Chapter 123: The Gold Medal Mediator

Just as the game ended, TNT's courtside reporter quickly came to Fan Xi's side, stopping him with great excitement.

"Jack, let's chat for a bit," the reporter said with a face full of smiles.

One doesn't hit a smiling person; Fan Xi stopped his steps and accepted their interview.

"In this game, you created a miracle again. You defeated Chris Paul in both record and personal stats. Charles Barkley lost the bet because of you again. How are you feeling right now? Do you think you will become Rookie of the Year because of this?"

The TNT courtside reporter asked like a machine gun.

Fan Xi smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and said calmly: "For me, it's just a game."

"But, you defeated Chris Paul. And, you even shook him directly out of bounds, creating new NBA history... you are the only guard in history to do this," the reporter continued to ask.

He hoped to get something exciting from Fan Xi's mouth.

"I will go back and watch this footage," Fan Xi said, still very calmly.

The reporter was a bit confused; logically, shouldn't this be something to brag about?

Then, he detailed the bet between Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith to Fan Xi, saying that Fan Xi had helped Smith win again, and that Barkley had to cast a Rookie of the Year vote for Fan Xi, and also pull another 20 first-place votes.

Fan Xi actually knew this long ago, but after he introduced it, he still gave a perfunctory "Oh," and then said: "Luckily Charles didn't bet on a donkey's ass this time, otherwise he would really become the public enemy of all the mother donkeys in the United States."

Fan Xi teased Barkley, and then he ended the interview.

The reporter was stunned.

The TV audience, however, was even more deeply impressed by Fan Xi from this "unconventional" post-game interview.

This Miracle Child is not ordinary.

Unmoved by favor or humiliation.

Destined for greatness.

Being able to withstand the pressure and help the team win when Kobe is away and the number one point guard comes knocking is definitely not something an ordinary person can achieve.

This Miracle Child will eventually become an NBA superstar.

Will he surpass Yao Ming's achievements in the NBA?

Ordinary American fans were still worrying about this, while the CCTV filming team sent the content shot tonight back to the country immediately, and marked in the email: Fan Xi is China's Jordan.

Obviously, everything tonight was a shock bomb for the Chinese filming team.

They had also filmed Yao Ming; Yao Ming was very strong and had many exciting scenes, but Yao Ming was an inside player after all, and the visual impact of an inside player is far inferior to an outside player. Most importantly, this was Fan Xi's rookie season, he was truly carrying the team, and he was more impressive than Yao Ming at the same stage.

Therefore, the CCTV documentary team directly elevated Fan Xi to Jordan's position.

They could already anticipate the impact this footage they shot would bring to domestic fans.

For a long time, many Asian guards had challenged the NBA, but every one of them had returned in defeat.

Now, Fan Xi gave a brand new answer.

This answer would definitely shock the entire Asian basketball world.

The sky was about to change.

In fact, on the domestic internet, the heat was already exploding.

"Slaughtering Saint Paul, Fan Xi reaches the top of the world"

"Shaking away the number one point guard, Jieke Fan looks down on the world"

"Defending the home court, who is the Rookie of the Year"

"Comprehensive crushing, Fan Xi wins more than just the future"

"Barkley swallows shame again, he will bring the Rookie of the Year trophy for Fan Xi"

"Kobe is away, Fan Xi stands tall"

"..."

Domestic media's reporting on Fan Xi had always been full of praise, just like their writing style when reporting on Yi Jianlian; if it were fans who hadn't watched the game, they would think it was awkward bragging.

But fans who watched the game would feel that these praises were not vivid enough.

However, domestic fans would soon be able to see the first-person perspective.

At the same time, the American media was also reporting on this focal battle with all their might; the news of the Miracle Child guarding the miracle again spread across the entire network, and the image of Chris Paul covered in blood was also crowned as the "most brutal crossover in NBA history."

ESPN's report was very straightforward: Jack slaughters Saint Paul!

Chris Paul definitely wouldn't sleep tonight.

Not only because his head had 38 stitches and was unbearably painful. But also because he had become Fan Xi's stepping stone.

