Hachimura Rui's Temper

Time: 8:48 AM.

UCLA Training Center Arena.

Wang Yi completed his final jump block training.

A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind:

[Mission Complete!]

[Mission Reward: Block Chance +20%]

"Hoo—"

Wang Yi collapsed onto the floor again.

His chest heaved violently, like a bellows.

He was so tired he didn't even want to blink.

He was just too tired, so tired.

However, thinking of the 20% block chance, a smile appeared on his face.

20% block chance seemed low.

But if you thought about it realistically, if a player shoots 10 times in front of you, could you block two of them?

Offensive players feint, juke, step back, and fade away.

So blocking even one out of ten shots would be good.

NBA players' stats usually show only two or three blocks per game.

Therefore, a 20% block chance was actually very high.

Coupled with Wang Yi's understanding of each player's technical characteristics and habits, he could increase this chance further, reaching a 30% block chance without any problem.

If an opponent shot 10 times in front of him, he could block 3 of them.

That would already be monstrous.

12:00 PM, after lunch.

The players began boarding the plane to fly to Washington.

On the plane, a small portion of the players didn't interact much with Wang Yi.

They already had prejudices against Wang Yi because he was an Easterner.

Now that Wang Yi had said those things, their preconceived notions about him grew even stronger.

Wang Yi didn't care about this.

Hadn't he endured enough cold shoulders in the past two years?

Since that was the case, he would start by convincing the entire NBA by convincing the teammates around him.

Wang Yi clenched his fist secretly.

During the flight, James was listening to music, while other teammates were playing video games, reading newspapers, or reading books.

Wang Yi, however, held his laptop and studied game footage of the Wizards' recent matches.

Fans only saw the players' performance on the court.

But in reality, becoming an excellent player required doing far more than what fans saw.

Although Wang Yi was familiar with the technical characteristics of every player, he still had to watch opponent footage before a game.

He needed to understand if an opponent had developed new techniques recently or if their team had new tactical plays.

At 6:30 PM, the team arrived and checked into a hotel near the Washington arena.

After nearly six hours of flying and another half hour by car, The players were all tired.

So the coach did not schedule any training.

The players were free to do as they pleased.

The Wizards' home court was called the Verizon Center Arena.

This arena was located within the Chinatown commercial district.

Since coming to the NBA, Wang Yi had been training constantly and had barely visited Chinatown.

This time, he had the opportunity and could go out for a stroll.

Most importantly, in Chinatown, he could hear familiar accents.

Far from home, he usually heard English.

As soon as he entered Chinatown and heard a few sentences in Mandarin, Wang Yi felt a sense of closeness.

Within Chinatown, some Chinese fans also recognized Wang Yi.

They came over one after another to take photos with Wang Yi.

It seemed they didn't dislike Wang Yi as much as domestic fans did.

One could imagine that since they were all striving in a foreign land, they cherished the bonds between compatriots even more.

Wang Yi browsed Chinatown for over an hour and bought two Tang suits.

Wearing a Tang suit made him feel closer to his homeland and his family.

The next afternoon, two hours before the game was scheduled to start.

Both teams participated in the pre-game press conference.

At the conference, a reporter asked Westbrook a question:

"That Easterner from the Lakers said he's here to conquer the NBA. What do you think?"

Westbrook scratched his head and said:

"He said what I once wanted to say but didn't dare to. I'll wait and see."

All the reporters present were stunned.

They hadn't expected Westbrook's attitude to be supportive of that Easterner.

The reporter's thoughts raced.

Finally, he thought of Hachimura Rui.

His eyes lit up instantly.

He posed the second question:

"Mr. Hachimura, what do you think of those words from that Easterner?"

Hachimura Rui burst out laughing and said:

"Arrogant, conceited, and disrespectful! I will teach him a lesson on behalf of the NBA seniors. I will teach him how to respect his elders and fans."

These words not only belittled Wang Yi but also placed himself on a moral high ground.

One had to admit, his speaking skills were indeed high.

The reporter then dug another pit:

"When you say you'll teach him a lesson, do you mean dominating him on the court?"

Westbrook glanced at Hachimura Rui.

It was a reminder that this was a trap.

Hachimura Rui knew it was a trap, but he didn't care.

He lifted his head and looked at all the reporters.

"Yes, I will dominate him. And I will dominate him on both offense and defense! So he can learn his lesson and respect his elders."

As soon as he said this, the reporters present became excited.

"Mr. Hachimura, can you elaborate on how you will dominate him on both offense and defense?"

"Mr. Hachimura, his words have already caused public outrage. We will all be grateful if you can teach him a lesson."

"Mr. Hachimura, we are looking forward to you teaching him a lesson..."

In the away team's locker room, the Lakers players and coaches, watching this scene, subconsciously turned to look at Wang Yi.

They saw Wang Yi still holding a tablet, studying game footage of the Wizards.

He seemed not to have heard any of it.

In reality, he had heard it all. He just didn't show it.

But in his heart, he had already made up his mind.

Tonight, they would see who dominated whom.

To protect Wang Yi, the coach had not let him participate in the pre-game press conference.

Soon, it was time for the pre-game warm-up.

As James walked towards the player tunnel, he said to Wang Yi:

"Brother, are you ready?"

Wang Yi nodded heavily.

In the player tunnel, looking at the huge arena that could hold over 22,000 spectators, he said to himself:

Conquering the NBA starts from this arena!

During his warm-up, Wang Yi looked up at the stands.

He saw a section of fans holding up several signs.

Handwritten words were on them:

Go Wang Yi!

Support Brother Yi!

These few fans were all Chinese-Americans.

This made Wang Yi's heart feel a little warm.

However, these kinds of fans were only a tiny minority.

More fans were waiting to see Wang Yi make a fool of himself tonight.

Soon, warm-ups finished and the game began.

Wang Yi still wasn't starting.

Meanwhile, on the Wizards' side, Hachimura Rui was already starting.

As he walked past Wang Yi after checking in, provocation was evident in his gaze.

Battle intent also appeared in Wang Yi's eyes.

Five minutes into the game, the Lakers' inside players were scoring frequently.

On the Wizards' side, although their three-point shooting was cold.

Hachimura Rui's shooting touch was good.

He consecutively hit two mid-range jumpers, plus a dunk.

With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 27-26.

The Lakers led by 1 point.

At this moment, Coach Vogel subbed out James.

He said to Wang Yi, "Wang, get in there."

Wang Yi glanced at the score and felt quite pleased.

This was the first time the Lakers were leading their opponent when he was on the court.