Preseason

"A Rui, no need to see me off. I'll just take the bus myself."

The next morning, Su Yi continued heading to the team's training facility, and Xu Rui still insisted on driving him there.

"Of course I will. I'm your future agent, big star!"

Su Yi couldn't talk Xu Rui out of it, so he reluctantly got into Xu Rui's car.

Halfway there, Su Yi spotted a donut shop and asked Xu Rui to pull over.

"Yi, since when did you start liking donuts?"

Xu Rui asked, looking at the donut shop in front of them.

"Buying them for the teammates."

Su Yi replied as he got out of the car.

"Oh, oh, playing the social game!"

Xu Rui quickly parked, pulled the key, unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and chased after Su Yi, who was a few meters ahead.

"Social game my ass. It's an NBA tradition—veterans hazing the rookies."

Su Yi couldn't help but complain.

"Huh?"

Xu Rui's brain short-circuited for a moment.

Su Yi quickly waved his hand, afraid Xu Rui might misunderstand, and explained, "It's an NBA tradition. 'Hazing' just means they prank you a little, like filling your car with popcorn or making you buy food. Stuff like that.

For me, it's just buying food, and sometimes I have to tie their shoelaces for them."

Hearing Su Yi's words, Xu Rui said he didn't quite get what kind of tradition this was.

"So, do you pay for the food, or do they?"

Xu Rui asked curiously.

"I do. I got stuck with a stingy team leader. No way around it!"

Su Yi replied helplessly.

"Huh? You have to pay for it? That's way too much. No wonder you don't like him, Yi. I don't like him either. He plays like crap on the court, and off it, his character's trash too.

Yi, I think I'm gonna become a LeBron Hater from now on."

Xu Rui stood up for his good buddy, instantly switching from fan to hater.

"Good, welcome to the LeBron Hater club."

Su Yi didn't expect to corrupt Xu Rui so quickly.

Su Yi, you really can do it (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

"Right, let me tell you, this guy's not just stingy about that.

When he goes out to eat with friends, it's usually Dutch treat, and he can't bear to spend twenty bucks on a data plan. He only uses the internet where there's free Wi-Fi.

He never pays for any memberships, listens to free music, and never buys any paid software.

Fine, I'll just chalk that up to him being frugal.

But what's even more disgusting is, when he gets fouled on the court and a teammate sticks up for him, that teammate ends up not only getting a technical foul and a fine but also a suspension.

Huge losses. A Rui, if it were you, what would you do?"

Su Yi threw the question to Xu Rui.

Xu Rui answered without hesitation, "No brainer—treat the teammate to a meal and pay the fine for him."

"But do you know what he did?"

Xu Rui shook his head, curious about what kind of shady move LeBron James would pull.

"As the team leader, he told the media he'd pay the teammate's fine. But then? He just put on a show and never actually paid."

As soon as Su Yi finished, Xu Rui shook his head and said, speechless:

"That's a thing? So hypocritical! Damn!

If I ran into someone like that, I'd probably be pissed to death!"

"So I've got to work hard. Once my rookie contract's up, I'll leave the Cavaliers and go to another team. Being on the same team with someone like that—just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable all over!"

Su Yi's words got full support from Xu Rui.

Su Yi bought over ten donuts and ten bottles of Happy Water, then, with Xu Rui driving, arrived at his destination—the training facility—in about twenty minutes.

"Thanks, A Rui."

Su Yi said, grabbing his stuff and quickly getting out of the car to head to the training facility.

Xu Rui didn't leave right away. He watched Su Yi's figure fade into the distance until he couldn't see him anymore, then drove off.

When Su Yi arrived at the training facility, he saw quite a few teammates already there.

The teammates also noticed Su Yi's arrival.

Big Z couldn't help teasing, "Su, you're later today than yesterday!"

"Zha Junas, I went to buy Donuts and Happy Water."

Su Yi said as he handed a Donut and a Happy Water to Big Z.

"Thanks."

Big Z took them and expressed his gratitude.

Su Yi silently thought, Big Z is really a good guy.

Why isn't Big Z the core of the team?

Sigh...

Then Su Yi handed them out one by one. Even with yesterday's performance, some teammates still didn't bother with him.

But Su Yi didn't mind. In his view, buying and handing out Donuts was just a job.

I just need to finish my work; the rest I don't care about.

As time passed, the remaining players arrived one after another, even LeBron James showed up.

Whenever someone arrived, Su Yi would go over with a Donut and Happy Water.

LeBron James was no exception.

When LeBron James saw Su Yi coming over with a Donut and Happy Water, he patted Su Yue on the shoulder and said, "Hey, rookie, nice work. Keep it up tomorrow."

With that, LeBron James took the Donut and Happy Water and started eating.

Keep it up my ass!

Su Yi couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Complaints aside, he kept a professional smile on his face.

"That's right, tomorrow is Tuesday, rookie. Bring me three extra Mexican Tacos."

LeBron James suddenly spoke.

Instantly snapping Su Yi back to reality.

Su Yi respectfully said, "Got it, boss."

"Go train."

LeBron James was very satisfied with this rookie's attitude.

(LeBron James: Learn well, Ricky!)

(Ricky Davis: I was the team boss back then!)

(LeBron James: (╯°Д°)╯)

"Yes, boss."

With that, Su Yi promptly moved away from LeBron James to train.

As they say, life is endless, training never stops.

The second day of team training wasn't as easy as the first; everyone stepped up their practice.

Su Yi handled it fine, easily keeping up with the team's training plan.

This made Mike Brown's eyes light up. He didn't expect Su Yi to effortlessly match the team's training load.

Then Su Yi lived a very fulfilling life day by day.

At the same time, his interactions with teammates were quite pleasant.

Soon it was October 10th, and the NBA Preseason kicked off without pause.

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced their first Preseason game, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks at home.

Su Yi thought Mike Brown would give him a chance, but in the first Preseason game, he only got 4 minutes, and those were the last 4 minutes.

Still, Su Yi didn't waste his time on court, hitting 2 of 2 three-pointers for 6 points.

Then, a day later, Mike Brown clearly gave him more time, subbing him in during both the second and fourth quarters.

Su Yi didn't squander this rare opportunity. In just over 9 minutes, he went 3 of 4 from the field, 1 of 2 from three, scoring 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Two days later, Mike Brown gave him even more playing time than the second game.

Su Yi felt like Mike Brown was treating him like a game, testing his limits?

Well, test away.

In the third game, Su Yi played 13 minutes, scoring 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist.

In the next three Preseason games, Su Yi played 15 minutes, 18 minutes, and 21 minutes respectively!

Su Yi had gradually adapted to the NBA's pace.

In the final Preseason game, Su Yi went 7 of 13 from the field, 3 of 7 from three, scoring a Preseason-high 17 points.

With the Preseason over, the new NBA season—the 06-07 season—was set to officially begin on October 31st.