn’t make the playoffs would start their offseason early.

As for Xu Yong, he played two rounds of playoffs with the team and had five months of offseason.

Of course, this is only in theory, because there is still team training camp, and his offseason is only about four and a half months.

What’s different from last year is that more than half of the time in these four and a half months does not belong to him.

He did not represent the national team in the Asian Championships last year, but this year, he will represent the Chinese team in the World Cup.

Oh, it should still be called the World Championships at that time, and it was officially renamed in 2014.

For a national men's basketball team, the World Championships is the second most important event after the Olympics.

However, the competition system at this time is not linked to the Olympic quota, so world basketball powers like the United States will not attach much importance to it.

Including some NBA overseas stars, they will also be restricted by their parent teams and not allowed to participate in the World Cup.

When players, especially stars, get injured in international competitions, their parent teams suffer the most.

Including the Bulls, they had actually discussed with Xu Yong before and asked him to give up the World Championships.

But Xu Yong finally decided to play. On the one hand, it was because this was the agreement with Yao Ming. On the other hand, more importantly, he knew that he would not get injured and he could pursue the national honor he wanted.

He also knows very well that even though he plays in the NBA, his biggest supporters are still his domestic fans. Even for those who support him, he will appear on the stage of this world series.

Of course, that was at the end of August. Even if you count the warm-up matches, it was still in August.

In the three months before that, he had other things to do.

The first thing he did was to go to AJ's headquarters in Oregon with Schwartz.

It sounds a bit exaggerated, but it is also reasonable that AJ is ready to release a signature shoe for him!

In fact, when Xu Yong and AJ signed a short-term contract, how could AJ not know that he wanted to transition?

Don't use your hobbies and interests to challenge other people's expertise. The operations of such a big brand are extremely sensitive.

Of course, the main reason here is that Xu Yong’s performance in his rookie season was too explosive.

Winning the Rookie of the Year award has exceeded many people's expectations. You have to know that he started his professional career with the title of "fake second pick" and then went to a team like the Bulls with a top backcourt.

Then there is the playing style, which will not be reflected very obviously in the data, but it is the most real in the sales of sneakers.

In a word, AJ's shoes have been selling like hot cakes overseas, especially in China, over the past year.

Add to that a dunk contest in the middle of the season and this wave of surprise eight in the playoffs.

You can now see many fan-designed Xu Yong concept signature shoes on social media.

According to the fans, if you don’t release a signature shoe, the fans will buy one for you!

And because of his high popularity, it can be said that he is the pre-order for the next generation of hit signature sneakers. AJ also attaches great importance to it and even respects Xu Yong's personal ideas.

There is no way, if you can sell shoes, you are the father of the shoe factory.

Xu Yong doesn’t understand sneaker design, but as a reborn person, he has seen many popular shoes that have not yet been designed. He just needs to look at which technologies are more mature in this era and add some personal characteristics.

So when asked about his ideas, he basically based it on the PG1 shoes and added some personal characteristics.

This has basically been adopted by AJ's designers.

The development of sneakers is generally forward-looking, and this advanced sneaker design is in line with advanced popular concepts.

As for whether this will cut off George's future sneaker career, the answer is definitely no. But don't underestimate the ability of sneaker designers.

After leaving AJ headquarters, Xu Yong continued to fly around with Schwartz for half a month, basically participating in some commercial activities of the endorsement brands.

The reason why he runs so concentratedly is that he is somewhat different from other stars.

Most stars will take time out during the game to participate in commercial activities, but Xu Yong usually has a long training schedule, so many activities have been postponed to the summer.

However, he has not returned to China for the time being, because the NBA officials have specially arranged a trip to China this year, and he and several other people will go together.

So after being busy for half a month, Master Xu bought a plane ticket to Tempe.

Just like last summer, he and Harden made an appointment to go back to school for training.

He was the first to arrive, but he was not the only one in the training hall. Butler and several other players of the Devils had been training here for more than a month.

Arizona State University definitely recruited more than just Butler last summer, after all, Butler couldn't get in even if he was on guard.

