At 11:15, Yao Ming strode into his new team's training facility with firm steps, arriving nearly two hours early.
He thought to himself, Getting to the court this early should make me one of the first ones here, right?
Yet the moment he stepped through the training facility doors, the sight before him made him realize he had been thinking too simply.
On the spacious, brightly lit court, Goodwin was like a ferocious cheetah, ruthlessly tearing apart the two rookies, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.
(One was a first-year player, the other a second-year player.)
Goodwin moved with astonishing speed and sharpness. Every attack flashed like lightning, while his defense was airtight, leaving his opponents completely unable to fight back.
Yao Ming stood quietly in the doorway, momentarily at a loss.
Not wanting to interrupt the three men's intense matchup, he silently walked to the sideline, found a seat, and watched the spectacular 1VS2 showdown with rapt attention.
From his seat at the sidelines, Yao Ming could clearly feel the overwhelming presence radiating from Goodwin.
This player's ability was simply beyond imagination. Even when double-teamed, he repeatedly came up with steals and kept possession firmly in his own hands.
Yao Ming's eyes widened in amazement. His mouth hung slightly open, but he had no idea what words could possibly describe everything he was seeing.
He could not help feeling fortunate that he had chosen to leave his old team and join the Boston Celtics.
If he had not bravely taken that step back then, he might have spent his entire life without ever touching the championship trophy.
Setting everything else aside, just looking at the Houston Rockets, his former team, if he had stayed, breaking out of the brutally competitive Western Conference would have been little more than a pipe