It was game night, and in the locker room, Zhao Dong pulled up the system and started dropping points.
Two days ago, he earned five quality points and five skill points. He still had one quality point left over. He used all six to bump his flexibility from 90 to 93. Then, he used two skill points to push his level 94 Gold Badge dry jumper up to an elite level 95, and two more to raise his step-back jumper to level 92. He still had one skill point in the stash.
His level 95 pull-up jumper just became his sixth Gold Badge skill.
Gold Badge Effect: Boosts shot stability by 30%, and increases the chance of shaking defenders by 60%.
"Damn... 60% breakaway boost? That means you can lowkey ignore the defender—just pull up and let your touch do the work," Zhao Dong smirked, impressed.
This was the best escape skill out of all his Gold Badges. The pull-up shot already had that surprise factor, but with this effect? Man, it's almost automatic.
---
Physical Attributes:
Injury Resistance: 100
Vertical: 98
Coordination: 96
Stamina: 95
Speed: 90
Balance: 90
Flexibility: 93
Strength: 91
---
Skill Ratings:
Core Skills:
Ball Handling: 96
Shooting: 96
Passing: 90
Offense:
Gold Badges:
Bank Shot – 99
Pull-Up Jumper – 95
Turnaround Jumper – 95
ISO Breaker – 95
Pull-Up – 95
Post Game – 92
Top Tier Skills:
Step-back Jumper – 92
Spot-up Jumper – 90
Other Moves:
Hook – 80
Floater – 80
Straight-arm Jumper – 73
Turnaround Fade – 65
Turnaround Step-back – 68
Cutting – 83
Off-ball Movement – 75
Defense:
Perimeter D – 95
Interior D – 90
Rebounding – 99
Blocks – 91
Steals – 90
Playmaking:
Vision & Passing IQ – 99
Skill Points Left: 1
Unclaimed Rewards:
Any of Jordan's signature moves
Hill's First Step
Dominance Fragment
---
Zhao Dong glanced at his player card. Dude was almost a straight-up hexagon beast. But he knew he still had one weak spot—his back-to-the-basket game.
Still, with better balance and flexibility and once he gets MJ's turnaround fadeaway? That hole would be patched. At that point, he could go toe-to-toe with Jordan on offense.
MJ had maybe two more elite seasons left. His physical tools were dropping, and he was surviving on experience. Two more years, and he wouldn't be as scary. Zhao Dong wasn't tryna wait though. He wanted to take him out this season—one-on-one in the playoffs, clamp him, then knock him out the bracket.
Next season? He had other dogs to worry about—the Lakers and Spurs. Chicago wouldn't be the main threat anymore. Even the system knew that.
"Man, it's wild. For guys like Garnett and Marbury, the system doesn't even toss me a quest? You telling me they're not even worth it?" Zhao Dong shook his head and got ready to hit the floor. Still, no new missions from the system.
For tonight's game, old coach Nelson had a split plan: Zhao Dong would work the low post in the 1st and 3rd quarters, then move outside and run point as a forward in the 2nd and 4th.
When Zhao Dong was playing perimeter, he teamed up with Big Ben and Danny Fortson, while Camby chilled on the bench. They were going small-ball.
The scheme relied on three perimeter guys for offense, while the bigs boxed out and set hard screens.
---
Now on defense, the Timberwolves had the rock. Garnett tried to work one-on-one against Big Ben, spun around, and threw a mean elbow—but Ben held his ground, shutting KG down.
Forced into a tough turnaround jumper, Garnett bricked it. Fortson snagged the board.
Meanwhile, Zhao Dong had already turned and was sprinting full speed from the wing, calling for the rock.
He caught the ball just past halfcourt, then flew down the right side.
Only Marbury was fast enough to keep up. Chris Carr, their shooting guard, was trailing, and Gugliotta, the small forward, was already toast.
Marbury stayed with him… but challenge Zhao Dong at the rim? Nah. He ain't that bold.
BOOM!
Zhao Dong slammed it down with authority, and Madison Square Garden went absolutely nuts.
"Yo, Pony, why you ain't contesting me?" Zhao Dong shouted with a smirk.
"Pony?!"