Last season, in addition to Kuksicks, Albert and Boateng, the team's core also included a five-star high school student and two four-star high school students.

The five-star high school student is Lance Stephenson, who was ranked eighth in the class of 2010. Yes, he is the "junior brother" that Xu Yong knows.

As for the four-star high school students, one is Solomon Hill ranked 56th, and the other is Tony Mitchell ranked 93rd.

However, they failed to make it to the tournament. When facing the University of Washington in the league playoffs, they were defeated by the University of Washington's core player Quincy Pondexter and were eliminated in the first round.

After the season ended, Stephenson left school to participate in the draft, while Hill and Mitchell chose to stay in school.

So after Xu Yong arrived, he could play half the game in addition to training, which was very convenient.

During training, Xu Yong discovered that Butler had made considerable progress this year, especially in his mid-range and long-range shooting, which surprised him a little.

But if you think about it carefully, Butler has always been very stable in mid-range shots in the NBA, which shows that he has talent in this area. As for three-pointers, the NCAA three-point line is one meter closer than the NBA.

However, he has been able to train to this level in football training. It turns out that if one works hard enough, the environment and other things will not hinder his progress.

After the training, Xu Yong and Butler went to the school dormitory.

It is fate that Butler lives in the same room where Xu Yong and Harden lived.

"When I first arrived, the mattresses of the two beds here were moved away by someone, and the school replaced them later." Butler and Xu Yong started complaining as soon as they entered.

Xu Yong coughed dryly. It seemed that they forgot to bring the mattress back after training last year.

Returning to the dormitory, Xu Yong looked at the old things with many emotions.

It was then that he noticed a poster behind the door.

It's not Jordan, nor Kobe, and certainly not James.

Xu Yong knew that person. He was in the Pac-10 league when he and Harden were playing at Arizona State University.

"Is this the ball that Pondexter scored the winning goal?" Xu Yong asked, pointing.

Butler nodded: "I asked the photographer for a photo of that game. Looking at this photo every day, I can be full of motivation."

Hearing this, Xu Yong glanced at Butler and was deeply touched.

Butler was unable to play last season and just sat in the back row of the bench as a VIP spectator.

But even so, he still went to get the photo and hung it on the wall.

Most people wouldn't do such a thing.

I can only say that Butler's ability to play well is really due to his personality.

He also suddenly felt that no matter how Butler played, he needed to recommend him to the management.

And the success rate of this should be quite high.

Because Butler's dynamic and static talents are average, if he remembers correctly, he was predicted to be in the middle of the second round in history. It was Wade's old senior from Marquette University who recommended him to the Bulls, and the Bulls picked him with the last pick in the first round.

So for a pick at the end of the first round, it was quite a big deal for Foreman to adopt his advice.

Xu Yong continues to train with Butler in Tempe, but in addition to training, he is also paying attention to the later games in this year's playoffs.

In the East, the Magic swept two rounds in a row and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face the Celtics in the final.

With this momentum, if it weren't for a reborn person like Xu Yong, people would probably think that they could make it to the finals for the second consecutive year.

In comparison, the situation in the West is much more intense.

The Lakers and the Suns played at the intensity of the divisional finals in the second round, and the Lakers won entirely thanks to Kobe's overwhelming victory.

Kobe averaged 33.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in the series, with a shooting percentage of 52.1%, a three-point shooting percentage of 43.2% and a free throw percentage of 88.1%, with efficiency values ​​that were extremely high.

Especially in Game 6, the Suns chased the game from 17 points behind to just 3 points at home. At the critical moment, Kobe made two consecutive extremely difficult mid-range shots, one of which was a fadeaway shot under double-teaming, which made Suns head coach Gentry smile bitterly. In the end, the Suns were eliminated with 37 points in a single game.

Facts have proved that Kobe's comprehensive strength in the past two years was unstoppable. It was not possible to limit him without the Celtics' level of defense.

Another series between the Rockets and the Spurs was also very exciting.

