Chapter 242: Rejecting the Happy Beast

League-leading center, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive First Team, All-NBA First Team, the undisputed number one in the paint. If such a player said he wanted to join, any team or any person hearing those words would be overjoyed.

But Fan Xi stood frozen in place. He looked at Howard, whose expression was vivid and hinted at great anticipation. He was very calm; he didn't feel a shred of excitement.

Howard was strong, visibly strong. His current strength was equivalent to the combined power of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin.

Yet, Fan Xi had no urge to play with him.

It wasn't just because he had come running over today with a smiling face, nor was it just because he had been spouting nonsense on television.

Fan Xi simply felt that Howard was not yet prepared to be a warrior. He had achieved fame at a young age, possessed transcendent talent, easily found success in Orlando, and had garnered the love of a vast number of fans.

His professional career had been smooth sailing; he treated basketball like a game, and Fan Xi did not like playing games with others.

Therefore, from start to finish, Fan Xi had never considered becoming teammates with Dwight Howard.

Even though he knew that if he just accepted the olive branch Howard had extended, the Lakers would suffer a heavy blow, and the Clippers would solve many of the problems currently plaguing them.

However, Fan Xi did not accept it.

He just raised his eyebrows and said to Howard, "This proposal is too impactful; I need to digest it properly."

The great anticipation on Howard's face stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected Fan Xi to not immediately agree.

But he didn't catch the hint of rejection in Fan Xi's words. He thought it was indeed such big news that Fan Xi couldn't digest it, and he even felt that Fan Xi might not have the authority to agree to his joining.

"No problem, I'll have my agent contact your general manager."

"We will see each other soon and win the Grand Champion."

Howard enthusiastically hugged Fan Xi, as if he felt that putting on a Clippers jersey was a matter of course. He believed that no team could refuse the olive branch he extended.

Thus, he even had a somewhat condescending patronizing mentality, believing he was giving the Clippers an opportunity and giving Fan Xi a blessing.

Based on his previous inconsistent words and actions, his current subtly arrogant posture, and some of his behavior in the news, Fan Xi had already concluded that Howard could not possibly be a good teammate for him.

He knew that rejecting Howard would be a difficult thing, but a decision had already formed in his heart.

…

The Orlando Magic's peak was in 2009. Led by Hedo Türkoğlu and Howard, they took advantage of a weak Eastern Conference to reach the Finals, but were easily eliminated by the Lakers 4-1.

The Lakers thus began their 09, 10, 11 three-peat dynasty.

The Magic, however, slowly declined after that season. This season, they had already fallen to fifth in the East, and the conflict between Howard and the management/coaching staff had become public. This genius who had achieved fame at a young age was filled with restlessness inside; he couldn't wait to accomplish something great, and he believed it was the system that had tied his hands and feet, rather than the system that had achieved his fame.

The game between the Clippers and the Magic arrived as scheduled.

Just as Fan Xi's father had taught him since he was a child: do not become work partners with someone who is not serious.

Howard was that unserious person.

His pre-game talk had filled the arena, his teammates were fighting with all their might for him, television reporters had arrived, and TNT was broadcasting it nationwide.

However, when he appeared on the court, his face was filled with smiles.

He looked very happy.

His happiness was a radiant happiness.

Pop!

At that moment, DeAndre Jordan defeated him in the jump ball and glared fiercely at him.

The Clippers weren't playing games with him.

On the first play of the game, Fan Xi drove with the ball into the paint. Facing Howard's outstretched arms, he made a beautiful, flower-planting-like feint. Howard, as the best defensive player in the league today, was fooled, and Fan Xi used his left hand to toss the ball in over Howard's head.

At that moment, Howard's eyes were fixed on Fan Xi's right hand, but as Fan Xi took his step, he switched the ball behind his back.

This was a beautiful and provocative goal.

"Jack taught Howard a lesson right at the start. This big man who claimed he was going to block Jack couldn't even track Jack's movements when facing him for real; he looked like a clumsy child at a loss."

"Howard puts too much thought into that mouth of his, which should be kept shut."

Kenny Smith said sarcastically. In the last two years, Howard had quickly become a troublesome player.

Of course, Barkley, sitting next to him, was still making excuses for Howard. He said, "Dwight just wasn't prepared. Besides, this was a clever move by Jack Fan; he wouldn't dare challenge Dwight's defensive line head-on. From a defensive perspective, Howard had even succeeded; it was his teammates who failed to stop Jack Fan from entering the paint. He did his duty as an inside player. You can't expect him to slap every ball away; that's what God does."

Kenny raised his eyebrows; he felt this was some of Barkley's long-standing prejudice against Fan Xi.

While the two were talking, the camera focused on Howard. TNT tried to let the fans see some sparks, but in fact, what they saw was Howard's still-radiant smiling face.

He didn't take it to heart.

Bang!

Back on the other end, Howard insisted on playing DeAndre Jordan one-on-one. Jordan held him off firmly, and in the end, Howard threw the ball out with his stiff floater. Bang! Clank!

Blake Griffin grabbed the rebound.

He passed it to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi launched a fast break.

Magic point guard Chris Duhon tracked Fan Xi. Fan Xi accelerated past him outside the three-point line, then passed the ball out. Griffin charged in from the other side, caught the ball, jumped up with immense dominance, and slammed it toward the rim, facing Amar'e Stoudemire's defense.

Howard had just hurriedly arrived in the paint, but when Griffin had already built up his momentum, he knew it was futile and stopped his pace... Boom!

He witnessed Griffin complete the violent dunk.

The Orlando home crowd was in an uproar.

They clearly weren't here to watch the Clippers dunk.

