Chapter 167

Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant were close friends; they had been partners since 2007, saving each other.

Before meeting Kobe, Gasol was a highly controversial leader in Memphis, criticized for being soft and weak.

Before meeting Gasol, Kobe was considered a lone hero who acted on his own, a scoring champion who only had eyes for the basket.

After two people who were highly questioned came together, they immediately bloomed with completely different brilliance, just like finding their 't' on the court. They created the pattern of the Los Angeles Lakers reaching the Finals for four consecutive years.

After Kobe was injured and out for the season, Pau Gasol seemed to return to the isolated Memphis overnight. His will was visibly depressed; he just mechanically did his job on the court to complete tactical instructions, always lacking the sharpness he had when playing alongside Kobe.

Whether it was Fan Xi or Phil Jackson, both wanted to have a chat with Pau Gasol; they didn't expect that Pau Gasol would take the initiative to talk to Fan Xi now.

When Fan Xi heard Gasol say that Kobe had sent him a text message, he understood immediately.

"Don't worry, Jack, I will cooperate with you just like I cooperated with Kobe." Gasol said seriously to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi nodded, he patted Gasol's knee: "Thank you for your hard work! Let us fight for Kobe, for the Lakers' three-peat!"

Fan Xi played an emotional card.

Gasol was an emotional person; he immediately nodded vigorously. "Yes, for Kobe, for all our past efforts, we must do our utmost to fight for the third championship."

Matt Barnes was the first person to sit over after Gasol left.

"Why do I feel like tonight is a gang initiation ceremony?" Lao Wente sat in front and muttered in a low voice: "In 'The Godfather,' it seems like gang members also go up one by one to kiss the new Godfather's arm."

Shh!

Phil Jackson made a shushing gesture.

Matt Barnes sat in the seat next to Fan Xi, and Fan Xi looked at him with a smile.

"Jack. I don't have any other thoughts; I have always appreciated you. If you want to fight those bastards in Miami to the end, I will fight to the end with you. I hate those high-and-mighty, sanctimonious guys the most; my interest is to tear down their false prosperity and drag them, all shiny and bright, into the mud."

Matt Barnes was a rough man, and his relationship with Fan Xi had always been very good. When Fan Xi came to the Lakers, he and Lamar Odom were the first to open their arms to Fan Xi. At the beginning, he protected Fan Xi on the Lakers, and later, after Fan Xi's status on the team rose rapidly, he became Fan Xi's guardian. In the last game, he was the person who fell the most times besides Fan Xi; he kept fighting tenaciously, even when the team had no hope.

Sometimes, he wasn't even doing it for winning or losing; he just wanted to fight.

"I know."

Fan Xi nodded to Barnes, expressing his approval. He then said: "This is the direction I am working towards."

"By the way, your T-shirt is nice. Perhaps you could start a fashion brand; your aesthetic has always been outstanding, you can always find avant-garde things." Fan Xi changed the subject.

Barnes hurriedly boasted about his insights into fashion; he was indeed the person on the Lakers who often wore strange clothes.

Compared to Andrew Bynum, who always styled his hair into a shiny disco ball, he was more willing to put effort into clothing coordination.

After Barnes left, Andrew Bynum sat over.

As soon as he sat down, he said: "I don't know why they are running over to talk to you one after another. I feel that if I don't come over to sit for a while, I will seem not very sociable."

Bynum was quite honest.

In essence, the Little Shark was not a person with deep schemes; his shallowness, shortsightedness, and stupidity were all obvious.

It was just that Fan Xi didn't expect him to be so "weak." He clearly possessed a height of over 216 cm and a weight of 260 jin; as long as he established position in the paint, no one in Miami could face him one-on-one.

However, he always did inappropriate things in inappropriate places; his confidence in his jump shots even exceeded his one-on-one play in the paint. I really don't know what he was thinking.

"Then you can sit here until the plane lands." Fan Xi said to him with a smile: "Remember to fasten your seatbelt, don't fall down like before."

Pfft!

Phil Jackson, sitting in the front row, couldn't help but laugh. He originally thought Fan Xi would say something reasonable and emotional to Bynum, but he didn't expect it to be bringing up old matters.

The conflict between Bynum and Fan Xi last year was Bynum shouting loudly at Fan Xi on the plane, and then encountering turbulence, breaking his bones. This directly led to Fan Xi's rapid rise. By the time Bynum returned, Fan Xi's status on the team was already on par with Bynum, and now he was even firmly suppressing Bynum.

With Kobe injured and the team suffering a crushing defeat, the players lining up to chat with Fan Xi instead of Bynum explained the problem very well.

"Hehe."

Bynum actually didn't get angry and even started laughing.

He fastened his seatbelt.

Fastening the seatbelt meant he had completely let go of that matter, and he was willing to follow Fan Xi's leadership.

