The Unexpected [New Player Template]!!!

This timeout officially signaled that the game had entered garbage time.

Phil Jackson and the coaching staff all offered words of encouragement to Zhou Ze and Kobe.

"Kobe, you were incredible tonight."

"Thanks."

"Zhou, your shooting was so accurate, it was like you had an 8x scope installed."

"Man, you're right. I was using a CP3-brand scope."

The teammates seated on the bench quickly stood up and made room for Kobe when they saw their leader arrive.

As for Zhou Ze, although he was a superstar rookie in the league, to be frank, he had yet to reach the status of a star player—at least, that was how his teammates saw it.

Vujacic, who had been in terrible form lately and still hadn't gotten any playing time even in garbage time, saw Zhou Ze being praised by both the coaching staff and his teammates. Not only did he refuse to stand up and give up his seat, he instead thought stubbornly, If he dares make any excessive demands of me, I'll fight him.

Even though tonight's game was being broadcast nationwide, Vujacic, who had had enough of Zhou Ze, was prepared to go all out.

"Sasha, Zhou is tired. Let him sit down." Kobe spoke up directly, telling Vujacic to have some sense.

Vujacic did not want to agree, but when he saw Kobe's stern face, he ultimately rose to his feet reluctantly.

"Zhou, you played well tonight. If your defense and rebounding can improve a little more, that would be even better." Kobe took the wet towel handed over by the ball boy, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and spoke in Zhou Ze's direction.

But the next second, Kobe did not know whether to laugh or cry. This rookie who had just won the game with him was so exhausted that his tongue was nearly hanging out, sweat streaming down without stop. Drained in both body and mind, he had not even heard Kobe calling him.

It took Zhou Ze quite a while to recover before he said, "Kobe, want to make a bet?"

"What?" Kobe looked at Zhou Ze suspiciously.

"Paul will refuse to shake my hand after the game," Zhou Ze said.

"Not likely. Chris shouldn't be that petty." Kobe shook his head.

Before long, the two made a small wager over it.

It was not much.

Just an ordinary worker's monthly salary.

Meanwhile.

In TNT's broadcast booth, Charles Barkley, who was about to wipe away his past humiliation with a shocking wager, danced happily with excitement.

Smith wore a bitter smile. He truly had not expected the Charlotte Hornets, who held every advantage in timing and circumstances, to lose to the Lakers, who had been teetering on the verge of collapse.

The commentators at Heavenly Dynasty Sports Studio also began wrapping up the game early. "The Lakers displayed tremendous resilience in this game. It was a game where individual heroism was taken to the extreme. The representatives of that were Kobe and Zhou Ze. The two gave everything they had to win this hard-fought victory."

"And this win carries enormous significance for Little Zhou. In his battle with Chris Paul for Western Conference Rookie of the Month, he has gained a heavyweight bargaining chip."

A direct matchup between Rookie of the Month candidates had a major impact on the final selection.

Although Chris Paul posted All-Star point guard numbers tonight with 23 points, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds, he lost the game.

Moreover, Zhou Ze's numbers were no less impressive than Paul's. He exploded for 30 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. His three-point shooting also set a new season high, going 7-for-16.

Of course, even so, he was not named Player of the Game.

There was nothing to be done about it.

The bloodthirsty Black Mamba went off for 41 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, and 4 assists tonight!!!

111:102. In the end, the Lakers won the game by 9 points, snapping their two-game losing streak.

[Post-Game Reward: 158 Peak Points]

[Peak Points: 317/4571]

Zhou Ze conducted one random draw and received 1 random attribute point. This time, the system applied the enhancement to [Stamina], raising it to 91 (110).

This was good!

Zhou Ze liked it!

Although stamina did not seem to directly improve Zhou Ze's strength, it came with far too many hidden benefits.

Not only could it allow him to remain efficient for longer on the court, it could do the same off the court as well.

After the game, Paul did not turn around and head straight back to the locker room, but he did indeed ignore Zhou Ze, who approached him with a beaming smile.

Paul refused to shake Zhou Ze's hand.

Clearly, Zhou Ze had inflicted 580,000 tons of emotional damage on Paul tonight.

"That kid is too ungentlemanly." Kwame Brown could not help frowning when he saw the scene. At the same time, he patted Zhou Ze on the shoulder and comforted him. "Zhou, don't lower yourself to his level."

"Man, the cameraman should've captured my gentlemanly side just now, right?" Zhou Ze asked quietly.

"Uh..." Kwame Brown froze slightly. Zhou Ze's reaction caught him off guard.

He had thought Zhou Ze would be somewhat disappointed after Paul refused to shake his hand, but unexpectedly, it had not affected him in the slightest.

