The Lakers are basically unchanged from last season.

The only change is that they finally sent away Parker, the "god of death who may kill their own core", and welcomed old general "Old Fish" Fisher.

But in essence, even with Kobe at his peak, this Lakers team is still a team on the edge of the playoffs.

In ESPN's predictions, they are ranked next to the Nuggets, and the two teams are close in strength.

However, this game, which ESPN considers to be a "rookies pecking each other" game, has attracted considerable attention.

Here in the United States, the golden double gun VS the peak Kobe, this does not need publicity at all, the stars are shining!

Over in China, fans were a little excited after watching Yi Jianlian's debut yesterday, and they are naturally looking forward to Lin Ying's debut.

After all, judging from his performance in the preseason, Lin Ying is more stable than Yi Jianlian!

Of course, at this time, Kobe's popularity in China was also extremely explosive.

It’s only one year away from the classic “10-second shot” of the Olympic Games in history!

With 81 points in a single game, two consecutive seasons of crazy scoring, and a picturesque style of play, Kobe's domestic popularity has surpassed that of Tracy McGrady.

The attention of this game is no less than that of the previous Asian Championship finals, and it is also comparable to the Rockets playoffs.

The day before the game, the Nuggets arrived at Staples Center.

It was morning when the team arrived, and Karl only arranged training in the afternoon.

During their training, they attracted the attention of many media reporters.

Lin Ying also experienced the scene where reporters were waiting for him during training for the first time since the semi-finals.

And, obviously, more.

Carl looked a little unhappy.

He couldn't arrange tactical training while reporters were there.

The opening game is very important for every team, and he does not want to expose his tactics to his opponents before the game.

But he couldn't drive away these reporters.

So in the end, he could only keep a straight face and let O'Connor lead the team in basic training on the court.

After the training was over, reporters swarmed over.

Iverson and Anthony were surrounded by reporters.

But besides that, there is Lin Ying.

There are many Chinese people in Los Angeles, and they had tried to select Lin Ying through trade before, so the media here also paid a lot of attention to Lin Ying.

It's good to be noticed, but reporters in Los Angeles are battle-hardened and not so easy to deal with.

"Lin, do you have any plans to play for the Lakers in the future?"

It starts with a death torture.

"Lin, who do you think has a better chance of becoming the MVP this season, Kobe or Anthony?"

This one is more cruel.

"Lin, will you perform better than Yi yesterday?"

Another multiple-choice question about death.

"Lin, do you think the Nuggets are the stronger team tomorrow night?"

There really is no easy problem.

Lin Ying turned over the minutes of the meeting half a year ago in his mind.

Above is a sample response from Rick Barnes when asked by reporters.

"I only care about the game in front of me now. This is my NBA debut."

"Your question is like asking me who is more of a tough guy, Dwayne Johnson or Jason Statham."

"It depends on how much playing time the coach gives me."

"I think our looks are better."

…

Rick Barnes is not a famous coach in the NCAA, but he really taught Lin Ying and Durant a lot.

In dealing with this wave of media, Lin Ying can be said to be flawless.

Then, these reporters became a little unconvinced. They are rarely so "embarrassed" by rookies.

So I kept asking questions, and other reporters also came over after hearing the news.

As a result, the interviews with Iverson and Anthony were over, and he was still surrounded by a bunch of reporters.

This scene also made the two big guys look at each other in a daze.

Likewise, they have never seen this kind of battle after being in the NBA for so long.

"He is very popular."

Iverson smiled and rubbed his nose.

He had a crush on Lin Ying before the Asian Championships. The more he got to know Lin Ying, the more interesting he found him.

Anthony said nothing, his expression looked a little strange.

…

At the end of the interview, Karl came over and drove the reporters away.

He knew that Lin Ying had to practice extra at night.

"You have to learn to say no."

After driving the reporters away, Karl spoke.

Lin Ying nodded.

In fact, he also wanted to refuse, but after going through this journey, he knew how difficult it was to get access to these media.

At this point, he still admires James a little.

Sure enough, being too popular is not a good thing.

…

That night, he went to the Staples Center training hall to practice more.

What he didn't expect but made sense was that Kobe had trained there earlier than him.

When the two people looked at each other, Kobe smiled and asked him to warm up first.

The first time, you may feel a little embarrassed because you have no experience.

But the second time, once you are familiar with the road, it will be very smooth.

This is the duel between Lin Ying and Kobe Bryant.

After the basic training was over, the two people started a one-on-one duel.

This time, although Lin Ying still couldn't beat Kobe, the pressure on Kobe on both offense and defense was obviously greater.

After the game was over, Kobe suddenly felt a little melancholy.

This was the first time Lin Ying saw his expression, although this was only the second time he saw Kobe.

"Mitch told me that he tried a lot, but in the end it just didn't work."

Kobe was talking about the draft.

Iverson has a good impression of Lin Ying because he saw his former self on the court.

Kobe looked at Lin Yinghui in a different light because he saw his own shadow on the training ground.

Then, after he really felt Lin Ying's progress now, he did feel a little regretful that the team did not select Lin Ying.

Because he knew that Lin Ying, who was as training-mad as himself, would definitely be able to fight in the end.

"That may be because he didn't work hard enough."

Lin Ying thought for a while and said.

Kobe was stunned for a moment, his emotions were all in place, but Lin Ying's words made him burst into laughter.

You are so naughty.

But he still nodded.

There is nothing wrong with this. If Bynum was not regarded as a treasure, the Lakers would have been on the road to the championship last season.

It’s not like he is still working as a “nanny” for Bynum.

If Kupchak hadn't invited Jerry West out in the summer and promised to find him help before the trade deadline, he would have really gone to Chicago.

Even talking about the draft, if Kupchak traded Bynum to the Bobcats for the No. 8 pick, would that man not agree?
To be continued...