The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 114 - 100: There Must Be Something to Prove the Cavaliers Shouldn’t Trade Me_2

Chapter 114: Chapter 100: There Must Be Something to Prove the Cavaliers Shouldn’t Trade Me_2

The next day, Pacers players rode the bus to Quicken Loans Arena, where Su Wan felt the extreme unwelcome from the Clevelanders. Moreover, unlike the boos from the Washington fans at the MCI Center, from the expressions on these fans’ faces, one could tell they genuinely despised Su Wan.

No wonder, their "Chosen One" was being tortured by Su Wan in the media every day. Any Clevelander with a bit of regional sentiment couldn’t stand it, let alone the "true fans."

Furthermore, Erin’s interview with him was released in the morning, unsurprisingly causing a stir.

At this moment, the people of Cleveland were at their most irritable.

If it weren’t for the bodyguards around Su Wan, it wouldn’t be surprising if some extreme Cavaliers fans wanted to smash a bottle of authentic Cleveland spirits over his head.

But these fans, so protective of LeBron, could never imagine that one day this "city hero" in the eyes of Clevelanders would say he’s not from Cleveland, but Akron, which is his hometown. Clevelanders often call Akron people "country bumpkins."

Su Wan took all these jeers to heart, obviously oblivious to the foolishness of their actions.

In the pre-game interview phase, Erin appeared.

Looking at her, it was as if nothing happened the day before.

That adjustment speed is indeed very "American chick."

She showed Su Wan a clip of her ESPN colleagues interviewing LeBron.

"I’m really looking forward to this game, competing against Su on the court. No matter how many times this happens, it always seems interesting to the outside world. I know many media try to portray us as arch-rivals, but there’s nothing like that between us. We have completely different styles of play, we play in different positions, you should compare me with players in the same position and style as myself. Anyway, I believe it will be an exciting showdown."

Honestly speaking, even Chengdu has Tianfu Avenue which is straight. With LeBron James, you just never know which of his words is genuine, always so...

It’s too hard to hear him speak the truth.

And the key is, he always says falsities that others can see through at a glance.

Barkley harshly criticized LeBron in the studio: "He won’t be looking forward to this game with Su. If he loses, the Cavaliers won’t even have a theoretical chance at the playoffs, effectively shut out by Su Wan. How could he look forward to that? LeBron, sometimes you should speak the truth. Show your attitude, you’re the King, buddy. A King should have the aura of a King. Why always try to be a good guy in front of the media? Su Wan has said so many offensive things, yet he’s still an Eastern Conference All-Star starter, that’s not the issue. Toughen up, LeBron. Respond to Su Wan, just say you can lead the Cavaliers to beat them and keep your playoff hopes alive!"

Sitting beside him, Kenny Smith shook his head slightly: "Buddy, you have to allow LeBron to have his own personality. He’s not that kind of person. He prefers to let his actions speak and keeps his words for after the game."

"Isn’t that kind of person just afraid of losing and getting slapped in the face, Kenny?" Barkley retorted, "Do you think Michael would stay silent in the face of what Su Wan said? Would he tell reporters that he’s looking forward to competing against Su Wan?"

Kenny Smith stayed silent then, as the whole world knew the answer:

Michael Jordan would express his stance immediately and respond fiercely.

"LeBron wants to be the next Michael, he should think about what Michael would do at a time like this! His current approach..." Barkley suddenly let out a weird laugh, "reminds me of Scottie."

Kenny Smith laughed as well; he was from that era and knew full well that Scottie Pippen did indeed shrink back in the face of the media. His single phrase "The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays" exhausted all his brain cells.

LeBron in front of the camera was like Scottie Pippen in jersey number 23.

That night, ABC, TNT, and ESPN all broadcasted the game live all over the United States. Moreover, all countries worldwide with NBA rights were also broadcasting live. This showed the level of attention the outside world had for the game.

Up until now, the outside world was still unclear about the irreconcilable differences between Su Wan and LeBron; whenever this was brought up, Danny Ferri always used the line "Trading him was my decision, and I take full responsibility for it!"

But everyone knew that Su Wan, who had shown his potential early on with "the third in history" level of rookie performance, wouldn’t be traded away so easily.

There was only one reason for his trade, and that was the huge conflict between him and LeBron.

All the signs of Su Wan targeting LeBron after leaving the Cavaliers also proved this.

Twenty minutes before the game started, both teams entered the arena to find the stands packed to the brim, which surprised even Su Wan. During his time with the Cavaliers, he had never seen such a full venue in the regular season.

The moment he walked out of the player tunnel, the boos seemed almost overwhelming.

Coming off the bus, Su Wan thought he understood just how much the Cavaliers fans hated him, but now he realized he had been wildly wrong; the booing in the afternoon was a mere tenth of what he was encountering now.

Fortunately, he had already experienced the jeers of an entire stadium in San Antonio, so this was nothing too serious.

Ten minutes before the game started, an ABC reporter interviewed Su Wan. His question was very straightforward, "What will you do tonight, Su?"

Su Wan looked around, still able to hear the intermittent booing. He turned to the questioning reporter,

"What do you say, how should I be nice to these bastards?"

The reporter revealed a look of instant understanding. As sideline reporters for the NBA, they were always the first to grasp players’ mocking tones and aggressive expressions. They had seen too many similar expressions.

Because of this, he did not doubt that Su Wan’s answer would be full of impact.

And then Su Wan proved it,

"I’ll make these boos disappear and simultaneously crush the Cavaliers’ dreams for this season!"

His voice was loud, with no regard for the Cavaliers players preparing to take the court next to him, including LeBron. LeBron heard Su Wan’s determination, paused mid-step, his expression froze, and a strong displeasure flitted through his eyes. But he quickly adjusted his mood, called his starting teammates over to form a huddle, and led a spirited cheer.

The leadership charisma sparked a massive roar of cheers from the crowd.

The starting lineups for both teams took their positions at center court.

The Pacers’ starters had no changes, and the Cavaliers’ were the same as last time:

Point Guard LeBron, two McGinnis, small forward Newell, Power forward Drew Gooden, five "Big Z."

Gooden and Little O’Neal jumped ball.

Crushed!

Gooden, who had smoked too much weed, couldn’t concentrate at all.

Yet, on the other hand, it also demonstrated his talent. To drift off like that on the court sometimes and still average 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds for the season.

Isn’t that why the NBA is never short of geniuses?

Tinsley brought the ball upcourt and immediately passed it to Su Wan. A tremendous wave of boos erupted, shaking the ground.

Facing McGinnis, Su Wan didn’t even call for a pick and roll, he just broke through forcefully, using the confrontation to tear apart the Cavaliers’ formation and create an opening. LeBron stepped up to defend, but Su Wan’s "fake move" pass threw him off.

That was LeBron’s defensive help - quick to come, even quicker to leave.

Su Wan charged to the basket, scoring with a rhythm-changing layup.

Big Z, who was supposed to help on defense, was thrown off by Su Wan’s sudden change of pace, his leg muscles relaxed and then tensed, but it was too late to jump again.

"Paul... Brandon?"

While retreating on defense, Su Wan instinctively wanted to taunt Silas, but he found himself facing the face of Brandon Malone.

"Where’s Paul?"

"He’s been fired."

"Congratulations, Brandon. I’ll have a gift ready for you!"

"Thank you."

Su Wan felt a bit of regret. He wasn’t just planning on grilling LeBron tonight; he was ready to give Paul Silas the same treatment, but it seemed Silas still couldn’t escape his fate...

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