Only Wang Yi and James were in the arena.
James was practicing free throws—a challenge that had dogged him throughout his career.
He had never managed to solve it.
So whenever he had free time, he practiced free throws.
Wang Yi, meanwhile, kept huffing and puffing as he worked on his lateral movement.
Whenever James spotted a flaw in Wang Yi's movement, he would point it out.
"Wang, spread your arms and keep your eyes forward!"
"Wang, lower your center of gravity a little more when you slide, and spread your legs a little farther apart. That'll give you more defensive coverage."
Wang Yi took every bit of advice to heart.
By then, team manager Pelinka had arrived too.
He didn't say a word. He just stood with his arms crossed, quietly watching Wang Yi train.
His gaze was deep and unreadable.
No one knew what he was thinking.
Half an hour later, Wang Yi completed another set of lateral slides.
A prompt sounded in his mind:
[Task progress: 1000/1000]
[Task complete!]
[Task reward: Lateral speed increased by 20%]
At the prompt, the tension in Wang Yi's body finally released.
Suddenly, he felt completely drained, as if he'd been emptied of all strength.
He collapsed onto the court.
"Haah—haah—haah—"
His chest heaved.
Once again, he was so exhausted he couldn't even be bothered to move a finger.
He didn't even want to lift his eyelids.
James glanced at Wang Yi but didn't disturb his rest.
Pelinka, standing at the side of the court, didn't disturb him either.
Wang Yi lay on the floor for more than ten minutes before finally sitting up.
As he shuffled toward a chair by the sidelines, his legs felt like they no longer belonged to him.
He walked with a strange, awkward gait.
James saw him and joked:
"Oh, my God, Wang, have you ever seen Donald Duck? Was he based on the way you walk?"
Wang Yi gave a wry smile. "I bet even the original Donald Duck would feel ashamed of himself if he saw me."
He made it to the bench and rested for another half hour.
Only then did Pelinka speak.
"Wang, I'd like to discuss something with you. Come with me, please."
Wang Yi had already guessed what it was about.
He got to his feet at once.
But as soon as he stood, he realized his legs could barely carry him.
He held on to the chair and moved them around for a while before he could manage to walk.
He followed Pelinka to the general manager's office.
Pelinka pointed to the sofa. "Sit."
As he spoke, he poured Wang Yi a glass of water.
Then he began.
Generally speaking, general managers were shrewd people.
They said whatever suited whoever they were talking to.
Pelinka, however, was different.
He preferred to get straight to the point.
Once Wang Yi had finished his water, Pelinka spoke bluntly.
"Wang, I'm not going to give you a guaranteed contract just yet."
Wang Yi was a little surprised.
After playing this well, Pelinka still wasn't going to give him a guaranteed contract?
And the 3-and-D qualities he'd shown in his last two games were exactly what the Lakers needed.
By rights, Pelinka should have offered him a guaranteed deal.
Wang Yi said nothing, waiting for Pelinka to explain.
"Your performance has earned the team's approval. You've done enough to warrant a guaranteed contract worth a little over two million dollars. But I think you're capable of more."
"So I'm not going to offer you that two-million-dollar guaranteed deal just yet."
"With our current cap space, we can offer more than five million dollars. But for that kind of money, you'd need to perform accordingly. So I want to see you play a few more games. If you deliver the performance we're expecting before your 10-day contract expires, I'll give you that guaranteed deal worth over five million."
Wang Yi relaxed.
So that was what Pelinka meant.
He wasn't rushing into a guaranteed contract because he wanted to watch him play a few more games.
He wanted to see whether Wang Yi could earn a higher salary of five million dollars.
Wang Yi nodded. "I understand."
Pelinka continued:
"Of course, even if you don't end up earning the five-million-dollar guaranteed contract, I'll still give you a guaranteed deal. It'll just be the two-million-dollar one. Last night's go-ahead shot alone was worth that much."
Wang Yi smiled. "Thanks."
To be honest, Pelinka seemed like a pretty decent guy.
By ten o'clock, the other players had started arriving.
They spent the morning on some basic tactical drills.
This time, Wang Yi joined in too.
At noon, Wang Yi went out to eat with the other players.
When he came back, the security guard was holding a Lakers jersey and a marker.
Wang Yi smiled and signed it for him.
The guard looked delighted. "Wang, keep working hard. Once you become a superstar, I'll put this jersey up for sale online. It'll fetch a good price."
Wang Yi was speechless.
The guard burst out laughing.
"I'm kidding. Why would I ever sell a Lakers jersey?"
A little over twenty minutes later, the other players returned too.
They were waiting for Coach Vogel to come back and organize the afternoon's practice.
But even after another ten minutes, Vogel still hadn't returned.
The players began murmuring among themselves.
"Why hasn't the coach come back yet?"
"Maybe something he ate upset his stomach?"
"I just saw his wife come in. Maybe they're in the middle of..."
The players all grinned mischievously.
But Wang Yi felt a little uneasy.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Schroder staring right at him.
Schroder, nicknamed "the Little Black."
He had been the team's starting point guard.
He'd been injured recently and had only just returned.
He made no effort to hide it. He was glaring fixedly at Wang Yi.
Wang Yi frowned slightly.
It didn't take much thought to figure out what was bothering him.
The team had too many backcourt players now.
If one player stood out, it would inevitably cut into someone else's playing time.
Wang Yi's strong performances might affect Schroder's minutes.
With his arrogant personality, it was only natural that he'd take a dislike to Wang Yi.
If the team didn't have a natural leader like James keeping him in check, he would probably have already started targeting Wang Yi at every turn.
Once he'd figured that out, Wang Yi simply smiled.
He didn't bother paying Schroder any more attention.
His goal was the championship.
He wanted to become a star, an All-Star, a superstar, and even a legendary superstar.
A guy like Schroder didn't rate.
Just then, Head Coach Vogel finally returned.
He didn't look too happy.
He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
Then he said:
"AD just had an MRI. The results show a Grade 1 groin strain. He could be out for one to two weeks."
Everyone's expressions grew serious.
AD was the team's leading scorer. Losing him for an extended stretch would be a serious blow.
The team was currently seventh in the West, with the Grizzlies hot on their heels.
The Trail Blazers were in sixth, three and a half games ahead.
If the Lakers' record slipped while AD was out,
they might end up having to play in the Play-in Tournament.
That would be bad news for the Lakers.
Wang Yi, however, clenched his fists in silence.
No one wanted Thick Eyebrows to get injured.
But objectively speaking, this was his chance!
Before you continue