From Zhang Hao's perspective, the past three months have been very relaxed.

He doesn't have to worry about the game, he can accompany his wife, have enough time to watch the two cubs every day, and do what he wants every day... except that he can't play the game.

But in the basketball world, a lot has happened in the past three months.

The reason why these things did not cause too heated discussions before was because Zhang Hao's soap opera has a very good rating.

Zhang Hao’s stay or not has settled, and the time for his comeback has been clear. Before this matter is confirmed, the popularity continues. After it is confirmed, it enters the hottest discussion stage.

O'Neal has been complaining that Zhang Hao is too stingy and that Zhang Hao is not generous enough.

Now that the transaction is completed, under the intentional guidance of the media, O'Neal said in an interview: "I don't want to mention his name. He is a traitor, he is a soft ball that can only float and shoot..."

The Rentou Horse Group has just won two consecutive championships and has now become a mortal enemy, which has a lot to do with the guidance of the media.

After that, public opinion became the topic of whether the duo of Payton + O'Neal can continue to defend its title and complete its three consecutive championships.

The Lakers were in a collapse situation at one time. They tried to sign free agent Dennis Rodman. The already unstable internal situation was still a mess. They only returned to the top four in the Western Conference in April. Now they have won Payton. The situation is definitely better than keeping Zhang Hao, but Zhang Hao strikes better.

Although Payton is not as good as Zhang Hao in people's minds, he is at least the second team point guard in the past four years.

Payton was traded to the Lakers. In people's opinion, Payton's life is so good!

According to media reports, when Payton learned that he was being traded, he was so excited that he jumped and cried.

At this time, some things about the SuperSonics that were overlooked were noticed by people - Wen Baker, who had just signed $60 million in five years, was overweight due to drug use and alcoholism during the suspension period. He won the best team last season, averaged 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1 block, and was versatile in offense and defense. This season, he can only play 30 minutes per game...

Since Wen Baker is only 27 years old, not many people think Wen Baker is going to be ruined now. Instead, they regard Wen Baker as Zhang Hao's strongest helper after joining the Supersonics in the new season. They think Wen Baker will definitely be able to adjust this summer. After all, in the past four years, Wen Baker has been a second-tier player.

But this time this time, Wen Baker implicated Payton very much.

Originally, when he heard that Zhang Hao was on strike, Payton thought they had a chance to win the championship, and then he saw Wen Baker, who returned to the team at the end of January, dragging his body with Oliver Miller...

Before being traded to the Lakers, Payton fought hard. The Supersonics still had only 17 wins and 19 losses, with 14 games left, and it seems that they can't even make it to the playoffs.

Now Payton has been traded to the Lakers. Although it is a pity that Jose Hawkins and Schramf, the two powerful teammates, have been so excited that they have already made Payton excited!

Even though Wen Baker's condition has not collapsed, he is still a player in two worlds compared to O'Neal!

The Lakers delayed for several months and lost Zhang Hao, but at least they got back a superstar with the strength of the second team. The current lineup is not very suitable, but at least some losses were recovered so that they would not be able to get a waste of money by the Celtics.

After this kind of thing happened, people's discussion about Zhang Hao became how Zhang Hao returned to his return next season and what kind of record he would achieve; and how far he could go after the Lakers experienced this disaster, is it possible for the dynasty to go, and whether the internal and external combinations of O'Neal and Payton can be combined in the future...

Zhang Hao determined the time of his comeback and was sure to return with the Supersonics. The league avoided the disaster of losing both the league's first and the future first. Finally, from the focus of the fans, the league's operations have really begun to return to normal. More people have discussed what happened to other teams this season.

The Jazz became the biggest favorite to win the championship. Malone continued his incredible performance, played 35 games, leading the Jazz to a record of 26 wins and 9 losses, ranking first in the league, and becoming the number one favorite for MVP. In July this year, Malone would be 36 years old. If it weren't for Jordan's beauties and Malone entered the NBA in 1985, no one dared to believe that a player at the age of 35 could still become the number one favorite for MVP.

The Suns, Trail Blazers and Timberwolves' three highly anticipated youth troops in the Western Conference have also undergone great changes after the suspension.

The Trail Blazers are getting better and better. The pick-and-roll combination of Nash and Rashid Wallace played very well under the leadership of Sabonis. The Trail Blazers had already changed their boss during the suspension period. Paul Allen didn't care whether the NBA would go bankrupt and reorganize. Buying the Trail Blazers was just his pocket money. He renewed his contract in various large amounts. The Trail Blazers' salary this season is 57.44 million US dollars, and next season it is confirmed that it will exceed 70 million US dollars in salary, breaking the Knicks' historical record of 60.05 million US dollars in salary this season.

