The Summer League is probably the lowest intensity game among all the NBA games.
Of course, this doesn't mean that the attention is low.
Because the regular season has ended at this point, this is the only game fans can watch during the long offseason.
In particular, the summer league is essentially a stage for testing rookies.
Fans have just finished watching their own draft, and of course they want to watch their own rookies perform.
However, rookies alone are not enough to form a team, so it also includes some second-year players, undrafted players and free agents.
So this is not a "you are a rookie, I give you the ball, score points for me" approach, it is also a competitive stage.
Xu Yong went to Chicago first with Johnson and Gibson, where he trained with his teammates for more than a week.
The Bulls have no second-year players this year. Basically, it's just these three plus some undrafted players and free agents. Their strength is not very strong.
The only person Xu Yong had some impression of was a center named Chris Richard, who was the main center for the University of Florida's two consecutive championships, a teammate of Noah, and also played for the CBA Liaoning team.
This guy is a muscular guy with a huge armspan, he is 2.06 meters tall and has a armspan of 2.20 meters, but other than that he doesn't have any special skills.
As the 41st pick in 2007, he only played in the NBA for one year and then had no ball to play. This time he came to the Bulls to try his luck.
However, such a lineup is not based on the record itself, but on the performance of the three rookies.
It was during this period that Xu Yong and three others signed contracts with the Bulls.
All three were first-round picks and signed contracts of the same length, a league-mandated 2+1+1 standard contract with full guarantees for the first two years and team options for the third and fourth years.
Of course, the ranking makes the difference in the amount of money they get.
Gibson's contract is 5.5 million for 4 years, Johnson's contract is 7.94 million for 4 years, and Xu Yong's contract is 20.85 million for 4 years.
This was also Xu Yong's first pot of gold after entering the NBA, although it was far less than it seemed.
According to NBA regulations, except for some special contracts that can be paid in advance, most others are paid out 24 times a year.
Xu Yong's salary in the first year was 4.46 million. After deducting federal tax (about 40%), state tax (about 6% in Chicago), league escrow (10%), and agent commission (2% for Schwartz), he had about 1.87 million left.
These salaries are then divided into 24 parts, each amounting to approximately $78,000.
He was the second pick, and if it was Gibson, he would get less than 20,000 at a time.
So even though they have entered the NBA and have basic income, they are still a long way from becoming "rich overnight".
Shortly after signing the contract, they also confirmed their respective jersey numbers.
The Bulls have retired only four jersey numbers: Jerry Sloan's No. 4, Bob Love's No. 10, Jordan's No. 23 and Pippen's No. 33.
Except for these four retired numbers, all other numbers are available for selection.
Gibson chose No. 22, the same number he wore in college. Johnson also wore No. 23 in college, but he changed to No. 16. Xu Yong chose No. 6, just as he had said in an interview with Zhang Weiping.
After signing their contracts and choosing their numbers, they set off with the team to Las Vegas.
After arriving in Las Vegas, they checked into a local motel.
It turns out that this hotel has poor soundproofing, and is next to a bar and a small casino, so the noise in the middle of the night sounds like a duet.
No, it should be a trio to be exact.
I don’t know which couple upstairs got in the mood in the middle of the night, but they didn’t close the window. The screams were like those in Europe and America, you know.
That means you can't sleep, and you can't sleep well.
When he woke up the next morning, even someone like Xu Yong, who was used to short sleep periods, had panda eyes.
But there is no way around it. Strictly speaking, the Summer League does not belong to the NBA season, which means that its expenses are not reimbursed by the parent team.
A very realistic situation is that this year the Bobcats did not have enough funds to form a team, so all the rookies were stuffed into the Jazz. The Nets and 76ers also formed a joint team.
In this context, being able to provide accommodation for the players this year is already a huge benefit. In previous years, the players had to find a place to live by themselves.
Moreover, this is in Las Vegas, where every inch of land is valuable. Changing hotels is far away, and the prices are unaffordable for most players.
The result was that the Bulls had a fierce battle with the Pistons, who were staying in the same motel last night.
