I'm Serious About Becoming a Soft-Shell Inside Man!

With 200 peak points, he could conduct one random draw.

After returning home, Zhou Ze decisively chose to draw.

The system's voice rang out once more.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for getting a new badge—Catch-and-Shoot (Bronze).]

[Catch-and-Shoot (Bronze)] Function Description:

1. Improved three-point shooting ability after receiving the ball. Three-point attribute +5.

2. To upgrade to the next stage (Silver), he needed to make a cumulative total of 5,000 catch-and-shoot three-pointers during games or training.

[Three-Point Agent] increased the three-point attribute by +5 when taking a pull-up jumper or a turnaround shot.

[Catch-and-Shoot] increased the three-point attribute by +5 after receiving the ball.

The question was—

If he simply caught the ball and rose for a three-pointer, like most shooters did, then he could only trigger [Catch-and-Shoot (Bronze)]. His three-point attribute would increase by 5, reaching [99].

But if he caught the ball beyond the three-point line and went for a turnaround jumper, he could trigger both [Catch-and-Shoot (Bronze)] and [Three-Point Agent (Bronze)] at once. His three-point attribute would increase by 10, reaching an astonishing [104].

That was three-point ability at the [Ordinary Shooter] level.

There were still a few days before the NBA regular season began. Aside from training with the team, Zhou Ze spent his time doing individual extra workouts.

Either Zhou Ze or Kobe was always the first player to arrive at the practice facility.

Watching Zhou Ze train so diligently, Kobe secretly approved, but he was also deeply puzzled.

Sure, your arms were short, but you still had the build of a legitimate power forward and the strength of a center. Instead of thinking about improving your rough low-post footwork, you spent all day chucking threes like some soft-ass guard.

Even during team practices, your offense revolved around three-pointers...

What annoyed Kobe most was that Zhou Ze loved taking turnaround shots from beyond the arc.

If the defense was tight, then a turnaround jumper was barely understandable. But when the defender clearly hadn't even caught up to you, you still insisted on spinning around and launching a three.

Kobe had cursed Zhou Ze out more than once during games for taking shots that had no difficulty to begin with, only to deliberately make them harder.

"Damn rookie, can you stop showing off like that?"

"Shit! Nobody's guarding you, and you still take a turnaround jumper!"

But Zhou Ze's response was always just as prompt. Aside from talking back, he also used his actions to answer Kobe's accusations that he was taking reckless shots.

"Kobe, do you even understand what a superstar shot is?" After drilling a turnaround three over NBA-famous bust number-one pick Kwame Brown, Zhou Ze got right in Kobe's face and fired back.

Kobe shook his head speechlessly, then shoved Zhou Ze away from in front of him.

Back in the NCAA, Zhou Ze had been one of the North Carolina Five. Though he had a fiery temper and liked throwing elbows at opponents on the court and teammates off it, his emotional intelligence was far from low, and his personal charisma was maxed out.

After being drafted into the NBA and joining the Los Angeles Lakers, things were much the same. Other than constantly butting heads with Kobe, he got along well with the rest of his teammates.

That included Andrew Bynum, the rookie with the same draft class as him, nicknamed Wash-Cut-Blowdry.

Andrew Bynum was born on October 27, 1987. He entered the NBA straight out of high school and was also the youngest player in league history.

Of course, Bynum was still quite obedient at the moment. His giant-baby personality had yet to reveal itself.

Andrew Bynum greatly admired Zhou Ze, his fellow rookie. After all, whenever Bynum made a mistake in team practice, Kobe would chew him out viciously, and he wouldn't dare say a word.

Yet Zhou Ze not only dared to talk back to Kobe's face, he even responded with elbows.

Uh...

No, that wasn't right!

There was one other person who did not get along with Zhou Ze at all.

Sasha Vujacic from Slovenia, a rookie the Lakers had selected with the 27th pick in the first round last year.

To be fair.

Zhou Ze had no idea why Vujacic harbored such intense hostility toward him, as though Zhou Ze had stolen his wife.

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Staples Center!

The Lakers' home arena!

Time passed quickly, and the Lakers welcomed their regular-season opener.

Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers.

Zhou Ze came off the bench. Ordinarily, there was no way he would have entered the game with 4 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

But Kwame Brown, the bust of a first overall pick, had been putting on a "crazy" performance.

Aside from watching Carmelo Anthony drive to the basket for a two-handed dunk, he had also fumbled two perfect passes with butterfingers.

"Zhou, it's your time."

"Stay calm."

"Be reasonable."

After calling a timeout, Zen Master Phil Jackson did not forget to remind Zhou Ze before sending him in.

"Understood!" Zhou Ze nodded.

Seeing Zhou Ze agree so readily, Phil Jackson could not help shaking his head.

This rookie clearly had not taken his words to heart. He was just brushing him off.

For most NBA rookies joining a team led by superstars, coaches would tell them to relax and shoot decisively. But Zhou Ze was completely different.

The Zen Master just hoped Zhou Ze could keep it steady and not go wild!

"Fuck, Andre Miller was guarding you just now, and you still passed the ball back to me."

"Shit!!! When you get a good opportunity, you need to attack decisively."

On his way back to the bench, Kobe did not forget to tear into Kwame Brown.

The bust first overall pick, who bore a striking resemblance to Jordan, did not even dare breathe too loudly as he took the scolding.

Just as Kobe finished saying, "attack decisively," he saw Zhou Ze, who had taken off his warmup and was smiling at him. Kobe quickly turned his head away and thought, I wasn't speaking that loudly just now... That damn rookie definitely didn't hear me clearly.

The score was 12:10, with the Los Angeles Lakers currently down by two.

The timeout ended.

The two sides were about to clash again.

There was almost no difference between either team's lineup and starters. The only change was that the Lakers had replaced their power forward with Zhou Ze.

Lakers lineup on the court: Smush Parker, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Zhou Ze, and Chris Mihm.

Nuggets lineup on the court: Andre Miller, Voshon Lenard, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby.

The moment Zhou Ze, wearing jersey number 0, stepped onto the court, a wave of boos rose from the Lakers' home crowd.

The fans expressed their intense dissatisfaction toward Zhou Ze, who had elbowed Kobe.

But at that moment, Kobe took the initiative to approach Zhou Ze and engaged in a close, friendly interaction with him.

The two performed a set of moves that looked "complicated" and "cool" to the fans.

Uh...

Zhou Ze was not particularly interested in those moves.

To Zhou Ze, those complicated, cool interaction moves looked like kindergarten kids playing pat-a-cake.

But there was no helping it...

After all, it was part of NBA culture.

Of course, Kobe and Zhou Ze's interaction directly shattered the rumors of discord in the team locker room, and many Kobe and Lakers fans switched from "boos" to "applause."

Beep!

The referee's whistle sounded.

The game resumed.