Misunderstanding Incident

# Chapter 27: Misunderstanding Incident

"Number 3 was Drazen Petrovic's, Number 11 was Arvydas Sabonis, Number 10 was Dejan Bodiroga..."

Laso was only in his forties, a standard middle-generation coach.

But he seemed quite patient; even though Sun Hao was just a rookie, he pointed them out one by one.

The ones he mentioned were all numbers the team had retired or would retire in the future.

In other words, these were numbers Sun Hao could not choose.

Sun Hao nodded. He had heard of all these people, and they were all European superstars outside the NBA.

Sabonis went without saying—he was the King of Europe who had subdued countless NBA superstars.

Drazen Petrovic, in his era, was the player most mourned.

As a European player, in his fifth year of an NBA career he averaged 20+ points per game, and in the following season that rose to 22.3 points.

And in both those seasons, he led his team to the playoffs as the franchise player.

But unfortunately, a car accident took his life.

Many people lamented him, saying that if his career had continued, he would have surpassed Ginobili.

These two had already had their jerseys retired by Real Madrid.

Dejan Bodiroga—this one was even more legendary. He was widely recognized by many stars as the strongest player outside the NBA.

An 18-year career, 11 MVPs, 10 European league championships.

Although he hadn't yet completed these achievements in his career at this point, he was already a dominant figure.

In fact, last season Bodiroga was Real Madrid's number one ace, averaging 18.6 points per game.

In the European Basketball League, where the pace was extremely slow, that made him a superstar among superstars.

But just like Fernando before him, he chose to leave Real Madrid in the new season.

Of course, for such a legendary player, even if he left, retiring his jersey was a high probability.

Sun Hao glanced at the available numbers and finally chose Number 9.

It wasn't because 6 turned upside down was 9, or because there was some other connection between 6 and 9, but because Yi Jianlian wore Number 9.

Earlier, the two had agreed to play their careers together. Now that it hadn't worked out, he would wear Yi Jianlian's number instead.

If they couldn't be together, then wearing his clothes counted as being together too!

After choosing his jersey number, Sun Hao then met his teammates.

Both Bodiroga and Fernando, the two main players, had left, but Real Madrid had a wealth of talent and was still strong.

Sun Hao's mental age was mature, and he quickly got along with his teammates.

And he also saw several familiar faces on this team.

Pablo Prigioni.

Argentine guard, born in 1977, a 1.9-meter guard.

Historically, Prigioni spent most of his career in La Liga and won the ACB League's Best Point Guard three times.

It wasn't until 2012, at age 35, that Prigioni entered the NBA, and after playing three seasons, he retired from the NBA.

Compared to Rodriguez, whom Sun Hao had faced in the EBA League, this one was truly evergreen.

Of course, that was all in the future. Right now, Prigioni had just started making a name for himself.

With Micic leaving and the team not finding a new candidate, he directly became the starting point guard in the new season—he was the one who benefited the most.

Raul Lopez.

Spanish, born in 1980, two years older than Sun Hao, 18 years old, about 1.8 meters tall.

Sun Hao had a deep impression of Lopez too. Historically, he played for Spain in the Beijing Olympic Games and performed well, and also played two years for the Jazz.

Although his career was plagued by injuries, he kept playing until 2016 before officially retiring.

One carrot, one hole. The reason Sun Hao had been promoted to the second team earlier was because Lopez had been promoted to the first team.

The two didn't know each other before. One after the other, they arrived at Real Madrid, and in the new season they would directly compete for the backup point guard position.

The two guards were in direct competition, and through training contact, Sun Hao also found their playing styles very similar—both were pass-first point guards.

This was also a characteristic of 90s basketball: everyone had their own role, and point guards were responsible for organizing and directing the offense. Selection was done accordingly.

Besides them, there was also Jorge Garbajosa.

Garbajosa had outstanding talent. He joined the NBA in 2006, averaged 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in his first year, won the December Rookie of the Month, and was eventually selected to the All-Rookie First Team.

But unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury in his rookie season and faded from the NBA within two years.

That kind of experience was somewhat similar to Yi Jianlian's.

In the new season's training camp, Sun Hao's offense-oriented playing style surprised and troubled head coach Laso.

Because of the system, his height had now grown to 1.72 meters, but even at that height, he was only tall enough to play point guard.

Historically, the offensive point guard wasn't accepted by the world until Rose won MVP in 2011, and the shooting point guard style didn't emerge until Curry in 2014.

In other words, Sun Hao's style was too ahead of its time.

Although Laso wasn't an old-school coach, he still naturally excluded Sun Hao from the rotation and used Lopez more.

Having been tempered by the second-tier league, Sun Hao already had experience with this kind of treatment.

He didn't change his style; instead, he ramped up his shooting practice within the system.

As a time traveler, he knew that while the shooting style was forward-looking, it could be earned ahead of schedule.

Rose's breakout was tied to the NBA abolishing the hand-check rule, but Curry's had little to do with it.

In fact, plenty of players had played this way before Curry—Arenas was one of the prime examples.

Simply put, point guards not shooting threes was a conventional habit, not an impossibility.

As long as you could sink the shots, the coach would naturally dare to put you on the court.

Keep in mind, this was already the late 90s, and the new position of point forward, represented by Pippen, was starting to emerge.

Even Pau Gasol was an organizing center on the European court.

No one said the job of organizing had to be done by the point guard.

