The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 128 - 107: Stop making a fuss; can this even be considered a rival?

Chapter 128: Chapter 107: Stop making a fuss; can this even be considered a rival?

April 16, the morning after the regular season ended, Su Wan sat down for an interview with Nike’s special interview team, creating material for the first documentary of his life.

During that time, he called a halt to the interview twice.

Nike wanted to build him up as a "rival" to LeBron James.

Su Wan was not surprised by this.

For instance, the League later promoted "23VS24" as David Stern’s intention, it was also the result of constant hype by Nike-affiliated media.

They hyped up LeBron’s matchup with Kobe as the "League Face" passing the baton.

This contrived rivalry was definitely successful; those two years saw Nike shoe sales skyrocket.

But this was not an outcome Su Wan wished to see, what caliber, to share the same track with him?

Without hesitation, he said, "Do you think LeBron has the ability to be my rival so far?"

The lead interviewer fell silent.

Third in All-Star voting for Eastern Conference guards, not a starter, whereas Su Wan was first;

In the critical "do-or-die" game, Su Wan became the "Youngest Player to Score 50", while LeBron only had 7 points by the third quarter...

Even they had to admit, LeBron currently wasn’t even close to being a "rival" in front of Su Wan, forget "opponent", he was just a mere "background board."

The second time he stopped was when Su Wan felt that Nike was trying to turn the other Pacers into the "CBA."

This was also a method favored by Nike-affiliated directors, a way to highlight the main character.

The most typical example being Michael Jordan’s "The Last Dance" documentary, with the Bulls team, including "Second Brother Pi," all becoming mere backdrops, no, not even backdrops, they were completely blackened out.

Su Wan always disdained the tactic of deliberately tarnishing and belittling teammates to stand out.

Like before he transmigrated, when he heard LeBron say he’d never been on a super team, he directly laughed his ass off.

You can’t doubt LeBron, mock LeBron, and then become LeBron, can you?

He won’t deny having a bunch of decent teammates.

The person in charge had a hard time because Su Wan had vetoed the two biggest talking points; without those, this documentary had no explosive elements!

Su Wan originally didn’t want to deal with this, but in order not to waste his time, he had to actively offer advice to the person in charge: "We can start from the perspective of why I scored 54 points in that game, the outside world is very interested in my conflict with LeBron from our time on the Cavaliers, we can use that as a selling point!"

He didn’t want to become "rivals" with LeBron, but he didn’t mind letting everyone know why he hated LeBron so much!

Just that by doing this...

LeBron’s reputation was going to take another hit!

The person in charge looked quite distressed.

Su Wan knew this was a tough decision, so he said nonchalantly, "If it’s not working, let’s just call it off, it looks like we’re out of time anyway, and this interview can’t continue. I need to focus all my energy on the playoffs, so let’s just forget about the documentary, shall we?"

As he spoke, he stood up, ready to leave the set.

The person in charge immediately gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and decided to strain LeBron a bit more, let him bear the brunt, and with a sweeping gesture said, "Let’s do it as Su suggested, shoot it!"

The shoot went smoothly...

The person in charge was very satisfied with the quality of the final content, which was sure to spark outside attention.

Well, LeBron’s summer probably wouldn’t be so pleasant.

For Su Wan, it was no longer a question of going all out.

He had effectively shoved the gun barrel right into LeBron’s mouth.

It was then that the person from Nike realized just how much Su Wan detested LeBron.

On April 17, the League officially announced the final results for "Rookie of the Year."

Without any surprises, Su Wan received the "Rookie of the Year," astonishingly with a 97.6% voting rate!

Usually, only those in a weak draft year or those "Monsters" who peak upon their entry can get over 90% of the votes; even Michael Jordan received a voting rate of only 87% in his year, and he was up against someone like David Robinson, a colossal figure of President Mountain caliber.

In the history of strong draft years, Jordan’s voting rate was actually considered high.

Allen Iverson received only 37% when he won "Rookie of the Year"!

LeBron James, who had never lost in votes, attained only 47% when he was awarded "Rookie of the Year" the previous year.

Since the 21st century, only Paul Gasol’s voting rate exceeded 90%, but the draft quality of ’01 can’t compare to ’04, so Su Wan’s achievement of over 90% was somewhat unexpected.

Bill Walton said, "Su Wan’s 54 points in the final game of the season swayed the majority of the media’s original thoughts."

Indiana Media, celebrating with great fanfare, rejoiced as Su Wan powerfully seized this year’s "Rookie of the Year," putting an end to the Pacers’ embarrassing historical lack of such a title.

Su Wan soon saw the "Rookie of the Year Trophy," with only one thought:

The "Season’s Best" trophy indeed looked a bit more glamorous than the "Month’s Best Rookie" trophy.

When asked about being unanimously elected "Rookie of the Year" with a 97.6% vote, Su Wan said, "I’m curious about the reasons the remaining 2.4% of journalists voted for someone else. Is it to stand out, or just for sensationalism?"

In the history of the League, there was only one unanimous "Rookie of the Year," and that was David Robinson.

His case was a bit special since he entered the League after completing military service, and while there were not a few historical instances of "repeat students" becoming the eventual "Rookie of the Year," many more will emerge in the future, like "White Demon" Griffin or the "Most Industrious in Summer" award-winner Ben Simmons.

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