This 100 You Must Give

Outside the guest locker room at the Staples Center Arena.

Wang Yi was blocking the entrance.

He stood quietly, listening to the noise inside the locker room.

A Warriors player joked:

"Hey, buddy, your defense was amazing today! Someone sank nine three-pointers over your head!"

Another player chimed in mockingly:

"Dude, didn't you say you were going to defend him until he cried and crawled back? How come I see you crying and crawling back?"

A third player laughed heartily:

"Even though that guy's LOGO three-pointers are annoying, I have to admit, they're really cool. You should feel honored to be the backdrop, right?"

Warriors head coach Kerr didn't stop them from teasing Afro.

Such banter between teammates was common; this was just a joke at best.

It was the kind of teasing that often happened between good friends.

It could even serve as motivation for a teammate.

But today, this motivation wasn't working.

Afro was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting on his chair with his head down.

He silently changed his shoes.

Head coach Kerr frowned slightly when he saw this.

As a coach with many years of experience, he was sensitive to changes in a player's psychology.

Afro was clearly shaken.

And not just a little.

It made sense; anyone would be heavily impacted after being bombarded like that.

Thinking this, the head coach signaled with his eyes, stopping the others from continuing their teasing.

Teasing a highly competitive person could stimulate them to strive for more.

But now, Afro had already been dealt a heavy blow and was feeling a bit down.

Teasing him further at this point would be adding insult to injury.

He walked over, patted Afro's shoulder, and said:

"It's okay. How many people in the league have had countless three-pointers thrown over their heads by Stephen, and they're still doing fine? Some players, you can't defend them completely, at best you can limit them."

As he spoke, he looked at Stephen Curry.

Curry was that kind of player.

Curry also comforted him:

"Brother, his shot was too hot at that moment, so believe me, it's not your fault. You did everything you could. Next game, we'll keep working hard."

Afro finally looked up and nodded at the head coach and Curry: "Thank you."

His mood seemed to improve slightly.

But that was all.

It was impossible to recover immediately after a heavy blow.

It would take time.

Afro finished changing and stood up.

He walked toward the locker room door with a bit of a daze.

As he opened the door and was about to step out, he almost bumped into someone.

The person at the door was none other than Wang Yi.

Afro froze, stopping in his tracks.

The other Warriors players were also taken aback when they saw Wang Yi blocking the door.

They quickly realized what was happening.

Blocking the guest locker room door had happened a few times before.

Each time, there was a lot of tension.

It was likely that Afro had crossed the line with his trash talk.

This Easterner had brought the Lakers to get revenge.

They quickly moved forward, intending to back up their teammate.

However, when they saw that Wang Yi was alone, they were a bit surprised.

One guy dares to block the visiting team's locker room? Is this guy crazy?

Stephen Curry pushed through the crowd and came to the door, saying to Wang Yi:

"Hey, man, what's up?"

Wang Yi waved his hand and said, "This is between him and me, it has nothing to do with anyone else."

He pointed at Afro.

Head coach Kerr saw that Wang Yi spoke calmly, even with a smile, and didn't seem to be there to cause trouble.

He breathed a sigh of relief and gestured to Afro.

Since it's a private matter between you two, you handle it yourself.

Afro looked a little confused, his face serious, and said with a frown:

"You made a few three-pointers against me this time, but next time, I will definitely lock you down!"

His tone was tough.

But head coach Kerr secretly shook his head.

The tougher Afro's tone was now, the less confident he was in his heart.

He could only rely on a strong tone to save face.

It seemed the blow he received was beyond his expectations.

Wang Yi smiled when he heard Afro's seemingly powerful words.

"Well, I'm not here to talk about basketball."

Afro was stunned and asked:

"Besides basketball, I can't think of anything else we can talk about."

Wang Yi extended his hand and made a money-counting gesture:

"You bet $100 on the court just now. I made that three-pointer, so that $100 is mine."

The other Warriors players were stunned when they heard this.

Then they burst into laughter.

So it was all for $100 that things got so tense.

After all, anyone who can make it in the NBA makes at least several hundred thousand US Dollars a year.

Players of Stephen Curry's caliber earn $40 million a year.

So in their eyes, Wang Yi was acting like children chasing each other for a few dollars.

Afro was speechless and said:

"Is it worth it for you for $100?"

Wang Yi nodded seriously:

"It is. You're not going to back out of a bet, are you?"

It might not be worth it for others, but for him, a player on a 10-day short contract, it was absolutely worth it.

Before this 10-day short contract, he hadn't played for over two months.

The living expenses, training costs, rent, and various other expenses during these two months had already wiped out all the money he had earned.

He didn't even have money to rent a place.

He could only sleep in teammate Caruso's garage at night.

This current 10-day short contract was only for $8,000.

If no team signed him after today, this $8,000 would have to support him for a long time.

So now, let alone $100, even $1 was very important to him.

Afro was also a fringe player with a low salary.

$100 was a bit painful for him too.

He had just said it casually on the court, who knew this Easterner would actually take it seriously.

He shook his head: "I don't have any cash on me. I'll owe you, and I'll pay you back next time."

Wang Yi shrugged: "If you don't have it, you can borrow from your teammates. Stephen, Thompson, Green, they're all rich..."

As he said this, Green glared at Wang Yi: "I didn't bring any money either!"

Then he glared at Afro again: "You caused this trouble yourself, don't drag me into it."

With that, he turned and went back to change.

Green had always had a fiery temper.

He wasn't going to waste half a day here arguing about $100.

Afro was about to say something else when head coach Kerr said:

"I have 100 US Dollars here, I'll lend it to you for now."

Saying this, he took out a 100 US Dollar bill and handed it to Afro.

Afro didn't want to take it from Wang Yi, but the head coach had already offered it.

He had no choice but to take it reluctantly, then shoved it into Wang Yi's hand.

Wang Yi took the 100 US Dollars, smiled, and nodded, "Okay, thanks."

With that, he turned to leave.

Just then, a group of Lakers players had already rushed over.

When they saw Wang Yi holding 100 US Dollars and looking quite pleased.

They were all stunned.