The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 62 - 61 The Delightful Bet

Chapter 62: Chapter 61 The Delightful Bet

With Su Wan’s mocking words, the pent-up frustration of the Indiana crowd erupted into cheers that filled the entire stadium.

Because they saw the Pistons sitting on the bench, their faces turning ugly upon hearing Su Wan’s words, no longer maintaining the composure they had when facing the booing earlier—all they wanted was to see the Pistons with sullen faces.

And what those thousands couldn’t achieve, Su Wan did with just one sentence!

Artest was unsure if what Su Wan did was really okay.

But when he saw the excited faces in the stands, the tension on his face disappeared: No problem!

He also shouted, leaving the Indiana people nearby instantly expressionless:

Wait, what are you doing?

You’re going to freak out again?

Just sit down quietly, man.

At that moment, Artest realized that not everyone was the same.

Young O’Neal was stunned as he watched Su Wan’s ostentatious taunts.

Honestly, he was definitely heated today too, but he couldn’t pull it off to Su Wan’s level.

years later, when Young O’Neal talked about this in an interview, he realized in hindsight, "Maybe, that moment was destined to make him the new team captain of the Pacers after Reggie Miller."

Only Reggie Miller, accustomed to watching everything, wondered if the Indiana crowd would remember him from seven or eight years ago when looking at Su Wan tonight.

Larry Bird and Walsh were also on the sidelines tonight.

"David’s face must be hard to look at now, right?" Walsh said, wiping sweat.

Larry Bird replied, "Who cares!"

He really liked Su Wan’s flamboyance; it almost matched one-tenth of his own. Having such a newcomer in Indiana, as the general manager, he was very pleased.

"Aren’t you worried that stirring up emotions on both sides will start a fight again?"

Larry Bird glanced at Walsh’s slightly graying temples and thought to himself: That’s what you get for always worrying too much. Then he said, "Back in the day, I got beat up by that fat Charles and the good guy Dr. J, but did it stop me from becoming the best small forward in the NBA? It’s good for young people to experience these things, who let him be mouthy!"

"..." Walsh couldn’t tell if Larry Bird was being supportive or critical of Su Wan.

In the TNT studio, seeing the unhappy faces of the Pistons and looking at the excited Su Wan jumping down from the technical desk, Barkley let out his signature mischievous laugh and said, "I’ve always liked the kid’s spunk, but his shooting has been a problem recently, and the Pistons are the best at blocking the basket... Kenny, do you think we’ll still see his confident demeanour after this game?"

Kenny Smith replied, "That’s the price..."

Clearly, he believed Su Wan’s pre-game provocation meant he was going to have a tough time during the game.

"I actually think he will perform very well tonight!"

But Barkley, changing his tone suddenly, started supporting Su Wan. Kenny Smith almost sprained his back as he turned his head to look at him, his eyes asking:

Dude, what’s the deal?

Barkley ignored his questioning gaze, "Kenny, want to bet? I think Su will score 20 points tonight!"

Now Kenny Smith caught on—this guy had been setting him up!

Since letting him kiss a donkey’s butt two years ago, this old fellow has been itching for a comeback.

But...

You can’t just "grasp at straws" to get back at me!

Finally, Kenny Smith glanced at Su Wan’s recent mid-range shooting percentage.

Hmm...

A disaster!

Thinking about Ben Wallace’s return, the powerful defense underneath the basket by the Pistons, his gaze gradually became confident:

"Sorry to see you fall over the Huaxia people once more!"

"Charles, I know you’ve always wanted a chance to make me ’kiss a donkey’s ass’, but just so you know..." Kenny Smith tried to persuade him, "Tonight, it looks tough for Su Wan to score 20 points, and you might not know, the last time Su Wan scored 20 points was before December 15th. In the recent four games, his highest was only 18 points, and many media and experts are saying he’s hitting the rookie wall..."

Barkley patiently listened to him and only confirmed one thing, "Just tell me if you agree or not."

Kenny Smith wanted to ask, how can you be so confident? But after reviewing his own thoughts and considering Su Wan’s recent performance, he became convinced that tonight was another "low night" for Su Wan, so he said, "Of course!"

Their bet was established.

The big screen at the venue also displayed the starting lineups for both sides:

"Pistons: Point Guard Chauncey Billups, shooting guard Hamilton, small forward Prince, power forward Rasheed Wallace, center Ben Wallace;"

"Pacers: Point Guard Tinsley, shooting guard Su Wan, small forward James Jones, power forward O’Neal, center Jeff Foster;"

CCTV-5 also provided commentary for this "Christmas Battle."

They had not seen the scene of Su Wan jumping onto the technical table before the game; at that time, today’s commentators Zhang Weiping, Su Qun, and Yang Yi were joking around.

They started commentating when the players took the court.

Su Qun sharply noticed that the Pistons players looked upset: "Did they eat something wrong?"

Zhang Weiping: "..."

Yang Yi: "Hehe..."

The referee’s whistle sounded at this moment.

In his comeback game, O’Neal, representing the Pacers, initiated the jump ball at the center of the court, eliciting huge cheers; this was his third time making the crowd squeal with excitement. It was evident that the Pacers fans were all looking forward to his return.

He did not disappoint and secured the offensive possession for the Pacers.

Tinsley held the ball and faced Billups in the frontcourt, tentatively attacking, but was blocked at the free throw line. He quickly twisted his body and passed the ball to Su Wan on the right wing.

The Pistons’ defensive setup tonight was no different from usual; standing in front of Su Wan was Hamilton.

Of the "Civilian Five Tigers," his one-on-one defense was probably the weakest. But Larry Brown still put him in front of Su Wan. It was normal; underestimating rookies was one of this old man’s faults. In his view, without a shooting ability, Su Wan would hardly be a threat on the wing.

This was also reflected in Hamilton’s defensive reaction:

He gave Su Wan a big step’s distance!

This was a common defensive tactic against players who were poor shooters.

At this moment, Su Wan felt like a true superstar. Despite only playing ten games for Indiana, everyone already knew he was a poor shooter. —He had to let Bill Duffy check later if some teams were amplifying this.

He didn’t confront Hamilton just to prove his shooting ability.

Even though Hamilton gave him some space, Su Wan still believed he could forcefully make a breakthrough. —After all, this wasn’t his first time facing Hamilton. Back when he was with the Cavaliers, he had played against the Pistons, although at that time Big Ben had been suspended.

He knew Hamilton’s physicality was weak.

He also believed that Hamilton giving him space was not just because of his poor shooting, but because he clearly couldn’t withstand his force.

With Big Ben in the lineup, it was different for the Pistons, Su Wan knew it the second he broke past Hamilton; with timely help defense approaching, Su Wan instinctively passed to the right—this had almost become his standard way of dealing with strong help defense.

Perhaps for this reason, his passing ability hadn’t been criticized by the media until now...

Tinsley cut to the basket on cue. —This had almost become his standard running pattern on the offensive end.

Entering the paint, he drew the last "barrier" of the Pistons, Rasheed Wallace, to defend, then he passed the ball to O’Neal.

After 15 games and nearly a month, O’Neal scored the first basket of the "Christmas Battle" for the team.

2-0!