Wu Jianye, who had disappeared from the public for nearly a year, finally appeared in front of the public again!
North America, Los Angeles, Staples Arena!
Today is the first home game of the NBA Lakers' 97-98 season. Wu Jianye and Zhou Huimin are sitting in the first row near the commentary table, holding a cup of Very Coke in their hands, while Zhou Huimin is holding a packet of
Popcorn.
Sitting on the other side of Wu Jianye is Cheng Long, who is promoting his new film "Rush Hour 2" in North America!
Cheng Long's Rush Hour was released last year and grossed US$178 million at the North American box office, making Cheng Long officially a top action star in Hollywood along with Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger!
"Director Wu, are you really not planning to come back?"
Cheng Long sat next to Wu Jianye, the curiosity on his face clearly evident.
The success of "Inception" made the whole world want to see what kind of movies Wu Jianye will shoot next. However, Wu Jianye announced through Tangting Culture that he would take a break. The specific length of the break is not yet known.
This made everyone very curious.
"Watch the game, watch the game. I'm here to watch the game with you today, and I'm not asking you to say this!" Wu Jianye seemed very interested in the game, but he was a little impatient with Cheng Long's questions.
The main reason is that during this period, people have been calling him almost every day to ask when he will come back, which is really annoying!
Cheng Long laughed sarcastically and said, "Director Wu, can you tell me whether the spinning top stopped or fell over in the end?"
Even though it has been more than a year since "Inception" was released, the debate about whether the spinning top should stop in the last scene of the movie has not stopped at all!
Wu Jianye asked Cheng Long: "Do you think it will stop?"
Cheng Long thought for a moment and said: "Stop it. I read the previous domestic report and think what he discussed is very correct!"
Regarding the review of "Black and White Image" that discussed the spinning top, it not only aroused widespread recognition in China, but was later even reprinted by Hollywood movie magazines, which in turn aroused a huge sense of recognition around the world.
Wu Jianye nodded and said indifferently: "Then stop!"
"Pfft!" Zhou Huimin, who was on the other side of Wu Jianye, couldn't help laughing when she heard Wu Jianye's irresponsible answer.
In fact, after watching the movie "Inception", Zhou Huimin also asked Wu Jianye whether the top had stopped, and Wu Jianye's answer was yes!
Cheng Long had a helpless expression on his face.
At this time, the lights in the arena dimmed and players began to enter. Today's game is the Lakers' home game against the New York Knicks.
In fact, this game had many factors that later had some connection with China.
For example, the current head coach of the Lakers is the silver fox Del Harris. Later, Del Harris became the head coach of the China Men's Basketball Team. Because of Wu Jianye, Wang Zhizhi is now also on the Lakers.
However, Wang Zhizhi is still not the main player of the Lakers at this time, but a qualified substitute player. Last year's data was pretty good, averaging 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game!
The New York Knicks also have two people who have some connections with China. First of all, their head coach Jeff Van Gundy later coached the Mosaic team, which was Chairman Yao's head coach in the middle and later stages. His rigid tactics can be regarded as ruining Yao's career.
An assist in the chairman’s career!
At the same time, Ewing, the All-Star center of the New York Knicks, later joined the Mosaic team to be responsible for Chairman Yao!
The biggest highlight of this game given by media magazines is the confrontation between Shaquille O'Neal and Gorilla Ewing.
As for Kobe, he is training hard to be the Lakers' starter at this time!
The golden generation of 1996 entered the NBA last year, and the most famous one is the 76ers' AI. In the first game of his rookie season, he scored 30 points, which shocked the entire league.
At the end of the season, he won the Rookie of the Year award by averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game.
He was also selected to the All-Rookie First Team, while Kobe was only selected to the All-Rookie Second Team.
After the game started, Wu Jianye sat there and watched the game carefully. The Lakers' bench was not far from Wu Jianye's position. Kobe Bryant and Wang Zhizhi were sitting on the bench at this time.
After getting the report about the Lakers, Wu Jianye knew that Harris didn't like these two young men very much, which actually had something to do with Kobe's first season.
