Winning Is the Main Goal

"Su, your three-point shooting is incredible. Are you going to enter the Three-Point Contest this year?"

After the game ended, Peja Stojakovic couldn't help but walk over and ask.

Su Yi was just a rookie, but on the court, as long as you had the skill, your résumé and everything else could be completely ignored.

In this game, Su Yi hit 7 of 13 three-pointers, a shooting percentage of 53.8%.

Such a high percentage truly stunned Peja Stojakovic.

But this wasn't just a one-game or two-game fluke for Su Yi—it was his norm.

That forced Peja Stojakovic, himself a shooter, to acknowledge it.

That was why Peja Stojakovic asked the question.

Su Yi was taken aback. He hadn't expected Peja Stojakovic to ask that, and he really hadn't thought about the All-Star Weekend at all.

For Su Yi, his current goal was simply training and playing every game well.

"Sorry, Peja, I honestly haven't thought about it."

Su Yi told the truth.

"Su, then start thinking about it tonight. I hope I can face you in the Three-Point Contest."

Peja Stojakovic said.

For Peja Stojakovic, who had already won the Three-Point Contest twice, he had planned to skip it because the competition was too boring.

But now that his rival had appeared, the desire to crush an opponent came back.

So Peja Stojakovic really hoped Su Yi would seriously consider participating in the All-Star Three-Point Contest.

As for whether the league would invite Su Yi, Peja Stojakovic wasn't worried at all.

In Peja Stojakovic's view, inviting Su Yi to the Three-Point Contest would be the league's best move.

In fact, in Peja Stojakovic's opinion, if Su Yi kept up this form into January, he might become the busiest player at this year's All-Star Weekend.

"I'll think about it."

The two then shared a friendly hug, and Su Yi headed back toward the player tunnel.

Of course, before returning to the tunnel, he had to sign autographs for the young fans gathered at both sides of the tunnel entrance.

Now, there were roughly over thirty of these young fans.

At first, there had only been a few, but as time passed, it had grown to over thirty.

At this, Su Yi's smile was harder to suppress than an AK.

Young fans were the most loyal fans an athlete could have.

Su Yi signed autographs and took photos with all the young fans.

"Tyrus, you're signing a jersey again? Did you buy a new one?"

Su Yi asked as he signed for the young fan Tyrus Haliburton.

After all, every time Tyrus Haliburton came to him for an autograph, it was on a brand-new jersey.

"Su, I made a deal with my dad. From now on, whenever I come to watch a game in person, he'll buy me one of your jerseys."

Tyrus Haliburton explained.

Hearing this, Su Yi couldn't help but reach out and pat Tyrus Haliburton's head. "Thank you, Tyrus!"

At his idol's words, a bright smile spread across Tyrus Haliburton's face.

As for Tyrus Haliburton's father, standing nearby, he showed no sign of burden at his son's words.

After all, their family was quite well-off, and besides, since they were already here, how could it be proper not to buy some merchandise to take home?

"Bye, everyone. See you next time."

Su Yi waved goodbye to his young fans and turned to leave.

"Bye, Su!" "Bye, Su, you're so handsome!" "Su..."

The young fans called out to Su Yi's retreating back.

One after another, their childish voices reached Su Yi's ears, and he couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.

At the same time, he deeply understood why the national basketball level in his past life had gotten worse and worse.

Even with a mature NBA league to learn from, they didn't bother to study it—instead, they only made things worse. That was the gap in human touch.

A small incident could show the difference between the two sides.

In the NBA, players interacted frequently with the audience, responding to fans both young and old with high-fives, showing approachability.

Even after losing a game and feeling terrible, the fans were still their treasures.

As long as a fan wanted a photo or an autograph, players would almost always agree, even forcing a smile to cooperate.

In contrast, the domestic league was different. Players usually wore blank expressions, hurried past, and had no interaction at all.

It felt as if they thought they were above everyone else.

As if it's your honor just to watch me play.

Setting aside everything else, seeds have already been planted in the hearts of these young fans of Su Yi—I want to play in the NBA!

At the same time, Su Yi knew that some of these kids would actually make that dream come true.

Maybe that's the gap right there.

And Su Yi was also glad that his rebirth came as a Chinese person.

After all, he had no interest in getting involved with the national team.

He didn't have the energy to play mind games with so-called leaders.

Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't help domestic basketball at all. But he believed the current environment in China couldn't produce world-class basketball players.

After all these years, there was still only Yao Ming.

So in the future, he planned to set up something like Kobe's Mamba Academy from his past life—a place specifically to train kids from China.

But all that would have to wait until he'd made a name for himself, since it would take a huge amount of money.

All in all, Su Yi felt that his rebirth was pretty interesting. Not only could he personally slap the faces of LeBron Stans, but he could also do a lot of meaningful things.

After returning to the locker room, Su Yi washed up and changed clothes, then followed a staff member to the post-game press conference.

The moment Su Yi arrived at the press conference, reporters immediately started firing questions in a jumble.

You'd think it was a vegetable market.

Su Yi had to wait until they finished their barrage, then casually pointed to one and said, "You."

The White Male Reporter who was picked stood up excitedly and asked, "Su, congratulations on scoring 30+ again. The Cavaliers are back on top of the East under your leadership. What do you have to say about that?"

Su Yi replied, "First of all, thanks to my teammates. Every win is the result of everyone's hard work. We're going to win a lot more games from here."

As soon as he finished, Su Yi pointed to a Black Female Reporter.

The Black Female Reporter asked, "Su, do you think you're already the core of the Cavaliers?"

Su Yi didn't plan to answer that directly. Instead, he paused thoughtfully and asked back, "What do you think—am I or aren't I? More importantly, whether I am or not doesn't matter. What matters is helping the team win."

As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, many local media reporters at the scene burst into applause.

Well said. Winning is the only thing that matters.

What's core, what's stats—do any of those matter in the face of a loss?

The reporters then continued asking Su Yi several more questions. None of them were too sharp, and Su Yi answered them all very amiably.

The entire interview lasted half an hour before the reporters finally let Su Yi go.

After it ended, Su Yi turned and left without looking back. Xu Rui was still waiting for him in the parking lot.