"Su scores 30 in his debut! The NBA welcomes a new generation of superstar!"
"An all-time debut! Su's performance brings LeBron's rookie season to mind!"
"No wonder Su is so good—his role model is LeBron James!"
After Xu Rui read these sports headlines to Su Yi, Su initially thought they were pretty good.
A new-generation superstar!
Well, not bad!
But why did they have to bring up LeBron next?
How good was LeBron James's debut, anyway?
Su Yi remembered it clearly: LeBron James scored 25 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 9 assists, and got 4 steals in his debut. In the end, though, they lost!
What was the point of bringing up a loss?
Of course, the media had gone wild praising his 25-5-5 stat line as unprecedented in history.
Su Yi: (ˉ▽￣~) Tch~~
With so many stats to choose from, they might as well have said he hogged the ball.
Just look at that game: Ricky Davis, the team's former star, only took 15 shots—not even as many as rookie LeBron James. You could imagine what that meant: he was a ball hog on the court.
Fine, you were a ball hog. At the very least, you should've led the team to a win.
But the team lost, while you personally didn't, right?
And after the game, they still praised him like crazy.
This was probably where that saying started: the team lost, but the player didn't.
"A Rui, stop reading. Just hearing that guy's name gives me a headache. I scored 30 in my debut, but the reporters had to drag his name into it. I can't even."
Su Yi couldn't help rubbing his forehead.
Hearing Su Yi, Xu Rui stopped reading.
Xu Rui immediately changed the subject. "Yi, Plants vs. Zombies sold over ten million copies yesterday!"
"That's pretty good."
Su Yi nodded.
"Yi, why aren't you excited at all? That's ten million copies! The sales revenue is over a billion dollars!"
Xu Rui hadn't expected such a calm reaction from Su Yi.
Su Yi forced a smile. "I'm excited. I'm so excited. What do you want to eat tonight? It's on me!"
"Yi, that smile is so fake."
As soon as Xu Rui finished speaking, Su Yi dropped the fake smile.
That evening, the two of them went with the coaching staff to a local Michelin-starred restaurant and ate their fill.
"Come on, let's all raise a glass and wish Su a smooth and successful NBA career!"
Kai Lei Menluo raised his glass first.
Everyone raised their glasses in unison to congratulate Su Yi.
They hadn't worked with Su Yi for very long, but they'd already come to love the job. The pay was great, and their employer was wonderful!
Naturally, they hoped the job would last a good long while.
So of course they hoped Su Yi's NBA career would keep going smoothly, that he'd keep improving, and that he'd go far.
"Thanks. I'll work hard, play for twenty years, and try to keep you all employed until you retire!"
As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, everyone laughed!
The private coaching staff averaged forty-one years of age. If Su Yi played for twenty years, just as he said, he really could keep them employed until retirement.
After eating and drinking their fill, they returned home. Su Yi rested briefly, then trained for another two and a half hours before calling it a day.
Then he washed up and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Su Yi arrived at the team's training facility.
He trained for nearly an hour before his teammates began arriving one by one.
Su Yi greeted them all!
Su Yi had transformed so much that after just a few days, people could hardly believe it was the same person!
His teammates all responded enthusiastically.
In the NBA, the stronger you were, the more respect you earned.
After the team's regular practice, everyone headed to the meeting room to watch game footage.
Naturally, they were watching footage of tonight's opponents—the San Antonio Spurs.
Why would they watch footage of the Cleveland Cavaliers?
GM LeBron would probably be the first to object.
As Su Yi watched the San Antonio Spurs' footage, he glanced at LeBron James up front and couldn't help the corners of his mouth from lifting.
The San Antonio Spurs were probably the biggest thorn in LeBron James's side throughout his entire career.
After all, Tim Duncan played for the San Antonio Spurs.
Su Yi still clearly remembered a picture he'd seen in his previous life.
There was a dividing line down the middle. Tim Duncan was on the left, and LeBron James was on the right.
What was twenty-three-year-old Tim Duncan doing? Winning a championship and an FMVP!
What was thirty-year-old Tim Duncan doing? Sending twenty-three-year-old LeBron James home!
What was thirty-eight-year-old Tim Duncan doing? Sending thirty-year-old LeBron James home!
Pfft!
Su Yi couldn't hold back a laugh. This puzzled Damon Jones, who was sitting in front of him.
He turned around and glanced at Su Yi. Su Yi waved him off.
Then he quickly composed himself and turned his attention back to the footage.
Time flew by, and before long it was seven in the evening. The Cleveland Cavaliers were about to face the San Antonio Spurs at Quick Loan Center Arena in Cleveland!
After his spectacular debut, more Cavaliers fans recognized Su Yi.
When the introductions reached Su Yi and he stepped out of the players' tunnel, the cheers and applause were even louder than they'd been in the first game.
Su Yi greeted the fans as he made his way to the center of the court.
After the grand introductions, both teams warmed up.
When warm-ups ended, the starters from both teams took the court.
Su Yi was still coming off the bench for this game.
Before the game, LeBron James had asked Mike Brown to start Su Yi, but Mike Brown hadn't agreed.
Mike Brown thought it was too soon and wanted to watch him for a few more games before deciding.
"Beep! Beep!"
The whistle blew, and the game began.
LeBron James came out firing, attacking the basket and hitting shots from outside. He scored 15 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, dished out 1 assist, and got 1 steal in the first quarter, leading the team to a 23–18 lead—just five points ahead.
"LeBron!" "LeBron!" "LeBron!" The fans went wild.
On the bench, Su Yi couldn't help frowning. This guy was playing so well, but he still couldn't open up a lead.
Fine, let me take over!
Su Yi came on in the second quarter. Right away, he moved without the ball and kept finding open looks.
Damon Jones promptly fed him the ball!
"Swish!" "Swish!" "Swish!"...
In less than two minutes, Su Yi had made all three of his shots and scored 9 points, leading the team on a 9–4 run and pushing the lead into double digits.
Su Yi glanced at LeBron James on the bench and thought to himself, This is the difference between us!
I can open up a lead with ease, while you have to fight tooth and nail just to build one.
More importantly, Su Yi's style of play was completely different from LeBron James's.
LeBron James had the whole team revolve around him, with his teammates creating space for him. Su Yi, by contrast, created space for his teammates.
"Timeout!"
Popovich couldn't help calling a timeout. Even when LeBron James had kept hitting shots, Popovich hadn't thought they were anything to worry about.
But if they let this rookie keep shooting, they were going to fall apart!
After the timeout, Popovich sent extra defenders to guard Su Yi.
Seeing that, Su Yi made himself a decoy, creating opportunities for his teammates.
His teammates didn't let him down. They kept knocking down shots.
The Cavaliers' bench unit found its rhythm, pouring in 20 points in just half a quarter.
The lead grew to 15 points.
The San Antonio Spurs were left a little stunned.
And it wasn't just the Spurs—even the home fans were a little dumbfounded.
Was this really our Cleveland Cavaliers?
Since when could we play offense with such effortless flow?
In the fans' minds, the Cleveland Cavaliers' offense depended entirely on LeBron James!
LeBron James setting screens, LeBron James driving for a layup, LeBron James passing...
But it turned out that without LeBron James, their team could still play with such effortless flow.
It was awesome!
The fans in the arena couldn't help getting hyped!
Before you continue