Chapter 505 - Change in Los Angeles Lakers Team 3

"I think it will be a huge success, the film is really good and it is an innovative film in action scenes and special effects, it will certainly be a worldwide success and you will be one of the best actors in action films."

"I also hope that the film will be a great success, you know that I am a big fan of science fiction and I liked this film since I first read the script, I also thought that the work of the Wachowskis directors is brilliant and the Yuen Woo-ping's work was also amazing."

"I know that I really think it will be a success, we are going to have some more sequences of this film yet and you can participate in more films like this."

It was difficult for Jake whenever he had to talk about the future because he knew what would happen so he had to try to say things without showing too much certainty in what he was talking about, he knew the film would be a success that Keanu Reeves would be one of the greatest actors in action films in the future.

"Jake, I know you like music a lot and you are here in Los Angeles now playing basketball, so I got some tickets to go to the Grammy that will happen in a few days, but I won't be able to go."

"I heard that you have a friend who is going to be competing for one of the prizes and wanted to know if you accepted a ticket."

Jake was really surprised to hear Keanu talking about it, he really talked to Keanu about music and talked about Kate too, of course, he said he was her friend which was not a lie because at that time they were still friends.

Jake talked more about music because he knew that Keanu once had a band and also liked music, but now it seemed that the great luck he was having was helping him get a Grammy ticket.

"I do want to, actually I really wanted to go to the Grammys, but because of the games I was unable to organize myself to get a ticket."

"Great, I'll send the ticket to your home, see you after the movie opens."

Jake was very happy to receive a ticket to go to the Grammy, he could go and if someone asked how he got the ticket he could say that he had won the ticket from Keanu Reeves.

The best thing was that it was not an ordinary ticket and Jake could sit together with the guests, so he could see and close if Kate won the prize as he expected, it would be difficult because the Los Angeles Lakers team would have a game the next day as a visitor and Jake would have to travel after the Grammy to go to the city where the team would play.

Jake can sleep soundly after learning that he could go to the Grammys, the next day the players would have a day of rest, the Los Angeles Lakers team would still do light training, but they would be fine for the next game the next day.

Jake started the day excited after the good news and he decided to call Kate to tell her about the good news, he thought about making a good surprise for her by appearing at the Grammy without warning before.

But he thought Kate might be too surprised and look at him many times during the awards or try to ignore him which would make everyone even more certain that they had a type of relationship.

Kate was happy and surprised to learn that Jake was going to the Grammys, Lily prevented Jack from going to the Grammies with her and had not forbidden Jake to attend the Grammys, with Jake winning the ticket it was even better.

Jake chatted for a while with Kate and then had to go to training with the Los Angeles Lakers team, training that day was light for players not to get too tired, players talked normally and there was no dispute between players.

The only thing that made the situation more complicated was that it was increasingly noticeable that coach Del Harris could be fired if it were like in the past when the team was losing several games and losing a sequence of games it would be understandable.

But thanks to Jake being on the team the situation was different and the team had lost just one game this season, it was no secret that Coach Harris had problems with some players and had problems with the team's board.

But it was hard to fire someone when the team was winning a lot of games and the board didn't have any better coach to put in place of Del Harris, the truth was that Del Harris was a good coach who helped the Los Angeles Lakers team to improve a lot in the last few seasons.

The biggest problem was that the Los Angeles Lakers team board was demanding and after hiring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal they naturally expected the team to win an NBA title again.

And Del Harris has not managed to get far in the playoffs of the last few seasons, so the board decided that Coach Harris would not agree to exchange Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, and Derek Harper for the rookie Jack Smith.

Fortunately, this exchange had worked out and the Los Angeles Lakers team started this season well, and the board decided that to win the NBA title, the Los Angeles Lakers team needed a new coach.

If Jake didn't know that next season the Los Angeles Lakers team would hire Phil Jackson, he could say that it was better if Coach Del Harris remained on the team, if Coach Del Harris continued and the Los Angeles Lakers team won the NBA title it was impossible that Coach Harris was fired.

And Jake was not confident that with coach Harris and him on the team they could still win the NBA title in the next three seasons as the Los Angeles Lakers team did with Phil Jackson.

After training the players went on the Los Angeles Lakers private plane to Seattle, Washington where they would face the next opponent the next day, with the team traveling the day before they would less tired for the game.

The players went to a hotel that the team had prepared and would wait there until they had to go to the place of the game, the next day came the next game for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the players went to the KeyArena and saw the cheers from the Seattle SuperSonics team excited about the game.

The Seattle SuperSonics team was the team of one of the players who was Jake's idol, that player was naturally Gary Payton, even though Gary Payton did not achieve as many achievements as Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, John Stockton, Steve Nash, and other great PGs, he was one of Jake's references.

Especially in the defensive game of Payton that Jake was very inspired and the characteristic of being able to play many games and many minutes in all games, Jake respected Payton even more because he achieved this with the help of the system and Payton had only his natural talent.

This would be the second game that Jake would play against one of the great PG he respected, of course, he also played against John Stockton, but in that game, Jake was playing as SF and cannot defend directly against John Stockton.

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another great game this NBA season, in this game we have the Seattle SuperSonics team playing at home today, they started the season well with 6 wins in 8 games."

"The Seattle SuperSonics team has great player Gary Payton and also Detlef Schrempf and Vin Baker who are all-stars, so it's a good team that struggles to make it to the playoffs this season."

"And we also have the Los Angeles Lakers team that has had an excellent start to the season so far with 8 wins in 9 games, the Los Angeles Lakers team has all-stars Shaquille O'Neal who has been the most important player and young Kobe Bryant."

"And we also have rookie Jake Smith, with an average of over 32 points and 12 assists per game Jake Smith is certainly the best NBA PG at the beginning of the season, he can even fight to be the MVP of the season if he continues playing like that."

"This game will be a challenge for Jake Smith who will play against the great PG Gary Payton who managed to defend well even against Michael Jordan, if Jake Smith still plays well in that game, he will be considered an excellent player."

Just as commentators said this was a big challenge for Jake, Gary Payton was still playing at a high level and was really great at defending, Jake managed to play well playing against Scottie Pippen defending against him, if he got it in that game again he would be really recognized as an excellent player.

Coach Harris trusted Jake and asked him to play as he had been doing in the last few games, so Jake would pass the ball and score normally, Jake was excited about this challenge to play against Payton, but he would not hinder the team by because of that.

Jake saw Payton as a player with SS rank in some defensive skills as well as players in his imagination training, the difference was that Payton was much more intelligent and would make the moves in the best possible way.

The Los Angeles Lakers team would start the game with Jake Smith playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Travis Knight playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.

The Seattle SuperSonics team would start the game with Gary Payton playing as PG, Hersey Hawkins playing as SG, Detlef Schrempf playing as SF, Vin Baker playing as PF, and Olden Polynice playing as Center.

Even though the duel between Jake and Payton was perhaps the most important issue in this game, the most important player for the Los Angeles Lakers team to win was Shaquille O'Neal and the team also needed Kobe Bryant.