How Fast Can You Go?

Chapter 48: What's Your Fastest 100m Time?

"Sun, can we come in?"

The Short Guy looked a bit shy.

The tall one, though, was already glancing around before he even stepped inside, seeming more relaxed.

Sun Hao nodded to let them in.

After all, the Locker Room only had him and Prigioni left now, and they were about to leave, both dressed formally.

"You know them?"

Prigioni thought for a moment, didn't recognize the two, and Turned His Head to look at Sun Hao with confusion.

Sun Hao shook his head.

Prigioni grew even more puzzled. You don't know them, but you let them in?

"Are you fans?"

Prigioni turned and asked the two.

"Yes, but we're also players. We both play in the French league."

The tall one explained, then nudged the Short Guy.

Prigioni's gaze toward them shifted slightly.

These two looked like they were seventeen or eighteen, yet they were already playing in the French league.

Even if the French league wasn't top-tier in Europe, it was still a first-division league. Both of them were clearly loaded with talent.

"I'm Tony Parker, and he's Boris Diaw. I wanted to ask Sun for advice on how to train Three-point shooting."

Parker looked at Sun Hao as he spoke, his eyes full of anticipation.

Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.

Sun Hao had spotted them at the start of the game.

This was France, and they were playing the UEFA Champions League semifinals. Running into them wasn't really that strange.

But after Parker finished his question, Sun Hao froze for a moment.

What?

Parker wanted to learn Three-pointers from him?

Was he kidding?

In his memory, Parker was the "French Pocket Rocket"! His offense relied mostly on Breakthrough and fast breaks.

He did have a decent mid-range shot, but his Three-pointers were terrible!

The guys he'd met in Europe—Gasol was about what he remembered, overflowing with offensive talent but average on defense; Ginobili specialized in Breakthrough, with his shooting still undeveloped.

But Parker coming to him for Three-point shooting advice? What was that about?

Butterfly effect?

That was a reasonable explanation.

He was making a name for himself now; it couldn't just be Fernandez as his only little fan forever.

Still, imagining Parker and him both holding the ball, clanking Three-pointers from the perimeter, felt incredibly off.

"Have you practiced Three-pointers before?"

Sun Hao didn't rush to decide; instead, he asked Parker a question.

"I've practiced, but not much."

Parker was honest.

"Have you timed your 100m Speed? What's your fastest?"

Sun Hao asked next.

"10.43 seconds."

"What?"

"10.43 seconds. That was my data from the French league physical test I took before."

Parker explained again.

Damn.

Sun Hao coughed dryly when he heard that.

How could people be so different from each other?

10.43 seconds—where would that rank in the NBA?

He remembered Iverson was only 10.30 seconds.

Even on the 100m track, that was a top-tier professional athlete's level.

"Career direction needs to be planned from a young age. I started practicing three-pointers from the very beginning, and after all these years, that's how I turned out."

Sun Hao instantly switched into last season's assistant coach mode.

And what he said wasn't wrong—System Time Double meant that if he'd started training at nine, it would add up to about the same now.

"Your 100m speed is that fast, so I'm sure you've practiced breakaways the most. That's the direction you need to work on."

Sun Hao had become an NCAA assistant coach at a young age in his past life, so he still had an eye for talent.

More importantly, though, he had some serious Persuasion Skill.

But Parker was already this old; there was no way to change his playing style now. If you'd said Young Parker had come to him, he wouldn't have minded teaching him to train the same way he did.

After all, having a future NBA Superstar as an apprentice wasn't a bad deal.

"Allen Iverson—he can be someone you learn from."

Sun Hao even gave him a template to follow, being responsible to the end.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Parker had only wanted to learn because Sun Hao's playing was cool; the root cause was still his own confusion.

Now that Sun Hao had pointed him down a clear path, of course he had to be grateful.

"Boris, aren't you going to ask?"

Seeing that Diop hadn't said anything, Parker turned his head and asked.

"I don't need to. I have an idol—Magic Johnson."

Diop's personality seemed pretty open, and he didn't hold back at all.

His words earned him an eye roll from Parker.

Sun Hao nodded after hearing that.

Diop, Magic Johnson, and Bodiroga were all the same type of player.

"Then you have to watch the EuroLeague Final—the White Magician's game."

Sun Hao added.

"I will. I've already bought my ticket. Thanks."

Diop said his thanks this time, and his look at Sun Hao was a bit different than before.

Sun Hao hadn't teased him, and he even seemed to understand him a little.

Not long after the two EuroLeague semifinals ended, EuroLeague Officials chose the final venue from the pre-selected venues.

Aleksandar Nikolić Hall, located in the capital of the Yugoslavia Union, Belgrade.

Yugoslavia represented the Highest Level of European Basketball, and just last year, the Yugoslavia Union had defeated Team USA to win the World Championship Title.

The EuroLeague Organizing Committee chose this location not only for geographical reasons but also because of the basketball atmosphere.

Yugoslavia had Dissolved in 1992, but Montenegro and Serbia remained and formed the Yugoslavia Union.

Sun Hao had met Saša Dončić while watching the World Cup Final in France, and he was from the Yugoslavia Union.