Marbury looked straight-up confused and pissed. "Yo Zhao Dong, I ain't gay!"
"I never said you were," Zhao Dong laughed.
He remembered Marbury used to play in Beijing in the last timeline. He used to watch those Shougang games. Probably gonna be the same story in this life too.
---
Later in transition, Zhao Dong ran a fastbreak from the left wing, burned Gugliotta with a slick crossover, and charged past the center line.
Marbury tried to step up, but Zhao Dong baited him—shoulder bump, boom, and Marbury hit the floor.
Zhao Dong didn't even look back. He just turned on the jets and drove it in.
BANG!
Another tomahawk dunk.
MSG exploded again. That man was a one-man fastbreak.
Even without the bigs joining the break, Zhao Dong alone was making Coach Nelson's small-ball look like prime Showtime.
---
It was late December. The Garden was on fire.
The Knicks wrapped up their 29th game of the regular season with a record of 22-7, still sitting comfortably at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls kept coasting, conserving energy for the long haul. Ewing barely played a role in most games, and their standings dipped—they dropped to third in the East.
Out West, both the Lakers and Spurs took more L's, causing their records to slide, and with that, the Knicks officially took the league's number one spot.
Nobody in the media saw that coming.
ESPN dropped their latest championship odds rankings. The top five: Knicks at 45%, Bulls 44%, Jazz 25%, Lakers 24%, and Spurs 15%.
Zhao Dong's been putting in work. He's hitting 13 of 20 shots per game, and now that he's running fast breaks too, his efficiency's gone up even more. Dude's averaging 34.4 points, 12.1 boards, 9.4 dimes, 1.3 steals, 3.5 blocks, 2.3 turnovers, and 3.2 fouls a night.
Yeah, the scoring dipped a bit, but the playmaking and defense? Straight-up next level.
Putting up near triple-double numbers like that, Zhao Dong bagged the "Player of the Month" award for the second year in a row—no debate needed.
Truth is, the league didn't really wanna give him the same award again, but c'mon—stats that insane, team sittin' at #1 in the league? They had no choice. Skipping him would've just caused drama.
Thanks to his ridiculous stats and team dominance, Zhao Dong's still at the top of the NBA's official MVP ladder. MJ's sittin' at #2, but his numbers ain't even close.
The New York Times had this to say about the Knicks' performance over the past two months:
> "Sure, the record's great, but their tactics are still all over the place. One night they're cooking elite squads like the Bulls or Lakers, next thing you know, they're dropping games to bottom-tier teams like the Mavericks or Raptors.
Nelson hasn't figured out a consistent system yet. Some games it's slow, half-court sets, other times it's small ball chaos. That means their main rotation keeps shifting. Come playoff time, if they don't lock in a steady lineup and game plan, it's gonna be dangerous."
January 1st, 1998—Zhao Dong and Lindsay linked up for a meeting with the New York Jets for a major business move.
They were in the final stages of the deal, and the team's price was basically locked in at $115 million—way higher than what James Dolan dropped to cop the Knicks last year.
Once the media got wind of it, rumors spread like wildfire. Word on the street: Zhao Dong and Lindsay were about to buy out the New York Jets.
Morning of the 2nd, the two pulled up to the airport to greet Mrs. Dolores flying in from Switzerland.
She came mainly for their upcoming wedding. All-Star Weekend's in early February, so time's ticking.
Zhao Dong also got in touch with his fam—his mom and the rest would be flying in soon too.
"Mrs. Dolores, I got the villa. It's getting fixed up now, should be ready by the wedding," Zhao Dong said, hopping into the car.
The mansion he bought was next-level—posted up in Long Island with a dope environment. Whole property's 35,000 square meters, got 12 bedrooms, 6 garages, and 3,000 square meters of living space. Cost him $6,500 per square, so he dropped over $20 mil. Registered it under Lindsay's name.
Now when it came to the Jets, Zhao Dong wasn't about to let Lindsay foot the bill alone. She wanted to pay for it all, but he wasn't having that. They agreed to go 50/50. Lindsay threw down $65 mil for 50%, and Zhao Dong dropped $50 mil for his half.
