Stealing a laugh, Sharapova is here!!!

In the Lakers' scrimmage, the Black team, made up of Zhou Ze, Kobe, and the regular-season starters, faced the White team, composed of Vujacic, Andrew Bynum, and the other reserves.

The main purpose of the scrimmage was to practice the team's tactics.

After Kobe of the Black team received the ball at the right mid-post, he was immediately double-teamed by Andrew Bynum and Devin George.

"Rotate on defense, hurry! Hurry!" the Lakers' assistant coach shouted at the White team players on the court.

A double-team meant someone would be left open.

But in Kobe's eyes, the opportunity still seemed pretty good.

However, Kobe, eager to win more games and prove that he could still be okay without Shaquille O'Neal, also knew he couldn't treat his "tough-shot weapon" as a "standard weapon."

Kobe suppressed the urge to force his way through a one-on-two and passed the ball to Zhou Ze beyond the three-point line.

The Lakers' White team rotated into position quickly as well. Luke Walton followed over, practically chest-to-chest with Zhou Ze.

Clearly, the White team was deliberately targeting Zhou Ze's three-point shooting.

As Zhou Ze's threes became more and more accurate, the league would place greater and greater emphasis on defending him beyond the arc.

After receiving the pass, Zhou Ze saw Luke Walton arrive almost simultaneously. He quickly raised the ball, then suddenly straightened his bent knees. Luke Walton immediately jumped. In that instant, Zhou Ze lowered his body, swiftly stepped out with his right foot, and drove past Luke Walton on the right side.

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

This drew exclamations from the Lakers players and coaching staff on the sidelines, but Kobe, who had passed the ball to Zhou Ze, wore a fond, auntie-like smile.

"This little bastard's first step may not be fast, but his fakes have become more and more realistic in our one-on-ones."

"He already poses a huge threat from three, and he dares to chuck up any damn shot. Once he makes a convincing shooting motion, it's hard for defenders not to jump. After all, that move can even fool me sometimes."

Kobe's eyes were filled with satisfaction, relief, and surprise.

To roughly master the face-up drive after catching the ball in such a short time...

Just as he had said, he really was a basketball genius.

With a boom, Zhou Ze charged to the basket and finished with a powerful two-handed dunk.

It earned praise from his teammates on the court and the coaching staff off it. At the same time, Vujacic, who could have rotated over to help, got thoroughly chewed out by the coaches.

"I was scared to death. Scared to death." The assistant coach put on a frightened expression in front of Vujacic, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Sasha, what were you avoiding?"

"Why did you stop running halfway? You could have gotten in front of his driving lane early and drawn an offensive foul."

Phil Jackson also cursed Vujacic out furiously.

According to their defensive scheme, Vujacic could have positioned himself in Zhou Ze's driving lane ahead of time. After all, Zhou Ze's ball-handling was nothing special, and he only drove in straight lines. Cover your nuts and draw the charge.

Seeing Vujacic getting scolded.

Andrew Bynum, his teammate, covered his mouth and snickered.

But after seeing Kobe's look, he immediately behaved himself.

"Coach, you can't blame Sasha entirely. Even if he'd gotten in front of me early, I still could've slammed the ball in," Zhou Ze said seriously, repaying evil with kindness.

Vujacic's feelings immediately became complicated. What the hell did this rookie mean? Was his defense nothing but air?

"What? Slam it in?" Phil Jackson looked at Zhou Ze in surprise.

"That's right. Kobe can testify..." Zhou Ze said with a smile.

This made Phil Jackson even more curious. He could not help looking toward Kobe for confirmation.

"Coach Phil, you know Zhou is a kid who loves to brag... but at certain times, he really can do it." Kobe rolled his eyes, but when he thought of the bizarre move Zhou Ze had developed, he could not help laughing the next moment.

This scrimmage was actually also meant to design suitable tactics for Zhou Ze.

The Lakers not only needed him to produce from three-point range, but also needed him to attack the basket more. The face-up drive after catching the ball was a tactic meant to raise Zhou Ze's floor.

After all, Zhou Ze could not shoot threes that accurately every game, nor was there any need for him to keep battling his own shooting touch.

With the ability to drive face-up after the catch, opponents would obviously have more concerns when defending Zhou Ze's three-point shot. That would give Zhou Ze better opportunities beyond the arc than before.

On the other hand.

This period of rebounding special training had also brought Zhou Ze a tiny bit of improvement.

Offensive Rebounding +1, increased to 75 (101).

Defensive Rebounding +2, increased to 78 (112).

The game against the Milwaukee Bucks arrived as scheduled.

That night, the Los Angeles Lakers' bench at Staples Center was livelier than ever.

The players all enthusiastically greeted the celebrity guest, "Maria Sharapova."

Vujacic, who had invited her, felt immensely proud of himself, swaggering with every step.

Zhou Ze also politely greeted Sharapova.

However, Sharapova's attitude toward Zhou Ze was somewhat cold. As Vujacic's friend, she had often heard him complain about being bullied by Zhou Ze—that bastard of a rookie who acted one way in public and another in private.

But Zhou Ze did not take it to heart. His mind was entirely occupied with how to destroy Bogut.

To that end, he warmed up especially thoroughly that night.

"Man, I think Zhou is a true 'ladies' man,'" Andrew Bynum said as he watched Zhou Ze tirelessly warming up on the court.

"What?" Kwame Brown looked at Bynum with a face full of question marks.

"Think about it. When has Zhou ever warmed up this thoroughly? Rarely, right?" Bynum asked and answered his own question.

Kwame Brown nodded. Although Zhou Ze was exceptionally serious about games, seeing him like this was indeed rare.

"Do you know why?" Bynum asked with a grin.

Kwame Brown shook his head.

"Idiot. No wonder you can't win the favor of beautiful Hollywood actresses," Bynum said smugly.

Kwame Brown rolled his eyes, as if to say, Like you can either.

"Zhou is trying to attract Sharapova's attention. As they say, serious men are the most handsome. While all the other players are greeting Sharapova, Zhou, this ladies' man, is using his 'unique' approach to catch the tennis beauty's eye." Bynum had transformed into the NBA's Conan.

Kwame Brown nodded, half-convinced.

At the same time, he admired Zhou Ze's personal charm even more.

Zhou could not only cook like a God of Cooking, but also pick up girls like a ladies' man. He was incredible.

Before the official game began, the arena DJ introduced the Lakers players taking the court that night.

There were many different ways for NBA players to make their entrances.

Sometimes, the team's second star came out first, while the top star made the grand finale entrance.

Other times, they entered in ascending order of ability, status, and fame.

Sharapova, who was not very familiar with the Los Angeles Lakers, watched as the Lakers players ran out one by one from the home team tunnel.

Her ordinary male friend, Vujacic, was the third to come out.