More precisely, he was Serbian.

But Two Years Passed, and they'd Lost Contact.

That was completely normal—No Overlap in Life, Friends Become Strangers, let alone a Chance Encounter.

Unless the other person was a woman.

Belgrade, also known as the Key of the Balkans, was the Fourth Largest City in Balkans and the Largest City of Former Yugoslavia.

It was a Historic City, but its history was one of Alternating Occupation.

The Huns of Early Century, the Sarmatians, the Ostrogoths and Avars, the Ottoman and Hungary of Last Century, the Modern Turkey and Austria.

It only Regained Independence in 19th Century.

But that very history filled the city with Diverse Elements.

Just the Architectural Styles alone—Austro-Hungarian Empire, Moravia, Baroque, Neo-Renaissance—dazzled your eyes.

When Sun Hao stepped out of the airport, his first impression was that everyone here was so tall, Average Height Near 190cm.

And these were just ordinary people.

They say the Balkans Produce Giants, and it was definitely true.

The team dropped their luggage at the hotel, and Laso took everyone to watch video in the room.

It was the Panathinaikos vs Barcelona Game Video from yesterday.

Hearing is nothing compared to seeing.

Yesterday, Prigioni had introduced Bodiroga to Sun Hao as the Most Versatile Player in Europe, the White Magician, El Latigo—anyone would think it was a bit of an exaggeration.

But after actually watching the video, Sun Hao felt Prigioni had been conservative.

His takeaway was simple: Witness Legend.

It was hard to imagine a 2.05-meter tall big man moving with such agility and grace.

Yesterday, when Prigioni left the Locker Room with him, he mentioned that Bodiroga had been named the "Most Charming Bachelor."

??

Wasn't that supposed to be his title?

But after watching the footage, Sun Hao felt the evaluation was quite fair, especially regarding his playing style.

The key was that no one on the Real Madrid Team could match up with him; whoever they used to defend him felt like a mismatch.

It looked like tomorrow's final was destined to be a shootout—whoever broke the other first would claim the ultimate victory.

That night, Sun Hao set the training bot in the system to Hell Mode.

Even with the newly acquired Gold Grade Badge, his shooting percentage wasn't very high in Hell Mode.

But this was his way of warming up for tomorrow's game—adapting to difficulty early so he could face danger without fear.

The next evening, the EuroLeague Final officially tipped off at the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall.

This basketball arena, named after Aleksandar Nikolić, was the home court of KK Crvena zvezda and could hold sixteen thousand spectators.

The arena was packed to capacity.

Just like the Stade de France before, the fans in the arena were split into two large sections left and right.

On one side were the Real Madrid fans, on the other the Panathinaikos Team fans, mixed in with some local fans from the Balkan Peninsula.

Just then, after arriving in Europe, Sun Hao saw the most fervent fans for the first time—the Greek fans.

The fighting Russian nation was world-famous, but when it came to madness, the Greek fans claimed second place and no one dared to claim first.

Fireworks and National Flags at football matches were the norm. According to real memories, when the fireworks were thick at Greek home games, people mistook it for a battlefield. Fans threw firecrackers onto the football pitch, the sound making people think of grenades.

What's more, some visiting teams that won in Greece found it very difficult to even get away.

Tonight, he witnessed it.

A giant cloth poster of Bodiroga's face was stretched out, occupying nearly one-fifth of one side of the arena.

But what he didn't expect was that this would be the calmest scene he saw all night.

The Real Madrid Team entered the court first to start warming up.

Entering the finals, the Spanish fans were also excited. During warm-ups, they had already begun to sing their battle anthem in unison.

The fans raised their hands and jumped on their own, the scene was spectacular.

The Real Madrid players on the court soon felt their blood boil.

Just then, Sun Hao noticed several familiar faces sitting in the front row.

Fernandez had actually managed to get front-row tickets!

This guy had really gone all out.

Sun Hao didn't even finish his warm-up before going over to greet him.

Fist bumps, hugs, Pat on the Head, chatting.

After that, Sun Hao saw Raúl.

The core star of the Real Madrid football team, "El Niño" Raúl González Blanco.

Because his parents were Sun Hao's fans, Raúl and Sun Hao had occasionally kept in touch and met over the years.

He never expected Raúl to specially come to watch his EuroLeague Final.

And he had brought someone with him.

Zidane.

The star player of the France football team.

Sun Hao shook hands and hugged Zidane.

"Raúl said your game was unmissable."

"I didn't miss your game. I went to the Stade de France. I witnessed France's World Cup victory."

"Really?"

Because of the football World Cup, the two, who had never met before, had no shortage of topics and immediately hit it off.

After a while, warm-ups ended, and the arena entered the opening ceremony.

It was then that Sun Hao witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

ps: Recommending a book Boss, I Don't Want Overtime. There are thousands of good-looking skins, but interesting books are one in a hundred. This one is very interesting.

Continuing from the chapter comments of the previous chapter, write about how you say "I like you" in your various dialects.

Yeah, I like you all too.

Remember to cast your recommendation tickets~