Whenever Wang Yi saw Hachimura Rui with the ball, he went all out to block his shot.
He would even abandon the player he was guarding just to rush over and contest him.
Anyone else could score if they wanted. Hachimura Rui taking a shot? No way!
And when the Lakers were on offense, Wang Yi made a point of going after Hachimura Rui.
He always moved in front of Hachimura Rui before shooting.
I'm open, but I won't shoot.
I just want to shoot right in front of Hachimura Rui.
Well, I'm just having fun!
Under this relentless assault, Hachimura Rui broke down once again.
After that, every time Wang Yi got the ball, the Wizards' home crowd held their breath.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Wang Yi's shots seemed incapable of missing.
His opponents watched with their eyes wide.
So did his teammates.
The commentators watched with their eyes wide.
The fans in the arena watched with their eyes wide, too.
And every fan watching on a screen was just as wide-eyed.
Tencent NBA Live Broadcast Room.
The mood in the live chat shifted once again.
"Holy crap, does Brother Yi ever miss?"
"Since those two threes, he's gone 10 for 10. That's ridiculous!"
"Is he really about to take down the entire Wizards team by himself?"
"Have you noticed? Almost every shot he's taken lately has been right over Hachimura Rui. Love you, Brother Yi!"
"Brother Yi is the GOAT, 666! My baby!"
Wang Yi's outrageous performance seemed to have made the fans temporarily forget his earlier boast.
Duan Ran turned to Zhu Fangyu again, wearing a mischievous smile.
"President Zhu, what do you have to say now?"
Zhu Fangyu gave a wry smile.
"What can I say? When Wang Yi gets this hot, he kills anyone who stands in his way, even gods. The Wizards can't stop him at all."
As they spoke, Wang Yi got the ball again on screen.
"Here he goes again! Let's see if he can make this one too."
"Oh, my God!"
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
"That's just absurd. He took that shot with three Wizards players in front of him, including Hachimura Rui, and still made it. That's just absurd!"
The final buzzer sounded.
The score settled at 128–120.
The Lakers won!
And in the final five minutes, Wang Yi had gone 12 for 12.
He was 2 for 2 from three-point range and 10 for 10 on two-pointers.
He also made his one free throw.
In just five minutes, he had racked up 27 points.
He finished the game with 32 points and 10 blocks.
Another bizarre double-double.
He had truly taken down the Wizards all by himself.
When the final buzzer sounded, Hachimura Rui's head drooped helplessly.
He didn't shake hands or exchange embraces with any of the Lakers players.
He didn't acknowledge any of the fans by the sidelines, either.
Head down, he hurried toward the Player Tunnel.
After exchanging embraces with the Lakers coach, the Wizards' head coach quickly followed him into the Player Tunnel.
Hachimura Rui kept walking with his head down, silent.
The head coach's heart sank.
Losing a game wasn't the scary part.
The scary part was a player losing confidence.
And Hachimura Rui had lost his confidence.
It would probably take a long time for him to recover.
Or maybe—he would never recover in his life.
On the court, the Wizards players came over one by one to exchange greetings with the Lakers.
After embracing Wang Yi, Westbrook joked, "You're called..."
Wang Yi had been virtually unknown in the NBA until now.
It was only natural that Westbrook didn't know his name.
Wang Yi replied, "My name is..."
But before he could finish, Westbrook cut in.
"Wang. Wang Yi. I know."
Wang Yi was a little surprised.
But after thinking about it, he understood.
Westbrook had always been friendly toward China.
Even when he was with the Rockets and the Mo Gou controversy was going on,
he had attended press conferences several times wearing a Tang suit.
So it made sense that Westbrook would pay more attention to an Asian player.
Westbrook continued, "When you said you came here to conquer the NBA, did you mean it?"
Wang Yi nodded firmly. "I did!"
His answer was resolute, without the slightest hesitation.
Westbrook nodded.
"If you want to conquer the NBA, tonight's performance isn't enough. You have to play even more amazing, even greater games. You have to take down every Superstar in the NBA, one by one. Then you have to take down every legend, one by one. And finally, you have to win over all the fans. Along the way, you'll face all kinds of abuse and ridicule, and even malicious attacks. You need to be mentally prepared."
Wang Yi nodded. "Thank you. I will."
Westbrook gave Wang Yi another hearty pat on the back, then said goodbye.
Wang Yi looked around the arena.
Most of the Wizards fans had already left.
The arena, which had been packed just moments ago, now felt much emptier.
But in the stands on the left, there were still twenty or thirty Chinese-descendant fans.
They were all dressed in bright red.
They continued waving signs that read "Go, Wang Yi!" and hoping he would notice them.
Wang Yi felt a warmth in his heart.
Far from home, nothing could move someone more than the support of fellow countrymen.
He raised his right hand and waved to them.
The fans grew even more excited.
They shouted one after another:
"Go, Brother Yi!"
"Brother Yi, I love you!"
Just then, a staff member came over.
"Wang, Christine Raidlow, the gorgeous TNT reporter, is about to interview you. Please get ready."
Wang Yi lifted his head and glanced at the sidelines.
There were indeed several reporters over there.
Almost all of them were women.
Among them, the gorgeous TNT reporter was both the most beautiful and the most famous.
TNT was a television network owned by Time Warner.
It specialized in sports programming.
In America, TNT was one of the two best-known sports television networks.
Usually, after a game, TNT and ESPN got first pick of the people they wanted to interview.
The other networks could only interview some Role Players.
Among the women reporters, Wang Yi also spotted a familiar face.
Zhou Ling'an.
She wasn't nearly as famous as the other reporters.
Her gaze kept moving over the players on both teams.
She looked like a wolf sizing up its prey.
But her eyes lingered mostly on the Role Players.
She knew that, given her standing in the NBA, she could interview Role Players at most.
Even though she and Wang Yi were both from China, it would be difficult for her to be assigned to interview him.
After all, Wang Yi had been the best player of the night. The other big-name reporters could barely fit in their interviews as it was. There was no way they would assign him to her.
Just then, she happened to notice Wang Yi.
A sweet smile appeared on her face.
She waved to him from afar.
But then her gaze returned to the other Role Players.
Wang Yi turned to the staff member beside him.
"Could you let her interview me?"
The staff member looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry. That's been decided by the higher-ups. I don't have the authority to change it."
Wang Yi frowned slightly.
"Then let her interview me after the TNT reporter is done."
The staff member looked surprised.
"Usually, a player is assigned only one reporter. Are you sure you still want her to interview you?"
There was nothing wrong with having multiple reporters interview him, as long as the player agreed.
Wang Yi nodded. "Yes."
The staff member nodded.
"Okay. I'll go get her."
Wang Yi watched the gorgeous TNT reporter walking toward him, then glanced at Zhou Ling'an.
He still wasn't famous enough. His words didn't carry much weight.
But one day, whoever he chose to interview him would be the one who got the interview.
When that day came, TNT, ESPN—every last one of them could get out of his way!
Let the Chinese reporter go first.
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