The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 133 - 109 The Crazy Season

Chapter 133: Chapter 109 The Crazy Season

Su Wan was naturally behind this.

Bill Duffy made the calls and pulled together the materials to report Donaghy at Su Wan’s behest.

As Yao Ming’s agent, it was Bill’s job to handle such matters; thus, he did not refuse and was even happy to tackle them. Wouldn’t anyone hope for their client to be even more successful?

In his third professional season, termed the "New OK Combination" alongside McGrady, Yao ought to have shone brighter.

He indeed could have achieved that; they had given the Mavericks a "0-2" start, and then Mark Cuban had sent out the videotapes.

Such "extrajudicial measures" weren’t unusual in NBA history, but it certainly was rare for an owner to get involved personally.

Su Wan could understand Cuban’s urgency.

If the Mavericks could eliminate the Rockets, they would face the Suns in the second round.

Mark Cuban needed this opportunity to prove himself.

And he was willing to do something crazy for it.

But Su Wan did not want to watch passively as the Mavericks triumphed with these "extrajudicial measures."

He took action!

Actually, he didn’t do much—he just had Bill Duffy gather evidence and then submit it. Two phone calls, totaling less than 5 minutes.

Speaking of Donaghy, it’s chilling to remember that before becoming an NBA referee, he had refereed in the CBA domestically...

Donaghy could have been a representative of high-level officiating emerging from the Huaxia league.

But rather than fulfilling those hopes, he became a cautionary tale.

Also interestingly, the principal referee of the "Auburn Hills incident" was him.

If Artest had heard the news of Donaghy being taken away, he probably would have embraced him and taken him to a nightclub, calling one of the regular girls he knew. Unfortunately, Su Wan wouldn’t speak of such a thing, nor would Bill Duffy.

The feeling of manipulating everything from behind the scenes was still pretty great.

It felt like being the "big boss behind the curtain."

As a transcender, along with displaying dazzling brilliance, there was another thing, and that was creating a "butterfly effect."

Now that the "butterfly" had flapped its wings, what kind of impact it would generate remained to be seen.

Su Wan didn’t keep following the developments after that and threw himself into the upcoming series against the Bulls.

Now shifting to Chicago, the young Bulls relaxed visibly on their home court, which caused some problems for the Pacers, but by the end of the third quarter, they were only ahead by 8 points.

The young Bulls saw hope for a win and started to show strong momentum, one stepping up after the other.

The atmosphere of the scene surged with each goal they scored.

But at that moment, Su Wan stepped up, responding continuously, returning the points scored by Ben Gordon, Hinrich, and Luol Deng exactly.

This was undoubtedly the Bulls’ most hopeful game, but ultimately, under the feat of Su Wan scoring "11" points in the final quarter, the Bulls missed the best opportunity. As the game time slowly slipped away, the young players’ impatience emerged, and the Bulls made consecutive mistakes, handing over the third series victory on a silver platter.

After the match, watching Su Wan score over 30 points again, the Chicago media couldn’t help but exclaim, "Why didn’t this guy get 100% of the votes in the ’Rookie of the Year’ poll?"

Ben Gordon was nothing compared to him!

Hmm...

From skepticism to being convinced, it only took three games.

This proved one thing:

Chicago media isn’t tough!

All out at first, weaker next, exhausted the third.

The Bulls perfectly embodied this saying.

With a score of 0-3, they were completely devoid of fight, and after a token resistance in the fourth game, they quickly surrendered.

Su Wan finished his work in three quarters again.

Barkley defended Su Wan, "Such opponents really undermine Su’s stats!"

Across four games, Su Wan scored over 30 in two games, averaging 30.6 minutes of play time per game, scoring 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks...

These were already "Super Star" level stats.

But everyone knew that Su Wan could produce even more spectacular stats, if he stayed on the court...

"Learn well!"

On a close-up shot, Barkley pointed at the big screen, his expression abstract, he shouted. Although he did not specify names, everyone knew whom he was talking about.

Yet despite this, Su Wan was selected by many media as the "Player of the Week" in the playoffs’ first round. It wasn’t an honor that came with a trophy, but it still demonstrated how brilliant Su Wan’s performance in the first round was.

Of course, the sour media were still there diminishing Su Wan, such as Detroit’s media saying bluntly, "Su performs well among rookies, very well indeed; that’s why he got the Rookie of the Year, he just proved that again!"

The implication was:

What does performing well against a "fresh recruit" like the Bulls represent?

Come to Detroit, and let the Pistons show you what the "playoffs" really are!

The Pacers were the dominant team in the first round, but Detroit media felt no pressure, and the Pistons smoothly eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers containing Allen Iverson in a 4-1 series.

Larry Brown had the last laugh in this "master vs. apprentice" contest.

And the Philadelphia 76ers had not only Allen Iverson but also the former "King" Chris Webber, whose paper strength seemed robust to most media, even championship calibre in Detroit media’s view.

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