After reaching out to pat Rose on the shoulder, Hartenstein stood up and started putting in extra work of his own.
As a second-round pick, selected 43rd overall, he'd fought his way through the League for years before finally landing a decent contract in New York.
Hartenstein had made it this far through his own hard work.
From the players' perspective, training time didn't exactly fly by.
But before they knew it, evening had arrived.
After the afternoon's training session ended, Chen Xi took a white towel from the trainer, wiped off his sweat, then clapped his hands and gathered everyone around him.
"Everyone, eyes on me!"
"I know that going from a vacation straight into intense training is exhausting. But for the future of the team, and for your own futures, trust me when I say none of this effort will be wasted!"
Chen Xi stepped forward and raised his right fist.
Everyone got the hint and brought their hands together.
"The sweat we shed today will turn into champagne at our victory party someday! Our future is bright, so keep working hard, guys!"
"One, two, three, let's go, Knicks!"
The Knicks all bumped their right fists together, shouted the team slogan, and thrust their hands into the air.
The black, white, and yellow arms parted in an instant, but the team's unity had already grown noticeably on the very first day.
"All right! That's the business part done!"
But Chen Xi wasn't finished yet.
"Next up! Everyone who's free tonight, come party at my place! I know there's an East University idiom: work hard, rest well! You need to balance tension with relaxation to go the distance! So tonight, let's kick back and enjoy ourselves!"
As he thought about team chemistry, Chen Xi had unconsciously started to