Ball Dad had always been fond of running his mouth, and now that his son had pulled a stunt like that on the court in front of the League's Number One, Ball Dad was naturally even more pleased with himself and full of bluster.
Just then, the Hornets' head coach called a timeout. As LaMelo came off the court, he turned to him and said sternly:
"Whatareyoufuckingdoing?!"
LaMelo looked completely unconcerned. "Doing what I'm supposed to do."
The coach's anger only grew at that.
LaMelo was probably the most socially adept player on the team, but even with all that tact, he sometimes did things and said things that no one saw coming.
The impression he gave was that he was a normal person most of the time, but every now and then, he'd suddenly lose it.
Head coach Clifford pointed at LaMelo and snapped, "Do you realize this is going to provoke Wang Yi?"
"So what if it does?"
LaMelo shot back.
"No one can handle the consequences of provoking Wang Yi!"
The coach was beside himself with anger.
LaMelo seemed to lose his temper too. He challenged the coach, "Coach, do you really think we can beat Wang Yi without provoking him?"
Head coach Clifford froze.
The other players did too.
LaMelo looked around, then turned to the head coach and Wemby.
"It's better to die standing than live kneeling. We've been so careful around Wang Yi, afraid to provoke him, and we've still lost two straight. We might as well let loose and go all out! Show our true selves and play with some real fire. Even if we lose, we can't lose like a bunch of cowards!"
LaMelo's words left the other players feeling ashamed.
Head coach Clifford was torn.
Wemby, who had been silenced by