On the 5th, the league announced All-Star voting was officially open. That meant the All-Star Game was right around the corner.
Camby pulled up in New York hoping to shine bright enough in the big city to get an All-Star starter nod like Zhao Dong. But on the 8th, bad luck hit—he jacked up his knee during practice and got ruled out for at least two weeks.
Early morning on the 10th, Zhao Dong's fam headed to the airport—except for his dad, who couldn't make the trip due to business.
His mom, Li Meizhu, worked a government job too, but since things were looking up financially, she took unpaid leave to look after the grandparents.
Everyone was hyped—until they hit a snag during airport security. Old man Zhao Zhongguo couldn't clear the checkpoint. The machine kept beeping like crazy.
They checked him top to bottom multiple times, still no luck. Dude was getting heated, straight-up saying he wouldn't go anymore. That had Li Meizhu sweating bullets.
She called Zhao Dong's dad, Zhao Zhenguo.
"Zhao Zhenguo, the old man can't get through security! What do we do?!" she said in a panic.
"What? That's weird," Zhao Zhenguo replied, confused.
"They checked him like three times already. The scanner's going wild. Now he and the kid are both pissed, talking about not going. I think the security machine's busted. You know someone at customs, right? Can you call in a favor?"
"Customs? That's not even my lane. I work PR."
"PR my ass! You're the executive deputy director of the city and don't know anyone in customs? Be real! If the old man misses this flight, he's coming home to beat your ass!"
"Woman, calm down! Just 'cause you got long hair don't mean you got wisdom. What if he gets through here but gets stopped in the U.S.?"
"Oh, damn... didn't think about that. What do we do?"
"Wait... Can't get through... beeping non-stop... Wait a second!" Zhao Zhenguo suddenly shouted. "I got it! The old man still got like a dozen pieces of shrapnel in his body from back in the day! That's probably what's messing with the detector!"
"For real?!"
"Yeah. I'll hit up customs now. You call Dongdong and check if the U.S. side will let that through. If not, he can't go."
"Okay, move fast!"
Zhao Dong got the call from his mom right as he was getting ready in the locker room, just 10 minutes before tip-off.
"Hey Mom, y'all on the plane yet?"
"No, the old man—"
"Shrapnel? Say less, hold up."
He dipped out the locker room and found GM Ernie Grunfeld. After explaining everything, Ernie nodded and said, "Let me hit up the boss. We'll get it handled. Shouldn't be an issue."
He hit up James Dolan right away, and Dolan told him not to sweat it—just a little thing that could be handled through the VIP channel, no need to go through security.
The next day at noon, Zhao Dong and Lindsay rolled up to the international airport to pick the fam up.
James Dolan even sent one of his top assistants to help, and everything went smooth at customs.
"This is America. Way more developed than back home. They say it'll take a hundred years to catch up—seriously? A whole century? I don't buy it," Zhao Zhongguo muttered, sitting in the car, wide-eyed.
"Grandpa, you really think we can catch up with the U.S.?" Zhao Dong said, chuckling.
"For real, it's hella advanced here. Can we even close that gap?" Zhao Dacheng chimed in.
"Of course we can. Ain't nothing us Chinese can't do," Zhao Zhongguo said, full of pride.
Then he shot a look at Zhao Dong and scolded, "You punk, been out here a few days and you already doubting your own country?"
Zhao Dong quickly raised his hands. "C'mon, Grandpa! I'd never disrespect like that. Don't throw shade at me!"
Since the villa was still under renovation, Zhao Dong hooked his family up in his high-rise suite. After dropping off the luggage, he and Lindsay took them to a nearby Chinese spot for dinner.
"Yo, that's Zhao Dong!"
"Zhao Dong, sign my jersey, man!"
The moment they stepped into the restaurant, folks started hyping up. The place was buzzing when they saw Zhao Dong walk in.
"Our boy out here killin' it overseas," Li Meizhu said proudly, watching white and Black fans swarm around him.
"Quit showin' off. Find us a seat and get the waiter to bring some tea—I'm parched," Zhao Zhongguo snapped.
"Okay, okay!" Li Meizhu said, scrambling.
