Chapter 390: Is Wade Dong Getting Married?

Yaoming sat next to Wade Dong, "Are you going to participate in the Men's Basketball World Cup this year?"

"This year?" Wade Dong asked.

After a moment of silence, Wade Dong replied, "If I have time, I will definitely participate."

The Huaxia men's basketball team was the 2012 Olympic champion and automatically qualified for the tournament, so they didn't need to participate in the Asian qualifiers.

Yaoming nodded and said, "You have the Wade Dong Group, and even during the off-season, you're still very busy."

"It's not just the Wade Dong Group," Wade Dong explained. "I might be getting married this summer."

"You're getting married?" Yaoming was a bit surprised by the news and couldn't help raising his voice, "Is it that sudden?"

"What's so sudden about it? Getting married is a normal thing," Wade Dong said with a smile. "A man should get married, and a woman should get married. Besides, I've had plans to get married for a long time."

Wade Dong didn't have any wandering thoughts. In his previous life, Li Jiajia had decided not to have a wedding ceremony to take care of Wade Dong's feelings. They only had a simple meal of hot pot after getting their marriage certificate, and Wade Dong had always felt guilty about it. This time, he was determined to marry Li Jiajia in a grand fashion.

When everyone heard that Wade Dong was planning to get married, they all turned to look at him. "Dongge, are you getting married this summer?" Yaoming asked.

"That's not right," Yaoming continued. "You said it's possible that you're getting married, not that you're definitely getting married. There might still be changes, right?"

"There might be," Wade Dong cleared his throat and sat up straight. "Jiajia told me that if the Suns win the three-peat, she will marry me this summer. If they don't..."

"There's such a thing?"

Upon hearing Wade Dong's words, his teammates assured him, "Don't worry, Dongge! We'll work hard to bring your bride home as soon as possible!"

As the teammates were still making their promises, Wade Dong's phone rang.

"It's Jiajia's call," he said without even looking at his phone. He knew that Li Jiajia was calling him for a video chat.

After each game, Li Jiajia would video chat with Wade Dong for about an hour. They would chat for about ten minutes before Li Jiajia hung up.

It was already late at night in M Country, but in Huaxia, it was just noon.

Wade Dong didn't avoid his teammates. He simply gestured for everyone to be quiet and then answered the video call.

"Where are you?" Li Jiajia asked, noticing that the background behind Wade Dong didn't look like a hotel room.

"Coach Jin is treating us to dinner. We're still at the restaurant," Wade Dong explained.

Yaoming, sitting next to Wade Dong, pointed at himself and asked in a low voice, "Can... can I say something?"

"Why not?" Wade Dong replied.

Wade Dong turned the camera towards Yaoming and said to Li Jiajia, "Yaoge wants to say hello to you."

Yaoming waved at the camera, "Hi, Jiajia, I'm Yaoming."

"Hi, Yaoge," Li Jiajia's sweet voice came through the phone.

After Yaoming greeted her, Nan Yi walked over and joined them in front of the camera, "Hi, Jiajia, I'm Nan Yi."

"Hello, Nan Ge," Li Jiajia said with a sweet smile. "I often watch you play."

Nan Yi scratched his head awkwardly, "Ahaha... my skills are not as good as Dongge's."

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

Warrick and Thompson also joined them in front of the camera to greet Li Jiajia.

After Li Jiajia responded to everyone, Thompson suddenly asked, "Sister-in-law, I heard that if we win the championship this season, you'll marry Dongge?"

"That's right," Li Jiajia said with a smile. "I believe you guys can definitely win the championship."

Thompson immediately patted his chest and assured her, "Don't worry, sister-in-law! We'll work hard to make sure Dongge marries you soon."

After hanging up the video call, Coach Gentry said, "We need to work even harder. We must win the championship this season to prevent Dongge from becoming a bachelor!"

"You're the bachelor, and your whole family are bachelors!" Wade Dong retorted, throwing a napkin at Coach Gentry's face.

The players were free to joke around with the head coach, and this was part of the team's culture. Nash was familiar with this, having won two championships with the team. Even Iverson was no stranger to this, as he had also played for the Suns.

Nan Yi was filled with admiration, and Yaoming looked on with envy. He realized that a team could be so harmonious!

It was no wonder that even with six players suspended, including Durant, Curry, and Green, the Suns were still able to defeat the Pacers as a united team.

...

The next day, after the Suns returned to Phoenix, the players went their separate ways, while Yaoming and the other two checked into a hotel.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the game against the Jazz that the players returned to the Western Arena.

The suspended players, including Durant and Curry, who were suspended for two games, did not come to the arena. They still couldn't play in the game against the Jazz.

Fortunately, Whiteside's ankle had healed, and McGrady's injury had also improved. Both of them were included in the rotation lineup for this game.

In the previous game, McGrady and Whiteside had not traveled to Indiana with the team.

Finally, at the Western Arena, McGrady met Yaoming, and they couldn't help but reminisce. It was especially poignant since this game was against the Jazz.

Yaoming and McGrady's peak as a duo was during the 06-07 and 07-08 seasons. Ironically, during those two seasons, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Jazz, which made the Rockets fans dislike the Jazz team.

...

Before the game, Coach Gentry motivated the players, "Come on, guys! If we win this game, Durant and Curry can return!"

The suspension of six players had the biggest impact on the Suns due to the absence of Durant and Curry. If they were available, the Jazz would have almost no chance of winning.

The Jazz was temporarily ranked tenth in the Western Conference.

However, the win-loss records of the teams ranked seventh to tenth in the West were similar, so the Jazz still had a chance to make the playoffs. Facing a weakened Suns team, the Jazz also had to fight hard to win this game.

Before the game started, the starting lineups for both teams were announced:

Suns: Wade Dong, Thompson, Carter, Nan Yi, Whiteside.

Jazz: Hayward, Favors, Kanter, Gobert, Burke.

Yaoming, Nash, and Iverson were not listed as starters, which meant that Coach Gentry planned to bring them off the bench. If he didn't want them to play, he would have started them like in the previous game against the Trail Blazers, and then substituted them out after the tip-off.

The Jazz was fighting for a playoff spot, while the Suns were aiming for their 25th consecutive win. The game was about to begin.