Kobe, who had just joined the league, was keen on one-on-one games, which made veteran director Del Harris very dissatisfied.
In the last game of last season, when the Lakers and Jazz reached overtime, Kobe took the initiative to come on the court and told Del Harris that he could definitely put the ball in!
At that time, the Lakers' best player was rookie Kobe. Even though Del Harris was no longer dissatisfied with Kobe's season performance, he finally agreed to Kobe's request.
At that time, Del Harris had no other choice after O'Neal had been sent off and all the players had lost their fighting spirit.
The result was that Kobe ended the Lakers' 1996-97 season with four three-nos!
After the season, one can imagine the media's criticism of Del Harris and Kobe.
At that time, some NBA players commented that Kobe Bryant, who went from high school to the NBA, was like a chubby man sleeping with a 40-year-old middle-aged woman with three children.
In the eyes of those veterans, Kobe was the chubby boy, and he was laughed at.
At the same time, the family and friends around Kobe were also very dissatisfied with Kobe's appearance. In their view, Del Harris kept Kobe in cold storage throughout the season, but handed over the team's most important task to Kobe at the most critical moment. This
I just want to see Kobe make a fool of himself!
But no matter what, there must be conflicts between Kobe and team coach Del Harris!
It can be seen from this game that although Kobe played 20 minutes as a substitute, Del Harris hardly arranged any tactics for Kobe...
In the end, Kobe made 1 of 9 shots, plus two free throws, and only scored 4 points. This is almost impossible for Kobe, the scoring maniac of later generations!
But in the end, the Lakers relied on their overall performance to win the game. Six Lakers players scored in double figures throughout the game, including Wang Zhizhi, who was supposed to be a close friend with Kobe. Wang Zhizhi scored 11 points in this game.
, give your new season a good start!
After the game, Cheng Long left the arena directly, while Wu Jianye took Zhou Huimin to the team's locker room!
However, Wu Jianye did not go in. This is the tradition of NBA teams. Except for team members, no one else, even the boss, is allowed to enter the locker room!
"Otherwise, I should go back tonight. I don't understand you grown men drinking and chatting together!" Zhou Huimin said.
Wu Jianye nodded and said: "That's okay, I'll have someone send you back!"
After Zhou Huimin left, the energetic young men also finished washing and walked out of the locker room.
"Wow, Director Wu, can you tell me whether the spinning top stopped?" Shaquille O'Neal walked out of the locker room first and looked very excited when he saw Wu Jianye.
Last year, O'Neal's contract with the Magic expired, and he became the prey of the entire league. Originally, O'Neal's old team, the Magic, was the most promising. Unfortunately, in the end, the Magic gave a humiliating contract, which completely made O'Neal no longer with the Magic.
Parted ways and joined the Lakers!
It is said that the Magic is indeed a strange team. They naturally feel good about themselves and believe that all the stars are very eager to join their team. Later, the Magic even almost signed Deng Dadai, who wanted to leave the Spurs, because
The Magic didn't allow Deng Dadai's wife to fly on their team's plane, and then Deng Dadai continued to stay with the Spurs!
Although Wu Jianye did not appear at the public signing conference, as the team's big owner, he still invited O'Neal to dinner.
O'Neal's funny personality made the two of them good friends!
"Didn't fall down!" Wu Jianye replied casually.
"No, this is not the answer I want!" O'Neill said funnyly: "Even if you are the director of this movie, I can't believe you. I firmly believe that the top has fallen!"
Wu Jianye smiled and said, "As long as you are happy!"
At this time, Wang Zhizhi also walked out. When he saw Wu Jianye, his face was still a little shy: "Director Wu, you are here!"
O'Neal put his arms around Wang Zhizhi's shoulders and said: "Wang, how many times have I told you, you can't be so shy, you should be more open. Look at that 'showman', don't worry, I will help you rebound."
!”
Wang Zhizhi nodded, but did not reply. O'Neal was like a grown-up child, full of emotions and anger. If he liked it, he liked it, and if he didn't like it, he didn't like it.
