bhwS

by Cr0w0019

this is a fanfic of a bhwS book i read with a little bit of things edited to make it better

40. Chapter 40

NBA Season Begins

With this great appreciation Matthew regretted not having thought about investing more money than he had saved in the bank when Jake suggested this, Matthew actually thought about selling his shares and did not think about investing more.

But now he realized that he had missed an excellent business opportunity, he should have trusted Jake who saved his company from bankruptcy to become the leading company in the digital camera market.

Jake did not know that Matthew thought that way, in fact, he understood well what Matthew thought before, Jake was so confident that the shares would appreciate because he came from the future, otherwise he would never invest almost all of his money in Cisco shares.

And Matthew had been right to invest the money back in the company, now the future of Matthew's company was guaranteed for many years by selling digital cameras and cameras to a cell phone company.

Matthew received in profit share much more than the total value of his company and he would continue to receive a lot of profit because he continued to reinvest profits in the company again.

This camera would be the last one they could sell for so much profit, the next ones would have to be much lower in order to keep having so many sales, even so, Matthew had a profit margin of 60 percent and could be reduced to just 20 percent cent and greatly lower the cost of the camera.

This digital camera that was being sold cost 440 dollars, and it sold for 1100 dollars, Matthew could sell for 660 dollars and still earn 220 dollars and the camera would have a value that competing companies could not compete and still earn profits.

Jake really admired Matthew and knew that Matthew just needed help to be one of the most successful men in the world, today if Matthew's equity was calculated he would be 15th among the richest men in the world.

After all, Matthew's total fortune was over 11 billion dollars, that was because he still had 78 percent of his company and had 2.5 billion invested in shares and had gained almost 5 billion in profit share from his own company. always having reinvested in the company.

Jake knew that Matthew was much richer than him and would be even more so when Jake sold the shares in 2000, but in the future, Jake knew that the richest in the world would be him because he intended to invest in 3 of the 4 largest technology companies in the world.

"Jake, I confess that I didn't trust your investment vision very much and that's why I refused to invest more in the Cisco company, but I realized that I was wrong and I could have gained many billions to trust you more."

"It doesn't matter, Matthew, I understand why you did this and I confess I would do the same if I were you, the important thing is that your company has managed to grow and will continue to grow."

"Yes, that is important, Jake, because now I am going to try to correct my mistake and invest almost all the money I earned with the company in shares of the company Cisco, and you will take care of that money for me."

Jake, Oliver, and Joseph were shocked to hear this, at a time when the market was most uncertain and no one knew when the stock market bubble would burst and it was hard to believe that someone as conservative as Matthew would risk everything.

"Dad, I don't think it's a good idea to do that, I know you trust Jake and I do too, but we're talking about the stock exchange and not Jake, you can lose everything."

"Oliver is right, Matthew, it is very risky for you to invest all that money, even because it will be difficult to sell all the shares in a short time if you have so many shares."

"I trust you, Jake, I know you invested all the money you earned in the Cisco company, and you are not sure of earning that money again if the company you invested in goes bankrupt, so I will trust you."

"I am going to invest 4 billion dollars in shares of the company Cisco, even so, I will still have money saved and it is impossible for me to lose all that money, at most I will lose a few million dollars."

Jake did the calculations quickly and realized that Matthew would probably have 6 percent of the company if he invested that $ 4 billion now if it were that much Jake could sell before the stock devalued.

Oliver and Joseph tried to convince Matthew but failed and Jake tried just a little before accepting this challenge if Oliver and Joseph knew that Jake had come from the future they would not be so concerned.

Jake would receive more money with his profit share and if everything went well Matthew would make it into the top 5 on the list of the richest men in the world, so they agreed to this investment, and Jake went back to his house.

He had to wait because the next day he would talk to Clara at lunch, after knowing how much he would receive from Clara's company profit share he would set up a meeting to send Emily to invest Matthew's money and his as well.

Clara's company had made 50 million dollars in profit in 1997, it was very much thinking that the company had made many investments in the whole year and was starting to make new agreements to sell even more in 1998.

But in 1998 Jake had ended their sponsorship contract which did not help the company to earn more profits, of course, some people who bought the products because of Jake would continue to buy, but now was the time when Jake was becoming more famous in everyone after joining the NBA.

Even so Jake expected them to earn more that year because it was the first profit after making all the investments, after that the company would depend on making new investments and the quality of the products to make more profit.

Jake was waiting at the restaurant he arranged to meet with Clara to talk business, it was different from Matthew that Jake could come into his house to talk, Jake realized that Clara was happier than at their last meeting.

Of course, on his birthday Clara was happy, but it was a party occasion so he hadn't noticed any difference, so Jake can be more excited waiting for good news from Clara.

"Hi, Clara, you look happier and more relaxed today."

"Yes, fortunately, the company's results in the last year were better than expected, they were not as good as they could be, but the company finished the improvements that were invested at the end of the last year, so we hope that this year will be even better."

"This is good, I am happy for you, Clara, I know how you have fought for the success of your company for many years and I want you to know that I will always support you in any decision you make."

"Thanks, Jake, but let's talk about business, in 1997 we started a lot of investments and we were also recovering from the years of lost company growth, but we did not have a good financial result."

"But in 1998, because of our investments, we were able to earn much more than expected, our company's profit was 114 million dollars, much more than double the last year."

"I'm going to have to reinvest half that money, but you will still receive $ 5.7 million for your 10 percent stake in the company."

"It's really good, Clara, your company is doing very well and I'm sure that in 1999 your company will have an even greater profit, you managed to recover the lost time that you could have invested and now it will improve your company even more."

"Thanks for the support, Jake, I know that you and Tiffany have always supported me, and that gives me the strength to make this company grow even more."

They talked for a while and then Jake went to meet Emily, in the conversation with Clara, he didn't mention Tiffany's company because he knew Clara was a little envious of Tiffany's company even though they were friends.

After all, Tiffany's company had a much smaller investment than her company and started later and in the last year it made more profit than her company did that year, and in 1998 Tiffany's company made 156 million dollars.

The biggest difference was that Tiffany owned more than half of the shares in her company, and even by reinvesting in the company, Tiffany earned much more than she did, not to mention that Tiffany also owned 10 percent of Clara's company.

Of course, the two were still very friendly and supported each other, but Clara's pride was very great and so it was better not to mention it near her, Emily was already waiting anxiously because she knew that Jake would invest even more in the Cisco company and she would win more with that too.

"Hi, Emily, sorry to call so urgently, but you and your team are going to have a lot of work in the next few days and the sooner I speak to you the better."

"It's okay, Jake, I knew something like this was going to happen and I got everyone ready to work hard for the next few days."

"Okay, well, I decided to invest an additional $ 66 million in shares of the company Cisco, and Matthew asked me to invest $ 4 billion in his name, so you're going to have to work hard to get all those shares."

Emily, who was concentrating on writing, was shocked and even stopped writing when she heard what Jake had said, she thought she had already gotten used to working with a lot of money after taking care of Jake and Matthew's actions, she already took care of more than 3 billions of dollars.

This put a lot of pressure on her and the employees of Jake's investment company, but she could never hope that Matthew would still decide to invest more money than she currently cared for, with those 4 billion dollars she would look after more than 7 billion dollars.

Perhaps only the biggest investment companies in the world worked with so many stocks and so much money, and it was crazy for any investor that they invest everything in just one company.

"Are you sure it's $ 4 billion?"

"Of course I'm sure, you think I would be wrong talking about so much money, I know you will have a hard time buying all these shares, but in this moment of distrust of investors you may be able to buy these shares."

"Okay, you can trust me and my team that we will be able to take care of everything before the stock price increases again, will this be your last investment? After all, you said you would sell the shares in 2000."

"No, at the beginning of 2000 I will receive my profit share from Matthew's company and I will also receive again in a few months this year's money from the sponsors and the Los Angeles Lakers too.

"Until a few months after the beginning of the year, the shares will still appreciate a lot and soon after we will sell the shares, but at the beginning of 2000 we will have to make a strategy to sell all the shares at once, we have to do this so as not to break the market."

Emily didn't know where Jake's confidence came from, but she learned to trust him, and if they really wanted to sell the shares, even if they lost some money from it or broke the stock market the most important thing was that they didn't lose money on it.

This was good for Emily because Jake said he would give her and the rest of the company a break as soon as they sold all of the shares, in addition, Emily would receive 1 percent of Jake's earnings from the sale of the shares.

This counted on the shares that Jake had and the money he would receive on the sale of Matthew's shares, that for Emily, who received a great salary to take care of Jake's companies, would be very good and would make her an even richer person.

After resolving all his affairs in the NBA, Jake was called to New York to vote on the deal that the players' association and team owners had proposed.

It was on January 10, a few days later than it normally would have been for what Jake remembered, it showed that he caused a small change in the events that should have happened with his game.

