VS Suns

After leaving the manager's office, Li Chen was a little surprised. It turned out that Old Man Baylor had suddenly asked him to re-test his physical talents at David Stern's request.

What was this old man up to?

A moment later, Li Chen shook his head. He wouldn't overthink it. He should just train!

On his way to the training facility, Bill Duffy called. His car had arrived.

The car Bill Duffy got for Li Chen was a 2002 Land Rover Range Rover.

Li Chen really liked this SUV, and Bill Duffy had also completed all the procedures for his driver's license.

After driving it around for a bit, Li Chen was very satisfied.

After the test drive, Li Chen continued his training.

Meanwhile, while Li Chen was training, the NBA All-Star selections were announced. This year's All-Star game was no different from those in history.

As for Li Chen, he could only regretfully miss out on the All-Star game.

Because the All-Star voting deadline was January 22nd, Li Chen couldn't make it to the All-Star game, even with the support of his domestic fans.

After the afternoon training session, once Alvin Gentry had left, Elton Brand sneakily approached Li Chen and whispered, "Chen, after the game tonight, we're going to a nightclub. Odom's treating."

Li Chen was taken aback for a moment, and asked in surprise, "You guys actually want to go!"

"Huh?" Elton Brand was stunned by the question, then retorted, "Why not? He lost, after all."

Li Chen felt a bit helpless. He had only wanted to embarrass Odom at the time, never expecting these guys would actually go all out to fleece Odom.

"You guys go ahead! I still have to train," Li Chen refused.

"Oh! God! Chen, you're so boring. You'll go crazy like this." Saying that, he looked suggestively towards a certain part of Li Chen's body.

"Get lost." Li Chen kicked out at the irreverent Elton Brand.

Tuesday, January 28, 2003.

Today, the Clippers had a back-to-back game, playing the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were tanking, on the road.

Li Chen received an S-rank skill for this game: Clutch Shot Success Rate +50%.

Right from the start, the Clippers went on a 0-9 run against the Cavaliers.

After the timeout, the Cavaliers finally started scoring.

But Li Chen hit three consecutive three-pointers from the perimeter, stunning the Cavaliers again.

The Cavaliers were forced to call another timeout. After the timeout, the Cavaliers began to focus their defense on Li Chen, preventing him from shooting threes.

With the focused defense, Li Chen started passing the ball. His teammates were on fire today, hitting every shot. Li Chen suspected that the nightclub had made these animals go berserk.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led the Cavaliers by 14 points, 25-11.

By the end of the second quarter, the Clippers had extended their lead to 31 points, 61-30.

At the same time, Li Chen had already scored 30 points in the first half.

In the second half, Li Chen stopped scoring and focused on grabbing rebounds.

Li Chen's physical abilities, enhanced by the Functional Drink, were terrifying. None of the Cavaliers players could out-rebound him. He grabbed 15 rebounds in the second half alone.

In the end, the Clippers won by a large margin, 121-90.

It's worth mentioning that in this game, all the Clippers players who played scored in double digits. Wang Zhizhi scored 18 points, just shy of 20, partly due to Li Chen's constant assists.

The most unhappy player on the Clippers was probably Odom, who only scored 2 points.

He was already depressed, thinking these bastards were too much, making him pay for dinner and not even trying to appease him.

Li Chen also put up impressive stats in this game: 35 points, 15 assists, 16 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.

Li Chen's outstanding performance earned him another Player of the Game award and the Clutch Shot skill.

At the same time, the Clippers also ended their five-game road trip.

On Thursday, January 30th, the Clippers returned home to host the Chicago Bulls.

After losing Jordan, the Bulls' performance had plummeted dramatically, and they were no longer the team they once were.

Li Chen received the S-rank skill "Foul Baiting" in this game, which was a duplicate skill.

This greatly disappointed Li Chen.

At the start of the first quarter, both the Clippers and the Bulls had low shooting percentages. The first quarter ended with the Clippers leading by two points, 18-16.

In the second quarter, Li Chen's shooting touch returned. He hit two consecutive open three-pointers, sparking a 10-0 run that forced the Bulls into a timeout.

After the timeout, the Bulls began to focus their defense on Li Chen, but Li Chen still insisted on shooting threes.

This was where the Foul Baiting skill came into play. Li Chen drew consecutive fouls, which frustrated the Bulls, from the coach down to the players.

By the end of the second quarter, the Bulls were on the verge of being blown out.

When the second half began, Li Chen saw Elton Brand's aggressive offense and was happy to set him up.

As a result, Elton Brand destroyed the Bulls in the third quarter.

Elton Brand scored 30 points, 3 assists, and 5 rebounds in this game, a personal best, and he was ecstatic.

After the game ended, Mouth didn't stop grinning and kept pestering Li Chen to go to a nightclub, but Li Chen politely declined.

Meanwhile, Li Chen had achieved a good triple-double with 20 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, along with 2 steals.

At the same time, the MVP award for the entire game once again fell upon Li Chen.

Moreover, Li Chen made a surprising discovery: his "Foul Baiting" skill had leveled up.

This meant that repeatedly acquired skills would be converted into experience points, which was fantastic news for Li Chen.

Sunday, February 1st, 8 PM.

Staples Center.

A game was underway between the Phoenix Suns and the Clippers, with the Suns playing as the away team.

As it was the weekend and Los Angeles was a major metropolis second only to New York, the stadium was packed tonight.

In the VIP box, Donald Sterling looked at the sea of fans, his old face practically beaming with joy.

He glanced at Elgin Baylor, who was sitting beside him, never expecting this man to have such keen eyes as to discover such a rookie.

Actually, this wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that this rookie was cheap and very skilled. He was practically his cash cow. The Clippers' attendance rate had increased by over 50%, and he now felt an urge to worship Li Chen.

What made him even happier was that he could get him for free for another two years. The thought alone made him want to dance.

Although he was a racist, he loved money more, and everything else could take a backseat in the face of wealth.

At the same time, he was contemplating how to keep Li Chen at the lowest possible price to continue making money for him.

On the other side, seeing that the stingy owner, Donald Sterling, seemed very happy today.

Elgin Baylor tentatively asked, "Mr. Sterling, could we possibly increase the player budget for next season? Chen has performed so outstandingly. If he has a helper next season, we might be able to make it to the playoffs, or even win a championship."

As he spoke, Elgin Baylor trembled with excitement.

When Elgin Baylor mentioned increasing the player budget, Donald Sterling was displeased. However, considering how much money Elgin Baylor had already made him, he didn't lash out on the spot.

Instead, he waved his hand and said, "This... I'll consider it carefully when I get back. Alright, let's not talk about this, we're here to watch the game."