The next morning, while Zhao Dong was knocked out in his hotel room, Magic GM John Gabriel was in his office, tearing into Horace Grant.
"You idiot! You just made the Magic a goddamn joke! Our main guys taking orders from players on another team? Are you serious? Who the hell pays you—Michael Jordan or the Bulls? If you're so damn loyal to him, why the hell did you leave Chicago? You're outta here! I'm trading your ass immediately!"
John Gabriel was fuming as he stormed out of his office, shouting to his assistant. "Mike! Get me a press conference, right now!"
Horace Grant walked out of the office, wiping Gabriel's spit off his face. He knew he was done. No team was gonna tolerate one of their own taking orders from another squad. That was straight-up betrayal. Jordan sold him out, and that damn rookie just made it worse.
Thirty minutes later, the Magic officially put Horace Grant on the trade block, and the whole league knew he was up for grabs.
An hour later, the Magic's HQ was packed with media.
John Gabriel didn't hold back. "This is a disgrace! The Magic are filing a complaint against the Bulls and Michael Jordan. This is straight-up bullshit!"
He glared at the cameras. "And let this be a warning to every team out there—if you trade with the Bulls, you better watch your back. Because the players you get might still be working for them!"
Over in Chicago, the Bulls front office was scrambling. The media pressure was so intense they had no choice but to call a press conference.
GM Jerry Krause took the mic, trying to play it cool. "Look, Michael and Grant are friends. A phone call between them doesn't mean anything. I don't know how Zhao Dong found out about it—maybe he's got friends at the phone company. But honestly, this whole thing is ridiculous."
Then he added, "Our legal team is already talking to the phone company. If any information was leaked, that's a major issue."
But the press wasn't letting it slide, and Jordan was feeling the heat. His phone—both cell and landline—was blowing up with reporters grilling him.
"Michael, can you confirm what you told Grant during that call?"
"Michael, you ordered your old teammates to go after Zhao Dong. The Magic front office is furious. Do you have any response?"
Jordan couldn't deal with it anymore. He smashed his cell phone, yanked the landline out of the wall, and finally got some peace.
His agent, David Falk, showed up at his house, and Jordan didn't waste any time. "David, fix this. I can't let this media shitstorm keep going."
Falk took a deep breath. "The phone company denied leaking anything. I don't know how Zhao Dong found out about that call, but this dude's got connections. He's not just some random rookie."
Jordan rubbed his temples. "Maybe someone in the Magic locker room leaked it?"
"That's the most likely scenario," Falk said. "But you know damn well the Magic won't admit it."
Jordan let out a frustrated sigh. "Man, this kid just got into the league, and he's already got insiders feeding him information? What the hell kind of rookie is this?"
Falk leaned forward. "Listen, the only way to stop the media from coming after you is to shut Zhao Dong up. If he stops going at you, this whole thing dies down."
Jordan narrowed his eyes. "What's your plan?"
"Let me talk to him first," Falk said.
Jordan nodded, but deep down, he had a bad feeling. He knew damn well Zhao Dong wasn't the type to back down.
Meanwhile, at NBA headquarters, David Stern was also feeling the heat.
Jordan's return had reignited the league, and there was no way Stern was letting anything ruin that momentum. He needed Jordan at the top. No distractions. No scandals.
At the same time, Stern was invested in the Chinese market, and Zhao Dong was a big part of that. He liked what the kid brought to the league, but him beefing with Jordan? That was a problem.
And if it came down to choosing between the two, there was no debate—he'd protect Jordan every time.
---
Zhao Dong was locked in, keeping an eye on how the media was hammering Jordan. This was all part of his plan—to rattle the Bulls, shake up Jordan, and set the stage to take them down.
When he saw that the Bulls kept Jordan away from the press conference, he knew he had them. Jordan was dodging the spotlight, and that meant he was affected.
The next night, it was game time again. Zhao Dong didn't get a specific assignment, but his goal of putting up 20 points and 10 boards for five straight games wasn't finished yet. He had to bring it.
The Hornets were running a twin towers setup with Vlade Divac, who they got from the Lakers, and he was hooping—23 points, 13 boards.
Ewing wasn't himself. He was banged up and struggling. His shot wasn't falling—only 4-for-11 from the field—but he lived at the free-throw line, making 10 of 13. Still, just 18 points and 9 boards.
The rest of the squad was off too.
Oakley went 2-for-8, finishing with 9 points (including free throws).
The mid-range specialist took the most shots but was inefficient—7-for-16, only 16 points.
Charlie Ward was also struggling, scoring just 9 before getting hurt.
Zhao Dong had a tough matchup against Matt Geiger, the Hornets' other center.
Geiger wasn't crazy strong, but at 7 feet, 240 pounds, he had the size to make things difficult under the rim. Zhao Dong tried to muscle through him early but wasn't getting good looks, so he adjusted—stepping out and looking for jumpers.
But there was a problem. His legs were feeling it from the grind, and his shot wasn't falling. He clanked three straight, and that told him everything he needed to know.
First lesson: His conditioning had to get better. Without elite stamina, all the skill in the world wouldn't matter.
Second lesson: He needed more weapons on offense. A 90-rated jumper was solid, but against elite defense, he needed more tools in his bag.
Third lesson: He had to attack the rim, just like last game. Even if Geiger was giving him problems inside, he had to find ways to cut, move without the ball, and score efficiently. Otherwise, his streak was in danger.
By the end, he scraped together 20 points and 10 rebounds—barely. He shot 8-for-19, hit 4 of 7 free throws, but got blocked three times and turned it over five times.
It wasn't pretty, and his efficiency took a hit.
With the whole starting five underperforming, the Knicks took an L, snapping their win streak. After 11 games, they were sitting at 9-2, second in the East.
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