"They probably did. But Zhou, a true gentleman isn't what you think he is. They are gentlemen from the inside out..." Kwame Brown explained with a smile.

"Really? But those so-called gentlemen may appear elegant and charitable, yet their ancestors were pirates. In a sense, gentlemen and pirates are synonyms," Zhou Ze said calmly.

Zhou Ze's words left Kwame Brown, a high school graduate with little education, speechless for a moment.

Meanwhile.

Postgame coverage of the Rookie of the Year race flooded in like a swarm of fish crossing a river, with news outlets promoting it everywhere.

Los Angeles's second-in-command—Zhou Ze!

Call them Lob City!

Lakers win, snapping their two-game losing streak!

My CP3-brand 8x scope!

<The best active big-man shooter in the league, bar none!>

<A future superstar, Larry Bird with hops who can dunk!>

American media coverage was exaggerated enough, but Chinese media was even worse.

<Zhou Ze smiles faintly, having already earned the head coach's trust!>

The Ze-Bi Duo will surpass the OK Duo!

I seem to see a rising Lakers dynasty!

That was just how the media operated—they especially loved judging everything by a single game.

After being heavily contained in the first two games, he had been labeled by the media as a player whose style had already been figured out by the entire league, a Zhou whose well had run dry.

But now he was suddenly a future superstar, an athletic, dunking version of Larry Bird.

Even Zhou Ze thought it was complete bullshit.

As December arrived, the selections for November's Players of the Month and Rookies of the Month were announced as well.

First came the Player of the Month selections:

Western Conference Player of the Month: Kobe Bryant, averaging 38.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, while shooting 51.3% from the field and 41.3% from three.

Those percentages did not look very Kobe-like, but in reality, the historical Kobe had averaged 41.6 points that month while shooting 50.9% from the field. Though Kobe was known as a physical freak, he was still flesh and blood, and his form at the start of the season was clearly at its best.

Zhou Ze's sudden emergence had taken a great deal of pressure off Kobe, most visibly in his "minutes played." Historically, Kobe had played 36.6 minutes per game that month, whereas now his playing time had been cut down to 31 minutes.

On top of that, Zhou Ze's floor-spacing ability allowed Kobe's driving game to flourish.

In the long run, Kobe might even be able to play until he was forty and personally see his second daughter, Gigi, selected in the first round of the WNBA lottery rather than the second round.

Eastern Conference Player of the Month: Dwight Howard, averaging 18.1 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks.

Uh...

Compared with Kobe's numbers, Dwight Howard's stats looked rather "miniature."

But then again, the Magic had gone 10-3 that month.

What Chinese fans cared about most, naturally, was the selection of the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month:

East: Andrew Bogut, averaging 11.2 points, 7 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks.

West: Zhou Ze, averaging 21 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.4 steals. Zhou Ze had only recorded one block in total, so it could be ignored.

Zhou Ze shot 37.8% from three.

Matt Bonner, who ranked tenth in three-point percentage, shot 42%.

In terms of percentage, Zhou Ze did not even rank in the top fifty.

But in terms of makes and volume, Zhou Ze stood atop the NBA.

Ray Allen made 3.4 threes per game, ranking second.

Raja Bell made 2.5 per game.

Zhou Ze, meanwhile, made 4.6 threes per game, ranking first!!!

Moreover, unlike more stationary spot-up shooters such as Matt Bonner, Zhou Ze's threes came more often from catch-and-shoot opportunities off movement, as well as all kinds of high-difficulty attempts.

American media gave Zhou Ze the nickname "Tank-Build Miller."

Meanwhile, after Zhou Ze was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month at home, the system's voice rang out again.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for winning Western Conference Rookie of the Month. Reward: 800 Peak Points.]

[Peak Points: 917/5488]

Zhou Ze hurriedly started drawing.

Four random draws gave him 3 random attribute points, all of which the system added to [Stamina], raising it to 94 (110). He was one step closer to going seven times a night.

The remaining random draw gave him an [Armspan Booster], which would increase his total wingspan by 2 cm over two weeks.

Zhou Ze's current wingspan was 215 cm, and his standing reach was 269 cm.

On top of that, there was something that made Zhou Ze even more excited and thrilled...

After spending 5,000 Peak Points, Zhou Ze unlocked the ability to load a new player template.

That meant the upper limits of some of Zhou Ze's talents would be expanded.

"Give me a shooter template, damn it. Even Gummy Bear would do..." Zhou Ze hoped to improve his three-point talent. With a higher base three-point attribute paired with his current shooting badges, he would undoubtedly become terrifyingly accurate.

However...

The next moment, when Zhou Ze learned what his new player template was, his face turned green.

"WTF!"

"What the hell is this?!"

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may have just been renamed!