The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 260 - 161: God’s Test for the "Chosen One" Continues_2

Chapter 260: Chapter 161: God’s Test for the "Chosen One" Continues_2

Is there more to say?

Cleveland and LeBron James.

The intense struggle between Asians and Asian descent had LeBron under constant pressure and interference from outside sources during the voting period. Plus, McGinnis continued to chaos bite, kept the negative impact alive.

Nike dared not make a big move at that time, fearing that pushing him too hard might backfire and hurt him more.

One more thing...

LeBron James’ contract, from the third season, had a clause that required him to start in the All-Star game; if he failed to do so, part of his endorsement money would be docked.

After all, being an All-Star starter signifies a player’s commercial value; without that title, market appeal would significantly decline.

Furthermore...

It served as a small warning for LeBron James.

The results from the first season were pretty good.

But starting from the second season until now, LeBron had yet to demonstrate the phenomenal rookie presence that Nike had hoped to see!

This was a significant departure from their expectations when they offered LeBron a billion-dollar contract.

Businessmen chase profits; if you can’t make them money, they’ll give you a wake-up call, even if you are the so-called "Chosen One."

This loss was at least between one and two million.

Yet, God’s test for the "Chosen One" continued.

During LeBron’s suspension, the Cavaliers had already dropped to twelfth in the Eastern Conference.

Upon his return, LeBron was determined to produce a winning streak.

But just his second game back, Larry Hughes was out for the season!

It’s worth mentioning that McGinnis was still suspended and couldn’t return, and Zhu Fangyu, who replaced Snow, chose to return to China to play in the CBA, leaving the Cavaliers without any return on investment.

Essentially, all of Danny Ferri’s effort in the free agency market last summer was in vain, and they even lost McGinnis.

The Cavaliers were significantly weaker compared to the previous season.

Moreover, after experiencing the "Cleveland jet incident," the team’s morale was scattered, and even with LeBron’s return, they managed only a 4-5 record after mid-January. Even though the weak eighth in the Eastern Conference didn’t have a record over 50%, the Cavaliers still had a long way to go.

It all seemed like a return to the same period last season.

LeBron felt grief and fury inside, and his eyes began to grow hot again.

Because even with such a team, he still had to lead them into the playoffs.

Otherwise...

He would face another fine!

He didn’t understand how he had gotten to this point – at the end of his first season, he had feared himself with "averaging 20-5-5," holding the "best rookie of the golden generation" in one hand.

One and a half years later, he still worried about not making the playoffs and possibly facing fines from Nike!

Nike, unable to rely on LeBron, had shifted all their focus to Su Wan, creating massive hype around his first "All-Star Ticket King."

They announced that they would prepare a special All-Star weekend edition shoe for Su Wan.

In reality, it was Su Wan’s second ’signature shoe,’ but discovering that Su Wan might clinch this year’s "All-Star Ticket King," they decisively altered their initial plan, turning these shoes into Su Wan’s special All-Star edition.

Helplessly, Converse’s Wade had become an Eastern All-Star starter, and AJ’s Carmelo Anthony had also caught up in terms of statistics, averaging 26.8 points this season. If it weren’t for the Western Conference’s abundance of veteran forwards, maybe Carmelo Anthony would have started in the Western All-Star game as well.

Though AJ is a subsidiary of Nike.

But if AJ’s endorsers started stepping on their heads...

It’s likely Michael Jordan would be slamming the table and cursing their incompetence at the shareholder’s meeting!

Being criticized by Jordan for incompetence...

Could there be anything more humiliating?

Yet Nike’s hype made Houston media see an opportunity to stir the pot; during their interviews with Yao Ming, they repeatedly asked him:

"This year is Houston’s home court, but the Ticket King title that should have been yours was taken by Su Wan. Do you think Su Wan has intentionally competed against you for it?"

"Yao, are you worried that Su Wan’s influence in China will surpass yours?"

"Yao, how does it feel to have the Ticket King title snatched away by Su Wan?"

...

These news quickly reached Su Wan’s ears, and he immediately said to the camera, "Since you all care so much about Yao’s Ticket King status, why were you all campaigning for Tracy when it was time to gather votes?"

"Why do I see more posters of Tracy in Houston?"

"Why are all of you persuading Yao to sign a contract that is far below his worth?"

"Why have you all been creating momentum for Tracy to win this year’s All-Star MVP?"

"You’d think, not knowing any better, that this new Toyota Center in Houston was thanks to Tracy!"

"The city’s media is just like the Rockets’ owner, both are ungrateful guys, Leslie Alexander, don’t forget who helped you double your worth!"

He bluntly bombarded the Houston media and owner Alexander.

The Houston media were provoked.

Another city that despised Su Wan was born.

And just like that, this year’s All-Star weekend suddenly piqued the interest of countless people.

They knew that Su Wan’s counterattack wouldn’t stop there.

On February 2nd, the day after Su Wan bombarded the Houston media, they hosted the Miami Heat at their home court.

Wade met with Su Wan the day before the game, and this time Shaquille O’Neal didn’t come along.

He expressed that he couldn’t wait to team up with Su Wan in the main All-Star game.

Su Wan asked, "Dwayne, if I want to win this year’s All-Star MVP, would you help me?"

"Is it because of the conflict with Houston? Of course, I’ll definitely help you. The Houston media shouldn’t be claiming you intentionally stole Yao’s Ticket King title," Wade agreed readily.

Look at how warm-hearted "Big Cheekbones" is!

No wonder LeBron managed to coax him into being the second-in-command!

Having Wade on board, not to mention Shaquille O’Neal would certainly help him.

Vince Carter was also not likely to be a problem.

You don’t look at the monk’s face but at the Buddha’s, even if they weren’t close, Vince wouldn’t hinder Su Wan, especially not after Su Wan had fiercely smacked Bowen for him.

As for the remaining Shaquille O’Neal...

Su Wan didn’t even need to consider.

Three of the starters were his guys, how high could one Shaquille go?

Moreover, just one center, if you watch some of the ’03-’04 season games of the Lakers with Kobe, you’d know how to keep the ball away from Shaquille.

In short, four words:

No big issue!

However, in the actual All-Star game where Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t pose a big problem for Su Wan, he became a big problem for the Pacers during that day’s game against the Heat.

Since Carlisle wanted to test the Pacers’ newly developed "Small Lineup" against the Heat, the Pacers spent most of the game in that formation.

Gary Payton, the skinny old man, burst with a strong presence against Calderon, leaving the Spaniard with no temper. Add to that his endless "trash talk," even the usually composed Calderon got agitated.

No wonder, compared to Gary Payton who entered the league in the ’90s, Calderon’s experience was still too little.

A "trash-talk king" like "Gloves," who could even make Jason Kidd retreat into silence, let alone young Calderon.

The Heat managed to prevent the Pacers from speeding up, allowing a slimmed-down Shaquille O’Neal to demonstrate his ability to destroy the small lineup.

In the end, Shaquille scored 28 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Heat snatch a victory from the Pacers’ home court.

As he left, Shaquille arrogantly said, "This will be the preview of the Eastern playoffs, the Pacers better pray they don’t encounter us!"

However, Rick Carlisle directly retreated into the locker room after the game and began studying the video replay of the match.

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