The time was 8:48 a.m.
The UCLA training center gym.
Wang Yi completed his final jumping and shot-blocking drill.
A cold, mechanical prompt sounded in his mind:
[Mission complete!] [Mission reward: 20% block chance]
"Phew—"
Wang Yi collapsed to the floor once again.
His chest heaved like a bellows.
He was so exhausted he didn't even want to blink.
He was utterly exhausted.
Still, when he thought of that 20% block chance, a faint smile appeared on his face.
A 20% block chance seemed low.
But consider it in practice: if a player took ten shots in front of you, could you block two of them?
Offensive players could fake, shift, step back, or lean away as they shot.
So if you could block even one of ten shots, that was already pretty good.
NBA players usually averaged only two or three blocks per game, sometimes four.
So a 20% block chance was actually quite high.
And with Wang Yi's knowledge of every player's skills and playing habits, he could raise that probability even further. Reaching a 30% block chance would be no problem.
If his opponent took ten shots in front of him, he could block three.
That was already outrageous.
At noon, after lunch,
the players began boarding the plane for Washington.
A few of the players barely spoke to Wang Yi on the flight.
They had already been biased against him because he was from the East.
Now that Wang Yi had said those things, they disliked him even more.
Wang Yi didn't care.
How many cold shoulders hadn't he already endured over the past two years?
Fine, then. If he wanted to make the entire NBA submit, he would start by making his own teammates submit.
Wang Yi clenched his fist quietly.
During the flight, James listened to music. The other teammates played video games, read newspapers, or read books.
Wang Yi, meanwhile, held his laptop and studied recent game footage of the Wizards.
Fans saw only what players did on the court.
But in reality, becoming a great player took far more than what fans could see.
Wang Yi knew every player's skills, but he still had to watch his opponents' footage before a game.
He needed to find out whether any opponent had recently added a new move, or whether their team had developed a new strategy.
At 6:30 p.m., the team arrived and checked into a hotel near the Washington arena.
They had spent nearly six hours on the plane, then another half hour in the car.
The players were all exhausted.
So the coach didn't schedule a practice.
The players were free to do as they pleased.
The Wizards' home court was called the Verizon Center Arena.
It was located in the Chinatown commercial district.
Ever since Wang Yi had joined the NBA, he had spent nearly all his time training and had hardly visited Chinatown.
Now that he had the chance, he could finally take a look around.
More importantly, he could hear familiar voices in Chinatown.
Far from home, he usually heard nothing but English.
As soon as he entered Chinatown and heard a few words of Mandarin, Wang Yi felt a rush of warmth.
Some Chinese-descendant fans in Chinatown recognized Wang Yi, too.
They came over one after another to take pictures with him.
They didn't seem to dislike Wang Yi the way fans back home did.
Perhaps, as people making their way in a foreign country themselves, they cherished the bond between their compatriots more.
Wang Yi wandered around Chinatown for over an hour and bought two Tang suits.
Wearing one made him feel closer to his homeland and his family.
The next afternoon, two hours before tip-off,
the two teams attended the pregame press conference.
At the conference, a reporter asked Westbrook a question:
"That Eastern player on the Lakers said he was here to conquer the NBA. What do you think?"
Westbrook scratched his head and replied,
"He said what I once wanted to say but never dared to. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes."
All the reporters were taken aback.
They hadn't expected Westbrook to sound as though he supported that Eastern player.
The reporter's thoughts raced.
Then he thought of Hachimura Rui.
His eyes lit up.
He asked a second question:
"Mr. Hachimura, what do you think of that Eastern player's remarks?"
Hachimura Rui laughed loudly and said,
"Arrogant, conceited, and disrespectful! I'll teach him a lesson on behalf of the NBA veterans. I'll show him how to respect his elders and the fans."
With those words, he put Wang Yi down while placing himself on the moral high ground.
He certainly knew how to talk.
The reporter immediately set another trap:
"When you say you'll teach him a lesson, do you mean you'll beat him on the court?"
Westbrook glanced at Hachimura Rui.
He was warning him that it was a trap.
Hachimura Rui knew it was a trap, too, but he didn't care.
He lifted his chin and looked around at the reporters.
"Yes, I'll beat him. I'll beat him on both ends of the court! I'll teach him a lesson and make him respect his elders."
The moment he said that, the reporters became excited.
"Mr. Hachimura, can you tell us exactly how you'll beat him on both ends of the court?"
"Mr. Hachimura, his remarks have already outraged the public. We'd all be grateful if you taught him a lesson."
"Mr. Hachimura, we're looking forward to seeing you teach him a lesson..."
In the visiting team's locker room, the Lakers players and coaches watched the scene and instinctively turned to look at Wang Yi.
He was still holding his tablet and studying footage of the Wizards' games.
He seemed not to have heard any of it.
In fact, of course he had heard. He simply didn't show that it bothered him.
But he had already made up his mind.
Tonight, he'd see who beat whom.
To protect Wang Yi, the coach hadn't let him attend the pregame press conference.
Soon, it was time for pregame warmups.
As James walked toward the Player Tunnel, he said to Wang Yi,
"Ready, bro?"
Wang Yi nodded firmly.
In the Player Tunnel, he looked at the enormous arena, which could hold more than twenty-two thousand spectators, and said silently to himself:
My conquest of the NBA begins in this arena!
As Wang Yi warmed up, he looked toward the stands.
He saw a few fans holding signs.
They had written:
Wang Yi, go!
We support Brother Yi!
The fans holding the signs were all Chinese descendants.
Wang Yi felt a slight warmth in his heart.
Still, there were only a handful of fans like them.
Most of the crowd was waiting to see Wang Yi make a fool of himself tonight.
Soon, warmups ended and the game began.
Wang Yi still didn't get to start.
As for the Wizards, Hachimura Rui had already earned a starting spot.
As he passed Wang Yi on his way onto the court, his gaze was full of provocation.
Fighting Spirit rose in Wang Yi's eyes, too.
Five minutes into the game, the Lakers kept scoring inside.
The Wizards weren't shooting well from beyond the three-point line.
But Hachimura Rui had a good touch.
He sank two consecutive mid-range shots, then threw down a dunk.
With a little over two minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 27–26.
The Lakers led by one.
At that moment, Coach Vogel took James out.
"Wang, get in there."
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