Originally, he wanted to suppress Fan Xi's momentum and strip Fan Xi of his Miracle Child title, but who knew that he, the number one point guard, would instead be stepped on by Fan Xi, setting off his magnificent aura.

Charles Barkley had already declared on TV that he would definitely pull 20 Rookie of the Year votes for Fan Xi, and he had already announced that Fan Xi was this year's Rookie of the Year.

Only by saying this would he lose less face.

To make someone who hates you promote you—what a capability that is.

Fan Xi returned home, his phone already filled with various congratulatory messages. This was a milestone game.

After the game ended, he was hugged tightly by Jimbas in the player tunnel, and Jimbas said to him excitedly: "Future Lakers leader, congratulations on winning a victory."

Kobe also called, sincerely congratulating Fan Xi on his brilliant performance.

The honor carried by this game was even more than Fan Xi winning the MVP in the All-Star Game.

After all, it was Saint Paul.

Fan Xi sighed in his heart.

Then, he dialed Jimbas's phone, telling her he was home. "Thank you for the red lucky jacket tonight."

"I wore the yellow lucky jacket today..." Jimbas said somewhat depressed on the other end of the phone.

Fan Xi quickly comforted her, the two chatted for a while with sweet words, and then hung up the phone with goodnight wishes.

After hanging up, Fan Xi went to sleep.

In his dreams, Fan Xi dreamed of sleeping in the same bed with Taylor Swift, and the two were still kissing excitedly at a concert...

The next day, when Fan Xi woke up, it was already nine in the morning.

Because today was a rest day, he didn't need to go to the arena for training.

With the playoffs approaching, the Lakers were consciously reducing training frequency to accumulate physical strength for the playoffs.

Fan Xi turned on the TV while eating a nutritious breakfast; the ESPN channel was analyzing this year's playoff situation.

The Lakers had currently rushed to the second position in the West, with only a 1.5-game difference from the San Antonio Spurs.

With 10 games left in the regular season, the probability of the Lakers rushing to first in the regular season was very high.

"This makes the teams in the lower half very nervous; no one wants to run into the Los Angeles Lakers."

Famous basketball host McBlin said on TV: "The Lakers are too strong this year; they have no shortcomings in any of the five positions. Especially after adding Jieke Fan, did you watch last night's game? Chris Paul is too pathetic; he must want to go back to a day ago. His head can be stitched, but the lost reputation is hard to pick back up."

"Jieke Fan shaking him away is very likely to become the number one shot of the season; I have already seen many promotional videos starting to use this shot as promotion."

The host discussed it extensively.

The guests also echoed. Obviously, Fan Xi's performance last night was exciting and left people speechless.

However, there were also some clear-headed commentators who expressed: "Jack is very good and has great potential, but Chris Paul has maintained a super high level for so many years; it is a bit arbitrary to judge superiority or inferiority based on just one game."

Then, he continued: "The playoffs and the regular season are completely different. I am actually very worried about two problems for the Lakers. First, can Jieke Fan adapt to the playoffs? He is still a rookie. The intensity of the playoffs is completely different from the regular season. As a rookie with obvious flaws, can he withstand the opponent's research in a series?"

"Second, we all know that basketball is not a simple stacking game. Many teams have many big-name players but don't play well. The Lakers have fallen for this before; they had four historical-level superstars—O'Neal, Kobe, Malone, and Payton—but eventually lost to the Detroit Pistons' five commoners."

"With the return of Andrew Bynum, can the Lakers really maintain their current chemistry? I heard that Andrew Bynum and Fan Xi have a lot of grudges."

Fan Xi listened to the content on TV while eating breakfast.

These problems objectively existed.

Fan Xi agreed very much.

He opened his laptop to check the current Western Conference rankings.

The NBA is divided into two major regions, East and West. Every year in the playoffs, eight teams from each region enter. The first place competes with the eighth, the second with the seventh, the third with the sixth, and the fourth with the fifth.

Entering the playoffs is a great honor for a team, meaning a harvest this season. Being able to get more attention, players will also get higher exposure; if they perform well in the playoffs, commercial value and salary will rise with the tide. Many players become gods in one battle through the playoffs.

To use an NBA saying, the regular season is just for fun; the playoffs are the real battlefield.

Since the Jordan era, the competition in the West had been more intense than in the East.

