James Harden?

On the way.

Li Chen asked, "Hey, little fatty, what's your name?"

The little fatty hugged the basketball and said happily, "Sir, my name is James, James Harden."

"Huh?" Li Chen was a little surprised and stopped in his tracks.

He never expected that the child laborer he hired for $100 would be the future legendary James Harden.

At this moment, James Harden, sensing Li Chen had stopped, also stopped and turned around, asking in confusion, "Sir, what's wrong?"

Li Chen withdrew his thoughts, shook his head, and said, "Nothing."

Half an hour later.

"Wow! It's so big!"

Upon arriving at Paravilla Stadium, Harden exclaimed in amazement. He touched the basketball, then the floor, finding everything new and exciting.

It took a while for his excited emotions to calm down.

A moment later: "Sir, can I train here? Of course, after I finish my work."

Li Chen gave the little fatty James Harden a strange look and muttered to himself, You probably won't get the chance.

Although he thought this, he readily agreed, "Of course."

Then Li Chen explained Harden's tasks.

A moment later, James Harden patted his chest confidently and promised, "Sir, don't worry about passing, I'm good at that."

An hour later, the little fatty James Harden, covered in sweat, looked at Li Chen with some doubt.

"Sir, do you always train like this?"

James Harden felt Li Chen was doing this on purpose, likely as revenge for him saying Li Chen didn't deserve the "Player of the Game" award.

Li Chen thought seriously and then shook his head, "No."

James Harden gritted his teeth. Just as I suspected, hmph! Petty Oriental.

Then Li Chen continued, "Usually, when I'm alone, it's slower because no one passes to me."

James Harden: "..."

Fine, fine! I admit I wronged you, Oriental, but this training is too much!

James Harden asked again, "Sir, do NBA players train this hard?"

Li Chen shook his head, "No, regular training is about 3 or 4 hours."

Hearing Li Chen's explanation, James Harden's heart finally settled. Thank goodness. If playing in the NBA is really this tough, I don't know if I could keep it up.

Around 6 PM, Li Chen let James Harden leave.

James Harden happily went home with his $100.

The only downside was that he didn't get to train in the stadium.

He was too exhausted; his arms felt like they couldn't be lifted.

After watching the little fatty James Harden leave, Li Chen summoned his status panel and his gaze fell on the experience points for Open Three-Pointer, 23867/30000.

Li Chen figured he could reach A-rank tomorrow with a little effort.

The next day, 4 AM.

Li Chen arrived at Paravilla Stadium as usual to begin his training.

But as he approached the stadium, he noticed the lights were still on and he could hear the occasional sound of basketballs being played.

Li Chen was surprised. Could it be Wang Zhizhi? Yes, he's the only one on the Clippers who would be here.

Li Chen was different from Kobe. He didn't get annoyed by others' lack of effort.

He always adhered to the principle of not imposing his own views on others.

Of course, Li Chen didn't have the status in the team yet to do so.

As he pushed open the door, he was about to tease Wang Zhizhi about how diligent he was this early in the morning.

Then, when he saw the figure, he froze.

He saw the figure make a beautiful fadeaway jump shot, then turn around coolly and say in a low voice, "You're late."

Snapping back to reality, Li Chen shrugged. "Why are you here? And how did you get into our Clippers' training facility?"

Kobe said calmly, "I said I was looking for you, and the administrator let me in."

I bet that guy is a fan of yours, Li Chen thought, then pretended to be ignorant and asked, "What are you looking for me for?"

"I wasn't convinced by the last game. I heard you have a habit of practicing early, so I came."

Li Chen was speechless. He's here to challenge me!

However, Li Chen was also very happy. It was Kobe!

If he could train with Kobe, his improvement would be immeasurable.

A short while later, the two began to duel. At first, Li Chen was getting thoroughly beaten, with Kobe treating him like a child. In the blink of an eye, Kobe was up by 10 to 1.

This made Kobe grit his teeth. Damn European king.

However, as time passed, Kobe was shocked to find Li Chen's defense constantly improving. His attacks were no longer as unrestrained as they were at the beginning; he often had to struggle for a while before scoring.

It was then he realized that this Eastern man was not inferior to him in terms of physical fitness and strength. What he lacked was simply experience.

Still, victory belonged to him, the Black Mamba. He, Kobe Bryant, feared no challenge.

At six in the morning, Kobe left, his mood uplifted.

As he left, seeing Li Chen's defeated and questioning expression, Kobe felt significantly better.

Then, he took the initiative to exchange phone numbers with Li Chen, saying he would often come to find Li Chen to practice.

After Li Chen watched Kobe's back disappear, his previously lifeless face suddenly turned excited.

That's right, the look of utter defeat was all Li Chen's act for Kobe.

After all, Kobe was here to stomp on him, the little monster. If Li Chen had shown excitement, Comrade Kobe wouldn't have been happy and wouldn't have willingly acted as his sparring partner.

Therefore, he had to make the great Kobe feel good, and only then would he be a sparring partner without any complaints.

If Kobe knew what Li Chen was thinking, he would surely curse Li Chen as an old fox.

At this moment, Li Chen eagerly opened his character status panel and focused on the defense column. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his defense attribute had increased by a full ten points.

Simply put, defense relies on footwork, experience, and understanding of basketball concepts, all of which Li Chen lacked.

On the status panel, Li Chen's basketball IQ was [85], which wasn't low. He just lacked experience.

During these two hours, Li Chen hadn't attacked seriously at all; he had been constantly observing Kobe's defensive patterns.

Of course, even if he had attacked seriously, it wouldn't have made much difference to Kobe. He could say he benefited greatly today.

After Li Chen finished breakfast, he practiced the 100-meter sprint for another hour. He had no choice but to train this aspect; his initial speed was significantly slower than Kobe's. Therefore, this was something he had to prioritize.

After an hour of sprint training, Li Chen began to rest, waiting for his teammates to arrive so he could train with the team.

On Thursday, January 23, 2003, they were to travel to Utah to play the Utah Jazz on the road.

So, in the afternoon, they would fly to Salt Lake City, Utah, known as the "home of the devil," for their away game.