One Year Left to Play-Chapter 102 - 32: Study Mode

After that, the conflict between both sides continued to escalate. The league wanted to set the contract duration for veterans and implement a hard salary cap, while the players wanted to abolish the salary cap... Anyway, both sides were proposing terms that the other side couldn’t accept, thus pushing for more easily achievable clauses.

By now, nothing had been agreed upon, and it’s basically certain that this season is completely over. That means after June 30th, the Players’ Union will strike, and the NBA will lock out.

However, the Players’ Union is confident because they know the owners won’t dare turn next season into a shortened season. The situation last summer happened because the revenue growth in the 93-94 season was far lower than the growth in previous years. And there’s only one reason for this—Michael Jordan retired in the summer of 1993.

Michael Jordan has already returned. Although they bowed out in the second round, his status, performance, popularity, and the ratings he drove... all gave the Players’ Union tremendous confidence.

They believe most teams wouldn’t want a lockout after Jordan’s return. For instance, the Brooklyn Nets want to settle team matters before the lockout, so they can start working directly on the new season once the lockout ends.

The Nets even wrote a check for Zhang Hao to withdraw his salary early, as they’re sure the lockout won’t affect the smooth start of next season. To prevent players from causing trouble in the offseason without money... mainly to prevent those African American players from stirring up trouble in the summer, they paid salaries in advance to ensure they had money to spend.

This led to the scenario where Zhang Hao quickly completed his contract signing in half an hour. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Zhang Hao also learned that many first-round picks signed contracts directly last night. He only signed this morning because he was stunned to be selected at the number 9 slot last night and wasn’t in the right frame of mind to discuss contracts, hence signing this morning.

After understanding these things, Zhang Hao was a bit dazed. A lockout... No wonder the Nets’ general manager asked him to visit the arena before July 1st...

The lockouts Zhang Hao remembers are from 1998, 2011, and 2020. He’s now realizing that the 1998 lockout was already the NBA’s fourth lockout.

For this matter, he definitely supports the Players’ Union. Labor relations are inherently unequal; they worked tirelessly to fight for greater player benefits, moving from complete exploitation to now being able to "recklessly" pursue players’ rightful rights and incomes.

However, comparing the current Jordan fighting on the front line against the league and the Jordan 16 years later fighting on the front line against the Players’ Union... Zhang Hao confirmed a truth—people, there’s always a day when you become the person you hate the most.

After sending off the two from the Players’ Union, Zhang Hao walked toward the elevator. On his way back to his room, he considered what to do next.

Go to New Jersey? Zhang Hao wanted to take a look, but since the lockout was happening, the Nets had already prepared to directly open the training camp once it ends. Going just for a spin... feels a bit like wasting his precious life.

As an outstanding young man with five virtues, Zhang Hao originally had a hobby of surviving without purpose.

But when living without purpose equated to waiting for death, he quit this hobby.

As an excellent student selected by the NBA, Zhang Hao felt that staying at the school’s gym to train until the NBA lockout ended, the school likely wouldn’t refuse?

Moreover, even if the NCAA isn’t playing, university studies must continue. It’s best to study something related to sports or psychology, which might be helpful for becoming a head coach in the future... Studying a major related to video editing might also work.

From the hobby of surviving without purpose to a goal of living until old age, Zhang Hao felt his soul had transcended...

The lockout starts July 1st. With things reaching such a state, Zhang Hao estimated that even if next season is unaffected as remembered, it wouldn’t be a matter that could be solved in a month or so; otherwise, there wouldn’t be a lockout.

Both sides might use not playing next season as a bargaining chip. This chip can be used by both sides. The Players’ Union feels the owners wouldn’t want to miss out on the rapid revenue growth after Jordan’s return, while the owners think the Players’ Union wouldn’t dare risk players’ incomes.

Ultimately, probably both sides will make concessions, and then wait for the current labor agreement, which is not perfect at all, to expire, which is 1998...

Since there’s a lockout, the summer league in July will definitely be canceled.

So keep training then!

Closing his eyes, he recalled the positioning strategies learned last night... Among the positioning strategies remembered last night, when teammates appear in certain positions, where the off-ball shooter should move, and with what route, all vividly appeared in his mind.

However, in a game, teammates must cooperate with strategies for them to work; otherwise, learning positioning routes is useless.

This requires learning more positioning methods and then making reactive decisions based on actual situations on the court.

Also, the ball-handling player needs to have passing awareness and ability...

Much more complicated than Zhang Hao imagined!

At this time, he thought of Garnett, the pick-and-roll master... Originally, Zhang Hao wanted to go to the Spurs, aiming to partner with Duncan in the future; Duncan’s pick-and-roll should be on par with Garnett.

Unfortunately, they don’t pay attention to a high school player at all. He went for the trial, but there was no feedback whatsoever.

The road to becoming a top off-ball shooter is long and challenging, but Zhang Hao is never one to aim too high. Step by step, he’ll lay a solid foundation for positioning first, so when he gets to the NBA, he can quickly progress to the next stage rather than going there to build a foundation.

Also, the lessons learned at the Adidas Training Camp, like how to speed up the shooting process, practice passing accuracy and speed, at least get his dribbling to NBA levels to avoid lacking basic ball-handling skills, under-the-basket finishing ability...

Zhang Hao counted them up and realized there’s so much he needs to practice!

Moreover, if that static strength growth card doesn’t affect normal physical development, it needs to be trained too. While increasing strength, he also needs to ensure his shooting touch remains steady.

This summer is not going to be easy!