"Li, you're a cover-worthy star now."
Berkeley, University of California
In the men's dormitory
Kidd handed Li Fei a newspaper and said with a grin, "You're the first Asian player to make the cover of an NCAA magazine. I bet the whole league knows you can do kung fu by now."
"I've told you, I really don't know kung fu..."
Li Fei sighed helplessly and took the newspaper.
The cover featured him.
Only...
It had nothing to do with basketball. It showed him knocking Big Dog out with one punch.
"This..."
Li Fei put the newspaper aside with a speechless look. "I've got so many great dunking highlights, and they use a shot of me fighting instead. Is this even a respectable news outlet...?"
"It's not just the official NCAA paper. Our campus newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bay Guardian, the East Bay Times... they've all put you on their covers."
Kidd snickered. "But..."
"They all seem more interested in your fight."
In the 1990s, before the internet had taken off,
television and newspapers were still the main ways news spread.
And making a magazine cover was an honor unique to this era.
Only...
I'm a basketball player! A man who'll one day be one of the Four Great Shooting Guards. I could put up with people calling me a center, but now I'm a boxer, too?
What a disaster...
Still, Li Fei's punch had a positive effect.
It didn't prove he was a violent thug on the court, but it did show how tough he was. People shouldn't mistake an Asian player for a pushover.
NBC and TNT were also churning out reports about Li Fei.
They even devoted a segment on their evening sports programs to analyzing him.
But with only a dozen or so minutes of game footage to go on, and Purdue University knowing so little about Li Fei, he hadn't yet earned widespread recognition.
Still, some sharp-eyed experts already thought that half a season would be all Li Fei needed to prove he was a lottery-level prospect.
In other words,
Li Fei still needed time and games to earn genuine recognition.
Unfortunately, he got no more chances to show what he could do in the upcoming preseason games.
He'd been handed a three-game suspension.
Luckily, they were all preseason games, so the suspension wouldn't affect the conference standings.
October 3.
The preseason ended, and the annual NCAA regular season officially began.
To build anticipation for the regular season in each conference, the major sports magazines announced their chosen cover stars.
The funny thing was,
Big Dog, who'd been projected to go first overall in several mock drafts, was no longer in the running.
It wasn't because he wasn't good enough. The "getting beaten up" incident had simply ruined his reputation and his image.
Around the Bay Area, praise for Jason Kidd was everywhere.
The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, the Bay Guardian, the San Jose Mercury News...
They all featured Jason Kidd on their covers.
In other conferences,
one college All-Star after another appeared in the major magazines.
Grant Hill, Duke University's gentlemanly player, was that graceful, charming man who seemed to have milk and honey flowing through his every word and gesture. He'd always been a favorite of Sports Illustrated.
Grant Hill also had another distinction: he'd been part of NCAA championship teams in the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons.
Polished, handsome, a hot draft prospect, and already a two-time champion, he had the ability to enter the NBA but had chosen to stay in college for four years.
That kept him in the spotlight on campus, and he'd never fallen out of the top five in draft projections.
Speaking of good looks,
Juwan Howard, another member of Michigan's Fab Five, had practically taken over the covers of every newspaper in Michigan.
He was known for his humility and gentle manner, but the 6-foot-9 Juwan Howard was anything but gentle on the court.
He played with a trademark mix of toughness and discipline.
Although Chris Webber, the former leader of the University of Michigan's team, had entered the NBA as the first overall pick that year, Juwan Howard was destined to carry on Chris Webber's legacy.
He would make up for the Fab Five's failure to win a championship!
Besides them, two freshmen had also become popular cover stars.
The Flying Devil, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest University.
He'd only just stepped onto a college court, but his explosive athleticism and no-frills technique had already earned him rave reviews throughout Winston-Salem.
Besides Duncan,
another freshman, a white forward who'd averaged 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists across three preseason games, was being hailed as California's new hope: Keith Van Horn.
Keith Van Horn's Utah University was a member of the Pac-12.
Across the entire Pac-12, the only players featured on magazine covers as often as Kidd were Keith Van Horn.
As it happened,
the University of California, Berkeley's regular-season opener
was against Utah University, led by Keith Van Horn.
"Thank goodness I'm eligible again for the season opener."
Berkeley, University of California
Li Fei looked over the lineup for their opening-night opponent.
His gaze settled on one name: Keith Van Horn.
Of course Li Fei knew who this guy was.
He and Duncan were known as the '97 Twin Towers. Van Horn was the No. 2 pick in the '97 draft, and both men were power forwards who'd spent four years in college.
In his first year in the NBA, Van Horn had averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds. In his second year, those numbers had climbed to 22 and 8.
If not for The Big Fundamental, who'd averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks right out of his rookie season, Van Horn might've claimed every bit of praise and acclaim in 1997.
He really was second only to Duncan, and above everyone else.
Of course,
Van Horn's later career wasn't nearly as dazzling.
Plagued by injuries year after year, he retired at just thirty.
"Li, people still don't know enough about you."
Kidd was very dissatisfied with the way Li Fei was being treated.
Li Fei deserved better than just a first-round pick.
He should at least be a lottery pick.
In Kidd's mind, Li Fei was a top-three prospect.
Li Fei was like everyone's girlfriend who acted like a good girl in public, but once you got her home, you realized just how much gas she guzzled...
"You'll have another poster moment, Li."
Kidd said, "As long as you beat Keith Van Horn in the opener, you'll be in the public eye for good."
The Pac-12 season opener.
University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears VS Utah University, Utah Utes
Everyone expected Keith Van Horn VS Jason Kidd.
But in the eyes of the Golden Bears' players,
tonight's main event
was watching Li Fei find all sorts of ways to beat the stuffing out of Keith Van Horn!
Before you continue