This Kid Was Pretty Straightforward (Bonus Chapter for Dream Xuanxuan Becoming a Helmsman)

"Jeremy! Jeremy!"

As soon as they entered the locker room, the teammates could not help shouting Lamb's name.

The team had ended its losing streak, and Lamb was the biggest contributor. He deserved this kind of celebration.

Lamb was a little shy, but he still joined in with his teammates.

"Tang, you ended up being the unsung hero," Walker said, pulling Tang Tian over.

"Feels pretty good," Tang Tian said with a smile.

Walker glanced at Tang Tian and smiled as well.

Tang Tian did not seek credit at all. His personal charm really was something else.

At the postgame press conference, Cahoon brought Tang Tian and Lamb with him. His face was full of smiles.

Clearly, he was especially pleased with tonight's victory.

"This could not have been a more wonderful night. We won the game, Jeremy found his form, and Tang was still deadly accurate from beyond the arc. In fact, if you ask me how I feel right now, I already can't wait to see how this team performs once Kemba returns," Cahoon answered the reporters' routine questions in a way that left everyone feeling refreshed.

"Jeremy, you played your best game in several outings. What happened?" The reporter then turned to Lamb.

"Um... I knew I hadn't been playing well before, and I blamed myself for the team's losses. Actually, I knew that with Kemba injured, I had to step up. But during games, I always felt like I was falling just short. I didn't know what it was before, but now I do. I lacked a bit of courage. It was Tang. He really pushed me. He gave me the courage to carry this team on my shoulders."

Lamb spoke slowly, pausing between phrases, but that slowness made the sincerity in his words all the more apparent. These were words straight from his heart.

After Lamb finished speaking, flashes went off beneath the stage—not only for Lamb, but for Tang Tian as well.

Tang Tian was stunned for a moment. He had only wanted to be an unsung hero, just as Walker had said. He had not expected Lamb to say it outright in front of the reporters.

Still, it made him think much more highly of Lamb.

This kid was pretty straightforward.

"Tang, what happened?" The reporters turned their attention toward Tang Tian.

"Actually, it was nothing. We just sat down and talked. Jeremy is very talented. I told him to be bold and try things, and he boldly went and did it," Tang Tian said calmly.

After he said that, Lamb froze for a moment, while Cahoon beside him could not help laughing.

This was the best way to handle it. That trash-talk-filled one-on-one battle obviously was not suitable for media exposure.

"Really?" The reporter clearly did not believe him and turned to look at Lamb.

"Yes, really." Lamb was slow to react, but he caught on.

"I'm sorry, Tang." After the press conference, Lamb took the initiative to apologize to Tang Tian.

He had been in a prolonged slump, then suddenly exploded in this game. Unless someone was an idiot, even the person involved would know what had caused the change.

Tang Tian's method had been rather rough, but it had indeed worked. That was also why Lamb had said what he did at the press conference.

"It's nothing. Just don't blame me for making you look so miserable when I guarded you that day," Tang Tian said with a smile.

Hearing Tang Tian joke around, Lamb knew he did not mind and smiled as he nodded.

The two had put their past grievances behind them, and Lamb had found his form again. For UConn, it was an incomparably wonderful night.

There were a full five days of rest before the next game, so Cahoon gave the players a day off. Taking advantage of the break, Tang Tian took a bus to New Haven again.

Unlike last time, he had not come to play basketball games. Instead, he went straight to a local streetball court.

Streetball culture was incredibly strong in America. Rucker Park was world-famous, and in some areas, streetball stars were even more famous than NBA superstars—figures such as the legendary Goat, as well as Rafer Alston, who had played for the Rockets.

Of course, Tang Tian had not come to play streetball today. He was here for the one-on-one games he had looked up before.

After walking around the streetball court, he quickly found what he was looking for.

Some people over there were playing high-stakes games, one hundred dollars per game.

Tang Tian walked over and stood to the side to watch.

Bang!

A Black player nearly two meters tall blew past his opponent and threw down a Tomahawk Dunk.

After dunking, he kept pursing his lips and shaking his head.

"Killer! Killer!"

The spectators at the sidelines joined in, shouting excitedly.

"Killer" was obviously this streetball player's nickname.

"Who is he?" Tang Tian turned and asked a Black spectator beside him.

The spectator had not noticed that someone had suddenly appeared next to him. Hearing Tang Tian's question, he glanced at him. "First time here?"

"Yes." Tang Tian nodded.

"Then you'd better learn about him. He's Killer, Sean Foster. He's the best streetball player in New Haven," the man said proudly.

Swish!

Just then, Foster used consecutive back-to-the-basket fakes to shake his defender, then hit a beautiful Fadeaway Jumper.

After scoring, he made a throat-slitting gesture at his opponent, immediately drawing even louder cheers from the sidelines.

Compared to college basketball or professional basketball, the biggest difference in streetball was its freedom. A move that would one hundred percent get someone ejected in a professional game was the best tool for firing up the crowd here.

The one-on-one game continued. Foster's opponent had a solid handle, but physically, he was on a completely different level from Foster. His floater was sent flying by Foster with a volleyball-style rejection.

The spectators erupted again.

The streetball atmosphere in America really was unmatched.

After the block, Foster also circled around the court. As he walked, he held out his hand toward the spectators, imitating Iverson's gesture of listening for cheers.

The crowd instantly went even crazier.

More spectators bred better performances, but even the best performances needed spectators. American streetball players and streetball crowds truly could not exist without each other.

After watching for a while, Tang Tian quickly saw from the physicality that Foster was a professional player, or had been one before.

Streetball emphasized freedom and flashy moves, but in one-on-one games, physicality still mattered. Without it, no matter how dazzling your dribbling was, you would still inevitably get blocked in the end.

"Who's next?" After winning that game, Foster shouted toward the sidelines.

"I'll go." Another white player stepped onto the court. He was taller and even more muscular than Foster.

"Tank! Tank!" The surrounding crowd began shouting the white player's name.

Tank certainly lived up to his name, but his body looked somewhat soft. At a glance, his body-fat percentage was clearly on the high side, making him obviously different from Foster.

Tang Tian knew Tank definitely could not beat Foster, so he simply pulled out his phone and searched for Foster's background.

The search actually turned up something. Foster had been selected fifty-first overall by the Raptors in 2008, but he had not signed with them and had gone straight to Europe to play in its leagues. Later, he had even tried out for the Mavericks, but unfortunately, he had not made the team there either.

No wonder. An NBA fringe player playing one-on-one at a streetball court was practically invincible.

Thanks to Dream Xuanxuan for the generous donation. Congratulations, brother, on becoming this book's first Helmsman!

And thanks to Blazing Flame Qilin for the donation as well!

Eggplant will thank everyone for every donation from now on!