After spending so much money, most of them have spent it to the point. The Trail Blazers are currently 26 wins and 10 losses, ranking second in the West.

The Suns encountered some accidents, but Antonio McDace didn't know what he thought during the offseason, so he refused the Suns' contract renewal of $90 million for seven years, and then returned to the Nuggets to sign a six-year contract of $80 million.

Fortunately, the Suns dug up Gugliotta from the Timberwolves. Gugliotta averaged 3.1 assists per game so far, and together with Kidd and Anfini Hardaway, he led the team to a record of 23 wins and 13 losses, ranking third in the Western Conference.

Fourth, the Lakers are currently 21 wins and 15 losses.

It is said to be fourth, but in fact it is similar to the Kings, which is eighth. The Kings are currently 19 wins and 16 losses.

The Timberwolves are interesting. Gugliotta joined the Suns for 50 million US dollars in 6 years, but they did not match. Many people thought they were going to collapse, but the Timberwolves actually signed Joe Smith with 6.2 million US dollars in 3 years!

The Celtics provided Joe Smith with a 6-year contract of $60 million, but Joe Smith didn't want it!

This incident still sparked heated discussion when the NBA was shrouded in Zhang Hao's news.

But unexpectedly, Joe Smith was in his peak year in his second grade. When he arrived at the Timberwolves, he encountered a situation where his characteristics overlapped with Garnett, which forced Garnett to play as a small forward.

Garnett barely withstood this. The small forward played well, averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. Garnett still played the All-Star performance.

But after playing for a month in the season, Marbury couldn't agree on a contract renewal issue. Marbury wanted Antonio McDys' starting salary of 9 million yuan, 80 million yuan in 6 years or 100 million yuan in 7 years. The Timberwolves didn't want to give it, so they traded Marbury to the Nets...

So, Garnett could only watch the Trail Blazers and Suns, who are also youth teams, have rushed to the top Western Conference teams. They have to compete for the playoff position with Lakers, Kings, Spurs, Warriors, Mavericks, etc. outside the top three in the West.

The Spurs are in a bad mood. David Robinson still maintains his average board performance, but Pippen averages 5.5 assists per game. Seeing that both the Lakers and the Supersonics collapsed in the early stage of the season, they did not rush into the First Army and are still competing for playoff spots with other teams.

David Robinson renewed his contract early to the 2000-01 season, with a total salary of 26 million in the next two years, which is a great value.

But Pippen, the 6-year maximum salary contract has just begun...

In the Eastern Conference, the Heat ranked first in the Eastern Conference, and Tim Hardaway cut his salary and renewed his contract, helping the Heat through the difficulties.

Tim Hardaway also put Kenny Anderson in a whirlpool of public opinion. Tim Hardaway is in his 30s and is willing to refuse a big contract to stay in the team, but Kenny Anderson accepted the Celtics' five-year, 5-year, early contract renewal offer.

In the eyes of some people, Kenny Anderson accepted a contract with an average annual price of 14 million US dollars, and rounding it up would mean that the Lakers lost Zhang Hao.

Compared with the West, the competition in the East this year is much greater. Except for the Heat who ranked first in the East with 25 wins and 12 losses, the competition from second to ninth is very fierce.

The Pacers, 76ers, Hawks, Pistons, Nets, Bucks, Knicks, and Celtics compete for 7 playoff spots, and the record is also very close.

Ranking is particularly important in the East. The Pacers, Heat and 76ers have similar strengths, and they all defend their home courts when they fight.

In addition to Zhang Hao falling into the Supersonics in April, there is also a master that is very important to the NBA. On April 4, the NCAA Basketball Championship ended. Under Kobe Bryant, Duke narrowly defeated the University of Connecticut 81-77, winning two consecutive championships, and announced that he would participate in the draft in advance after winning the championship.

Born in August 1978, Kobe is not yet 21 years old. His talent is fully demonstrated in college and has strong combat power. When Kobe is confirmed to run for the election, the teams who are not good at playing badly are even more active.

At present, the Grizzlies are the top player on the road to bad play, with 6 wins and 30 losses. The second place in bad play is Jordan's Bulls after he retires.

After Jordan retired, the Bulls did not renew their contract with Rodman in order to block Jordan's return. If the Lakers hadn't given the contract, Rodman might have been unemployed directly, but he is now unemployed.

In addition to Rodman, many of the Bulls' main players in the past three years have also been cleared. They used Ron Harper and the Lakers to get Brent Barry, and used Steve Cole and the Spurs to trade back to a first-round pick protected by the top 18 picks. Scott Burrell, David Cafe and others announced that they did not renew their contracts.

