Staples Center Arena, outside the visitors' locker room.
Wang Yi was blocking the entrance.
He stood there quietly, listening to the commotion inside the locker room.
One of the Warriors players teased him:
"Hey, man, your defense was amazing tonight! You let him drain nine threes right over your head!"
Another player joined in:
"Dude, didn't you say you'd guard him until he was crying and crawling away? How come you're the one who came crawling back in tears?"
A third player laughed out loud:
"Sure, that guy's LOGO three-pointers are annoying. But you have to admit, they're really cool. You should feel honored to be the one in the background!"
Warriors head coach Kerr didn't stop them from making fun of Afro.
This kind of teasing between teammates was common. At most, it was just a joke.
It was the sort of teasing good friends often gave each other.
It could even serve as motivation for a teammate.
But today, it wasn't working.
Afro was acting completely out of character. He sat in his chair with his head down, saying nothing.
He changed his shoes in silence.
Seeing this, head coach Kerr furrowed his brow slightly.
After years as a head coach, he was highly sensitive to changes in his players' mental states.
Afro had clearly taken a hit.
And it had hit him hard.
It made sense. Anyone who got bombarded with shots over his head would take a serious blow.
With that in mind, the coach gave the others a look, stopping them from continuing to tease Afro.
Teasing someone with a fiercely competitive streak could rile him up and spur him to improve.
But Afro had already taken a heavy blow, and his spirits were low.
Making fun of him now would only make things worse.
Kerr walked over, patted Afro on the shoulder, and said:
"Don't worry. How many guys in the league have had Stephen rain threes over their heads? They're all doing just fine. Some players can't be stopped—you can only limit them."
As he spoke, he glanced at Stephen Curry.
Curry was one of those players.
Curry offered some reassurance, too:
"Hey, man, he was on fire out there, so trust me, this isn't your fault. You did everything you could. We'll keep working at it next game."
Only then did Afro look up and nod to the coach and Curry. "Thanks."
He seemed to feel a little better.
But only a little.
After taking such a heavy blow, there was no way he could recover right away.
He would just have to take it slowly.
Once Afro had changed, he stood up.
He walked toward the locker room door, looking a little lost.
He opened it and was about to leave.
But he nearly ran into someone standing outside.
That person was none other than Wang Yi.
Afro froze and stopped in his tracks.
The other Warriors players saw Wang Yi blocking the doorway and all stared in surprise.
Then it clicked.
There had been a few incidents of players blocking the visitors' locker room door before.
They had always been charged with tension.
Afro must have gone too far with his trash talk.
This Asian guy had brought the Lakers over to get revenge.
They hurried forward to back up their teammate.
But when they saw Wang Yi was alone, they were all a little surprised.
He'd come to block the visitors' locker room by himself? Was he crazy?
Stephen Curry pushed through the crowd and came to the doorway. He said to Wang Yi:
"Hey, man, what's up?"
Wang Yi waved a hand. "This is between me and him. It has nothing to do with anyone else."
He pointed at Afro.
Seeing that Wang Yi spoke calmly, even with a smile, Coach Kerr relaxed a little. It didn't seem like he'd come looking for trouble.
He gestured to Afro.
If it was a personal matter between the two of them, Afro could handle it himself.
Afro looked confused and tense. Frowning, he said:
"You got a few threes past me this time, but next time, I'll lock you down!"
His tone was firm.
But Coach Kerr shook his head inwardly.
The firmer Afro sounded right now, the less confident he was.
He was relying on a tough tone to save face.
It seemed the blow had hit him harder than the coach had expected.
Hearing Afro's seemingly imposing words, Wang Yi smiled.
"Right. I'm not here to talk basketball."
Afro was taken aback and asked:
"Other than basketball, I can't think of anything we have to talk about."
Wang Yi held out his hand and made a gesture like he was counting money.
"Back on the court, you bet a hundred dollars. I made that three, so that hundred is mine."
The other Warriors players were all taken aback.
Then they burst out laughing.
He'd made all this fuss over a hundred dollars?
After all, the least anyone in the NBA made was several hundred thousand dollars a year.
Someone like Stephen Curry made as much as forty million.
To them, Wang Yi was acting like a kid chasing someone down over a few bucks.
Afro was at a loss for words. "You're making this much of a fuss over a hundred dollars?"
Wang Yi nodded seriously.
"I am. You're not going to welch on a bet, are you?"
Other people might not care, but for him, a player who'd only signed a ten-day contract, a hundred dollars mattered a lot.
Before signing that ten-day contract, he'd gone more than two months without a team.
He'd spent through all the money he'd earned before that on living expenses, training, rent, and everything else.
He couldn't even afford to rent a place anymore.
At night, he could only sleep in the garage at his teammate Caruso's house.
And the ten-day contract he'd signed was worth only eight thousand dollars.
If no team signed him after today, that eight thousand would have to last him a long time.
So forget a hundred dollars—even one dollar mattered to him.
Afro was a fringe player, too, and didn't make much.
A hundred dollars stung him a little as well.
He'd only said it casually during the game. Who knew this Asian guy would actually take him seriously?
He shook his head. "I don't have any cash on me. I'll owe you for now and pay you back next time."
Wang Yi shrugged. "If you don't have any, you can borrow some from your teammates. Stephen, Thompson, Green—they're all rich..."
At that, Green glared at Wang Yi. "I don't have any cash on me either!"
Then he glared at Afro. "You got yourself into this. Don't drag me into it."
With that, he turned around and went back to changing.
Green had always been hot-tempered.
He wasn't about to waste time arguing over a hundred dollars.
Afro was about to say something, but Coach Kerr spoke up:
"I have a hundred dollars here. You can borrow it for now."
As he spoke, he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to Afro.
Afro didn't want to give Wang Yi the money, but the coach had already handed it over.
He had no choice but to take it, then stuff it into Wang Yi's hand.
Wang Yi took the hundred dollars and nodded with a smile. "All right, thanks."
Then he turned and started to leave.
Just then, the Lakers players came hurrying over.
When they saw Wang Yi holding a hundred-dollar bill and looking pleased, they all stared at him in surprise.
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