The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 69 - 67 He is a very good player

Chapter 69: Chapter 67 He is a very good player

Additionally, the most reported event was Kenny Smith and Barkley losing their bet and, like Barkley in the past, having to kiss a donkey’s butt live on air.

Su Wan’s comment on this event was just four words:

"Delightful to see."

As many main characters had done it, now he did too.

But he had to admit, he was quite looking forward to seeing Kenny Smith’s expression at that moment.

What he didn’t know was that not just him, but fans in his country were also eagerly looking forward to it.

Some good Samaritans took screenshots of some comments from domestic forums and sent them to Su Wan through Facebook private messages:

"The TNT duo, one kissed a donkey’s butt because of Yao, and the other because of Su Wan, from now on let’s call them the ’Donkey Butt Duo.’"

"Kenny Smith is really unlucky. Su Wan hadn’t had a shooting percentage over 50% in any game in December, yet in that game, he not only surpassed 50% but even reached 60%. It seems even the heavens wanted to see him kiss a donkey’s butt."

"Kenny Smith really should watch ’Cell Phone’; then he’d understand the importance of being kind!"

...

Su Wan, unsatiated, even went on to search for domestic forums himself.

Just like Facebook, the forums had been newly created that year. Upon launch, they had become the hottest social media under the Baidu banner, with dozens or even hundreds of new forums popping up daily with all kinds of niche topics like SM, lighting fires, cycling... Su Wan couldn’t understand them all, nor how he accidentally clicked into them, but soon he found a forum named after him, filled with his dashing photos.

The hottest and most recent posts were mainly discussions about Kenny Smith kissing a donkey’s butt.

However, at that time, the language used by netizens was not so pleasant, abstract academics hadn’t taken off, and trying to learn catchy rhymes for grad school seemed difficult; after a while, Su Wan felt it was a bit dull and was about to close the forum.

But suddenly, he noticed that apart from these hot discussions about Kenny Smith, there were posts full of complaints and insults about LeBron.

Clicking into these posts, he could see that they considered LeBron the "chief culprit" behind Su Wan leaving the Cavaliers. Essentially, in any game involving LeBron, he would be singled out for a severe "thrashing".

Not only the games of the new season, but those from the rookie season were also dug up and discussed.

The second sticky post labeled "Highlight" shockingly listed "LeBron’s 20 Worst Performances" in his career, each accompanied by sharp comments from forum members.

Su Wan suddenly had a strange idea—since his forum was full of posts denigrating LeBron, did LeBron James have his own forum?

If he did...

Were they insulting me there?

Curiosity got the better of Su Wan as he searched for "LeBron Forum," only to find out those posts...

were still criticizing LeBron!

And the language in this bar had to be much more cutting.

Apparently, this "LeBron Bar" wasn’t created by LeBron’s fans, but rather by his critics, specifically to expose him.

Although the domestic sentiment towards LeBron had been lukewarm, this time, due to Su Wan, the domestic fans’ feelings towards LeBron had increased immensely, forming quite a substantial "dissatisfaction group" early on.

This discovery made him browse the forum for another few dozen minutes.

In the afternoon, the Pacers held an open training camp and free interviews. When the reporters met Su Wan, the first thing they asked about wasn’t the matter of Kenny Smith soon kissing a donkey’s backside—a topic that just provided traffic to TNT and benefited them. Rather, they asked about issues related to the All-Star starting lineup.

Each year, right after the "Christmas Battle," the All-Star starting lineup voting begins, and this year was no exception.

In the first two years of his arrival, Yao Ming had stepped over Shaquille O’Neal, the "three-time champion MVP," to take the position of the Western Conference All-Star starting center, a moment still shocking to recall due to the "Chinese Power."

The reporters asked Su Wan three questions:

"Uncle, do you think you will be able to, like Yao, become a starting guard in the All-Star in your first season in the league?"

"If you become the first person after Yao Ming to accomplish this, do you think it will raise doubts?"

"Do you think you qualify to be an All-Star starting guard?"

Su Wan hardly needed to think before responding simply and confidently, "Of course, if I become an All-Star starter, then I am an All-Star starter. Those who vote for me want me to be in that position. Whether it causes displeasure or doubt among others is not important to me. I just need to be responsible to the fans who voted for me."

Erin’s interview time:

"Do you think LeBron might become an All-Star starter this year?"

Su Wan said, "He certainly could. The rules of All-Star voting mean anyone could potentially become a starter, but the final outcome, we all know, will only be known after a month."

"Do you look forward to both of you being All-Star starters and playing together?"

Su Wan said, "I look forward to it, but I’m more looking forward to playing with Allen Iverson, Baron Davis, Dwyane Wade... Michael Red, help me think, which other guards are there in the Eastern Conference, just rank LeBron James behind them."

Coincidentally, interviewed at the Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron was asked similar questions.

First, regarding whether he wanted to be an All-Star starter, he expressed yearning: "You know, it’s every player’s dream, and it’s my dream too. I’m eager to play on that stage. I believe it will definitely be a magical moment. I know there are a lot of excellent guards in the Eastern competing, but I have my strengths. I believe I will be this year’s All-Star starter. Let’s see what happens next."

Then about Su Wan, LeBron said, "First, I mean no disrespect to Yao. He is the best inside player in the league. He made the All-Star starting lineup in his rookie year, pushing out Shaquille O’Neal. I think what he did was great. But from then on, we saw the advantage of Chinese players. The advantages Yao had, Su will also have. They all contribute to them ultimately making it to that stage. But I believe he will perform very well there, and I often miss the old days when we started together. It wasn’t that long ago, but I’m looking forward to being starting teammates again. It would be great."

"What if Su takes your starting spot?"

The reporter’s last question changed LeBron’s expression, and after a good while, he forced a smile and briefly said, "Then I would congratulate him!"

"So, are the rumors of a conflict between you and Su false?"

"I have a conflict with Su?" LeBron was taken aback, not yet aware of what was happening. After the reporter explained, as there had been many media reports that day about a supposed ongoing conflict between Su Wan and him during their time on the Cavaliers, he strongly stated, "I don’t know where those reports come from, but Su and I have never had any conflicts. He’s a good player."

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