Date: June 6, 2010.
Location: Celtics home arena, TD Garden!
NBA Finals, Game 4.
Tonight was Zhou Ze's twenty-fourth birthday.
The league had given Zhou Ze plenty of respect. Even at the Boston Celtics' home court, half an hour before tipoff, the giant screen above the arena played a birthday tribute video.
The video featured Zhou Ze's highlights from the past five seasons, including this one, as well as birthday wishes from family and friends.
The Celtics' home fans also broke from tradition, rising to their feet and applauding.
However...
Once the game began, whenever Zhou Ze touched the ball, deafening boos erupted from the crowd once more.
Uh...
The Green Army fans were rather clear-cut about their love and hate. As the best player in basketball today, he deserved their blessings. Yet that very same best player was about to crush their championship dreams for the third consecutive year.
Many special guests had also come to watch Game 4.
Hollywood actresses such as Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift were there, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and others.
The entire Kardashian Family had shown up. Even Jenner, who was still a teenager, had come.
Zhou Ze's diehard fan, Jason Seaver, had driven over with his family to watch the game, hoping to witness the first super grand slam of Zhou Ze's career with his own eyes.
Zhou Ze, who hated milestone heartbreaks, entered battle mode from the very first second. He first went at Kendrick Perkins under the basket, backing him down with a drop step while drawing Kevin Garnett's help-defense foul.
Garnett's foul landed heavily on Zhou Ze's arm. After briefly stumbling in midair, Zhou Ze suddenly straightened himself out and finished with a thunderous dunk.
"Kid..."
"No matter how highly everyone else thinks of you, I will never let