Chapter 235: Teach Me to Dunk, Dong Ge

"Dong Ge, didn't you take two days off?"

Gentry was surprised to see Wade Dong at the arena.

Wade Dong replied earnestly, "It's the playoffs; how can I take two days off? Of course, I came back to train with everyone!"

"Well..."

Gentry rubbed his thermos, at a loss for words.

After Wade Dong entered the arena, he found that only Curry and Varick were practicing three-pointers.

"Where are the others?"

"Um..."

Gentry hesitated and explained, "I thought you weren't coming today, so I gave the team a day off."

"Anyway, the Clippers and Nuggets have at least two more games to play, so we're not in a hurry. Let them relax for a bit."

Wade Dong: "???"

Did Gentry come to the arena early in the morning to practice, only to find that he had given everyone else the day off?

What a waste of a trip...

Gentry said, "I don't have much to do today. Why don't I go for a drink with your dad at noon?"

"Never mind."

Wade Dong shook his head; Gentry was several years older than his father.

If they started drinking and Gentry began calling him 'brother,' would he also call Gentry 'grandpa'?

"I'm going back to the office."

Gentry felt a bit bored, so he decided to go back to the office to watch the replay of the Clippers-Nuggets game.

After Gentry left, Curry walked over with a basketball, "Dong Ge, teach me how to dunk."

"Are you kidding?"

Wade Dong looked at Curry, "How did you come up with such an unrealistic idea?"

Curry smiled, "Every boy has a dream of dunking."

In fact, Curry could dunk; Wade Dong had seen Curry's physical test data.

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Bench Press: 10 reps

Curry's running and jumping ability, as well as his strength, were quite good, though not as impressive as Westbrook, Huang Yu, and other guards with exceptional physical attributes. Still, he was considered above average among guards in the league.

Curry often tried to show off, and while he was a good shooter, he often got his shots blocked, giving fans the impression that he couldn't dunk.

Speaking of physical test data, Wade Dong's data was a mystery.

Most teams only had access to Wade Dong's physical test data from his time at Beijing University, which could be described in three words: unbelievable.

However, everyone knew that aside from his height and wingspan, the rest of his data was too unrealistic. For example, Wade Dong's recorded maximum vertical leap was 86cm, but could he really jump that high? Could he fly over Bogut for a dunk?

Gentry once asked Wade Dong if he wanted to retake the physical tests to reveal his true data.

Wade Dong refused.

Wade Dong didn't need to know how high he could jump or how fast he could run; he was already the best in the league in those aspects.

Wade Dong also had nothing else to do, and Curry wanted to learn how to dunk.

So, Wade Dong grabbed a basketball and walked to the three-point line, "Actually, the key to dunking, aside from vertical leap, is timing and finding the right spot to dunk. For example, if you want to do a between-the-legs dunk..."

As he spoke, Wade Dong demonstrated by dribbling twice at a 45-degree angle, then jumping near the three-second zone and performing a between-the-legs dunk.

"Clang!!!"

He effortlessly slammed the ball through the hoop.

After landing, Wade Dong said, "Timing and finding the right spot to dunk are also crucial."

"Never mind, I won't learn it."

Curry shook his head; this between-the-legs dunk, which seemed simple to Wade Dong, was beyond Curry's abilities.

...

With no teammates around, Wade Dong stayed in the arena for a while before heading home.

Curry was there to practice because his new house was still under renovation, and he had dragged Varick to come along...

As the Heat defeated the Bucks and the Bulls beat the Celtics, the first round of the playoffs was gradually coming to an end.

In the Western Conference:

Suns 4, Warriors 0

Thunder 4, Lakers 2

Spurs 4, Grizzlies 2

Nuggets 3, Clippers 4

In the Eastern Conference:

Heat 4, Bucks 0

Bulls 4, Celtics 1

Knicks 4, Hawks 3

Pacers 4, Nets 2

Out of the 16 teams and 8 matchups, only the Clippers managed to come back from a low win percentage to win their series. In the other games, the teams with higher win percentages emerged victorious.

Paul once again advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

The matchups for the second round of the playoffs were also set.

Western Conference: Suns vs. Clippers, Thunder vs. Spurs.

Eastern Conference: Heat vs. Pacers, Bulls vs. Knicks.

...

May 23rd.

The Suns hosted the Clippers in Game 1 of the second round.

There was some bad blood between the two teams. Last year, the Suns swept the Clippers 4-0 in the playoffs, and in one game, they won by a margin of 58 points.

This grudge hadn't been settled, and at the end of this season, the Suns beat the Clippers by 74 points, setting a new record for the largest margin of victory in NBA history. After the game, Griffin even went to the Suns' locker room to issue a challenge.

So, this year, the Clippers were determined to give the Suns a hard time.

Paul was even more determined not to miss out on the Western Conference Finals again.

...

Wade Dong agreed to a pre-game interview with a Chinese reporter.

In the Chinese live streaming room.

Yu Jia: "Our reporter is about to interview Dong Ge. Let's switch to the live feed."

After saying this, Chinese fans saw Wade Dong on the stream.

The US Airways Center was filling up, and Wade Dong stood courtside, interviewed by a beautiful reporter named Zhang Man.

"Wow... Dong Ge, it's not easy to get an interview with you."

Standing in front of Wade Dong, Zhang Man was a bit excited and nervous.

Wade Dong smiled, "I'm not good with words, and I'm not comfortable in front of the camera."

"Haha... Dong Ge, you're so funny."

Zhang Man laughed and said, "Congratulations on winning the scoring title, blocks leader, steals leader, and DPOY this season, as well as achieving a quintuple-double, three quadruple-doubles, and..."

Zhang Man rattled off a long list of achievements before complimenting him, "Which of these records are you most proud of?"

"The next record."

Wade Dong downplayed his accomplishments and added, "If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have realized that I've set so many records."

Zhang Man said, "Records are meant to be broken."

Wade Dong smiled, "Records can be broken, but history cannot be rewritten."

Zhang Yang then said, "Dong Ge, you scored over 3000 points this season, and you're the only active player to achieve this. I believe you can surpass 30,000 career points without any problem."

"Breaking the 30,000-point mark means nothing to me."

Wade Dong smiled and then turned serious, "If you change that to 300,000 points, I might give it a try."