Chapter 136: A bold proposal

After sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers, Fan Xi reached the true peak of his career.

He was a star who could win in the playoffs.

Many stars never succeeded in a series in their entire lives.

The media generally believed that the reason the Lakers were able to achieve a sweep victory so easily was because he successfully responded to Andre Miller's sniping at the number 1 position and launched a powerful counter-encirclement.

Without Fan Xi, the Lakers could successfully advance, but not so easily.

Fan Xi got off the plane and was sitting in the car to his home when he received a call.

The call came from his college coach, Bob McKillop.

Their relationship had always been close, but since Fan Xi became famous, the two had rarely been in contact.

McKillop was in Los Angeles to attend a high school training camp. Thanks to Fan Xi's fame in the NBA, Davidson College, an ordinary NCAA university, became hot.

More and more star players were willing to accept McKillop's guidance because he made two previously mediocre guards rise abruptly in the NBA, and these talented teenagers hoped to go to the next level.

When Fan Xi arrived at McKillop's hotel, he found that Stephen Curry was also there.

This guy gave Fan Xi a surprise.

"Oh, my dear Miracle Child, it looks like you've been doing well lately." Stephen Curry teased Fan Xi: "You are simply outrageously strong now, did you steal and eat the 'Strength Fruit'?"

Stephen Curry's teasing made Fan Xi stunned, feeling a bit guilty.

McKillop on the side said to the two disciples who were now famous in the NBA: "Hey, two big stars, do you intend to let your college coach stand here alone, and even be stingy enough not to arrange dinner?"

Fan Xi hurriedly arranged for the two to go to the best restaurant in Los Angeles to eat. The teachers and students reunited, but the situation was already very different.

Back then, Fan Xi and Stephen Curry were just green boys at Davidson College. But now, Stephen Curry had firmly established himself as the rebuilding core of the Golden State Warriors, and Jack was the super backcourt of the Lakers.

McKillop was filled with emotion for a while.

He felt heartfelt gratification and joy for the achievements Fan Xi and Curry had achieved today.

The three chatted very happily.

When the meal was about to end, McKillop sighed again: "I always thought before that Jack would become the leader of a team, and Stephen would become a piece of a dynasty team. I didn't expect that I saw it backwards."

This sentence evoked memories of the three.

At Davidson College, Fan Xi was the leader, the boss, the core of the locker room, and Curry was the pioneer, the scoring champion, and the number one musketeer outside the three-point line. The two complemented each other.

According to normal development, excluding talent, judging from the personalities of the two, Fan Xi had a better chance of becoming the leader of a team.

After seeing off his college mentor, Stephen Curry asked Fan Xi: "Jack, don't you want to go to a team of your own to create your own history?"

Fan Xi raised his eyebrows and said: "I don't have time to consider this at all right now."

"I'm playing in the playoffs, brother. Do you know what the playoffs are?"

Fan Xi teased Curry.

Then, he invited Curry to be a guest at his home and live together.

Stephen Curry had been living at Fan Xi's house for the past two days. Besides eating, the two practiced basketball or ran to the sofa to watch TV.

They seemed to have returned to their college days.

In college, Fan Xi and Curry were together all day long. At that time, Curry's girlfriend would even be jealous.

And now, that girl had become Curry's fiancée, and they would soon have their first child.

From this incident, it could be seen that Stephen Curry was a responsible good man. He didn't abandon his wife of humble beginnings just because he became an NBA player. Many NBA players would abandon their girlfriends or even their wives after they had money.

"So, Jack, who is your girlfriend now? Taylor Swift? Jenner? Selena? Or Scarlett Johansson?"

Sometimes, Curry would also ask Fan Xi such questions.

"Why can't it be all of them."

Fan Xi said with a smile.

Curry pushed him. "Stop joking, although you've become handsome and rich, you're not perfect enough to make so many women flock to you."

Fan Xi laughed out loud after hearing this.

It seems that is indeed the case.