"Can you tell me how to handle Hollywood female stars? Scarlett is a very arrogant goddess, she has never been interested in the sports circle. How did you get her to be so obedient to you, even burying herself in the sand to give you that..." Andrew Bynum asked Fan Xi.

"Actually, the answer is very simple. Being handsome solves half the problem." Fan Xi told Bynum seriously.

Bynum touched his already dyed-yellow afro, and he raised his eyebrows confidently: "I've solved this half of the problem, how do I solve the other half?"

Pfft!

The sound of suppressed laughter came from the front row again.

Fan Xi pretended not to hear it and said sternly: "The other half is probably money, status, power, and masculinity."

"Money, I'm a millionaire now too, getting another contract, becoming a billionaire doesn't seem too hard." Bynum analyzed seriously: "Our status is about the same, both are Lakers players. Power? What is this? Masculinity, do I not have masculinity?"

"Power is a man's best coat. Imagine, when you walk out, a bunch of people compliment you, flatter you, and whatever you say, they obey obediently. When women see this, can they not be obsessed? Can they not want to stand by your side?" Fan Xi said to Bynum: "I think you need to strengthen yourself in this area."

"How to strengthen?"

"For example, on the court, you can be bolder; you need to do things others dare not do. The more defense there is, the more you charge; you knock away the defense and dunk directly... In this way, you will be very dominant, and dominance will bring power. Think about it, how many Hollywood female stars are watching the Finals from the sidelines, and how many Hollywood female stars are Lakers fans?"

"I heard that someone with O'Neal's looks can go film Hollywood movies and have scandals with many Hollywood female stars, are you not as good as O'Neal?"

Fan Xi was provoking Bynum.

Bynum was awakened by this comparison. "That's right, that guy O'Neal is much uglier than me, and I heard that thing is very small too. If he can, why can't I?"

"Jack, do you mean for me to dunk more? To collide more?"

"That's right!" Fan Xi clapped his hands: "Think about it, what kind of things are the Heat? Joel Anthony and Haslem are only as tall as your shoulders, and what's the difference between Chris Bosh and a noodle? If James and Wade come to help defend, that's even better. If you dunk them over, do you think those Hollywood female stars will go crazy for you? There is no one in the world who has dunked James and Wade over."

"If I were you, I would be so excited I couldn't sleep right now. The Finals!! So many cakes waiting to be eaten by you in one bite, and the Chosen One like James..."

Fan Xi described a beautiful prospect for Bynum.

Bynum was immediately tempted.

Not to mention Bynum being tempted, even Phil Jackson in the front row was tempted. He felt that if he were Bynum, he would fight to the death. It doesn't matter if you can't dunk them, it's not a loss, but if you dunk even one over, that's achieving fame and fortune.

Only a fool wouldn't do that.

"Jack, you are so right."

Bynum pondered carefully and slapped his thigh: "You are the one who truly cares about me. They want me to shoot more, take more shots, and pad my stats, which doesn't solve the real problem at all. Only you hit the nail on the head. No wonder you can make Scarlett cover herself with a cloth on the beach to blow you..."

*Cough cough! *

Fan Xi interrupted Bynum's "nonsense" with an awkward cough.

At this moment, he knew that many people in the front must be listening to their conversation.

However, this kind of cover-up was unnecessary; on the whole plane, who didn't know what Scarlett actually did? Only a fool would believe that Scarlett burying herself face-down in the sand with only half her head exposed while leaning on Fan Xi was to remove dampness.

"Phil, Jack's pre-game ideological work is done much better than yours." Lao Wente whispered to Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson nodded; it was indeed true.

He had done ideological work his whole life, and he could always make various problematic players, including people like Rodman, work for him. However, for Bynum, he had indeed been at his wit's end for so many years, yet now Fan Xi had him acting like he was injected with chicken blood, and he even spilled out all the instructions from Jean Bas and that group.

What kind of ability is this?

Phil Jackson showed a satisfied smile; he felt comfortable.

"It seems we have a good chance of winning Game 3." Lao Wente said optimistically.

Phil Jackson, however, frowned; he felt it was still very precarious. Even if all the other Lakers players were fired up, they were no match for Miami.

The one who could truly kill the Heat was still Fan Xi.

But Fan Xi's stamina problem was really too troublesome. Under the confrontation level of the Finals, especially with the continuous consumption by James and Wade, his already pitifully small stamina reserve was consumed even faster.

If only he could play for more than 32 minutes, Phil Jackson would feel they had the strength to fight, and he had even thought of a new tactical system.

However, however.

The plane was flying steadily.

Phil Jackson's thoughts were pushed forward like a tide.

Fan Xi, meanwhile, slowly closed his eyes amidst Bynum's excited chatter; he was waiting for a new opportunity to arrive.

…