Jake went over there and saw several players and a climate of tension in the place of the vote, Jake didn't care much for what the sides said and voted for the deal to be accepted because he knew it would be accepted anyway.

Jake returned to Miami because the Los Angeles Lakers team had not yet asked him to return to training, Jake was prepared to start playing as soon as the deal was decided, and after a few weeks as it had originally been signed.

Jake said goodbye to Eva who was happier that Jake had spent many months at home this time, Jake would go to Los Angeles before the Los Angeles Lakers team had to call him.

Jake warned Coach Davis before that and he had already bought a house in Los Angeles to live with his family, meanwhile Jake was training on his own because currently, his training was so much easier.

Jake could feel that he was ready to compete in the Olympics that would be next year, and he wanted to compete to win all the disciplines that he would participate in, Jake knew that he would not get as much popularity in the NBA in the coming years with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant on his team.

With Michael Jordan's retirement, many NBA fans who were already frustrated with the NBA blockade would stop watching the games, and even if they didn't stop watching the games they would not buy shirts and products from the teams they supported.

After a few years, the NBA would regain some of its popularity because more fans would have access to internet games and more fans would have money to buy shirts and sneakers that they couldn't before when the economy was weaker.

Jake knew there would never be a player like Michael Jordan, but many talented players like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Stephen Cury, and maybe even him, would make the NBA have several talented players and not just one who would rule.

Jake arrived in Los Angeles and went directly to the house he had bought a few months ago, arriving at his home in Bel Air he saw his house differently than when he bought it after the renovation he had done.

His house already had a house with the employees that he sent a trustworthy company to hire, had employees to clean the house, take care of the garden, take care of the swimming pool, sports facilities, to cook, and a housekeeper.

All these employees lived in one of the employee houses and the other employee house was occupied by Jake's security team, they would take care of the house's surveillance and his protection as well.

It was a different team than the security guards who took care of him in Miami and who took care of his mother for many years, Eva had even gotten used to having security guards protecting her in the restaurant and everywhere she went.

Jake has done this since his house was invaded many years ago and just so he could be calm, he just didn't hang out with his security anymore because when Jake went to university he had to live in the dorm for many years and so more security guards taking care of him.

But in Los Angeles he would leave the security guards who could protect him from paparazzi too, his house already had the security of the condo and so he could rest easy, Jake saw that the basketball court and the Olympic track with the official measures were ready.

His gym was also ready after the renovation and his pool was also bigger now, inside his house Jake can see the movie theater he had ordered, the library and the soundproof music studio that was the same as the record companies.

Jake decided to do this because his house was very big and still had 7 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms and even had an elevator going to the second floor and to his garage that had space for 7 cars, going to the garage he saw the Chevrolet corvette zr1 blue color that he had gotten from Chevrolet.

And there was also the yellow McLaren F1 that had finally arrived earlier this year and Jake had sent them to his garage, that was one of the advantages of having a security team, being able to have things delivered to his house.

The housekeeper at Jake's house was called Mary and she was 41 years old in 1999, she was an efficient housekeeper who knew how to organize the other employees of the house and still be discreet, she was the type of person that Jake looked for to receive guests and take care of the house while he was traveling.

Jake was happy to have the house renovated and to buy all the necessary things several months ago, now he could just live peacefully in his complete house and wait to start training and games.

After spending a few days in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles team coach Lakers Del Harris asked him for training, Jake knew that the team's first game would be on February 5th and not be surprised with that even though he had little time to play. train with the team.

Jake was the player who had been the first pick of the draft this season, and he was switched to three players to play on the Los Angeles Lakers team because the team needed a player like him to score a lot and to support Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in the team's attacks.

But the Del Harris team coach didn't want to put Jake as a starting player, he didn't even intend to let him play for many minutes just like he did with Kobe Bryant who was on reserve in his first year and only started a few games.

Even the other teams that didn't have the first pick would let novice players play every game as was the case with Mark Bibby and Vince Carter on the Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors teams.

That was why Jerry West wanted to switch the other players in Kobe Bryant's position so he could play more and it was one of the reasons why the Lakers' directory disapproved of him, with pressure from the board Coach Del Harris would have to put Jake to play.

This was something that Jake did not know, but he also thought he would play for the team after all the team had weaker players in two positions after this exchange so that he would join the Los Angeles Lakers team.

For sure next season the Los Angeles Lakers team would buy players to strengthen those positions and also change the coach as Jake remembered, but he was happy to be able to play on the team and show his skills to be able to play next season too.

When Jake arrived for his first training, he was thrilled to see so many players that he was always a fan in his past life, especially now when he was a player he was still a fan of those players and would have the opportunity to play with them.

Jake saw Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, he also knew many other players, but he was more a fan of these two players, of course, Jake knew he shouldn't go where they were because the team was going to start training.

Who came first to talk to Jake was Rick Fox who was one of the players who would be starting this season with Jake's entry, Rick Fox was a skilled SF and had previously been a player on the Tar Heels team as well as Jake.

"Hi, you must be Jake Smith, I'm Rick Fox."

"You can call me Jake."

"Nice to meet you, Rick Fox, I know you naturally, I've seen you play and I know you played for the Tar Heels team, I'm happy to meet someone who played at the same university as me."

"You can call me Rick too, I'm happy to know that you know who I am, Hahaha, I'm also happy to see someone from the same university as me playing with me."

"Congratulations on helping the Tar Heels team to achieve this incredible record of more than 70 games without losing, I know how it is almost impossible to pass the UCLA team record, but the record you have achieved has already brought many glories to our university."

"Even more after winning the NCAA tournament twice in a row, in my last year we almost managed to win, luckily you managed to bring that joy to fans of the team like me."

"Thanks, Rick, I know you did great things for the Tar Heels team, and now we are playing together here at the Los Angeles Lakers, I hope that together we will be able to win an NBA title."

"Hahaha, I like how optimistic you are."

Jake and Rick soon became friends and Jake was more comfortable in the team, in the first training Jake showed all his enthusiasm and impressed all the other players and the team's technical committee with his dedication to training and how much stamina he had.

Jake clearly did the training with more intensity than other players and did not need to stop to rest, and that was on the first day of training after the end of the lockout where the players did not dedicate themselves so much to training.

Even though Jake impressing them all knew that Jake was an athlete who was the best in the world in marathons so it was only natural that he had more stamina than the other players, this made Coach Harris happier to have Jake on his team.

Even more because as the game season was less time and they would still have 50 games, the teams would have to play more games to keep the schedule and some players would not be able to handle this intensity.

The first day of training was just for Coach Harris to see the physical condition of the players, Coach Harris saw that Rick Fox would not be able to play and also saw several players who were not in perfect physical condition.

Fortunately, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were in the good physical condition and could play in that first game, what the Los Angeles Lakers board and Jake didn't even know was that Coach Harris was thinking about letting Jake play, but not as PG in the first games.

He knew that Jake had the ability to play in various positions and so he would put him in the place of other players who were tired in the first games to see how Jake would do, after all, Derek Fisher was a player that Coach Harris liked.

So if Jake made a good debut game, Coach Harris would have to put him in to play as PG if he received pressure from the Los Angeles Lakers team board, but he thought Jake was young and couldn't handle the pressure of debuting playing in a different position.

After training Jake couldn't take it and went to talk to Kobe Bryant, he was a big fan of him and Jake was nervous when he went to talk to one of his biggest idols as a basketball player and as a basketball fan.

"Hi, Kobe Bryant, my name is Jake Smith, I wanted to say that it is a great pleasure to talk to you personally, I am a fan of yours and I admire how you play."

"I didn't know I had a fan after playing for a few years, let's be teammates now, you can call me Kobe."

"It is true that I am a fan of yours, I also believe that just by working hard in training I can do better and I heard that you are like that too, I also just want victory for my team."

"So you really know me well, I really believe that more effort can lead to victory and I really want to win, if you are like that then we can get along very well."

Jake was very happy because it looked like he had become friends with Kobe Bryant, he didn't lie saying that he liked to train a lot and also that he thought a lot about winning, but he said this to Kobe because he knew after seeing several interviews with Kobe that he thought so too.

Afterward when the players were leaving the training site, Jake still went to talk to another of his idols Shaquille O'Neal, even though Jake was tall he felt small near Shaquille O'Neal, but Jake was not intimidated and went to talk to him.

"Hi, Shaquille O'Neal, my name is Jake Smith, I wanted to say that I am a big fan of yours, it is a great pleasure for me to speak with you."

"So you are the rookie who was the first pick in last year's draft, I saw a few games of yours and I think you are very good, I hope you help me make a lot of points just like you helped your teammates at the university."

"For sure, this is what I plan to do, with you playing on the same team as me, it is easier to make a lot of assists and I can do the three-point shots with confidence knowing that you can catch the rebounds."

"Hahaha, that's what I wanted to hear, you also have to make as many points as you can, if you can make at least 14 points per game and make assists our team can win the NBA title."

