NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 356 Manager Jia Goes Online

It's September now...

With NBA teams' summer recruitment efforts nearing completion, predictions and exciting matchups for the new season have become the subject of much media coverage.

With Jia Fei's journey to the West, Durant's defection, the Cavaliers re-signing championship players, and 58 and Beard forming the "CP3-Harden duo," this season still has a lot to offer.

Compared to the Cavaliers' dominance in the East, the West is characterized by one superpower and several strong contenders. The "superpower" is undoubtedly the Warriors; with Durant and a 73-win season, their roster is simply explosive. The "several strong contenders" include the Rockets with their "CP3-Harden duo," the Spurs with their "Double DeRozan" duo, the Clippers with Jia Fei, the Thunder with Westbrook, and the Trail Blazers with Lillard, who represent the remaining playoff contenders.

The outside world is eager to see how Westbrook performs without Durant, and how Jia Fei performs without the Hawks' established system.

Jia Fei continued training day after day in the gym, sweating profusely. After achieving 100% integration, he felt completely different from his championship season. His body became more fluid, many movements were executed more precisely, and his improved physical condition allowed him to attempt more dynamic movements.

During this offseason, besides getting back into shape, he also practiced a lot of one-on-one skills, passing after receiving the ball, and three-pointers. He knows that the offensive pressure on his shoulders next season will be much greater than when he was with the Hawks, and he needs to adapt in advance.

During his time with the Hawks, Jia Fei often played off-ball on offense, only resorting to isolation plays when the team's offense stalled. In the playoffs, his isolation plays increased, but he still mostly played off-ball. It wasn't until the Finals that he was truly forced to rely on isolation plays to solve everything.

September 27th is the annual media open day.

The Clippers' media day attracted a large number of reporters, even more so than the Lakers' event.

Jia Fei's popularity remains high; wherever he goes, reporters are eager to interview him.

Today, Jia Fei looked radiant. He had gotten a special haircut, which made him look even more refreshed and charming. He wore his home jersey number 3 and Nike's custom-made signature shoes—the Jia Fei 3.

The release of the Jaffee 1 was well-received, with excellent sales. Many fans who followed Allen Iverson back in the day started buying Jaffee, becoming consumers of this signature shoe. Most buyers were guards and forwards; the shoe offered good traction, was suitable for changes of direction, and was particularly well-suited for perimeter players.

The release of the Jia Fei 2nd generation coincided with Jia Fei's season-ending injury. While sales weren't as high as the previous generation, they weren't too bad. Considering the shoe's owner was out for the season, it was quite good that the shoes sold reasonably well.

Today is the day that Jia Fei officially appears in front of the media as a Clippers player, and Nike would never miss such an opportunity to showcase its products!

Jia Fei was the subject of the most media attention, and he took the most official photos, some of himself and some with his teammates.

Art Mayork is overjoyed to have secured a fully guaranteed contract, the opportunity to play in a big city with Jia Fei, and the chance to win a championship ring. He considers himself a winner in life.

Compared to those players who wander the league, at least he can now control his own destiny. Compared to those players who retire without ever winning a championship ring, at least he has one.

For a role player, having already achieved both financial rewards and accolades, what more could they ask for!

Compared to his somewhat shy days with the Hawks, Jia Fei now confidently poses for photos with reporters, striking poses at their request. With a confident smile, a sunny and handsome appearance, and a combination of charisma and good looks, he's a true idol with real talent.

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers' smile was somewhat forced and bitter. There was nothing he could do; with Jia Fei's arrival, the Clippers had completely changed. The team had gone on a mad spree, trading away players like 58 and Blake Griffin, and not re-signing Yorke and his "son" Austin Rivers. He dared not say much, fearing that if he did, he too would be traded…

Ballmer these days is really capable of anything. There's no way around it; many people are saying this boss has gotten too rich and lost his mind, actually sucking up to Jia Fei—he's probably obsessed with winning the championship!

Jia Fei certainly wouldn't say anything in his defense of keeping Xiao Li; he's not his son. Frankly, if he could, he'd even send Lao Li away along with him. Aside from spouting motivational platitudes, Lao Li is utterly unremarkable in terms of tactics and strategy. And most importantly, as head coach, his in-game adaptability is terrible, and he's incredibly stubborn and inflexible. Why does his team always get overturned? Is it really all the players' fault? Are the players just too bad? If the players were truly bad, how could they be leading 3-1?

You can't step into the same river twice, but for Old Li, he's been turned upside down more than twice already...

They say you learn from your mistakes, but he's made several mistakes and hasn't learned even a little bit of wisdom, which is quite amazing.

A coach like Lao Li can certainly use a max-level account very well, since he can essentially let the game run itself. He might surprise you with a terrible lineup, but with a championship-contending team, he probably won't offer many surprises.

It's fine for Coach Li to lead the roster next season, but if we really have a championship-contending roster in the future, will this Tang Daren become the shortest plank in the barrel effect?

We can't let the head coach be the one who drags everyone down!

The team's training camp began the following day.

The Clippers players aren't entirely without chemistry. Harris and Boban were teammates on the Pistons, Lou Williams and three others were teammates on the Rockets, Jia Fei and Art Mayok came from the Hawks, and DeAndre Jordan and several others are former Clippers players.

Although it's a new lineup, they already have some synergy on a small scale; now they need to work on perfecting the overall team cohesion.

Before the training camp began, Jia Fei gave each player and coach a gift. The gifts weren't particularly expensive; they were a pair of headphones and a new iPhone.

The gifts weren't particularly expensive, but everyone liked them.

Jia Fei felt that spending a little money to gain the favor of his teammates wasn't a big investment. He didn't want his teammates to say behind his back that he was stingy or something.

NBA players are all professional athletes, and a team is like a company. Jia Fei, as the highest-paid, highest-ranking, and most handsome player, is essentially the company manager. Isn't it normal for a manager to treat his employees to dinner and give them small gifts?

In many places, it's the other way around: those with lower wages fawn over those with higher wages, treating them to meals and giving them gifts—isn't that absurd?