Meeting Is Fate!

After touring Venice, the embassy had already helped him get his travel documents sorted out.

The homeland was not yet as powerful as it would become later, but its efficiency was already quite high.

After returning from Italy, Sun Hao set aside that "unforgettable experience" and began preparing for the new season.

Last season, the team had stopped in the semifinals. The team's performance had played a part, but his own abilities still had plenty of room for improvement.

Not to mention anything else, his ultra-long three-pointer and first step both needed further improvement.

Between training and occasionally going out to play soccer with Prigioni and the others, more than two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the new La Liga season was about to begin.

At that time, Sun Hao received some news.

It did not come from Italy. His case seemed to have become a cold case, with no result in sight.

The news was released by the European Basketball Association.

After the European Super League had been suspended for a year, some of Europe's top basketball teams and leagues could no longer sit still.

They created a brand-new sports competition spanning Europe under a private organizational model. Sun Hao was extremely familiar with its name.

The EuroLeague, or simply the European Champions League.

La Liga was one of those "top European leagues."

According to the tournament rules, the first EuroLeague season would feature twenty-four teams, with La Liga receiving three spots.

In other words, as the top team in last season's La Liga Regular Season, Real Madrid would compete not only in La Liga but also in the EuroLeague in the new season.

This was undoubtedly tremendous news for Sun Hao.

Because of Europe's unique makeup, the EuroLeague was equivalent to a miniature World Cup or Olympic Games.

Teams competed across national borders, with the tournament interwoven among domestic leagues. Foreign players could also participate to balance team strength, making it highly competitive and compelling.

For that very reason, its exposure and influence would make a huge leap forward.

Take broadcasting, the most direct example. The first EuroLeague season already had fifteen major European media outlets covering it, something La Liga could not compare to at all.

Calderon had burst onto the scene last year, but he ultimately had not been selected by an NBA team.

Instead, Ginobili, who had been playing in Italy, was picked near the end of the second round.

That illustrated one thing: La Liga's influence across Europe was still limited.

If Sun Hao wanted to enter the draft next year, the EuroLeague was undoubtedly the best stage.

A week later, the La Liga season kicked off, and Real Madrid began its new campaign.

Their first opponent was Radar Team.

Facing the opponent they had eliminated in the first round of last season's playoffs, Real Madrid displayed an even greater gap in strength than they had last year.

71–51, a twenty-point slaughter.

Compared with last season, the team also displayed much better chemistry, especially among Prigioni, Sun Hao, and Gabajosa.

Sun Hao had 12 points and 2 assists, Gabajosa had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks, while Prigioni had 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.

After a season of building chemistry, plus training and playing soccer together during the Offseason, they were beginning to feel like the Real Madrid Trident.

Beating Radar Team was only the beginning. Over the next half month or so, Real Madrid kept winning without tasting defeat, opening the season with eight straight victories.

Over those eight games, Sun Hao averaged 9.6 points, second on the team only to Gabajosa's 10.5.

His field-goal percentage and three-point percentage also reached 52% and 40.3%, respectively.

Those numbers were noticeably improved from last season.

It was at that time that Real Madrid welcomed its first EuroLeague game, against Virtus Bologna from Italy.

Laso attached particular importance to the team's first EuroLeague game.

On the night before leaving for Italy, Laso gathered the players in the Video Room to watch film.

Technology was still relatively underdeveloped at the time. Film mostly meant videotapes, and since this was the first EuroLeague season, their knowledge of their opponent was limited as well.

Once the film began, Laso directed the players' attention toward Virtus Bologna's core guard.

Sasha Danilovic.

A former NBA star and elite shooter.

Although he had only played two seasons in the NBA, in his first season, 1995–96, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

That year's playoffs saw his Miami Heat eliminated in the first round, but across three playoff games, he put up an astonishing 25 points and 4 assists per game.

Then, in his second season, he joined the Dallas Mavericks and averaged 16.6 points in the Regular Season.

He had simply chosen to return to the European League afterward. Now twenty-nine, he was right in his prime.

The players Sun Hao had encountered before—whether Gasol or Navarro, even Fernandez and Gabajosa beside him—had all been younger versions of themselves.

Danilovic, whom he would face in the next game, was a genuinely established star.

And since they were both guards, they would inevitably match up on the court.

Their first EuroLeague game was already a tough one!

The next day, Real Madrid boarded a plane for Sicily, Italy, where Virtus Bologna was based.

This was also Sun Hao's second trip to Sicily.

When they arrived at Palermo Airport, Sun Hao still felt a strong sense of familiarity.

After all, it had only been four months since his last visit.

As he boarded the team bus, he spotted police officers on patrol and instinctively quickened his pace.

He was terrified of running into that police officer from before. If his teammates found out what had happened during the Offseason, they would probably laugh at him for an entire season.