Jake was happy to have a good first conversation with his two idols on the team, Jake knew that this season he would have one of the best opportunities to be the leader in NBA assistance and that was what he wanted.

With the coach changes that the team would have and this reduced season, it would be difficult for the team to win the NBA title this season, so he just had to adapt to the team and have the best performance possible, and next season they would fight for the NBA title.

Jake went home happy and called his mom and Kate to tell them how it was his first day of training on the Los Angeles Lakers team, that day Jake can rest easy knowing he had done well on his first day on the team the Los Angeles Lakers.

On the other training day, the players were finally able to have a training game-playing among the team players that would be divided in two teams, in this training Jake played as PG and Derek Fisher was the PG of the other team.

Jake admired Fisher too and knew his career as a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers team as Jake always was, but Jake knew that he was a better player than Fisher in almost every area of basketball.

Even though Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are in the Fisher team, Jake still took the 'reserve team' to make a good game and narrowly lost, it was a two-minute 10-minute training and Jake managed to score 18 points and 3 assists.

This impressed the other players and the members of the coaching staff, it was normal for Jake because he trained twice a day in training his imagination with much tougher opponents and always tried to win.

The difference was that in his imagination training his teammates were as good as his opponents, so in the next few days the team did a lot of training, and Jake continued to show his talent.

In that time Jake won the respect of his teammates and managed to talk several times with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and his friend Rick Fox, Jake felt that he was becoming part of the team and the day of the game was coming.

The day before Jake's debut game in the NBA, coach Del Harris called Jake to have a private conversation with him, Jake thought the coach was calling him to say that he would play in the next game and try to make Jake less nervous for this one game.

"Jake, you're going to play on the starting team in the next game, but since Rick Fox is still not in his best physical condition and he won't be able to play, I'm going to have to put you in the Small Forward position, is it okay for you?"

Jake was surprised to hear that, he never thought he would not play as PG in his debut game, but hearing the coach say that Rick Fox was not in his best physical condition it was understandable that he had to play in another position.

Even more, because Coach Harris would let him play on the team and Jake was prepared to play as SG or SF if it was going to help the team in any way, it was different from high school and university where he still had to prove to everyone that it was a skilled PG.

Everyone knew that he knew how to play as a PG, so to help his team Jake didn't mind playing in other positions, with his imagination training, Jake had experience playing in all positions in basketball.

"Alright Coach Harris, thanks for the opportunity to let me start playing in the next game if you want I can play as SF, but I will not play as well as I play as PG."

"Okay, I understand that you will be playing in a position that you are not used to playing, you are a good defensive player and you also score a lot and that is enough to help us win in the next game."

Jake didn't think Coach Harris was doing it on purpose and just thought he would have to play in another position to help the team, especially since the player who was like SF before was switched so he could come to the Los Angeles team Lakers.

The other day Jake woke up very early excited because that was the day of his debut game in the NBA, it would be a game at the Great Western Forum that was the arena that the Los Angeles Lakers team used that year.

It was the realization of another dream for Jake and it would be in this team that he could fulfill his other dreams as a professional player who was to win the NBA title, Jake would fight for it and wanted everyone to remember that he was fundamental for the team to achieve this NBA title.

Jake arrived at the arena and went straight to the locker room to put on his uniform for the first time, Jake's uniform on the Los Angeles Lakers team was his favorite number that was number 7, Jake asked for that number while David Falk was still dealing with the team.

After a few minutes the other players arrived and put on their uniforms and so they started doing warm-up exercises before going to the court, Jake saw that there were a lot of fans at the Great Western Forum to watch that first Lakers game after the lockout.

Jake didn't know that well, but the Lakers team fans had high expectations for him because they said the team needed a good Point Guard for the team to win the NBA title, after all with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant on the team they should make many points.

The opponent of that debut game was the Houston Rockets team, they had great players that Jake was also a fan of, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, and Hakeem Olajuwon, in addition, they had two players that he played in the game he organized between the newbies who were Bryce Drew and Michael Dickerson.

But even though it was a team full of skilled players, there were a lot of players who were old now and didn't have as much agility as in their main years, so the Houston Rockets team was not a favorite despite having so many good players.

The players from both teams were eager to play after several months of not playing because of this lockout, the Lakers team players were surprised when they learned that Jake would play as SF, but as they saw that Jake didn't care about it they decided to trust in the coach's decision.

"Welcome everyone who came to see the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets team's first game after the NBA lockout, the team owners won a good deal and the NBA fans were the ones hurt."

"It's true, fans of many teams were furious about this lockout and after Michael Jordan's retirement even more fans gave up basketball, at least temporarily, but what we see here are the fans of the Lakers team that almost filled the Great Western Forum to support the team."

"Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers team made it to the playoffs in the past two seasons with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant on the team, last season they made it to the West Conference Finals, and in the last two seasons they were eliminated by the Utah Jazz team."

"This season, fans have even more expectations of perhaps the Lakers team winning the NBA title again with the arrival of the first draft pick of the 1998 draft Jake Smith which is a great PG that the Lakers team needs."

"That's right, but maybe the Los Angeles Lakers Del Harris team coach doesn't think so after all this will be Jake Smith's debut game on the Lakers' team and he will play from SF and not from PG."

"Maybe it was a coach decision because of the need for a player in that position, after all, Eddie Jones who could play in that position was switched with the Los Angeles Clippers team so that Jake Smith would come to the team."

The Los Angeles Lakers' starting team for that game was Derek Fisher playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Jake Smith playing as SF, Corie Blount playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.

In the Houston Rockets team, the initial players were Matt Maloney playing as PG, Michael Dickerson playing as SG, Scottie Pippen playing as SF, Charles Barkley playing as PF, and Hakeem Olajuwon playing as Center.

Even though Hakeem Olajuwon was 36, he was still a great player and Jake realized that Shaquille O'Neal was excited to play against him, after all, O'Neal had already praised Hakeem Olajuwon several times.

The game started with the Houston Rockets team gaining possession of the ball, Maloney advanced with the ball to make the Houston Rockets team's first attack in the game, Jake was anxious because he was defending against Scottie Pippen in the game, Jake was a fan of him, but I would defend with all his skill to have a good debut game.

Maloney passed the ball to Dickerson who was being defended by Kobe Bryant and soon felt the pressure on the defense and had to pass the ball to Charles Barkley, Barkley used his ability to easily pass through Blount and make the first 2 points of the game for the Houston Rockets team.

Shaquille O'Neal passed the ball to Derek Fisher who started the play, Fisher advanced the ball and passed it to Bryant from the right who was behind the three-point line, Bryant passed the ball to Jake who touched the ball for the first time in an official NBA game.

Jake received the ball and noticed O'Neal's movement and passed the ball to him in-depth, Shaquille O'Neal received the ball and advanced to make the dunk and the first 2 points of the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Shaquille O'Neal passed close to Jake when he was returning to the defense and praised him for his assistance, even playing as SF Jake could still make some assists when he had the opportunity.

In the first minutes, the teams were not putting much pressure on the defense and the two teams were well balanced, but the Los Angeles Lakers team managed the advantage with a rebound that Jake picked up after Dickerson's mistake in attempting a three-point shot for the Houston Rockets team.

Scottie Pippen was the one who was most feeling Jake's dedication in defending against him, so in one play Maloney was setting up the game and passed the ball to Pippen, Pippen tried the feint to advance with speed to the inside area.

But Jake was very focused and managed to make the steal and soon passed the ball to Fisher, Scottie Pippen was shocked by a rookie stealing his ball, so Pippen decided that he would not let Jake play anymore and would show why he was one of the best SF of all time and one of the best in defense too.

In another move, the Los Angeles Lakers team was on the attack and Fisher passed the ball directly to Jake this time, Jake received the ball and Pippen soon pressed in defense, so Jake had no option but to pass back to Fisher or try to get rid of the defense Pippen.

A few minutes of the first quarter had passed and Jake had not made any points yet so he wanted to make his first points in the NBA, so Jake made a feint, but Pippen was experienced and was not fooled.

Jake could see that the movement of his teammates had given him an opportunity to play, so Jake pretended he was going to try a feint and moved forward using his agility into the inside area.

Pippen, who was fast, also reacted a little after trying to accompany Jake in the play, but Jake was very fast and entered the inside area through the opening that was in the Houston Rockets team's defense when his teammates had formed, Pippen was unable to follow and Jake dunk to score his first 2 points in the NBA.

Jake greatly celebrated his first points as he returned to defense and Pippen realized that Jake was a really talented player that he would have to work harder to defend against.

As Pippen was defending against Jake, Kobe Bryant had more freedom to attack, so he and Shaquille O'Neal commanded the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team, unlike other games, the main players were much freer to attack.

Fisher had more freedom to organize the plays and Jake was the one who was having a hard time defending against Pippen and with Pippen defending against him, even so at the end of the first quarter the Los Angeles Lakers team was winning with a good lead on the scoreboard.