A little-known fact: although the Spurs and Rockets are both in Texas and right next to each other, the last time the two teams met in the playoffs was in the Western Conference Finals 15 years ago.

At that time, the Rockets were still in Olajuwon's prime.

On the field, this year's Rockets are clearly ahead of the Spurs.

Popovich put Parker on the bench this year and promoted George Hill and Ginobili to start, but the effect was not good.

Of course, the most fatal thing is that with Bowen's retirement, they lack an outside defensive pioneer, which makes it impossible for them to limit Hamilton's performance.

Finally, after six games, the Rockets successfully eliminated the Spurs 4-2 and entered the Western Conference Finals.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in Yao Ming’s career that he has reached the Western Conference Finals.

The second game between the Lakers and the Rockets is also full of highlights.

The Eastern and Western Conference finals have not yet started, but Harden, DeRozan and Ayers have finally arrived in Tempe one after another.

Harden was the first to arrive, but he did not come alone, but with a large truck.

When the back door of the truck was opened, wow, there was a used mattress inside.

"I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get used to the sleep here, so I airlifted my mattress from Oklahoma here." Harden's explanation was irrefutable but also impossible to complain about.

The few of them were excited to meet again.

Although they have met each other privately during the season games, the last time they got together like this was before the draft.

There are always many interesting things to talk about in a season.

Harden was the first to show his "KBforever" account, causing the other three to shout.

Xu Yong was also very moved.

NBA players are essentially colleagues. For example, although he and Rose have some interactions in private, they are not close enough to be friends.

Including Noah, they didn't communicate much off the court.

But Harden is different. The guy who originally regarded him as a friend has always really treated him as a friend.

This is the friendship from school days. Otherwise, why do we say that the friendship from school days is the most precious?

Moreover, Xu Yong noticed that Harden was still wearing the red string with a copper coin that he had given him before. Harden was indeed a very sentimental person.

Of course, Harden didn't say how he got this account. If he had said it, Durant would really have nothing to hide.

"You don't know how miserable this year has been for me." Ayers said with a bitter face, and then the Cleveland Story Club plot began.

The first story happened after Game 3, when James gave a "King's Speech" to boost morale.

However, this speech was not so serious, because James described the series as fighting monsters and leveling up, and in order to make his teammates better understand, he also used Contra and Super Mario as examples.

Judging from the final result, it didn't seem to have much effect, which is why the social media status chart at 3:33 am appeared later.

Then came the post-game of Game 6. When the players returned to the locker room, Varejao gave a speech as the locker room captain, encouraging the players to make a comeback next season. However, before he could finish his speech, James had already left the locker room early, leaving everyone embarrassed.

"This summer is going to be exciting." Harden said with anticipation after listening.

Although James has been avoiding talking about summer contract issues, there have been constant rumors about him leaving the Cavaliers.

These details, unknown to the outside world, also verify that point.

"If LeBron really leaves Cleveland, does that mean he was driven away by Xu?" At this moment, DeRozan, who had been silent before, suddenly asked cleverly.

Everyone looked at each other, then nodded one after another.

Calculate!

In their opinion, if the Cavaliers had not been eliminated by the Bulls, they would still have a good chance of winning the championship this year.

If he wins the championship, James will most likely stay.

The Bulls were able to complete the black eight, and Xu Yong's guillotine buzzer-beater was the undisputed first contributor.

So even if the king of heaven comes, this will definitely be counted.

"By the way, LeBron probably won't go to Chicago this summer, right?" DeRozan continued.

Harden and Ayers burst into laughter after hearing this, and Ayers even made an expression that said "it's not impossible".

Xu Yong had a dark face.

I didn't expect that you look harmless, but you are actually a complete LeBron hater!

However, after DeRozan said this, Xu Yong became curious about where James would go.

Because as for the Bulls, although they may not necessarily pursue James, they will most likely pursue Bosh.

Of the five positions on the team, the one that can be strengthened is power forward.

Bosh can open up space and also serve as the team's strong point in low-post offense, which is perfect.

Even if the Bulls don't trade Hinrich, they still have enough salary space to sign any top-paid player.