But Wang Zhizhi's shy temperament makes O'Neal like him very much. He is not like the young man in the team who just dunks when he finds an opportunity...
As for the showman O'Neal mentioned, he was actually Kobe!
In his rookie season, Kobe seemed to have no place to vent his energy. Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had just joined the Shohoku basketball team, wanted to end his offense with a dunk whenever he had the chance.
When Cao Cao arrived, Kobe also changed into casual clothes and walked out. When he saw Wu Jianye, a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face.
"Director Wu, your performance today..."
Wu Jianye laughed and said: "It's okay. If you have anything to say, we'll talk to you at the hotel later." After that, he said to O'Neill: "We'll wait for you at the hotel!"
As the team's top star, O'Neal naturally has to attend the press conference after the game. As for Kobe and Wang Zhizhi, they do not have this treatment!
In a high-end western restaurant in Los Angeles, Wu Jianye, Kobe and Wang Zhizhi were sitting here. Wang Zhizhi was shy and was not willing to talk, while Kobe was struggling with his poor performance tonight.
If Wu Jianye hadn't asked him to come out, Kobe would have been training himself even more at this time!
The night before the 1996 draft, Wu Jianye also invited Kobe and told him that he was very optimistic about his future. He also told Kobe that the team had decided to bring Kobe to the Lakers through a trade with the Kings in this year's draft.
!
This is also the first time Kobe Bryant meets Wu Jianye!
Later, the two talked on the phone many times, which moved Kobe very much. After all, as the owner of the team, Wu Jianye could treat him like a newcomer, which made him a little flattered!
From Kobe's point of view, Wu Jianye later found Luck Sports, one of the top three sports brands in the world, to sign Kobe and promised to make signature sneakers for Kobe!
This is another important reason why Luck Sports was able to sign Kobe Bryant amid the competition between Nike and Adidas!
But what Kobe didn't understand very much was that in the contract he signed with Luck Sports, he was not allowed to fly in a helicopter...
Under the huge endorsement contract, Kobe also signed this contract.
"Don't care what others say, I believe you will become a player like Michael Jordan in the future!" Wu Jianye said.
If it were other young players, they would definitely be a little frightened when they heard someone comparing them to Michael Jordan, but from Kobe's point of view, this is the goal he has been chasing.
So Kobe nodded heavily and said: "Well, I haven't thanked you properly for this year's offseason!"
Wu Jianye smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, Jordan also needs to train. It is not difficult to add you. Moreover, you can refuse Spike Lee's invitation for your own training. This is not something ordinary players can do!"
With Kobe's four bad habits, the 1996-97 season ended. Although Kobe's performance in the last game was not good, but with the NBA League deliberately building momentum, Kobe has become a high-profile new star, but the season
The loss in the last game still made Kobe very angry.
Later, Spike Lee invited Kobe to participate in his movie, but Kobe refused Spike Lee's invitation in order to train and improve his skills. Later, Spike Lee invited Ray Allen to participate...
By the way, although many people say that Spike Lee is a very good director, in Wu Jianye's opinion, he is just that.
Wu Jianye then called Kobe and told him that he had invited Jordan to train with Kobe in the offseason. This was really good for Kobe, who had always regarded Jordan as his goal.
Opportunity.
Later, when Jordan talked to Wu Jianye about Kobe, he said: "I have never seen a young man who can train so hard. He will definitely become the best superstar in the league in the future!"
Hearing Wu Jianye praising him, Kobe showed a smile.
Wu Jianye once again persuaded Wang Zhizhi to let go of his personality. Such a dull personality is indeed not conducive to his integration into the team culture.
While the three were chatting, O'Neal also rushed over to the arena.
With O'Neal as a live treasure, the atmosphere naturally became lively. For O'Neal, Kobe was not a threat to him at this time, so although he didn't like Kobe's style of play, there was not much conflict.
The four of them chatted until late at night. O'Neal suggested that everyone go to the bar together, while Kobe said that he would go back and go to bed early because he had to train tomorrow. Although Wang Zhizhi didn't say it explicitly, he meant the same.
Wu Jianye didn't agree either, so in the end they had to go back to their respective homes!