Jake had played very well even playing in a position he didn't have much experience and having Scottie Pippen defending against him, in the first quarter Jake played the 12 minutes and made 6 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.

"What a good first quarter the Los Angeles Lakers team is doing, Shaquille O'Neal is the player who scored the most points and is playing very well against Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant is also playing very well and is having more freedom to play and is making lots of points."

"The most surprising thing is the good performance of Jake Smith who is debuting today playing improvised as a PF and against Scottie Pippen and is helping the team a lot, even in defense he can defend well against Scottie Pippen."

"It's true, and Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon are not playing as well as they usually do, and the Houston Rockets team can only keep up well with the performance of Charles Barkley and rookie Michael Dickerson."

"We will continue to follow the game to see if the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to win or if the Houston Rockets team wins in the end."

Los Angeles Lakers fans and other players on the team liked Jake's first quarter and supported him to continue playing well, the Houston Rockets team realized that Jake was doing well in defense and so they started playing more with Charles Barkley.

In another Houston Rockets move, Maloney had the ball and passed it to Pippen on the left, Jake soon arrived to press on defense and Pippen passed the ball to Dickerson on the right, Dickerson soon passed the ball to Charles Barkley.

Barkley got rid of Blount's defense and went inside to make the points, Shaquille O'Neal who expected Barkley to pass through Blount tried to press on defense, but Barkley was smart and passed the ball to Hakeem Olajuwon who was free to do dunk and 2 more points for the Houston Rockets team.

After this attack by the Houston Rockets team, the game became more balanced and Pippen did not try so many more attacks in the game and make some mid-range shots when needed, in the attack the Los Angeles Lakers team was counting on Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal who were playing well like that Jake didn't get many passes.

Jake knew this could happen in a team with so many talented players, so he just played his part and made assists when he saw the opportunity, after a move by the Los Angeles Lakers team in the attack, the ball was left for Kobe Bryant.

He was playing well in the game and tried to make the three-point shot, the shot was very short and Jake who was attentive in the play managed to catch the rebound, Jake caught the ball and then hooked to make 2 more points for the team Los Angeles Lakers.

In another play, Fisher received the ball with a few seconds to end possession, and realizing these two players from the Houston Rockets' team went to press Kobe Bryant and Hakeem Olajuwon pressured Shaquille O'Neal in defense as well.

So Fisher passed the ball to Jake from the left, Jake received the ball and tried the shot from outside even with Pippen very close to him, Jake managed to hit the first three-point shot in the NBA and that was his seventh point in the second quarter that was ending.

The Houston Rockets team still wanted to reduce the advantage to have a chance to win in the second half of the game, so Matt Maloney advanced with the ball and passed to Charles Barkley who was being the best player of his team in the game.

Barkley easily passed Blount and tried to advance to make the layup, but Shaquille O'Neal appeared to try the block, seeing that Barkley reacted quickly and passed the ball to Olajuwon who was free in the play.

Olajuwon received the ball and when he thought about making the dunk Jake appeared and did the steal with great skill, it was a move that Jake made several times in the training of imagination playing several times against Centers that were high and had SS in various abilities as Olajuwon should have.

Jake couldn't catch the ball after the steal and it was Kobe Bryant who took the ball and held the ball to calm the players, Bryant passed the ball to Fisher and everyone went on the attack, the crowd was excited about this Los Angeles team defense Lakers and Olajuwon still did not believe that Jake steal him.

Fisher advanced with the ball and passed it to Jake before the three-point line, this time Pippen pressed on defense not to let Jake make the move, Jake saw that Kobe Bryant had got rid of the defense and passed the ball to him.

So Bryant received the ball and tried the shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Bryant also thanked Jake for the good assistance after he made a steal.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team with a good lead on the scoreboard that only increased in that second quarter, Jake managed to make 7 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal.

Coach Harris also realized this was happening, but he didn't say anything to the other players because Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were already making a lot of points for the team in that game.

"Thus ends the second quarter of the game, Jake continues to make a great debut game and has already scored 13 points in the first half of the game, the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team are not passing the ball so much to Jake and he is depending on the rebounds him to make the stitches."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team is playing very well in this game with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant already making 33 points together, so it is normal that they would rather pass the ball to both of them than to Jake who is a rookie and is playing in an improvised position."

"Of course, he would receive more passes at the end of the game if the Los Angeles Lakers team secured the victory, but he has already made 13 points despite receiving few passes, this shows the skills of Jake who is also very good in defense, not allowing Scottie Pippen make lots of points."

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers team were also enjoying Jake's first game on the team, they had already realized that Coach Harris had put him to play as SF which was not his position, and even then Jake was having an excellent game.

The Houston Rockets team coach was in a difficult situation, Pippen who was one of the best defenders on the team was defending against Jake and even though he had scored 13 points in the game, it showed that Jake really had the skills.

In the third quarter, the Houston Rockets team tried to attack more to still fight for the victory, but even the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team was not very strong they still defended well with Jake, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal.

And the Lakers' team was also attacking and maintaining the advantage on the scoreboard with good plays from O'Neal and Bryant, Jake was never replaced after having a conversation with Coach Harris saying he could handle playing the entire game.

Coach Harris really had no one to put Jake in position with Rick Fox or being on the Lakers team's bench, and Coach Harris naturally had plenty of time to watch Jake's games in that lockout and knew Jake was never replaced in almost every game of his second season on the Tar Heels team.

The only thing that Jake's coach and teammates didn't understand was because he wasn't trying to make three-point shots when he got the ball, he got few passes, but if he hit three shots from the outside he would make 9 points in few minutes.

The truth was that Jake had a different thought for each position he played, as PG and as SG he would certainly try more shots from three points and receive more assists too, but as SF he was more within the three-point line.

In addition, Pippen was a very good player in defense and Jake preferred in his debut game to make more assists than trying several shots from three points and could suffer Pippen's block, even more, because he did not receive many passes and had O'Neal and Bryant playing so well.

In another Houston Rockets attack move, Bryce Drew joined the team playing as PG and made a pass to Pippen, Jake was close to Pippen pressing on defense and Pippen passed the ball back to Drew.

After passing the ball Pippen moved to get rid of Jake's defense, but Jake did not continue defending against Pippen and realized that Drew was relaxed as Fisher was defending away from him.

So Jake moved quickly and made a steal taking everyone by surprise, Jake took the ball and ran to the attacking court, Drew was the last player in the Houston Rockets team's defense and tried to chase Jake.

But Jake was very fast and ran up to the three-point line and jumped doing a reverse dunk to liven up the Lakers crowd at the Great Western Forum, the fans were excited to see that and Jake's teammates greeted him.

The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a big advantage on the scoreboard, Jake played for 12 minutes and made 6 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, even though he was not the player who made the most points Jake was being praised as the best player in that game.

The other players were also realizing that Jake was much more skilled than they thought before and could be playing at the same skill level as them, in the NBA a player could only receive more respect by playing well.

In the last quarter, the Houston Rockets team continued to press on defense and attack, but they already knew they could not win this game, even so, the players played well until the end.

The Los Angeles Lakers team won that game with 115 points against 84 points for the Houston Rockets team, Jake played for 12 minutes in the last quarter and had 7 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.

"What a great game the Los Angeles Lakers team had, it was a great debut with victory and the good debut of Jake Smith who may be one of the main players in this team that already has Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant."

"For sure, the objective of the Los Angeles Lakers team is to win the NBA title and with Jake Smith in this team they can achieve that, in this debut game he had 26 points, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds, and that was because he was playing improvised like SF."

"Yes, he was one of the best players in this game if not the best, Shaquille O'Neal had 34 points and 14 rebounds so he was also very important and Kobe Bryant had 27 points and 10 rebounds, so the whole team played very well."

"It's true, as you said the three together scored 87 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team and got 33 rebounds, that's impressive and shows the strength of this young Los Angeles Lakers team."

"The Houston Rockets team also played well, but Scottie Pippen ended up not having a good game because he had to defend against Jake Smith and Jake defended well against him, Hakeem Olajuwon also failed to play as well with Shaquille O'Neal playing so well."

"But Charles Barkley had a great game with 33 points and 15 rebounds, this was only the first game and even though this team has older players, they are some of the best players in the NBA."

Jake was also happy with his first game on the Los Angeles Lakers team, he managed to score more than 20 points which were his goal and made more assists than he expected to play as SF.

Jake hoped that when Rick Fox was in a position to play he could debut playing as PG and so he could show all his skill, Jake hoped that Robert Horry would recover and be able to play soon or that Dennis Rodman would be hired to play.

Because in that game it was clear that Corie Blount was not able to defend well or attack playing against the best NBA PFs, it is clear that against Charles Barkley he could not play as well, but Jake was sure that Horry or Rodman would play better.

Jake called his mom and Kate to tell him about his first NBA game and they were happy that he won, the other day the media and fans were excited about Jake's performance at the premiere and everyone was saying that he deserved to be the first draft of 1998.

