The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 152 - 118 Buddy, Can You Really Enter The Zone?

Chapter 152: Chapter 118 Buddy, Can You Really Enter The Zone?

Su Wan almost believed he was about to become the first transcender to expose himself.

But Erin told him it was something Barkley had said while commentating on yesterday’s game.

That "Flying Pig" really has a way with words!

He always managed to hit the nail on the head on some weird issues.

Su Wan neither confirmed nor denied it; he needed to first check out the discussions in the outside world before deciding what kind of answer to give.

He specifically searched Yahoo and looked at the related news.

He found that the interest was really not low.

Second only to his replication of Reggie Miller’s "Double Hand Choke" at the Auburn Hills Palace last night.

Many media outlets tended to agree with what Barkley said, that Su Wan pushed open that "door" at the last moment and entered "The Zone" mode.

Otherwise, it was really difficult to explain Su Wan’s unusually fiery state at that time.

Even on the just-established YouTube, some creators edited Su Wan’s performance on both offense and defense during the last moments of last night and directly titled it "The Zone."

Underneath, there were quite a few netizen comments:

"I tend to believe Su entered that state, otherwise I can’t accept that the 2004 defending champions were beaten by a Huaxia person!"

"Unbeatable, I saw dominance in him!"

"So there really are gods!"

...

From these comments, it’s not hard to see that most netizens also believed that Su Wan entered "The Zone" mode; otherwise, his performance couldn’t have been so explosive.

Su Wan, pretty awesome!

Especially that line "So there really are gods," it really thrilled him to the core.

Seeing this buzz, Su Wan made a decision, which was not to give a definite answer and let the outside world guess for themselves. This way, as long as he performed well in the future, the outside world would associate it with "The Zone" mode.

You ask why Su Wan cares so much about the buzz?

If he were in the Knicks, in Los Angeles, he wouldn’t have to care about the buzz, but in Indiana, he needs the buzz—all of it influences the size of his commercial contracts!

What he didn’t expect was that Sports Illustrated had come to join in the fun at this time, and they even told Su Wan, "Use ’The Zone’ as the cover title!"

This was essentially an official side announcement!

With the influence of Sports Illustrated, it was feared that very soon Su Wan would become a "target."

Su originally considered whether or not to go public because of this. Those in sports, especially those who make a name for themselves, are stubborn "tough guys" with their heads in the clouds.

Take LeBron James, after being called "Chosen One" by Sports Illustrated, how many players wanted to trample him underfoot to prove that they were even more badass than the "Chosen One!"

Once Su Wan’s cover comes out, those players who have been officially announced in "The Zone" will surely think:

"The Zone," huh?

I’m going to be the one to beat you!

I really want to see what "The Zone" is all about!

Of course, it doesn’t exclude that some players might feel intimidated by this, but often such players wouldn’t challenge him on their own initiative.

Now, with Su Wan’s fame on the rise, nobody would dare to provoke him rashly.

Even if there were any, it’d be an exception.

There aren’t that many people who continue to look down on and belittle him after he keeps performing well.

Bill Simmons has hardly dared to "jump" recently.

Just like Huang Bo said, once you’re successful in your career, you’re surrounded by smiles.

It’s the same on the basketball court; those who prove themselves with their performance will be respected naturally.

If you’ve won enough honors but people still chase after you yelling, "Go get a real championship ring," then you need to seriously reflect on how you got those honors in the first place.

Everyone knows that winning 20 million with 10 bucks is called a "Gambling Monster," and serving Auntie a cup of cappuccino is called "Wu Wukai."

Su Wan needed a more precise positioning, to create some renown and let others come to challenge him voluntarily, just like the "welfare girls" do with their different scales of "personal customization" for different groups and price ranges.

Those who are proud and pompous naturally would be annoyed by his "The Zone."

But he didn’t want to use the title "The Zone."

Everyone knew that name was coined by Michael Jordan.

He wanted to change it, and as a Huaxia person who appeared on Sports Illustrated, he should use a Chinese title.

When the person in charge at Sports Illustrated heard Su Wan’s request, within half an hour, they sent over a few titles for Su Wan to choose from. When he saw titles like "Empire’s Tiger", "Key Lord", he couldn’t help but mutter, "Has Sports Illustrated been taken over by people living a good life?"

In the end, he decided to use the direct translation of "The Zone," "Absolute State," as the title.

People from Sports Illustrated flew to Indiana overnight to take a cover photo for Su Wan. It was said that originally, the magazine’s next feature was to be Maria Sharapova, the new power in tennis.

In 2004, Sharapova was at the peak of her powers, having clinched her first Wimbledon Grand Slam, and was only three months away from officially becoming World No.1.

It was also for this reason that Sports Illustrated was preparing to shoot a cover with her, having even prepared the title:

"Next Stop: Tennis Queen."

However, Su Wan’s performance in the final moments of yesterday’s game directly "blew up" all over the United States. Sports Illustrated, which sells issues based on current hot topics, naturally had to switch cover personalities in a timely fashion.

The next morning, the League officially announced the "Best Defensive Player Award" for the season, and the ultimate winner was none other than Ben Wallace, who had already been eliminated.

This was his third time winning this award in his career, from 2002 to 2005, with the award going to someone else only last year. He had swept up all the rest.