New Mission

In China, it's not just short video creators like Xiao Ke.

Many freelance basketball commentators are also starting to comment on Wang Yi's performance today.

The most typical example is Xu Jingyu from Yushuo Sports.

Xu Jingyu is not good-looking and speaks with a Northeastern accent.

This has attracted a lot of attention, and he even has occasional video calls with the Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room.

At this moment, Xu Jingyu looked at his phone and said:

"Some netizens are asking if Wang Yi can make it. Whether he can make it depends on his consistency."

"Looking at the two games you've played so far, he's a bit like Linsanity back in the day. What was Linsanity like? At first, he only played in garbage time. Then, suddenly, he exploded overnight."

"But why didn't it work out later? When you start to explode, your opponents will definitely study and strategize against you."

"His own physical talent is limited, and his strength is not that formidable. So when opponents start targeting him, he gradually becomes unable to continue his insane performance."

"Wang Yi is very similar to him. He exploded through these two games. And based on Wang Yi's current performance, his physical talent is average, and his strength is not top-tier."

"However, one point is that he doesn't hold the ball. Look at his playstyle, he's a typical 3D Player. What does the Lakers need most right now? 3D Players. So it's no problem for Wang Yi to get a guaranteed contract with the Lakers and have enough playing time."

"But if you want him to play at a star level, it's still very difficult at the moment. Unless, unless he can deliver a long-term, stable, super-god-like 3D performance like Klay Thompson."

"But is that possible? I think it's very doubtful."

And just two hours after this video was released, it had tens of thousands of comments.

Most of them said Wang Yi was awesome.

There were also haters.

However, due to Wang Yi's performance in this game, the haters were clearly much fewer than before.

Wang Yi was completely unaware of all this.

The next morning at 5:30, he was already awake.

After the game last night and the press conference, it was already midnight.

He couldn't wake up at 4 AM like last time.

As soon as he woke up, the system in his mind began to issue tasks:

[Please select training task]

[Training Task 1: Make 10,000 three-pointers.]

[Task Reward: Three-point shooting percentage increased to 50%]

[Training Task 2: Perform 1,000 left and right slides.]

[Task Reward: Lateral movement speed increased by 20%]

When Wang Yi saw these two tasks, his first reaction was naturally to choose Task 1.

A 50% three-point shooting percentage, how terrifying would that be.

To know that the career three-point shooting percentage of the top shooter in history, Steve Kerr, was only a little over 45%.

If he could reach a 50% three-point shooting percentage, it would be absolutely incredible.

However, upon seeing the 10,000 three-pointers, Wang Yi frowned.

Although shooting three-pointers with his left hand would have less impact on his right wrist, it wasn't zero.

Shooting 10,000 three-pointers might worsen the injury in his right wrist.

Instead of that, it would be better to practice left and right slides.

His talent was average, and his lateral movement speed was only at the mid-tier level.

If this speed were increased by 20%, it would be the top level in the league.

Then, the quality of his defense could be improved by a large margin!

It seemed the system was determined to mold him into a 3D Player.

It made sense, as the most effective ways to make it in a short period were defense and three-pointers.

Thinking of this, Wang Yi said in his mind:

"Claim the second task."

The system's mechanical and cold voice came:

[Task claimed successfully.]

After claiming the task, Wang Yi could no longer hold back and headed to the training facility.

Still a half-hour slow jog, UCLA Rehabilitation Training Center.

Although the security guard was woken up by him, he didn't complain at all.

Instead, he was very enthusiastic:

"Wang, so early! I saw your game-winner last night, you were so cool. When can you give me an autograph?"

The security guard was also a loyal Lakers fan.

He had spent most of his life working at the Lakers' arena and training facility.

Wang Yi said, "Anytime."

The guard nodded, "That's great! I'll come find you later. Speaking of which, you're really diligent. I've only ever seen one person as diligent as you, do you know who it is?"

"Kobe Bryant."

Wang Yi answered without hesitation.

In the NBA, Kobe was famously diligent.

The guard nodded and laughed heartily, "That's right! Keep it up, brother. I hope to see a second Black Mamba in the near future."

Wang Yi just smiled and didn't say anything.

Becoming the second Black Mamba would undoubtedly be an honor.

But he didn't want to be the second anyone; he just wanted to be the first Wang Yi!

His own unique self!

Entering the training facility, he took off his jacket.

Wang Yi got into position.

He started to shuffle left.

He shuffled five steps quickly to the left, then quickly shuffled five steps back to the right.

A countdown immediately appeared in his mind.

[Task Completion: 1/1000] [Time Remaining: 2 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds]

It seemed the system had given him 3 hours to complete this task.

Three hours to complete around 1000 shuffles shouldn't be a problem for a professional athlete.

But soon Wang Yi discovered something was wrong.

When his shuffle speed slowed down slightly, the system wouldn't increase his completion count.

Every shuffle had to be done with full effort, without a hint of slack.

This made the task much more difficult.

Imagine shuffling left and right with full effort every single time; the physical toll would be immense.

After shuffling left and right 50 times in a row, Wang Yi was already starting to pant.

But he didn't dare slack off one bit.

He continued shuffling left and right another 50 times in a row.

His legs were already starting to feel a little weak.

His knees felt sore, and his ankles felt stiff.

This high-intensity lateral shuffling put immense pressure on his ankles and knees.

He stopped temporarily, took a few deep breaths, rested for two minutes, and then continued shuffling.

In one hour, he had completed about 600 shuffles.

It looked like completing the task wouldn't be an issue.

But Wang Yi knew the real test was just beginning.

His stamina decreased, and the rate of his shuffles slowed down.

The rest time between each set also grew longer.

After two hours, he had completed about 900 slides.

He collapsed onto a nearby chair, gasping for air.

"Hoo—hoo—"

His chest heaved violently, like bellows.

His entire body was already soaked in sweat.

He felt like he was almost completely drained.

The tasks given by this system always tortured him to the brink of death.

At this moment.

Swish—

The gym door opened.

Two figures walked out quickly.

It was James and the security guard.

Seeing how exhausted Wang Yi was, James said:

"Wang, you should work hard in training, but don't push yourself too hard. You still need to get eight hours of sleep every day."

Wang Yi weakly replied, "Mm."

The security guard held two bottles of water and a hamburger.

He said to Wang Yi, "Wang, you haven't eaten breakfast yet, have you? I prepared this for you."

Wang Yi didn't stand on ceremony this time, nodding, "Thanks."

He was so tired he barely had the strength to reach out and take them.

The guard placed the water and hamburger on a nearby chair.

Wang Yi rested for about ten minutes.

Then he ate the hamburger in big bites and drank half a bottle of water.

He rested for another five minutes.

Checking the time, he saw there were 42 minutes and 12 seconds left.

He didn't dare to rest any longer.

He got up and continued practicing his slide step.

Seeing this, James asked:

"Wang, not practicing three-pointers today?"

Wang Yi didn't even have time to answer, just shaking his head and then nodding.

He wasn't practicing now, but he would later in the afternoon.

The guard pointed at Wang Yi and said to James, "LeBron, he's even more hardworking than you."

James put on a look of shame.

He said jokingly, "It's time to work hard. If I don't work harder, these young guys will be riding all over me."

With that, he also began to warm up.