"These four are all famous women. They are loved by thousands, how could they fall in love with you?" Stephen Curry said very seriously to Fan Xi: "Don't get involved with these famous women. They won't date you for a long time. Once the freshness passes, they will change to another player. When we look for a girlfriend or a wife, we still have to find those women who can walk with us all the way."

Curry's words were from the bottom of his heart, and Fan Xi was very moved after hearing them.

It's just that he really didn't know how to answer.

Other events in the first round of the playoffs continued.

The San Antonio Spurs indeed lost the pivotal game as Fan Xi predicted, and then failed to have the last laugh in the sixth game.

The Memphis Grizzlies eliminated the regular season number one San Antonio Spurs with a total score of 4:2.

This was the second black eight since the NBA entered the 21st century.

The last time, the victim was still the Dallas Mavericks.

The sudden collapse of the Spurs added new chaos to the Western Conference playoff situation.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder also eliminated the Denver Nuggets 4:2.

The matchups for the Western Conference Semifinals had also been released.

Thunder vs Grizzlies.

Lakers vs Mavericks.

The Mavericks also defeated the Hornets 4:2. They played two more playoff games than the Lakers. From the perspective of their age level, this was a consumption of their physical strength.

The Mavericks were the strongest opponent in the West in Fan Xi's mind. Although there were many voices in public opinion saying that the Lakers would easily crush the Mavericks, Fan Xi could never be optimistic.

The media was always mocking Nowitzki's "history of softness," saying he was not a tough person and always soft at critical moments.

However, Fan Xi highly respected Nowitzki. Because he had cooperated with Nowitzki in the All-Star Game, it could be said that Nowitzki's performance at that time was extremely fierce. If it weren't for his desperate fighting, Fan Xi would have had no chance to lift the MVP trophy.

And most importantly.

This year's Dallas Mavericks had no shortcomings.

They had too many "hungry" veterans, and their desire for the championship undoubtedly exceeded the Lakers who had already won the championship trophy in the past two seasons.

Before Fan Xi went to Dallas, Lu Yuan came to find Fan Xi.

Lu Yuan was Fan Xi's agent, and Lu Yuan brought Fan Xi's exclusive sneakers.

Before this, Fan Xi had always worn Kobe Bryant's signature shoes.

But from this moment on, Fan Xi had his own sneakers.

During this time, fanx designers had been working overtime, and they finally created these sneakers for Fan Xi, and they would soon enter the mass production stage.

Lu Yuan brought the sneakers over, hoping that Fan Xi would wear them to play eye-catching games and bring positive publicity effects for the sale of the sneakers.

Fan Xi's parents had high hopes for this. This was the first pair of sneakers of the Fan Xi brand. In terms of sales, only victory was allowed and failure was not allowed, and it was only allowed to be a big victory, not a small victory.

Therefore, Fan Xi must maintain high popularity in the next month.

That is to say, Fan Xi must at least ensure that the Lakers' playoff journey ends in the West.

At least, at least, he must enter the finals to maintain high attention.

Otherwise, when other superstars occupy the media's pages, even if Fan Xi's sneakers are designed well, they won't be promoted.

Fan Xi heard the caution in Lu Yuan's tone.

He also became serious.

The Lakers only trained every other day during this time, and the training intensity was not high. The coaching staff hoped that the players would maintain sufficient physical strength.

However, on the plane, Phil Jackson was rarely furious.

He held a TMZ website screenshot and scolded Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum uncontrollably.

"Lamar, if you think it's important to go to various high-society parties, you should terminate your contract immediately. Don't think that just because you are with Khloe Kardashian, you are a socialite."

"I must tell you very clearly, if you are not a Lakers player, you don't have an annual salary of tens of millions, Khloe can find other men to replace you at any time. Don't always feel good about yourself. You should focus your attention on the court, not those messy things."

"For you, this is a positive investment. You run around every day, which is a consumption of you."

Phil Jackson scolded Lamar Odom.

