"Zhao Dong, how do you feel about the title of the leader of the four dirty-player? Are you satisfied?" a reporter asked during an on-site interview.
"I'm not satisfied at all!"
Zhao Dong spit out a few words in Mandarin, then switched to English: "This is absolute slander! That bastard Karl Malone is the real leader of the four dirty-player He's ruined countless careers and is full of sin. His elbows are like the Grim Reaper's scythes—every time he steps on the court, he's ready to take someone's soul.
"And what kind of player am I? I'm the embodiment of justice, an angel punishing evildoers, a shining gentleman in this league.
"We, the New York Knicks, are all gentlemen. We don't deserve to be called the New York Mafia. If anything, the Utah Jazz deserve that title. Can we start calling them the Utah Mafia from now on?"
"Haha…"
Behind him, Oakley, Larry Johnson, and the others laughed.
"Man, get the hell outta here with that gentleman talk," Chris Webber muttered as he walked past, rubbing his bruised chest. He glared at Zhao Dong and limped away.
Back at the Hotel
Zhao Dong grabbed a slice of pizza that Oakley brought back, washed up, and lay down on the bed, opening his system.
He had ten quality points to spend—pretty solid rewards that could boost his game significantly.
His plan was to improve his coordination, flexibility, and balance first. He checked his stats for any natural growth from all the hard training.
Sure enough, his strength had improved slightly, now at level 82.
Over the past month, he'd been putting in serious work on his core strength. When he double-tapped the strength stat, three categories popped up:
Upper body: 85
Lower body: 82
Core strength: 79
"Nice!"
His core strength had jumped three levels.
Other stats hadn't changed much.
With his ten quality points, he bumped coordination and flexibility up by two levels each, hitting level 77, and increased balance from level 72 to 75, leaving himself with three points.
"Should I boost core strength more?"
After thinking about it, he decided his core strength needed to keep up with his coordination gains. He upgraded it from level 79 to 80.
His overall strength didn't immediately increase, but an ↑ symbol appeared next to his strength rating.
"82↑? Damn, strength is a grind to improve. Every other stat goes up one level, but strength needs three just to move the needle?" he muttered.
He spent two more points on core strength, raising it to level 82. Finally, his overall strength hit level 83.
Better core strength meant it'd be easier to develop offensive moves like the turnaround fadeaway and step-back jumper. Once he maxed out his core, he could even start working on the pull-up three, which was out of reach for now.
"Yo, Zhao Dong, we're hitting the clubs when we land in Atlanta tomorrow. You in?" Oakley asked.
Zhao Dong opened his eyes, glanced at Oakley, and quickly ran through the usual suspects in his head—Ewing, Oakley, John Starks, and Larry Johnson were all regulars at those shady spots.
Not just Knicks players, either. Their next opponent, the Hawks' Dikembe Mutombo, was a known visitor. So were Michael Jordan and his wild-ass teammate Dennis Rodman, Reggie Miller from the Pacers, and a bunch of Hornets players.
Hell, even Rodman's girlfriend had checked out those services before.
"NO, I ain't about that life," Zhao Dong shook his head.
"Relax, man. It's just like a high-end mall. You don't gotta do anything wild. Just chill, have some drinks, kick back," Oakley grinned.
"NO, I prefer real passion with my girl," Zhao Dong smirked.
"They do hotel deliveries, too," Oakley added.
Zhao Dong knew that, but he waved him off again.
Game Day: Knicks vs. Hawks
The next day, after dinner, Ewing, Oakley, Larry Johnson, and Starks took off for their little "fun night."
"Whatever, no system mission today. Do what y'all want," Zhao Dong muttered as he grabbed a ball and headed to the gym.
That night, while Oakley and the others were out, Zhao Dong put in extra work on his ball-handling.
By the time Oakley returned, Zhao Dong had just finished his post-practice shower.
"Young fella, you work too damn hard," Oakley chuckled.
Zhao Dong smirked. "Charles, how many rounds you go?"
Oakley puffed his chest out. "Three times. Ain't nothin' to me."
He sounded proud, but Zhao Dong could see the truth—his legs were gone.
And not just Oakley. Ewing, Starks, and Larry Johnson all looked cooked.
Game time? Absolute disaster.
The Hawks, ranked fourth in the East, smoked the Knicks 88-71.
Ewing barely took any shots—his legs were dead. With the team struggling, Zhao Dong had to carry the offense. He dropped:
25 points (10/20 FG, 5/7 FT)
13 rebounds
3 assists
2 steals
3 blocks
3 turnovers
4 fouls
But it wasn't enough.
Knicks' First Losing Streak
After the game, the Knicks rushed back to New York for a back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Zhao Dong could already see it coming—the squad wasn't ready.
Sure enough, on January 5th, the Knicks lost again, marking their first losing streak of the season.
Record: 25-7, still second in the East.
On January 7th, the Knicks bounced back, beating the Mavericks at home.
On the 9th, they flew to Boston for a two-game series against the Celtics.
This season, Boston was absolute trash—they were tanking for Tim Duncan.
A few teams were racing to the bottom, but the Spurs were doing it best.
Popovich had even fired his own head coach just so he could take over and guide the team straight into Duncan's hands.
The Celtics, meanwhile, were in a "you tank, we tank harder" competition with other lottery teams.
Didn't matter. Knicks took both games.
Knicks' All-Star Push
After sweeping Boston, the Knicks' front office met to discuss the upcoming 1997 All-Star Game.
The All-Star Weekend was set for February 7-10, with the main event on February 9.
Now, it was time to submit starter recommendations before the official fan and media voting began.
Patrick Ewing was a lock—Shaq had moved to the East, but Ewing was still the best true center available.
For forwards, the front office listed:
Grant Hill
Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman
Chris Webber
Juwan Howard
But the Knicks had one goal—get Zhao Dong into the starting lineup.
To do that, he'd need top-two fan votes, beating out four of those five stars.
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