"Right this way. Zhao Dong already reserved a private room. Oh, you guys his family? Welcome!"
A middle-aged Chinese man hustled over to greet them.
They made their way to the private room and hadn't even finished their first sip of tea before Zhao Dong walked in.
"Grandpa, we got a home game tomorrow. You down to come watch?" he asked.
"Of course I'm watching! I wanna see how you bust those Americans up!" Zhao Zhongguo barked.
"Pfft!"
Zhao Dong and Lindsay cracked up at the same time.
The old man kept going. "Back in the day, we were at the 38th parallel. If we hadn't run outta food and bullets, we'd have pushed those American devils straight into the sea. They weren't scary—just scared to die…"
January 11, 1998. The Knicks were hosting the Heat in their first home game of the regular season.
Zhao Dong had planned to get a private room for his grandparents so they wouldn't be overwhelmed by the crowd, but the front office wasn't about to let him spend a dime. They hooked it up themselves.
By 7:30 PM, Zhao Dong led his fam into the suite—snacks, drinks, and even a private bathroom. Super chill.
"Oh yeah, Grandpa—Lindsay wants to become a Chinese citizen. Can you hit up Dad and see if he can make it happen?" Zhao Dong asked.
"You wanna be Chinese? That's dope. Everyone should be on the same household registry. But no backdoor stuff—I'm not getting involved. Go talk to your dad," Zhao Zhongguo said, serious.
Zhao Dong rolled his eyes. "Useless at the key moment…"
"Don't worry, I'll talk to your dad. No way he'll say no," Li Meizhu said quickly.
"Nonsense! The country's got rules. If everyone just bypassed the system like that, we'd have chaos!" Grandpa snapped.
Li Meizhu shut up immediately, looking down.
"Don't start yelling in front of our grandson's wife. That's embarrassing!"
Grandma Tan Ling gave him one look and shut him up.
"Zhao Dong… maybe let it go," Lindsay whispered, nudging him.
"It's cool. Your mom's Chinese, and we're married now. We'll work it out," Zhao Dong smiled.
"Bro, I don't wanna stay up here. Can I go check out the lower seats?" Zhao Dacheng asked.
"Sure, I got you," Zhao Dong grinned.
After arranging a good seat for his brother, he dipped to the locker room and popped open the system interface.
Hadn't checked it since they played the Bulls last. Didn't expect much, but boom—today it went crazy. A Team Sniper Mission?
"Yo, what's up with all these sniper missions this season? System running outta superstars or what?"
Team Sniper Mission: Win a thrilling and dominant victory.
Requirements:
20+ fast breaks with a 70%+ success rate (scoring or assists)
10 dunks
Score 40+ points
Get a triple-double
Rewards: +2 Quality Points, +2 Skill Points
"Damn, been dry on missions and now I get one—still stingy with the rewards!"
…
At 8 PM, both teams announced starting lineups.
Miami Heat: Luc Longley, Alonzo Mourning, Jamal Mashburn, Voshon Leonard, Tim Hardaway
New York Knicks: Ben Wallace, Charles Oakley, Zhao Dong, Allan Houston, John Starks
The matchup had hype. Pat Riley's Heat and the Knicks were straight-up rivals—battling on and off the court last season. NBC had it live across the U.S., and CCTV was showing it back in China too.
In the commentary booth, Marv Albert and Matt Goukas broke it down.
Marv said, "The Knicks are battling injuries—Larry Johnson, Marcus Camby, and Hu are all out. That means rookies like Ben Wallace and Danny Fortson are getting more burn, but they're struggling."
Matt Goukas chuckled. "That's how rookies roll. Sometimes they surprise you, sometimes they really surprise you."
Marv added, "But defensively and on the boards, they bring great energy. Offensively though? Still raw."
Goukas nodded. "They're both blank slates, but Fortson's got a slight edge. He commits way too many fouls—kind of a tech magnet. I'm not too high on him long-term, but if someone sharpens him up, he might be the next Rodman. The rebounding instincts are there."
"Agreed. Fortson's the better rebounder, more upside. Ben Wallace is a beast on D, but undersized. Probably better as a power forward than a center," Marv said with a grin.
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