After getting the suspension notice, the first thing Zhao Dong did was bounce out of the hospital and head straight back to the training facility.
He was out for five games, and with two straight back-to-backs coming up, the season was moving fast. He'd be back in action at home against the Magic on December 28—just ten days away.
With the team on the road, he was the only one left at the facility. Mornings were for handling drills, afternoons were for skill work with the trainers, and nights? Nights were for hitting up Stony Brook University and picking up girls. Man had a full-ass schedule.
Ever since he dropped Karl Malone, his stock at Stony Brook had skyrocketed. His inbox was flooded with DMs from girls, and there were so many options that even he was feeling overwhelmed.
A few days later, the heat from the whole fight situation started cooling off, and the New York media found something new to stir up.
This time, they were hyping up the "Four Dirty Players of the NBA." With Laimbeer retired, there was an open slot, and the New York Sports Daily launched a poll to find his replacement. Naturally, Zhao Dong was a frontrunner.
Nearly 100,000 fans voted, and the whole thing blew up, pissing off David Stern, who was all about pushing "civilized basketball."
In the end, the new Four Dirty Players were revealed, and Zhao Dong found himself at the top of the damn list.
Karl Malone, with his signature elbow-to-the-skull move, came in second. Stockton, last year's leader, dropped to third. Oakley landed fourth. But somehow, the rookie Zhao Dong took the crown.
"The hell am I doing at number one?" Zhao Dong barked when he saw the results.
Reporters were already camped outside the facility, so he ran out to set the record straight.
"I don't accept these rankings! The Four Dirty-player list is rigged against me. I'm a respectable, upstanding gentleman—a proper Gentleman Zhao! Definitely not some Dirty Player" he argued. "Karl Malone should be first, no question. The league should slap some kind of safety pad on his damn elbow before he ends someone's career for real. I got lucky, but next time? Someone's getting stretchered."
He kept going, dragging Karl Malone every chance he got, but at the end of the day, that Four Dirty-player Leader title was stuck on him.
"Mailman, we ain't done."
This was not the kind of reputation he wanted. It was gonna stick, mess with his future branding. The loss was too damn big. Now, he hated Karl Malone even more.
On December 19, the Knicks took an L against the Pistons on the road. A week later, on the 26th, they lost to the sorry-ass Timberwolves. That made it five losses for the season, putting them at 22-5—still trailing the Bulls and holding the second seed in the East.
That same night, Chicago lost to the Hawks, dropping to 25-4.
The next day, Zhao Dong called home. His mom, Li Meizhu, told him someone from the Sports Commission had come by asking for his phone number and dorm landline.
Zhao Dong already heard from some folks that the national team was planning to call him up. Seemed like it was finally happening.
He had no problem joining the squad. China's national team just hit their best Olympic finish ever—eighth in the world. If he hopped on board, they might climb even higher next time. He was all in for repping his country.
He also knew a bit about what was going on back home. The Basketball Management Center was set to be established in November 1997, and things were already being put in motion.
In other words, the old-school academic Xin Nancheng wasn't in charge yet, and Liu Yumin was still running things for Chinese basketball.
Still, he had no clue what kind of hoops they'd make him jump through. If they tried to cut into his salary or endorsements like they did with players later on? Hell no, he wasn't going for that.
He wasn't part of the system, didn't come up through a sports school. He was a straight-up wildcard, way more flexible than guys like Wang Zhizhi or Yao Ming would be in the future.
On December 27, the Knicks finally made it back to New York. They had the Magic coming up on the 28th and the Nets on the 30th.
Last time they faced Orlando, Zhao Dong snagged that inside-cut skill from a certain player. This time, though? No mission popped up.
"Welcome back, fellas," Zhao Dong said when he met the team at the airport. Dude had been so bored, he actually rode the bus just to greet them.
"Zhao Dong, you good now?" Larry Johnson asked.
"Injured? Me? Please," Zhao Dong scoffed. "Karl Malone's elbow ain't built like that."
To Oakley and the squad, that wasn't even cocky talk—it was facts. After taking that nasty elbow to the back of the head, he was down for maybe a couple of seconds before popping back up and laying Malone out. That kind of durability earned their respect.
"Next time we see the Jazz, we're running it back. I'm getting Malone again," Zhao Dong said. "I checked the schedule—we see them in Utah on February 25. Who's in?"
"Let's do it on the road this time. That way, no one can say we're bullying them at home. But next time, we all jump in. Ain't letting you take all the credit," Oakley said with a straight face.
Last time, he scrapped with someone else before the game and missed his chance to square up with Karl Malone. That still annoyed him.
"Count me in," Larry Johnson added.
"Bet," Zhao Dong said, nodding.
"Heh, the Knicks' official fight club," Allan Houston muttered in the background.
Over the next three days, the Knicks handled business, beating the Magic and the Nets to improve to 24-5.
In those games, he noticed a shift in how teams guarded him. No double-team when he caught it at the high post, but the moment he got the rock down low? Immediate double.
Just like he expected, the tighter defense hurt his low-post shooting percentage.
Thanks to his elite low-post skills, though, he still shot around 43% in those games—not bad. For comparison, even Tim Duncan's low-post percentage in his prime was 44%.
Then came the new year. On January 1, the league dropped its Player of the Month awards for December.
Shaq took it home. Dude played 40 minutes a game, averaged 27.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.1 steals, 3.4 blocks, 2.9 turnovers, and 3.6 fouls. Shot 52% from the field on 21 attempts a night and bricked free throws at 55.9% on 10 tries per game.
Zhao Dong, meanwhile, had cooled off a bit in the past few games with all the double-teams. His stats were about the same as November's, which left him still ranked third in the rookie race behind Iverson and Rahim.
By noon, the Knicks were on a flight to D.C., set to face the Bullets on January 2.
This would be their second matchup. Last time, Zhao Dong played solid but failed to lock down Webber and missed out on the reward.
Now, the system hit him with another sniper mission:
Hall of Fame Sniper Challenge:
Hold Chris Webber under 15 points.
Keep him under 6 rebounds.
Hold him under 40% shooting.
Block him 5 times.
Limit himself to 2 or fewer turnovers.
Drop either 20+10 or 20+5+5 on Webber with 50%+ shooting.
Take at least 15 shots.
Rewards:
Complete 3: +1 Quality Point
Each extra challenge completed: +1 more
Finish all: Double rewards
Zhao Dong cracked his knuckles. Time to go to work.
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