Because Odom had been on a constant schedule these past few days, and was even photographed by paparazzi holding a wine pot and swaying unsteadily.

You could tell from Lamar Odom's bloated face how indulgent he had been recently.

Marrying a woman from the Kardashian family is a double-edged sword. They can make your name rise rapidly, but at the same time, they can also make you "not do your proper job" and forget yourself.

Lamar Odom's performance this season had declined significantly, and Phil Jackson had warned him several times.

However, judging from Lamar Odom's expression, Phil Jackson's words were at most a cure for the symptoms, not the root cause.

After scolding Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson pointed the spearhead at Andrew Bynum.

Little Shark Bynum dyed his hair green, and he took apart his original cornrow hairstyle, permed it, and let it all loose. This was a hairstyle that was very popular in the 70s and 80s.

Placed on top of Bynum's head in the 21st century, it was simply like a green light bulb.

"I don't know what reason you have for making your hair like this. This is your aesthetic, I won't comment. But why did you appear in a nightclub, and why were there two blonde women on your shoulders?"

"Is this the strength training you promised? Is this the starting over you promised?"

Phil Jackson was very angry, he hated that iron could not become steel.

After the last series ended, he, Magic Johnson, and Jean Bas went to talk to Andrew Bynum. They all hoped that Bynum would cheer up and play an important role in the second round of the game.

Bynum responded very well, saying that he would definitely work hard and definitely start over.

However, Phil Jackson didn't expect that his starting over was to dye his hair green, and then go to a nightclub to carry two women and play drunk boxing.

"Don't you have even a little bit of desire to become the league's number one center?"

Phil Jackson was really angry.

However, Bynum sitting in front of him didn't care at all. Although he lowered his head, his ears didn't listen to any words at all.

He was somewhat giving up on himself now.

After the last series ended, Fan Xi's reputation soared, which made him feel more and more that the gap was so amazing, and he felt more and more that he couldn't catch up with Fan Xi.

So, he lay flat.

Fan Xi was also lying in the seat behind, his eyes still looking at the Mavericks' game highlights, he studied every detail.

Kobe Bryant sat next to him, and he would sometimes glance at the computer.

He said to Fan Xi: "Jack, the Mavericks are not as scary as you think. Even in the weakest era of the team, I could take them down on my own."

The Black Mamba wanted to inject some confidence into Fan Xi.

He felt Fan Xi was overcorrecting.

Fan Xi didn't continue this topic with Kobe, just looked at the screen on the laptop without blinking, and replied to Kobe Bryant: "I think they played very smoothly and tenaciously."

"If any position of ours makes a mistake, we are doomed."

"Especially the paint."

Fan Xi pointed to the screen and said.

Kobe Bryant looked at the screen along Fan Xi's finger.

Kobe was a person with high basketball IQ, although he often performed as having no basketball IQ on the court.

If Kobe didn't have keen insight, it would be difficult for him to become a superstar. Players who could become historical superstars didn't have low basketball IQ.

The reason Kobe was like this was because he couldn't control his desire to shoot.

Kobe looked at the game video along Fan Xi's hand. He saw the cooperation between Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler, and the echo between Shawn Marion and Stojakovic.

The more he looked, the more frightened he became.

He indeed felt a real threat.

It is like this, Fan Xi is right.

The Mavericks are particularly strong, and their strength is all-around without dead ends.

Nowitzki plus Tyson Chandler.

One offense and one defense, plus a group of veterans surrounding them.

Experienced.

What about the Lakers?

Gasol and Odom?

Gasol and Bynum?

Kobe raised his head, and he saw Phil Jackson still angry there.

He had a strong sense of unease.

If it was really as Fan Xi said, wouldn't the first game be terrible?

Then, what way do we have to crack them?

Kobe asked Fan Xi: "What way do we have to crack them?"

Fan Xi thought for a while and said: "Only by surprise."

"For example, let me attack hard, and you come to assist?"

Fan Xi said to Kobe.

This was a bold proposal. ===== CHAPTER 137 =====