The audience at the game felt sorry for the basketball hoop.
The Bulls finally beat the Pistons 58-55.
Xu Yong was the best performer on the Bulls and hit a key shot in the final moments, but he only scored 14 points with 5 of 12 shots.
Although, this was already the highest score of the game.
Right after the game, Xu Yong went to a nearby retail store and bought a dozen pairs of noise-canceling earplugs, and gave one to each of his teammates.
You can tell from the happy expressions on the team members’ faces that there is no better gift than this at this moment.
This wave is called [human relations and worldly wisdom].
However, just as Xu Yong was giving earplugs to his teammates, fans on social media were already going wild.
"Second place? That's it?"
"Putting aside the fact that the score was low on the field, does Xu Yong really deserve to be the second pick with 14 points?"
"Xu Yong is indeed like T-mac, and he is as iron-willed as T-mac."
"I am dying of laughter. Is this the reward for the Bulls giving away half of their team?"
"Brother, this is the summer league. I think the Grizzlies will get another second pick next year!"
…
This group of fans has been waiting here since the draft.
Because Xu Yong has been very low-key since being selected and has not yet opened any social media accounts, they have no way to vent their emotions.
Now we finally have a breakthrough point, so we can’t just keep outputting.
And on the second day of the summer league, the Clippers also made their league debut.
In another arena in Las Vegas, Griffin played a historic debut.
He scored the team's first seven points, made his first eight shots, and ultimately scored 27 points and 12 rebounds on 11 of 15 shots, leading the team to a big win over their city rivals, the Lakers.
This made fans on social media even more excited.
The direct result of this was that Xu Yong originally did not have social media access and would not have seen these things, but Johnson had already told him about this on his phone.
Seeing those fans who looked as angry as if someone had cheated on their girlfriends, Xu Yongyi also frowned.
This was also the first time he had seen such a scene.
He also unconsciously recalled the experience of Yao Ming scoring 0 points in his debut. At that time, social media was not so developed, but the media people did not hide their ridicule of Yao Ming. Barkley's "kissing the donkey's ass" incident has been circulating to this day.
This is no longer simply a question of who is the top or second place in the imperial examination. Those Americans are used to a condescending attitude. They point a magnifying glass at you and make you look bad.
Although Xu Yong had experienced two lives, a nameless anger still rose in his chest at this moment.
He glanced at Johnson, then called Gibson, the two teammates with whom he had gotten along well in a short period of time, together to discuss something with them.
Those guys are mean, right? They like to be slapped in the face, right?
Then he would satisfy them once!
Of course, there is another very important reason why Johnson and Gibson are willing to cooperate with Xu Yong. The head coach of the Bulls summer league team is Del Harris.
That’s right, it’s the “Silver Fox” Harris who once served as the head coach of the Chinese men’s basketball team. He is the first assistant coach of the Bulls.
Harris is now 72 years old. He originally planned to retire this summer, but after the draft this year, he changed his plan and decided to play for another year.
…
It was still the same stadium, but the difference was that because sleep was guaranteed, the Bulls' mental outlook was completely renewed. During the warm-up, Xu Yong even showed off a dunk.
And perhaps because Xu Yong's performance in the first game was so poor, quite a lot of fans came to the scene. The stadium with several thousand people was almost full, and there were many media reporters in the front row.
Facts have proved that what this world lacks most is people who like to watch the fun and make trouble.
As for the media, they just go wherever there is news material.
However, what many people did not expect was that a Bulls player also came to the scene.
Derrick Rose: (36:26)
It is impossible that Ross came here specially to see Xu Yong make a fool of himself.
After seeing Ross, Xu Yong was also a little surprised.
It's easy to guess that Ross is here to support him.
In an instant, Xu Yong's affection for this former opponent and future teammate increased dramatically.
He went up to greet Ross.
Rose was very shy and didn't say much. After a brief exchange of a few words, he bumped shoulders with him, then sat down and watched the game attentively.
The Bulls' opponent tonight is the Grizzlies.