"Hey, Allan, it's nothing."
Sprewell could not wait to strap the watch onto his wrist. He shook his wrist, and the cool touch of the band against his skin made him grin broadly. "This is called a 'leader's investment'! Li, don't worry—if anyone dares to slack off on the court tonight, I'll be the first to wake him up by smashing this watch into him!"
Madman's crude joke instantly lit up the mood, and the locker room erupted in good-natured laughter.
"Since Li is being so generous, I can't be stingy either."
The white-haired Lithuanian giant Arvydas Sabonis chuckled as he took a wooden case from his locker. "This is the finest red wine from my hometown. I had it flown in from Lithuania specially. Tonight, we crush the San Antonio Spurs, then drink to our hearts' content!"
"And mine!" Sprewell proudly produced a pile of exquisitely wrapped boxes. "The latest Bose noise-canceling headphones, the QC Series! Put these on, and the noise of the whole world has nothing to do with you. All that remains is basketball and victory! And, of course, my rap album."
Allan Houston, meanwhile, somewhat awkwardly took out the gifts he had prepared—more than a dozen wrapped hardcover books.
"I... I didn't know what everyone liked, so I picked some books that I thought were good. There are novels, and biographies too..."
Before he could finish, Li Fei was the first to take one, saying earnestly, "Thank you, Allan. This is the best gift. Wisdom is more precious than gold."
The teammates all chimed in. Gifts and laughter filled the locker room, and the tense atmosphere from moments ago was replaced by a powerful sense of brotherhood.
They were not merely teammates. They were more like one big family.
That warm atmosphere stood in stark