Coach Harris had to do an interview to talk about Jake, he praised Jake's debut game and said he would have to play some games like SF until Rick Fox could play, and he also said he believed Jake had the quality to do that.

That was not the initial intention of Coach Harris, but as Jake had played so well he started to have greater respect for Jake and the team management was happy with that, the players had a light training because the next day they would have another game.

All teams would have to play more than 14 games that February and many games would be on straight days without rest for the players, so Jake had stopped training for the Olympics and was even thinking about eating a stamina bar if necessary.

So the day came for the second game of the Los Angeles Lakers team and Jake's second game in the NBA, the opponent was the strong Utah Jazz team, and in that game, the Los Angeles Lakers team would lose so Jake could try to change the result of that game with his skills.

The Utah Jazz team had great players that Jake admired a lot too, that player was John Stockton who was one of the best Point Guard ever in the NBA, John Stockton ended his career with an average of more than 10 assists per game and he was also sometimes leader in steal and assist in the seasons.

In addition to Stockton the Utah Jazz team still had Karl Malone who was one of the best Power Forward of all time, Karl Malone would enter the NBA Hall of Fame along with Stockton and be the second player with the most points scored in his career in the NBA.

This season even Karl Malone would be the MVP of the season doing one of the best seasons of his career even at the age of 35, so it was not strange that the Los Angeles Lakers team ended up losing to them.

Jake really wanted to play defending against Stockton in this game, but he would have to play as SF in that game again, even so, Jake was happy to play his second game in the NBA, this was the second game of the Los Angeles Lakers team at home playing at Great Western Forum.

It was another opportunity for fans to watch Jake play and so Jake wanted to help the Los Angeles Lakers team win that game, Jake again arrived at the Great Western Forum before the other players and Kobe Bryant arrived right after him and came over to talk to Jake.

"Jake, congratulations on your great debut game, I confess I didn't expect you to play so well playing in the SF position."

"Thanks, Kobe, it was thanks to your good performance and the team that I had the opportunity to score so many points and get assists."

"It's good to be humble, but you don't need to be underestimated because of that, you showed that you are a great player, I will pass the ball over to you and I hope this debut game is not the only good game of yours this season."

Jake was happy to receive recognition from Kobe Bryant who was an idol for him, so he was even more determined that he would play well and help the team to win the game even if it was difficult.

The opposing team had Stockton and Malone, but they both played as PG and PF, and on the Los Angeles Lakers team there was Kobe Bryant who played as SG, Shaquille O'Neal who was the Center and Jake who played as SF and they wouldn't have one quality opponent to defend against them and could make several points.

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch this great game from this reduced NBA season, this season we will see more games this month and maybe the players will not be able to play all the games or the reserves will have more opportunities to play."

"This is not such a problem for the Los Angeles Lakers team that has young players, Jake himself said he could play every 48 minutes in every game, we saw him doing it in last Friday's game."

"That's right, Jake Smith made a great debut scoring 26 points and almost triple-doubling his debut game which would be historic, and that's because Pippen was pushing in defense against Jake the entire game."

"Yes, we can see in the next games Jake playing as SF which is not the position where he plays best, but seeing this debut game I think he can play more games in that position and that would perhaps help the Los Angeles Lakers team more."

"It's true, but due to his different playing style, we can see that Jake can play in various positions, like PG, as SG, and as SF that he's been playing, of course in this Lakers team I think he could help the team more as PG, after all, he still had more than 30 points and 10 assists per game as a PG at the university."

"The Los Angeles Lakers team needs a good PG to organize the plays for this team, we can see how John Stockton and Karl Malone make a good team, Jake could help Shaquille O'Neal to score his points without having to work so hard and I would still be able to assist Kobe Bryant."

"I liked this comparison of Jake Smith with John Stockton, Jake also does a lot of steals and assistance and can score a lot which can help the Los Angeles Lakers team to win the NBA title."

The Los Angeles Lakers team came with the same starting team as the last game, Derek Fisher playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Jake Smith playing as SF, Corie Blount playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center, the only difference is that Robert Horry was on reserve and could come in to replace Blount in that game.

The Utah Jazz team came with the initial team formed by John Stockton playing as PG, Jeff Hornacek playing as SG, Bryon Russell playing as SF, Karl Malone playing as PF, and Greg Ostertag playing as Center.

The game started and Ostertag won the ball for the Utah Jazz team to start attacking, Stockton got the ball and went to organize the attack calmly waiting for the other players on his team to go on the attack.

Fisher and Blount were feeling the pressure of having to defend against Malone and Stockton, Stockton passed the ball to Hornacek and Bryant soon pressed in defense, Hornacek passed the ball back to Stockton who passed the ball to Malone.

Karl Malone received the ball and then made a Power move and went towards the inside area to hook and the first 2 points of the game for the Utah Jazz team, Corie Blount didn't even have the opportunity to defend and Malone made the first points of the game.

The Los Angeles Lakers team players remained calm after that and Derek Fisher started to organize the first attack for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Fisher passed the ball to Jake from the left, Jake held the ball a little and passed it on to Kobe Bryant.

Bryant received the ball and soon passed it to Shaquille O'Neal, O'Neal received the ball and Spin and drive against the defender and hooked to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team and tie the game, Blount knew he would receive few assists in that game because he had Karl Malone defending against him.

Coach Harris also asked Fisher not to try to make individual plays and just pass the ball so as not to risk that John Stockton could make the steal, Stockton moved forward and passed the ball to Russell.

Russell received the ball and Jake was already pushing in defense, Russell tried to use force to get inside, but he couldn't push Jake back using his strength and had to pass the ball to Stockton further back.

Stockton received the ball and passed Fisher and tried the mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the Utah Jazz team, Stockton and Malone had already shown that they were playing well in that game, so the Los Angeles Lakers team would have to try harder.

In another move, the Los Angeles Lakers team was on the attack, and Fisher passed the ball to Bryant, so Bryant passed the ball to Jake on the left, and as he had said Jake was getting more passes in that game.

Jake caught the ball on the left side and Bryon Russell was defending against him, Jake made a feint and tricked Russell, soon after Jake crossed quickly and got rid of Russell's defense, Jake drive from the basket and made the layup to do more 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

This move cheered the Los Angeles Lakers fans at the Great Western Forum, Kobe Bryant praised Jake for the move, and Jake saw that it was better for him to try harder to make the moves and stand out.

In another move the Utah Jazz team went on the attack and Stockton passed the ball to Russell and went inside the area, Jake who was defending against Russell realized that Russell was thinking of returning the ball to Stockton so he anticipated and managed to intercept pass it by doing the steal.

Stockton realized that Jake had anticipated the move and therefore made the steal, Jake did not advance for the attack and passed the ball to Fisher and Fisher waited for the Los Angeles Lakers team to organize in the attack before starting the play.

Fisher went on the attack and passed the ball to Jake on the left, Jake got rid of Russell easily and advanced into the area, the Utah Jazz team's defense realized the move and tried to stop Jake from moving forward.

Jake did not attempt the individual play and passed the ball to Kobe Bryant who was free from the right, Bryant received the ball and shot from outside to make 3 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the fans were excited about the Lakers team with so much advantage on the scoreboard.

The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team with the advantage on the scoreboard, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake played this first quarter much better than the past game.

Still, Jake was not scoring as many points as he still had to pass the ball to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, but Jake realized that he had a lot more confidence from his teammates in that game.

"What a great first quarter for the Los Angeles Lakers in that game too, in defense they are not doing very well, but the Los Angeles Lakers' attack misses very little and that's why they manage to finish the first quarter with a good advantage."

"Jake is not intimidating himself because it is just his second game in the NBA and he is making all the moves correctly, he is doing dribbling and feints and Bryon Russell is having a hard time in that game."

"It's true, we can see that Jake is getting more passes from his teammates, that's because he is showing that he knows how to play well as a team and that is making things more difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers team."

"The Utah Jazz team is also not defending well, but John Stockton and Karl Malone are playing very well in this game and we cannot say yet which team will win."

The second quarter of the game started with the Los Angeles Lakers pressing on the attack, after all, as the defenses did not work well, the attacks had to score more points than the opposing team.

Fisher advanced the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant, Bryant passed the ball further to O'Neal and the defense pressed and Malone came to press it too, O'Neal passed the ball to Jake further back, Jake saw that Bryant was free and passed the ball.

Kobe Bryant tried the shot and ended up missing, Shaquille O'Neal was quick and managed to catch the rebound and made the layup to make 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the Los Angeles Lakers team had the advantage in rebounds in that game and it helped them to keep winning the game.

In another move, the Utah Jazz team was pushing forward, after a good move Stockton passed the ball to Russell, Russel was quick and passed the ball back to Stockton near the free-throw line.

Fisher arrived to defend, but Stockton was quick and soon passed the ball to Malone who received the ball and made a dunk to make 2 more points for the Utah Jazz team, the game was played and both teams were strong in the attack which left the most animated game for fans to watch.