Positional specialization on the court, with everyone doing their own job, was no longer an unchangeable thing.

Of course, Sun Hao knew this wasn't easy to achieve, so he did the same as before in the Oro League: stay patient and train hard.

Training camp passed quickly, and before he knew it, the 1998–1999 La Liga season officially kicked off.

Real Madrid's first opponent was Barcelona.

Just like in the EBA League, this game drew huge attention, and the arena, which could hold over 6,000 people, was packed.

Because a teammate was injured, Sun Hao didn't make the rotation but was included in the 12-man roster, seated at the very end of the bench.

During pre-game warm-ups, Sun Hao spotted two familiar faces on the opposite half of the court.

Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro.

Navarro, nicknamed "The Bomb," was once called the best player outside the NBA.

But since he mostly played in Europe, Sun Hao didn't know much about him.

Big Gasol, though, he knew all too well.

"Gasol's nickname" was what fans affectionately called him.

Because his style leaned technical, he was labeled a softie by various experts during his time with the Grizzlies.

After he went to the Lakers and won two straight championships with Kobe, he completely shed that soft label and was hailed as one of the most technically skilled big men of the 20th century.

In terms of international player influence alone, he was second only to Nowitzki and Yao Ming, on the same tier as Ginobili and Parker.

Forget those future achievements—when Sun Hao first arrived in Spain, he'd already heard about this genius from Raul.

Before him, the last player to complete a Three-Step Jump within a year was Gasol.

"Sun."

To Sun Hao's surprise, as he was warming up, Gasol actually came over to greet him.

Sun Hao naturally knew Gasol, but he still put on a puzzled look.

"They told me you're the second Pau Gasol and made me come over to check you out."

Gasol turned his head toward his own team as he spoke.

Sun Hao followed his gaze and saw a group of Barcelona players laughing.

This was probably their prank on the new player.

After all, the two sides were archrivals, and only a rookie like Gasol would fall for it.

"In my country, there's a saying: the world didn't have a path, but when many people walk it, it becomes a road. You're the one who walked this path before me, so I'll accept being the second Gasol."

Seeing the veterans prank Gasol, Sun Hao deliberately didn't let them have their fun, instead cozying up to him.

Gasol thought it over for a moment, then nodded seriously.

"A very philosophical saying. The person who said it must be a great man."

"He was originally a doctor, then became a scholar, and finally a great man."

"A doctor? My parents are doctors."

Gasol seemed to have a gentle temperament, and he actually started chatting with Sun Hao like this.

Though it was their first meeting, their similar experiences gave them plenty to talk about.

The Barcelona veterans had been waiting for a good show, but seeing Sun Hao and Gasol chatting so harmoniously, they lost interest and turned away one by one.

"Good luck."

Sun Hao, seeing his goal accomplished, patted Gasol on the arm and said.

"You too."

Gasol seems like a genuinely nice guy.

After warmups ended, Sun Hao sat back down at the very end of the bench.

The game started quickly, and from the opening tip, Real Madrid, led by Gabajosa, completely suppressed Barcelona.

As the defending champions from last season, even though they lost their starting point guard Fernando during the offseason, they were still the strongest team in La Liga.

Gasol and Navarro both got playing time during the substitution periods, but their performances were a bit raw, and they couldn't help turn the tide for their team.

In the end, after three quarters, Real Madrid was already leading Barcelona by as many as 20 points.

The final quarter became pure practice time.

Sun Hao was subbed in with five minutes left in the game.

La Liga emphasized tactical execution more than the Oro League, and Sun Hao didn't get many chances to shoot.

He took two shots, both of which were basically bail-out attempts when the play broke down.

But he fully showcased his ability, hitting one of his two three-pointers to score 3 points.

Scoring on his debut was already a pretty good start for a young player only 16 years old.

A bit unfortunate, though—Gasol's rotation order came earlier, so Sun Hao never got to match up against him on the court.

Getting his first points in La Liga, Sun Hao didn't think much of it, but the subsequent development of this incident completely exceeded his expectations.

The very next day, he received a call from his parents.

The first question they asked on the phone was whether he was playing basketball or soccer, which left him completely confused.

After some back-and-forth, he finally learned the truth, and once he did, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Chinese Guard Scores 1 Goal for Real Madrid, New Generation Player Rises Suddenly."

That was the headline of a domestic sports newspaper.

A guard scoring a goal, using the phrase "scored 1 goal"—it was clearly a deliberate attempt to ride the soccer hype.

Just like the future UC Shocking Department, anyone who saw it would buy a copy to check out which divine player this guard was.

As for whether the content inside actually had anything to do with soccer, that was a different matter entirely.

That was also why his parents called him right away.

In other words, this was purely a misunderstanding incident.

But what Sun Hao didn't expect was that, from the moment this news caught people's attention and started spreading, the influence it brought him was actually greater than when he won MVP in the Oro League.

For the first time, quite a few domestic fans learned that far across the ocean in Spain, there was a Chinese guard named Sun Hao playing basketball there.

ps: I noticed you guys aren't voting for me. Over 7000 collections, and not even 1500 daily recommendation votes. You're all bullying me. If you keep bullying me, I'll, I'll... act cute for you!

Ehehe~ ┗|｀O′|┛ Go for it~~

Thanks to Xianglaiyuanqiannaiheqingshen, Junyimolu22, and Undying Eternal Immortal for the tips. Thanks for the support, big shots~