One Year Left to Play-Chapter 179 - 57: Basketball’s Great Villain

Already accustomed to Zhang Hao’s listening-oriented way of communicating, Xu Jicheng knew there was nothing to respond to in what he just said, so he paused for a moment and continued, "Aix, you should find an agent in China to help you handle domestic news and endorsements. You really don’t pay enough attention to these matters."

"I talked with my father, and he said it’s better not to find one for now."

"Not find one?"

From initially wanting to build relationships and networks with others as much as possible, to later understanding that in the world of athletes, you need strength to even talk about connections, Zhang Hao’s words have significantly decreased.

As time became more precious, dropping below 300 days, Zhang Hao cherished his time even more, focusing solely on doing what he wanted to do.

This reduction in words wasn’t just about speaking less, but about ending unimportant or uninteresting conversations quickly.

However, when it came to serious matters, he would explain properly. After thinking it over, Zhang Hao said, "It would be a hassle. Social relations in China are complicated. Without an agent, my father can easily say he’s not in charge of my matters, but with an agent, it’s different. He doesn’t want it to affect me."

Xu Jicheng nodded, showing a bit of regret: "I’ve heard many domestic brands want to invite you to be their spokesperson. I have quite a few people here asking me to pass on the message..."

Thinking about those endorsement fees that often go up to tens of thousands, Xu Jicheng felt heartache for Zhang Hao; it’s all money!

Zhang Hao felt that Xu Jicheng seemed to be feeling sorry for him about the money and scratched his head, blurting out, "Actually, I don’t lack that little bit of money."

"..." Xu Jicheng felt like his heart was stabbed!

Zhang Hao had received domestic endorsement invitations, but he refused them all.

Those brands were just riding the current wave of popularity, not thinking that he would perform notably well in foreign basketball leagues. This was evident from the fact that no domestic brands were investing in the Brooklyn Nets.

The reason for this... thinking it over, Zhang Hao said, "Unless they offer more money."

His time was very precious, and the money offered couldn’t impress him.

Given the free time, he’d rather lounge on the couch playing Little Overlord.

...

At 4:45 PM, the game was about to start. After warming up, Zhang Hao, filled with excitement, walked out of the players’ tunnel with his teammates and entered the court at the United Center.

What met Zhang Hao’s eyes was a sea of red...

The Bulls announced that there were 21,358 seats tonight, all occupied! Moreover, looking around, almost every spectator was wearing the red T-shirts provided by the Bulls!

The frenzied sound at the venue made Zhang Hao truly understand what passion was. Their Brooklyn Nets home stadium and the Hornets’ home, what were they compared to this...

Looking across, Zhang Hao finally saw the legendary player in person—Michael Jordan!

Zhang Hao had thought about visiting Jordan in advance, but he didn’t have the chance. The Bulls were much more active and had larger practice sessions than the Brooklyn Nets.

They were still preparing for the regular season on game days.

From this, Zhang Hao could clearly see that they didn’t regard them as opponents at all.

"Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Langley, Cole, Harper, Rodman... Apart from being a bit older, Jordan will be 33 in six months, and Rodman will be 35 in six months. This lineup is impeccable!"

Looking at these players, Zhang Hao simply didn’t know how to describe his current feelings.

Just seeing these players across, he felt like he couldn’t breathe!

They were teams from entirely different worlds!

At this moment, the notification came.

"Special contracted player Zhang Hao will represent the Brooklyn Nets in a game against the Bulls. The player detection system is now activated. The host can analyze based on the opponent’s ability rating to assist Zhang Hao."

"Look up!"

"Michael Jordan, 32 years old, height 198 cm, wingspan 212 cm, ability rating 105..."

"Stop looking!"

Zhang Hao just glanced at the beginning and decisively turned off the subtitles.

Damn, that’s too demoralizing!

"What’s the highest ability rating?"

"The highest regular ability rating is 99. Michael Jordan has surpassed his era."

A superstar that surpasses his era! Thinking of this, Zhang Hao inexplicably thought of someone.

"What was that maniac thinking? He actually dared to aim to surpass such a guy?"

Not looking at the opponent’s ability ratings anymore, Zhang Hao felt that continuing to look would demoralize him further!

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Hao calmed himself down from the strength gap that made him want to curse.

At this time, Kenny Anderson came over to Zhang Hao: "How about it? Seeing that man, are you excited?"

Not answering the question, Zhang Hao asked, "If someone told you that their goal is to become stronger than Jordan and to win more honors than Jordan, what would you think?"

"Are you crazy?"

"I’m not talking about myself."

"... Good thing you’re not crazy."

Zhang Hao knew he wasn’t crazy, but he felt that a future 24th player, who wished to remain anonymous, was a lunatic.

If an outside player now claimed they wanted to surpass Jordan, they’d be seen as crazy. Jordan was being compared to the Magician, let alone saying they’d surpass the Jordan after his second three-peat?

"Where does that guy get the courage?"

No need to bother with these things; many things are still far away from him. At this moment, contrary to his initial excitement upon stepping onto the court, Zhang Hao thought he would run up to talk to Jordan, but he didn’t feel the urge to do so anymore.

The urge he felt now was to go up and play a match against that man!

On the other side.

"Michael, are you interested in that high schooler?" Pippen was curious.

Jordan shook his head: "No, I’m not interested in him. I’m interested in his mid-range shot. He made 20 or how many mid-range shots in the previous two games? Twice as many as I did..."

Pippen thought for a moment and said, "That rookie’s mid-range shot should be quite talented. I heard he relied on just one dunk contest and one high school game to have first-round stock. His talent must be good. What do you want to do?"

Jordan didn’t answer but asked back, "How many mid-range shots do you think he’ll make tonight?"

Pippen asked back, "How many do you want him to make?"

"Hahahaha..."