The Los Angeles Lakers team attempted another attack with a few minutes left to finish the second quarter, Fisher held the ball and Stockton was defending well against him, so Fisher passed the ball to Bryant again.

Bryant was not playing as well in that game and even though Hornacek's defense was not as good Bryant did not play as well as in the first game of the season, so Bryant passed the ball to Jake who was on the left.

Jake was playing very well in that game and was defending well against Russell who had only scored 8 points in that game and in other games he helped the Utah Jazz team to win, and Jake was also good in attack and assists.

Jake made a feint and failed to fool Russell this time, Jake tried another feint pretending he was going to the back of the court and Russell stopped waiting for Jake to make the move, Jake realized this and stepped away from Russell and tried the shot. out to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Russell was tricked by Jake and didn't even have time to react when Jake attempted the three-point shot, it was difficult to defend against a player who made good assists, was quick in individual shots and knew how to shoot with great skill.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a good advantage, Jake played for 12 minutes in that second quarter and had 9 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake was very well and hoped to get the first double-double in that game.

"What a good game we have been following so far, a game in which the attacks of the two teams are very strong and the defenses are also very good, the Los Angeles Lakers team has the advantage because there are three players playing very well in that game."

"Shaquille O'Neal is playing very well and got 8 rebounds and scored 20 points in the first half of the game, Kobe Bryant is also playing very well and has 5 rebounds, and 9 points, both of whom have been the main players of this Los team Angeles Lakers."

"And we also have Jake Smith who has been playing another excellent game in his second game in the NBA, Jake had 17 points and managed to get 6 rebounds in addition to making 6 assists, and that with Jake playing improvised as SF."

"It's true, Jake Smith has been showing that it was the right time for him to leave university because he is ready to play in the NBA, in this game he is receiving more passes from his teammates and is playing better rewarding the confidence of his teammates."

"Did Jake's performances in the last few games make us wonder if he played as SF on this team would not be the best option for him in the Los Angeles Lakers?"

"I don't think so, playing as SF Jake Smith doesn't have as much freedom in the moves and he can't help that much in defense either, with Jake creating the moves the other players like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal would receive more assists in a position to make the points and would receive less pressure from the opposing defense."

Jake knew that playing as well as SF would put many people in doubt whether he should even play as PG, Jake really wanted to play as PG and he thought that with Rick Fox as SF and him as PG the Los Angeles Lakers team would be much better.

Jack was very fond of Derek Fisher, but he thought that Rick Fox in the SF position helped the team much more than Derek Fisher playing as PG, after all, Jake was much better than him playing as PG.

But it was not because he wanted to play as a PG that he would show a poor performance playing as SF on the team, he wanted to help the Los Angeles Lakers team to win, and thought that if it was necessary he would demand that he play as a PG on another team that he would play in the future in the NBA and play as SF on the Los Angeles Lakers team.

What Jake didn't know was that Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers team directors also wanted to see Jake playing as PG which was the position he was hired to play in, so they pressured coach Del Harris to put Rick Fox to play like that that was possible.

Jake wanted to win as many games as he could to help the team and thought that would change something, but the truth was that Del Harris would leave the team even if they won all of the first 12 games.

After all, the team's stars didn't like him very much and Coach Harris challenged the Los Angeles Lakers team's board a lot, not to mention that Jake knew that the Lakers team's board wanted Phil Jackson as coach next season.

In the third quarter, the Utah Jazz team began to put more pressure on the attack and defense, the Los Angeles Lakers team's advantage was more than 15 points in the game and therefore the Utah Jazz team's attacks were intense.

In an attack by the Utah Jazz Stockton team he came at a faster pace and passed the ball to Russel, Russel quickly passed the ball to Malone before Jake pressed the defense, Malone held the ball and then passed it to Stockton again.

Stockton was on the free-throw line and had gotten rid of Fisher, so Stockton drive to the basket and scored 2 points for the Utah Jazz team, Stockton was very good in that game and Fisher was unable to defend against him.

Jake was doing the best he could to defend against Russell, and that was forcing Russell to try the mid-range shot and he had a low hit rate in that game, and Malone was having a hard time playing because O'Neal was helping Horry in defense, Robert Horry came on for Corie Blount and Malone was having a harder time attacking.

So Stockton was the best player on the Utah Jazz team and in addition to making assists he was still trying to score, Jake couldn't help but think that if he were in that game he could disturb more Stockton in that game and so the Los Angeles Lakers team would have easier to win the game.

In another attacking move by the Utah Jazz Stockton team, Russell passed to Russell again, Russell had to pass to Stockton again who tried to shoot out, but he missed and Jake was quick to catch the rebound.

Jake took the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant and went on the attack, Bryant passed the ball to Fisher who went to organize the play for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Fisher passed the ball to Kobe Bryant who soon passed the ball to Jake on the left.

Russell pressed the defense and Jake saw O'Neal getting free in Ostertag's defense and passed the ball to him, O'Neal went up to hook to try to score, but Malone came to try the block and ended up missing O'Neal.

Shaquille O'Neal was the most missed player in the Los Angeles Lakers team because he didn't have such a high hit rate on his free throws, O'Neal hit the first free throw attempt, he tried the second and missed.

The ball hit the backboard rim and went away from the inside area and close to where Jake was, Jake took the rebound from O'Neal's second attempt and was close to the three-point line, but Jake did not attempt the shot from outside and made a high pass to O'Neal who noticed the move and caught the ball high to make the dunk completing the alley-oop plus making 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning with a big advantage and practically guaranteeing victory in the game, Jake played for 12 minutes in that third quarter and had 6 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal.

"The third quarter ends with the Los Angeles Lakers team with the lead, the Utah Jazz team is playing very well in that game with John Stockton being the highlight of the team and Karl Malone playing as well as ever."

"But they can't defend the attack from the Los Angeles Lakers team that has Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Jake Smith, with Jake on that team the attack from the Los Angeles Lakers team is very difficult to stop, just another team with a strong defense you can manage to win against them."

"Yes, it seems that the decision of the Los Angeles Lakers team to hire the rookie Jake Smith was correct, with Jake in the team the defense of the team improves a lot he also manages to catch the rebounds and helps in the attack making the defense not focus on O 'Neal and Bryant just like they did in other games."

In the last quarter of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers team remained strong, but Coach Harris decided to let Bryant and O'Neal rest for the next games that would be difficult and so the Utah Jazz team had to defend only against Jake and that made it difficult for he makes the points.

The attack of the Utah Jazz team, which had not yet given up winning, pushed and the advantage diminished, Coach Harris knew it would happen and put O'Neal and Bryant in the game again, Jake had to try 3 shots from three points in that four-quarter and hit just two by missing his first three-point shot in the NBA.

At the end of the last quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 109 points against 92 points of the Utah Jazz team, Jake played for 12 minutes in that four-quarter and had 8 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Jake managed to make his first triple-double on the Los Angeles Lakers team and in the NBA too, Jake went to celebrate and Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and the other Lakers team hugged him and praised him for the great game.

"The second game of the season ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team won their second game at home, a game in which Jake Smith was certainly the best player on the team achieving his first triple-double in the NBA."

"Jake Smith had 31 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds as well as making 6 steals, Kobe Bryant also played very well with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Shaquille O'Neal with 39 points and 14 rebounds."

"O'Neal could be the best player in that game with his second double-double of the season and almost 40 points, but with the triple-double Jake deserves to be the best player in that game."

"Sure, O'Neal, Stockton, and Malone have a lot of double-doubles in their career, but even for them it's hard to get a lot of triple-doubles and Jake a 20-year-old man did in that game, he could be a big star in the future the NBA as these players are."

"The Utah Jazz team lost that game, but the players played very well in that game and we will definitely see the Utah Jazz team in the playoffs this season, let's see if the Los Angeles Lakers team continues to play well."

Jake was happy with the praise from his teammates and the praise from the fans too, it was only his second game in the NBA and even though he performed well he knew that nothing would mean if the team didn't win.

Jake realized in that game that if Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant performed poorly in any game he alone would not have the ability to lead the team to victory, Jake realized better the importance of teamwork and teammates had for the victory.

Of course, Jake already knew this and that is why he did not want to join the starting teams in the NBA draft, he had to have good teammates even if he received a lower salary or even if he was not the main player on his team.

Jake was thinking about going home when he was called by Coach Del Harris to talk, Jake was excited because the last time he spoke to Coach Harris he knew he would play in the starting team in the SF position, so this time it could be that he would play like PG.

"Good job in these last two games, Jake, I could see why the board of directors likes you so much, I know I left you in a difficult situation putting you to play as SF, but I wanted the team to have quality while Rick Fox I still couldn't play."

"You impressed me in those two games and played better than I thought possible, in the next game against the San Antonio Spurs team you still have to play as SF because Rick Fox is still not in ideal condition after all the first game was just 3 days ago."