Because Jordan's dominance was too strong, many superstars in the East never had a day to shine, so they swam to the West one by one, causing a situation of Western heroes dividing the land.

Now, it had been almost 10 years since Jordan's second retirement, and his "destructive power" was still there, which shows how amazing his dominance was back then.

This year's playoff spot competition in the West was more intense than in previous years.

From the fifth-place Denver Nuggets to the ninth-place Houston Rockets, there was only a 4.5-game difference.

Therefore, even the most authoritative experts found it difficult to predict where they would eventually end up.

Currently, the eighth place in the West was the New Orleans Hornets, who had just lost to the Lakers; the seventh place was the Memphis Grizzlies, who had previously defeated the Lakers; and the sixth place was the Portland Trail Blazers, also a tough nut to crack.

If the lower half of the West was treacherous, the upper half was equally scorching.

The San Antonio Spurs were temporarily ranked first in the West, leading the Lakers by 1.5 games.

The Lakers were in second place.

The Dallas Mavericks were ranked third, trailing the Lakers by 2 games.

Ranked fourth was the Oklahoma City Thunder, trailing the Mavericks by 1 game. However, they led the fifth-place Nuggets by 5 games.

It can be seen that the upper and lower halves of the West were clearly divided.

Everyone had the possibility of matching up.

Fan Xi estimated on his notebook.

The opponent he least wanted to meet in the first round of the playoffs was actually the Memphis Grizzlies; this team revealed an evil nature from top to bottom, and Fan Xi felt their strength should be ranked in the upper half.

The second one he didn't want to meet was the Portland Trail Blazers; this team was also quite evil, and Brandon Roy was a cold-blooded killer; he was simply another Kobe at the Rose Garden Arena. In fact, his nickname was also: Yellow Mamba.

As for the Rockets, Hornets, and Nuggets, Fan Xi felt he could meet anyone, and it should be no problem.

Just as Fan Xi was about to close his laptop, Lao Wente sent some videos to his email.

Fan Xi clicked on the first video, and the first sentence was: How rookie players can quickly enter the playoff rhythm.

The narration was read by Lao Wente himself.

Fan Xi immediately felt a thick warmth; Lao Wente's care for him moved him very much.

He watched the video Lao Wente made himself attentively; although the production was rough, it was very professional and full of dry goods.

Lao Wente stated in the video: The officiating scale in the playoffs is completely different from the regular season; many times, even if there is blood, it might not be called. Therefore, the confrontation in the game is very intense, and the physical consumption is extremely large. Therefore, the playoffs are known as the testing ground for superstars.

There are many players who play well in the regular season, but the playoffs are the real Shura field.

As strong as Paul, his regular season honors were invincible, but for so many years, he had never touched the floor of the Western Conference Finals, meaning he had never entered the third round.

There was also Tracy McGrady, a two-time scoring champion, one of the four great shooting guards back then, known as Kobe Bryant's lifelong enemy.

But he, up to now, had not entered the second round of the playoffs.

There was also Carmelo Anthony, whose playoff performance was not very good either. The only time he entered the second round of the playoffs was with the help of the old guy Billups.

Therefore, sometimes, some vicious commentators would call them: fake superstars.

Fan Xi watched with secret shock.

He planned to find Kobe Bryant to explore some experience; after all, Kobe Bryant's playoff resume was very complete.

However, Kobe was currently in family conflict, and Fan Xi knew he was very annoyed and didn't want to disturb him.

However, just as Fan Xi gave up.

His phone rang.

It was Kobe calling.

Fan Xi pressed the answer button.

Kobe said on the other end of the phone: "Jack, you played very well last night, I am proud of you."

Fan Xi expressed his thanks.

Then, after Kobe was silent for a while, he suddenly got to the point, telling Fan Xi: "Jack, can you come to my house? I think I might need your help. I hope you can help me chat with Vanessa for a while; I think you are a very good mediator."

Uh...

There is an old Chinese saying: It is difficult for an honest official to judge housework.

Fan Xi didn't want to get involved.

However, Kobe was so good to him.

He thought about it and finally bit the bullet and agreed: Okay.

... ===== CHAPTER 124 =====