The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 585 - 237: Let their fans see what they are really like behind the scenes

Chapter 585: Chapter 237: Let their fans see what they are really like behind the scenes

Herbert’s initial thought was simple.

He couldn’t handle the current situation with the Pacers.

It was likely to end in a total mess, so he figured it’d be better to sell the team while its market value was at its peak.

But after catching the implication in Su Wan’s words, he thought about retaining a sufficient share to potentially bring the Pacers back into his hands in the future.

Right now, he was negotiating with two parties, one being Stephen Ballmer, the president of Microsoft, and the other, Steve Cohen, a hedge fund mogul.

Originally either would have been fine, but now he was very clear that Ballmer wanted all the shares, which contradicted his current plan, so he chose Steve Cohen to continue negotiating the price.

Of course, he wasn’t rejecting Ballmer outright; he still counted on Ballmer to drive up the price!

A 50% stake was worth at least two hundred million!

After getting up from the dinner table, Su Wan put this matter out of his mind.

He didn’t dwell on it too much.

The real time he’d need to think about the future would be when Herbert confirmed the sale of the team and a new owner took over in Polis.

As for now...

Let the bullets fly for a bit longer.

On June 16th, after the "Champions Parade" had ended, Su Wan went to New York to shoot a commercial and took the chance to check on the progress of "Su Wan Street."

During the trip, he encountered some media with which he had a decent relationship and took the opportunity to give an interview.

The hottest topic at the moment was obviously the draft, and before this, Su Wan’s predictions that Derek Rose would become "the second youngest MVP in League history," that both superstars from Thunder had the chance to be regular season MVPs, and that OJ Mayo would ultimately fail to make it in the league, had all stirred quite a debate.

They wanted Su Wan to predict whether the 2009 draft class would produce any All-Star Players.

Yes, that’s right!

Not regular season MVPs, but whether there would be even one All-Star Player.

Why, you might ask...

Because the 2009 draft was widely recognized by experts as a weak draft!

This year’s "hottest prospect" was Blake Griffin.

A player who’s been compared to Amare Stoudemire.

Such a player would have struggled to be the "top pick" in other years.

But this year, he’s the most likely to be "the one."

Aside from him, the best big man of the year was Thabeet.

Then there were a bunch of guards with distinctive traits, each with their own strengths and weaknesses...

The League’s guards weren’t at the point of turnover yet, which led many experts to believe that it would be difficult for guards from this draft to make it.

Of course, this was just one of the reasons.

Ultimately, it was because these guards simply lacked talent.

If their talent was as visible to the naked eye as Derek Rose’s, the experts wouldn’t be calling this a weak draft year!

However, Su Wan was quite aware that this "draft class" would give the so-called experts a good slap in the face, completely dumbfounding them!

James Harden, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, Stephen Curry, DeRozan...

Let’s just put it this way, once these guards entered the League, they would represent the next decade of League guards!

For instance, Harden and Curry had explosive performances during "March Madness," but a bunch of seemingly knowledgeable experts described this as "a brawl among the inept." frёeωebɳovel.com

It just goes to show, much of the time, experts approach with an "Answer" in mind, then look for "Problems" to fit it.

They believed the "09 generation" was no good and started to nitpick every flaw they could find to prove it.

Su Wan said, "Never mind All-Stars, there are two regular season MVPs!"

The journalists were momentarily taken aback before one of them asked, "Su, do you think this year will be a big year for the draft?"

Su Wan nodded, adopting the air of a prophet and said confidently, "You know, someone like me sees things from a different perspective!"

"So... who do you believe will become regular season MVPs in the future?" they pressed.

Su Wan replied, "James Harden, and Stephen Curry!"

Huh?

Stephen Curry, they could immediately recall, was the son of the Bobcats’ "Scoring King," Dell Curry.

But this James Harden...

Who was he?

It took them quite a while to realize he was a clueless-looking black man.

Su Wan wasn’t surprised by their reaction.

Before Thunder picked James Harden, no one imagined he would be the first guard selected in the draft.

The top three prospects that were widely favored were "Golden Boy" Rubio—had he not made it clear he wouldn’t be joining the NBA this season and had his lack of significant improvement since the ’08 Olympics been less evident, he would have been the acknowledged "No.1 Pick."

After the interview, Su Wan went over to Ivanka’s place.

She was making dinner.

Just like last time, she was *naked except for an apron.

Su Wan first made sure to have an in-depth ’conversation’ with her.

"My dad... wants to meet you," Ivanka blurted out nervously after they were done, which made Su Wan sit up straight.

"Hmm?" Ivanka didn’t understand why Su Wan had such a strong reaction. In her view, Su Wan must have met plenty of tycoons; her dad shouldn’t be any different. And then it dawned on her what he might be thinking, so she quickly waved her hands, "No, it’s not like that!"

It wasn’t about meeting the parents.

Su Wan shook his head.

That wasn’t his concern.

If it had been about meeting her parents, that would have been better.

He ultimately refused.

The waters were too deep there, and as someone who just played basketball, it was better not to get involved.