"But in the fourth game of the season against the Denver Nuggets team, Rick Fox will be able to play and you will have your opportunity to play as PG if you play as well in the PG position as you play in the SF position you will have your place on the team."

"Thanks for the opportunity, coach, I will do my best in the next games."

Jake was happy to know that he would have the opportunity to play as a PG in the fourth game of the season, with that promise from the coach he was even more excited to play the next day against the San Antonio Spurs team.

This time the players would not have a day to rest before the next game and would not even have training because of that, luckily Jake was able to rest completely after a good night's sleep.

He did not know if at the end of the season he would have any accumulated fatigue, but for now, he saw no need to eat a stamina bar, he played for 48 minutes in the first two games and did not feel too tired after the game was over.

This didn't surprise Jake very much after all he had 45 points of resistance, he got tired at the university because he was still training with the basketball team and had training for the races that he had to do.

So came the day of the third game of the season and the first game playing away from home, the Los Angeles Lakers team would have to play against the San Antonio Spurs team at Alamodome Stadium, they would have to travel to San Antonio in Texas to play that game.

It would be Jake's first trip with the Los Angeles Lakers team, he naturally knew about the difficulties that the players had to go through to play, the team had to catch a plane that had already been booked well in advance and then the players would take a bus to the hotel and then from the hotel to the Alamodome.

This only increased the players' fatigue when they had to play several games in a week as was the case with the teams now at the beginning of the season, Jake did not suffer so much after traveling a few times to Japan and Australia which were very long trips.

His teammates also didn't suffer so much because they had several seasons to get used to this routine, Coach Harris observed Jake during the trip because some rookie players had difficulty with the trips in their debut season, but seeing that Jake was fine he got calmer.

Jake could feel when the team arrived at Alamodome that it was really different than playing at home, the fans were not rooting for them and it was the opposing team that had the most support from the crowd.

Jake had experienced it at the university and so he hoped for it, but in the NBA the proportion of things was much higher, the other players were used to it and so the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the locker room to put on the uniform and make some warm-up exercises.

The opposing team of the San Antonio Spurs didn't have the best players, only Tim Duncan and David Robinson stood out in this team, Steve Kerr had a standout for having a good hit rate on his three-point shots, but he didn't score many points in a game.

But they were a very strong team that with Duncan and Robinson managed to win the NBA title this season, the San Antonio Spurs team only managed to win the NBA title again when Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili were on the team.

Even so, Jake had a lot of respect for this San Antonio Spurs team and knew that it would be difficult to win that game, in that game he and Kobe Bryant would have to perform better because Shaquille O'Neal could not score as many points as in other games.

"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another game of the NBA this season, the third game of those teams this season, the Los Angeles Lakers team facing the San Antonio Spurs team."

"The San Antonio Spurs team that never won an NBA title or any Conference title, but with the arrival of the 1998 rookie of the Year Tim Duncan last season, the San Antonio Spurs team got stronger with the Twin Towers Tim Duncan and David Robinson and this year they can try to win the NBA title for the first time."

"Of course, the Los Angeles Lakers team also wants the NBA title this season with Superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and rookie Jake Smith who made two excellent games this season."

"I certainly think the Los Angeles Lakers team is a favorite to win the NBA title this season, it is very difficult to imagine that the San Antonio Spurs team can beat the great teams this season and win the NBA title for the first time."

"In this game, the Los Angeles Lakers team has the advantage even playing as a visitor, if the main players of the team Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Jake Smith play well the team Los Angeles Lakers will get the victory."

Just as the commentators said everyone thought the same, the Los Angeles Lakers team had the advantage in that game and could get their third win in a row if they performed well.

Coach Harris was also looking for victory and finally put Robert Horry on the main team, so the Los Angeles Lakers team had Derek Fisher as PG, Kobe Bryant as SG, Jake Smith as SF, Robert Horry as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.

The San Antonio Spurs team had as initial players Avery Johnson playing as PG, Mario Elie playing as SG, Sean Elliott playing as SF, Tim Duncan playing as PF, and David Robinson playing as Center.

Certainly, the San Antonio Spurs team had a stronger team defensively and if they can stop the attack from the Los Angeles Lakers team they may be able to win that game, and Jake had to help in the attack so that it didn't happen.

The game started with the Sun Antonio Spurs team getting the first ball possession, so Johnson started to move forward to organize the first move for the San Antonio Spurs team.

Johnson came forward and passed the ball to Elliott on the right, Jake already arrived to press in defense and Elliott tried to do the feint and when he saw that he could not deceive Jake passed ahead to Robinson.

O'Neal was pressing in defense against Robinson and Robinson was unable to make the move and passed the ball to Tim Duncan, Duncan received the ball and Horry was well defending against him, but Duncan tried a hook and scored the first 2 points of the game for the San Antonio Spurs team.

The crowd at the Alamodome was excited about the first points in Duncan's game, the Los Angeles Lakers team players were already waiting for this and Fisher started to move forward, Fisher passed the ball to Jake on the left.

Jake received the ball and managed to get rid of Elliott and advanced to the inside area when other players of the San Antonio Spurs team tried to defend against Jake he passed the ball to O'Neal later on, O'Neal received the ball and made the layup to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team and tie the game.

From the beginning of the game Jake has already shown that he would go more into the attack, he wanted to attract the attention of the defense to him so that Bryant and O'Neal would have more freedom to make the plays, only attacking that his team would be able to win against the team defensive of the San Antonio Spurs.

In another play the San Antonio Spurs team went on the attack and Johnson passed the ball to Elliott on the right, Jake was pressing on the defense again and Elliott passed to Duncan on the left.

Duncan received the ball and Horry was also pushing in defense, O'Neal was defending against Robinson, but if Duncan tried to layup again he would try the block, Duncan knew he couldn't be the only one on the team to attack and made the pass to Mario Elie.

Elie received the ball and tried the mid-range shot to hit and score 2 points for the San Antonio Spurs team, the San Antonio Spurs team realized that this Lakers team was much more defensive than in other games and it would be difficult for them to attack too.

In another attack by the Los Angeles Lakers, the ball landed in the hands of Kobe Bryant, Bryant passed it to Horry who received the pass and Duncan pressed the defense, Horry passed it to Jake on the left who analyzed the move and passed it to Bryant who was free now.

Bryant received the ball and attempted the mid-range shot and hit it with 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the sports media already said that Jake was doing a lot more assists than Derek Fisher even playing as SF.

It wasn't because Jake wanted to show that he was better than Fisher, but Jake knew how to take advantage of opportunities to make assists at a time when his teammates could already attempt the shot to score.

Fisher did not have this vision of making the assists at the right time and when he made the assists, the Lakers players scored the same points, Fisher knew that and was not irritated that Jake had more assists than he.

The San Antonio Spurs team went for another attack and after a good move Duncan passed to Elliott, Jake was close to Elliott who attempted the mid-range shot and scored 2 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team.

It was close to the end of the first quarter and Elliott did not risk many plays with Jake defending against him, so Jake had only managed one steal in that game, but with this pressure from the Lakers team players, Jake had already caught 3 rebounds in that first quarter.

The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a small advantage, the defenses of the two teams got in the way, but the Lakers team had the advantage in rebounds and making less of an attack.

In that first quarter, Jake played for 12 minutes and made 6 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal, it was a good game for Jake who was trying to leave the Lakers team with the advantage in the game and did not focus on making many points.

"What a good game we have been following so far, we have the Los Angeles Lakers team that has one of the best attacks this season against the San Antonio Spurs team that has one of the best defenses."

"For the time being, the two teams don't seem to try their hardest to win, the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack was not as strong and the defense surprised, even though they still have the advantage in the game."

"The attack by the San Antonio team is not very strong and besides Tim Duncan, the other players seem to be having a hard time attacking, we will follow in the second quarter if the two teams try harder to achieve victory."

Commentators said the two teams did not seem to want the victory, but the truth was that the teams were choosing the best path to attack, the Lakers team was not trying to attack with Horry and Fisher and the San Antonio Spurs team was trying more to attack with Duncan.

The Los Angeles Lakers team had to put more pressure on the defense to make the opposing team's players miss the attacks so that they could get the rebounds to attack and the San Antonio Spurs team had to try the same.

But with Jake in the Lakers team, they had more of an advantage for making less of an attack and could also get more rebounds with him, in one play the San Antonio Spurs attempted the attacking play and Avery Johnson passed the ball to Sean Elliott on the right.

Elliott caught the ball and Jake soon pressed in defense, Elliott tried to get away and managed, Mario Elis moved and Elliott tried the pass to Elis, but Jake was attentive in the play and managed to intercept the pass getting the steal and ran for the attack.

Elliott who missed the pass and Johnson were further behind and went back to defense when Jake got the steal, Jake was quick and soon passed Elliott, so only Johnson was within the three-point line to try to defend against Jake.

