On the evening of November 16th, at the New Orleans Arena.
The final buzzer sounded, and the scoreboard showed 111-90. The Boston Celtics defeated the New Orleans Hornets on the road, ending their six-day, four-game road trip in the South with a perfect 4-0 record.
Although they won the game, the atmosphere in the away team's locker room was far from relaxed.
When head coach Rick Carlisle stood in front of the clipboard to review the game, he glanced at Dwyane Wade sitting in the corner.
Tonight, facing Hornets point guard Baron Davis, Wade, who had been performing brilliantly in the previous few games, had his worst first half of the season. Throughout the first half, Wade made only one of six shots, had the ball stolen twice by Davis while dribbling across half-court, and even stood still during a routine corner rotation defense in the second quarter, leaving the Hornets ' David Wesley open. Rick Carlisle had to substitute him early in the second quarter, allowing Tyronn Lue to play for most of the remaining half of the game.
After showering, Wade silently put on his sportswear, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and was the first to walk out of the locker room.
At Late Night p. m., the Celtics ' Boeing 757 charter plane took off from New Orleans International Airport, flying through the night sky towards Boston.
The lights in the front half of the cabin were dim, and most of the coaching staff and several role players, who had been traveling for four away games, had pulled up their eye masks and fallen asleep. But in the four-person seating area at the very back of the cabin, the reading lights overhead were as bright as day, and the atmosphere Heat.
A green woolen non-slip mat was laid on a folding tray table, with a thick stack of bright green US dollars piled in the middle. Five tall men were crammed into the spacious airline seats, playing Bourré, a card game similar to "Upgrade," which is the most popular card game on NBA away planes.
"King of Spades, this pot is mine!"
Tyronn Lue sat on the aisle, his eyes narrowed into slits with a smile, reaching out to grab the stack of banknotes in the middle of the table. He had played 26 minutes in place of Wade tonight, scoring 12 points and dishing out 6 assists, and now he was having an incredibly lucky streak at the poker table.
"Wait a minute, put your claws back!"
Sitting across from him, Chris Paul Pierce slammed down an Ace of Spades, smugly raising his chin. "Tyron, open your eyes and see what this is. You're too green to try and get money out of my pocket. Pay up, pay up! Everyone who called earlier, put another four hundred dollars into the pot!"
Tyronn Lue screamed, clutching his forehead and leaning back in his chair. " Chris Paul, how come you still have the Ace of Spades? I definitely checked the cards! I've lost all the pocket money I won tonight!"
Rasheed Wallace, standing nearby, burst into laughter, pulled four hundred-dollar bills from his pocket, tossed them into the pot, and raised an eyebrow at Gary Payton diagonally across from him. " Gary, weren't you shouting so loudly just now? How come you lost all three hands in a row?"
Gary Payton, his left knee wrapped in a brace, slurred an unlit cigar and tossed out four hundred dollars, cursing under his breath. "What's the rush? We just flew over Atlanta, still over two hours from Boston. Shuffle, shuffle, next hand I'll win your pants."
Garnett sat by the window, slowly shuffling his cards, and looked up over the backs of the seats a few rows ahead to glance at Wade was sitting in the middle of the cabin.
According to the team's old tradition, during card games on away flights, even if the rookies don't play themselves, they have to stand by, serve tea and water, help shuffle the cards, and keep track of the winnings. The day before yesterday, when flying from Orlando to Memphis, Tyson Chandler even paid $800 in tuition fees at the card table.
But tonight, from the moment the plane took off until now, Wade has been sitting alone in the front window seat. He wasn't even wearing headphones, and he was clutching a silver Motorola flip phone tightly in his hand, turning on the screen every two or three minutes to check it. His face was completely bloodless.
Just as Garnett looked over, the screen of Wade's flip phone lit up again.
Wade glanced down at the text message, his chest heaving twice. He slammed his phone shut with his right hand, slammed the back of his head against the airline seat, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh.
Garnett stopped shuffling the cards. He nudged Gary Payton next to him with his elbow and gestured towards the front row with his lip.
Gary Payton followed Garnett's gaze, spat out his cigar butt, and yelled at the front row, "Hey, Dwyane ( Wade )! Incubating eggs up there? Come here and get me a glass of ice water!"
Hearing the shout, Wade jolted, quickly stuffed his phone into his sweatpants pocket, got up to get a glass of iced water from the bar, and handed it to Gary Payton at the back of the cabin. "Here, Gary."
After handing over the water, Wade turned to return to his seat.
"Stop right there! Who said you could leave?"
Gary Payton slammed his water glass on the table and pointed to the empty half-seat next to Tyronn Lue: "Sit down."
Wade forced a smile, " Gary, I'm a bit tired tonight and want to go to bed early, so I won't watch you guys play cards."
"Stop pretending," Garnett said coldly, throwing his playing cards on the table. "It's been an hour since we took off from New Orleans, have you closed your eyes for even a second? You've sighed at least five times while looking at that crappy phone. Baron Davis could have blown you past in one step in the first half, and you were completely out of it on the court. Was it because of what was on that crappy phone?"
When Garnett called him out on the spot, Wade's face flushed, and he stood in the aisle, at a loss for what to do.
Pierce and Rasheed stopped shuffling the cards and turned to look at him.
"Sit down and talk," Gary Payton patted the leather cushion beside him, his tone softening slightly, but still leaving no room for refusal. "We're all on the same side. If you're in any trouble, just talk it out."
Wade hesitated for a few seconds, but finally sat down next to Tyronn Lue.
Gary Payton simply held out his hand, palm outstretched, and offered it to Wade: "Give me your phone."
" Gary, it's really nothing serious, just some personal matters back in Chicago. I can handle it myself..." Wade subconsciously clutched his pocket.
"You're utterly useless!"
Gary Payton scoffed, leaned forward, and pointed at Wade's nose, saying, "When I first entered the league in '90, you were still wearing diapers in Chicago. Let me guess what happened. Your black and white Converse ad aired on TV at the beginning of the month, and those $85 sneakers sold like hotcakes across the country. The Chicago Tribune wrote a big report last week saying that with your rookie contract and shoe endorsements, your net worth has exceeded fifteen million dollars."
"As soon as the newspaper published it, all those distant cousins you had no connection to in Chicago South Side, your elementary school classmates, even the thugs you used to sell bulk goods on the street corner, all pounced on you like Shark smelling blood. One asked to borrow money to buy a car, another asked to invest in a shop. When you refused, they called you and cursed you for being ungrateful, for looking down on your poor brothers now that you're a star athlete. Am I right?"
Wade froze in his seat, his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word.
Tyronn Lue, standing nearby, clicked his tongue twice. " Gary, did you put a bug in his phone?"
"Why would they need to install a bug?" Gary Payton rolled his eyes. "Nine and a half out of ten black kids who grew up in places like Oakland, Chicago, and Detroit, the moment they get their first paycheck in the NBA, will end up like this."
Wade lowered his head, rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, hesitated for a long time, and then took out his flip phone from his pocket, opened the text message box, and handed it to Gary Payton.
Gary Payton took the phone, glanced at it, and then casually handed it to Garnett and Pierce next to him.