High school students’ answers are always unexpected, huh! The reporter didn’t expect Zhang Hao to say that.

When other rookies encounter similar questions, don’t they usually say "I will work hard to improve" their ball-handling skills? So why is this guy’s answer like this?

Let’s change the question: "Aix, will you ever come back here to play? The greatest single-game individual performance of this team was created by you. This is where you started your professional career. Do you still hold any sentimental attachment here?"

"No."

So decisive...

Zhang Hao paused and then said, "I hate this team. It would be best if the owner of the Brooklyn Nets went bankrupt and was forced to sell the team."

So vicious... Can you do something even remotely gentleman-like?

...

At 5:30 PM on January 26th, the Lakers’ game against the Brooklyn Nets began.

The Continental Airlines Arena was packed tonight!

The hottest team right now, the Lakers, and the hottest rookie player, Zhang Hao, came here. This hottest rookie was originally with the Brooklyn Nets, so lots of spectators came to see him.

Before the game even started, the live fans were making a commotion and directly turning against their team. What could Brooklyn Nets head coach John Calipari do?

Absolutely nothing.

Moreover, these fans didn’t even call for Zhang Hao to come back. John Calipari felt like there was no one like them.

As a famous NCAA coach and Larry Brown’s strongest student in college basketball, Calipari, after receiving an invitation from the Brooklyn Nets, decided to follow in his teacher’s footsteps and venture into the NBA.

He heard the Brooklyn Nets were attempting to tank for Bo Duncan. If they really managed to get him... As a college coach, he knew how amazing Duncan was. Even Olajuwon back in college couldn’t match Duncan; perhaps only Larry Bird could compete.

And then, the Brooklyn Nets became the mess they are now.

Divac, Bradley, PJ Brown form the frontcourt trio, while Chales, Edwards, and Eddie Jones are on the perimeter.

PJ Brown is happy playing at the power forward position, but Bradley and Divac are at odds with each other, both wanting the starting position. Neither is happy if they’re not in the starting lineup. On the perimeter, Chales and Edwards are disheartened, and Eddie Jones seizes any opportunity to complain to the media about how bad it is here...

If anything, the players traded for Kenny Anderson and Zhang Hao aren’t bad at all, but the Brooklyn Nets were doing well at first, starting off with 7 wins and 6 losses. Yet, they just had to make a trade, and now it’s a total mess.

After Duncan declared he wouldn’t enter the NBA early, the Brooklyn Nets had no choice but to tank naturally.

From 7 wins and 6 losses to 15 wins and 26 losses now, it’s not easy to enter the race for the number one draft pick, nor do they have the ability to push for the playoffs.

The biggest failure of the Brooklyn Nets’ trade, according to media evaluations, was that while their goal was clearly to tank, the trade didn’t yield draft picks, but rather quality players who could be traded again.

But after the game started, the Brooklyn Nets didn’t play too badly. Eddie Jones and Divac played very desperately tonight, very hard-working and very active. Among them, Eddie Jones made 4 out of 6 shots in the first quarter, including 1 out of 1 in three-pointers, and hit two free throws, scoring 11 points in the quarter, helping the Brooklyn Nets keep up with the Lakers and leading the Lakers by 1 point, 28-27, going into the second quarter.

But it would only last that quarter. In the second quarter, Zhang Hao consecutively launched counterattacks, scoring 15 points in half a quarter on counterattacks alone, directly shattering the mindset of the Brooklyn Nets players...

Back in the day, such counterattacks were often seen when the Brooklyn Nets were playing against other teams! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The Lakers went on a 31-16 run in the second quarter, bringing the score to 58-44, leading by 14 points into the second half.

The second half was rather uneventful. After exchanging quarters with scores of 24-22 and 23-27, the Lakers easily defeated the Brooklyn Nets 105-89, securing their 16th consecutive victory!

The funny thing is, the American Broadcasting Corporation, also known as ABC TV, even specially broadcasted this game, expecting to see Zhang Hao go crazy against the Brooklyn Nets like he did against the Knicks. In the end, he only exploded in one quarter, scoring 18 points, 1 assist, and 2 steals, then stopped being as aggressive.

Overall, Zhang Hao had 11 out of 17 shooting, including 2 out of 2 in three-pointers, plus 4 out of 4 in free throws, scoring 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. His performance was excellent, but it was mainly because the Brooklyn Nets’ defense was poor. PJ Brown had no desire to defend, making it easy for Zhang Hao.

The score didn’t continue to expand, which was related to the Lakers’ rotation. The Lakers didn’t let Van Exel and Magic play in the second half, with Sedale Srte and Doug Christie organizing the offense, giving Van Exel and Magic some much-needed rest after their hot performances recently.

However, after the game, ABC TV’s commentator and former Bucks star Marquis Johnson teased the Brooklyn Nets: "If Zhang had strong hatred towards the Brooklyn Nets, maybe the Brooklyn Nets would get more attention. But now Zhang doesn’t even bother to look at the Brooklyn Nets, making them non-existent. They should just do as Zhang said, and let the owner sell the team."

...

A game against the Brooklyn Nets doesn’t have any tasks, leaving Zhang Hao a bit regretful.

But thinking about the Brooklyn Nets’ current state, having any tasks would be odd. It would be like handing out free rewards.

After this game, they won’t face the Brooklyn Nets again this season. Zhang Hao has already moved on from being traded, and next season, he probably won’t even care about being traded by the Brooklyn Nets.

On the afternoon of the 27th, Zhang Hao returned to Los Angeles with the team.