Jake continued to advance with speed and made his characteristic move at the university, he took a step to the right and made the body move that would go to the right to deceive the opponent, then Jake did the spin and ended the move with a dunk.

That move was LeBron James' unstoppable Spin Move, even fans of the San Antonio Spurs team had to applaud Jake's beautiful play and dunk, Jake's teammates also praised him as they went back to defense.

Jake was fine in that game and after two games he was already drawing more attention from the opposing team's defense and giving Bryant and O'Neal more space to play and score points, the San Antonio Spurs team still wanted victory and went on the attack again.

Elliott was more attentive to making the moves so Jake would not make another steal, but that puts even more pressure on him to make the moves correctly, after a while of the game the plays were all with Duncan and Robinson.

Elliott passed the ball to Johnson further back, Johnson received the ball and attempted the mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team, Avery Johnson was also able to make some attacks because Fisher was unable to defend well against him.

The Los Angeles Lakers team attacked again and Fisher passed the ball to Jake on the left, Jake received the ball and held it just before passing it to Bryant on the right, Kobe Bryant tried a feint and seeing that Elis had not been tricked he passed it on to Jake again from the left.

Jake tried another speed shot and this time Elliott followed, so Jake did a crossover and a step back, and Elliott who was trying to follow Jake's movements ended up falling to the ground, Jake tried an outside shot to make 3 more points for the team Los Angeles Lakers.

The players of the Los Angeles Lakers team again praised Jake for this beautiful move, they couldn't imagine how Jake was not an SF after playing as well as other great NBA players.

The second quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team with the lead on the scoreboard, a good game from Jake, Bryant, and O'Neal who was making the game more difficult for the San Antonio Spurs' defense.

In that second quarter of the game Jake played for 12 minutes and made 9 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, Jake was getting a lot more passes from his teammates and so he could make a lot more plays helping the team to win more easily.

"What a beautiful game we have followed up until that break, the Los Angeles Lakers team is winning the game so far and the Lakers players are clearly better than the San Antonio Spurs players."

"That's right, we can see that the players of the San Antonio Spurs team are having a difficult time playing in attack and defense, Tim Duncan, Avery Johnson, and David Robinson are managing to play well even with the strong defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team."

"But Mario Elis and Sean Elliott are having a hard time making the attack and defense plays with Kobe Bryant and Jake Smith playing so well, and the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack has been better in that game too."

"Jake Smith is making another great game with 15 points until the break of that game, he made two beautiful attacking plays and one of those plays came with a steal he made, Jake has an average in the two games he played this season of 5 steals per game."

"Yes, if he continues like that he can break the record on average steals per game in one season in the NBA, and it has helped the Los Angeles Lakers team this season a lot."

In the third quarter the San Antonio Spurs team wanted the victory so the players started to put more pressure on the attack and defense, Coach Harris also wanted the victory and asked that the team also put more pressure on defense and attack.

In an attack move by the San Antonio Spurs Johnson team came with the ball and passed it to Elis, Elis quickly passed the ball to Duncan who moved away from Robert Horry who was defending very well against Duncan in that game.

Duncan tried the mid-range shot to score 2 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team, even though Horry played well in defense and O'Neal tried to help in defense it was difficult to stop Duncan's attack.

In this game, because David Robinson was being well defended by Shaquille O'Neal, it was Tim Duncan who had to work harder in the attack to score the points or try to get the rebounds over O'Neal, Bryant, and Jake from the Lakers team.

The Los Angeles Lakers team quickly reacted and Kobe Bryant made one for the individual play and tried the mid-range shot and ended up missing, Shaquille O'Neal caught the rebound and saw that he was pressured by the defense of the opposing players and passed the ball to Jake through left.

Jake received the ball and the defense concentrated on him, so he made a high pass for Shaquille O'Neal to take the high and make the dunk by completing the alley-oop and making 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

O'Neal praised Jake again for the pass and they soon went back to defense, Jake made a lot of assists for O'Neal and Bryant and everyone knew that was his style of play, so Fisher didn't mind not being the player who he was making assists because he knew he would soon be no longer a starting player for the Lakers team.

Coach Harris also knew he could leave the team and wanted to win several games before he had to leave the team, after all, he could coach other teams after leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.

The San Antonio Spurs team went for another attacking move and after a beautiful move Johnson received the ball further back, Jake was pressing in defense against Elliott, Steve Kerr had taken over from Mario Elis.

Kerr entered the game much better than Elis and Bryant were having difficulty defending against him, Johnson passed the ball to Kerr from the left, Kerr received the ball and tried the shot from outside and scored with 3 more points for the San Antonio Spurs team.

In another move by the Los Angeles Lakers Fisher team, he came with the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant, Steve Kerr was defending against Bryant and O'Neal was resting on the reserve bench, so there was another player pressing in defense against Bryant.

Bryant passed the ball to Jake who was on the left and already advanced to the inside area, Jake received the ball and this time he had two players defending against him, Jake made a bounce pass with the ball hitting the ground before reaching Kobe's hands Bryant in the inner area and he dunks to make 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.

Bryant did not expect to receive a pass with the ball hitting the ground when Jake did not have a clear vision to make the assist, but that was better because the opponents did not wait for this move either.

The third quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning and Jake again being one of the best players in the game, in that third quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and made 9 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals.

"What a great third quarter for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the players on both teams had to rest for a few minutes and Jake Smith didn't leave the court in that game again and played the 36 minutes so far."

"In this game, Jake Smith has received more passes from his teammates and has made more good plays and it seems that he forgot that he is playing at the Alamodome which is home to the San Antonio Spurs team."

"That's right, I rarely saw a rookie playing so well in the first games of a debut season, and even more playing improvised like SF and on a team that has stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant."

"The San Antonio Spurs team is also doing a good game, Tim Duncan is playing as well as ever and the other players are also working hard, but the Los Angeles Lakers team looks stronger in that game."

In the last quarter of that game, the two teams decreased the intensity of the game even though they were still trying to win the game, this was because the Los Angeles Lakers team had a big advantage on the scoreboard and all players would have another game after two days.

Jake continued to play well and so the Los Angeles Lakers team won the game with 95 points against 69 points for the San Antonio Spurs team, Jake played for 12 minutes in that last quarter and made 7 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Jake got another triple-double in that game and left all his teammates and the sports media surprised by his performance, with the first three games of this season being great and making a triple-double in two of them it was impossible not to recognize Jake Smith's talent.

"And so the game ends with another victory for the Los Angeles Lakers team, the first of them playing as a visitor and the third this season, in a shorter season like this a sequence of 3 victories is very important for any team."

"Jake Smith was once again the name of that game, he made another triple-double with 31 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds, this season Jake Smith has averaged a triple-double after that game."

"This is certainly incredible for any NBA player and Jake Smith is a rookie and plays on a team with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, many other rookies have been performing very well this NBA season, but Jake has been showing performance from another level."

"The San Antonio Spurs team played well in the game today, but against the strong attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team they could not defend well, and being able to defend the San Antonio Spurs team did not win."

"In addition to Jake Smith, Tim Duncan performed well for the San Antonio Spurs team, and alongside the Los Angeles Lakers team Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant played in that game too."

"That's right, Smith gets the assists more easily because he can pass the ball to Bryant and O'Neal, the three together had 80 points and 34 rebounds, which shows how important the three players are to the Los Angeles Lakers."

"We will continue to follow the games of the Los Angeles Lakers team to see if they can win this season's NBA title with this strong team."

After this excellent game by Jake, the media started talking a lot about him, after all, Jake had an excellent debut in the NBA and his first games could make him the MVP of the season if he continued with these good averages in all games.

Jake talked to all his teammates and was always very humble, so team stars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were not bothered by Jake having more media attention than they were.

Coach Harris also had no doubts and would put Jake to play as PG in the next game, after all, he was not so happy with the performance of Derek Fisher in the last games, for him Fisher was the player who helped less in the victories.

Coach Harris liked how Rick Fox played and Fox was a player who helped in defense and had the quality to score more than 9 points per game, as the team didn't have a lot of SF to put, it would be better to let Rick Fox play and Jake playing as PG he played better.

Players would travel to Denver, Colorado to play the next game, the Los Angeles Lakers team would have a day of rest and training before the next game, and players needed that day of rest with the intensity of the games.

Arriving in Denver the players went to rest at the hotel and Jake, who was not so tired, called his mother to talk, Jake talked to his mother every day after the games.

After all, Eva wasn't always able to watch the game in Miami and so Jake called her to tell her about the game and also to talk to his mother, after all, even though he was so busy, Jake still worried a lot about Eva.

"Hi, mom, how are you today?"

"Is everything okay here, Jake, and how was your game?"

"It was great, we won that game and I did a triple-double, in the next game Coach Harris will put me to play in my PG position and if I continue playing well I can guarantee my place in the starting team."

"I'm glad to hear that, Jake, I know that your dream since the age of 10 has always been to play in the NBA, and now you are making that dream come true even though you don't need that money anymore."