"Sun seems a little impatient. I think he'll definitely put on a good performance tomorrow night."

Watching Sun Hao's brisk figure, Prigioni turned to Gabajosa and said.

"I hope he's in a good mood. Then we might have a chance to eat a good meal."

Gabajosa nodded in agreement.

Prigioni burst out laughing when he heard that.

It had to be said that they had gotten along very "pleasantly" with Sun Hao over the past Offseason.

That was also an important reason Real Madrid had enjoyed such a perfect start to the new season.

But then again, who would not like being friends with someone who could cook?

Like Spain, basketball was not Italy's top sport, but the basketball atmosphere here was even more passionate.

All of that was thanks to the Italy National Team's recent performances on the international stage.

They had finished sixth in last year's World Championships, and at the European Championships that had just ended that summer, they had won the title outright.

Real Madrid's first EuroLeague game was also the first EuroLeague game for an Italian team.

The next evening, the six-thousand-seat Sicily Arena was packed to capacity.

The attendance alone showed the success of the EuroLeague format. Even though it was only the first game, it had already attracted such enormous interest.

Real Madrid arrived at the arena an hour early to warm up.

After practicing for half an hour, Sun Hao felt loosened up and sat down courtside to rest.

Only then did the Virtus Bologna players arrive fashionably late.

Sun Hao spotted Danilovic at a glance.

Laso had emphasized him so many times the day before that it was impossible not to notice him.

From the moment Danilovic began taking warm-up shots, Sun Hao's gaze never left him.

After watching for a while, he felt that tonight's game would be truly difficult.

Danilovic was simply too unusual. He was even more skilled from beyond the arc than he had looked on film.

Laso had said yesterday that Danilovic had shot 43.6% from three in his first NBA season.

Although he had not played enough games to qualify for the NBA statistical rankings, in an era when three-pointers had not yet become popular, that was an outrageous percentage.

And judging by his warm-up, his shooting percentage was no lower than Sun Hao's.

As Sun Hao was thinking about it, Danilovic had already left the court to rest.

At that moment, Sun Hao's eyes suddenly froze, and an incredulous expression appeared on his face.

He had been staring at Danilovic the whole time and had not noticed until Danilovic stepped off that there was another person on the court shooting threes.

And that person, with his high nose bridge, handsome face, and resemblance to Prigioni...

Holy shit, it was Ginobili!

That crew cut, so utterly different from the flowing long-haired image in Sun Hao's memory, was impossible to ignore!

Ginobili was playing for Virtus Bologna?

That was not right. Sun Hao remembered Lartigue saying at the police station that Ginobili was supposed to be playing for Reggio Calabria.

Had he remembered wrong? Or had Ginobili changed teams?

Sun Hao turned to look at Danilovic again. Not long after Danilovic sat down, a young player beside him handed him a towel.

Sun Hao suddenly felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

What had happened at the police station had never been mentioned by him, but there was no such thing as a wall that could keep out all wind. Those Italian teams had probably heard about it too.

That sort of thing was definitely not good, especially for an overseas player. Nothing had actually happened, but there would definitely be an impact.

Otherwise, there was simply no way to explain why a player who had been thriving and had even been selected by the NBA would suddenly switch teams.

And on the team he had switched to, the franchise star was also a Shooting Guard, just like him.

Still, that only made Sun Hao even more curious.

The Butterfly Effect caused by his transmigration had not affected Ginobili.

In other words, the Ginobili of history had also risen through this kind of environment.

After the warm-ups ended, the arena moved into the pregame introductions.

The visiting team went first, followed by the home team, and all players from both sides were introduced onto the court.

Sun Hao was the third-to-last player to enter for Real Madrid.

At that moment, on the other end of the court, Ginobili froze completely, as though he had turned to stone.

Since not much time had passed, he still remembered Sun Hao clearly.

The person he had run into at the police station was actually a basketball player too?

And he was even fucking meeting him on the EuroLeague court?

It was not merely surreal. More importantly, they would have to shake hands shortly. He did not dare think any further.

But what was coming still came.

At the end of the introductions, the players from both teams exchanged their final handshakes.

When Sun Hao and Ginobili shook hands, their eyes met. The expression on Ginobili's face was something Sun Hao could remember for the rest of his life.

It was an expression even more miserable than constipation, the kind that could make him wake up laughing in his sleep.

If Ginobili had been Chinese, he would definitely have sighed at that moment.

Those without fate never meet face-to-face; those with fate can meet even across a thousand miles!

Looking at Ginobili's stunned expression, Sun Hao really wanted to say something too.

Meeting is fate! Don't dwell on the past!

Thanks to blue Sky, john, Ling Tian Feichen, Time Hill, and Deer as White Horse for the rewards. Thanks to all the big shots for your support! Please vote with recommendation tickets!

Today's Cheesy Love Lines

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