Even Luke Longley and Bulls general manager Jerry Klaus gave the Suns a favor to the Suns, which urgently needed a big center, and exchanged for Andre Long's 3.7 million-dollar garbage contract...

In addition to McGrady, and Kukoc, who played with McGrady, the Bulls cleared all the marks related to Jordan.

Because if Jordan wants to make a comeback, the Bulls have no way to stop him, otherwise the fans will riot.

When the grudge between Zhang Hao and the Lakers came to an end, people discovered that this year's NBA not only did not lose its focus due to factors such as Jordan and Zhang Hao's retirement and suspension, but instead became particularly crazy!

The player's personal performance is also very interesting.

Alonzo Mooning performed hard this season, becoming a hot spot in the double first team and the second favorite in MVP.

Mainly because O'Neal gained weight. There could have been a regular season for him to slowly adapt, but now he is forced to lead the team to the playoffs from the beginning of the season, with unstable performance and basically losing a chance.

Iverson averages 27 points per game so far this season, dominating the scoring list first.

Duncan and Anthony Hardaway performed stably, while Grant Hill averaged 2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game this season, forcibly bringing the Pistons back to the playoffs...

Jordan retired and the Lakers collapsed, bringing the NBA into a stage of shining stars.

As for rookies, rookies in recent years are indeed very good, and this year, there are many geniuses who have played.

Carter stood out from many talented rookies, averaging 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1.5 blocks per game, but what people remembered was not his performance, but his dunk...

There are not many dunks, and the average number is less than 1 game, but every dunk is shocking!

The call for the All-Stars to resume the dunk contest next season is getting higher and higher because of Carter.

The best point guard position is Mike Beeby of the Grizzlies, who averages assists per game.

In the inside, Wang Zhizhi and Lafrenz originally performed almost the same, but Lafrenz played 12 games because the schedule was too close and his body could not withstand it, so he was reimbursed for the season.

Wang Zhizhi became the best rookie inside player this season, with excellent performance per game of 13+7+2+1, solid basic skills and wide shooting range...

The best performance in the small forward position is Lakers rookie Paul Pierce, who averaged 1 assist per game.

The most incredible player is a 213-centimeter-high shooting guard - Mavericks shooting guard Dirk Nowitzki.

Old Nelson is so brave. He continued to make trouble when he returned to the Mavericks. Because Nowitzki's poor fight against him, he directly put Nowitzki as the shooting guard position.

Then, the Mavericks were about to change their boss, and the shutdown made their boss almost bankrupt. The Dallas local entertainment industry tycoon Mark Cuban was working on the acquisition.

In addition to these people, Jamison of the Warriors, Larry Hughes of the Magic, Michael Dickson of the Rockets and Cartino Mobri, Ricky Davis of the Hornets, Jason Williams of the Mavericks... all showed excellent talents.

Although there are no era-level rookies like Zhang Hao and Duncan, and there are no super-top rookies like Grant Hill, Kidd and Iverson, there are many top rookies and first-class rookies.

Originally, before the start of the season, a rookie entered the NBA like Duncan and got very high expectations, and then, he got sore.

Michael Olovokandi, who is regarded as the new version of the dream, has averaged 8 and blocked shots per game so far in the rookie season. If it is said that it is not that bad, it is not that bad.

Good skills, excellent physical fitness, rich game experience, and can fight against O'Neal for several rounds, but he has poor physical strength, poor continuity, great potential for injury, no competitive spirit, and lazy...

So, after the Clippers competed for Olovokandy, they started to compete for Kobe again...

...

...

Time passed day by day, and on April 30, the turbulent 1998-1999 regular season finally ended.

The league's "ban" against Zhang Hao was also lifted after the Supersonics ended the regular season with a record of 19 wins and 31 losses, and officially joined the Supersonics!

The players went on strike and threatened the team for trading with retirement. The league gave an explanation - an indefinite ban.

But no one mentioned it. Until now, the league officially announced that Zhang Hao was suspended, and people remembered that when the Lakers and the Supersonics completed the transaction, the league informed Zhang Hao of the time to return - the Supersonics ended this season.

On May 1, the Supersonics officially announced that they would welcome Zhang Hao to join, which aroused heated discussion among fans, and the matter was completely settled and came to an end.

The popularity will eventually pass, and fans have focused on the playoffs that will start on May 5.

After all, professional players still rely on games and results to speak. Zhang Hao will not play in the playoffs this year. When the dust settled on his belongings, the popularity naturally dropped.
To be continued...