But... this ball, it didn't seem like Howard could be blamed either... his running speed was already very fast; he had run from the missed shot in the backcourt to the frontcourt to chase the defense, and his running speed and distance were already the fastest on the Magic.

But... who told him to say those things before the game?

The Clippers were now united, and every ball they wanted to slam over Howard's head.

Howard was still all smiles; this person seemed to have no heart or lungs.

The game continued.

The Magic finally scored, as former dunk champion Jason Richardson hit a mid-range jumper.

The Magic were currently using a one-star, four-shooter system. Chris Duhon, Jason Richardson, Hedo Türkoğlu, and Ryan Anderson all had the ability to shoot from outside the three-point line, and Howard acted as the inside rebound guardian and defender in this tactic.

He was very dissatisfied with this tactic.

But in fact, this was the tactic that maximized his talent and ability; four shooters opened up the space, and he could take his defense to the extreme.

He had reached his peak relying on this tactic, yet now he wanted to start over and run the offense himself.

Based on this situation, the Clippers playing the Magic was actually an easy job.

Boom!

Changing sides, the Clippers dunker showed his power again.

This time it was Butler.

Fan Xi brought Butler, Leonard, Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan—four young and aggressive teammates—onto the court tonight, specifically to deflate Howard's ego, to let him know that words shouldn't be spoken recklessly, and also to let the players vent the frustration in their hearts.

Fan Xi broke through to the free-throw line. At that time, Jason Richardson came over to help defend, but Fan Xi took advantage of the situation to make a hand-off pass. Butler turned and rushed into the paint, and DeAndre Jordan tacitly blocked Howard behind him.

After much effort, Howard used his experience to squeeze past DeAndre Jordan, but Butler had already soared into the air, charging fiercely toward the rim. Howard, having squeezed out half a body's width, hurriedly retracted his head.

He had excellent techniques for avoiding being dunked on.

Turning back, the Magic continued to encounter obstacles on the offensive end. The defense of this group of young Clippers was too strong. Although Griffin's defense wasn't good, he was matched up against Ryan Anderson. What kind of ability did Ryan Anderson have? He used to be a substitute for Yi Jianlian, and although he later caught up, he only had some presence outside the three-point line. Using his height advantage, wasn't it easy for Griffin to defend him?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Magic kept clanking shots.

The Clippers, on the other hand, were charging forward, scoring like a surging tide.

Orlando's quality was quickly verified.

An ordinary team.

About the same as the New York Knicks.

Fifth in the East and sixth in the East were originally just a thin line apart.

"The pattern of a weak East and a strong West hasn't changed. It's hard to believe that the fourth in the West would beat the fifth in the East like this."

Kenny said sarcastically at the end of the first quarter: "Leading by 11 points in the first quarter, wouldn't it be 44 points if they played all four quarters?"

"Howard didn't have a single block in the first quarter, while the Clippers had 4 direct dunks."

Kenny Smith didn't forget to bring up old matters.

He took Howard out to whip the corpse repeatedly.

Barkley, on the other hand, was kind, saying: "Actually, there's no point in dwelling on this. Defense is a team matter; Howard can only do his duty. If he gets dunked on head-on, that's his personal problem."

"My view is different from yours. After watching the first quarter, I finally understand why Howard wants to leave the Magic. If I were Howard, I would also want to join a strong team, like the Clippers. If the Clippers replaced DeAndre Jordan with Howard, I dare say they would immediately be a championship-level team."

The only effective information extracted by Kenny Smith from Barkley's words was: "Charles, are you saying the Clippers are a strong team? Oh, my God, this must be the first time this season you've called the Clippers a strong team, right?"

Charles Barkley gave Fan Xi a fair evaluation during last season's Finals, blowing Fan Xi up very high.

But in the offseason, his stance changed. He felt that Jean Bas's trade was reasonable. Although it hurt Fan Xi emotionally, the Lakers became stronger because of it. From a business perspective, there was no problem.

When the new season started, although he didn't attack the Clippers very fiercely, he pointed out that Fan Xi's statement about winning the championship in three years was wishful thinking and attention-grabbing. After the Clippers defeated the Lakers and Bulls, he also said the Clippers were not a truly strong team.

Now, he had relented.

"Okay. I must admit, the Clippers are now truly a strong team in the standard sense. Their rebuilding speed is beyond imagination. I didn't expect their old players to play such a huge role; they can still gallop on the court and definitely bring rich experience to these rapidly improving young people."

Barkley said: "However, they are still a long way from being a top-tier strong team; they still don't have the conditions to compete for the Grand Champion."

Such a debate was meaningless.

The second quarter began quickly.

The Clippers subbed out the newcomers and brought on Nash, Carter, Deng Liwei, Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown.

They played a run-and-gun lineup.

The Clippers' offensive rhythm instantly became faster, and at this time, Howard finally seized the opportunity.

His talent was displayed; he was an inside player with fast speed, strong explosive power, fierce jumping ability, and extremely strong upper body strength.

When opponents played a fast-paced offense and defense with them, he would become a huge disruptor.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Deng Liwei and Rasheed Wallace hit three-pointers one after another.

However, Howard was currently military-training Kwame Brown in the paint. The two number-one picks had vastly different reputations; Howard was called the model of a high school number-one pick, while Kwame Brown, also a high school number-one pick, was the shame of the number-one picks.

Although Kwame Brown had made significant progress this season, averaging 6.8 points and 6.9 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game, he was already at the level of a first-class rotation player.

But facing Howard, he was still not up to the task.

He was hit by Howard's rough back-to-the-basket play, and Howard hit consecutive hook shots.

After Howard scored two goals, he became excited.

He shouted at the Knicks' bench: "Hey, brothers, let me show you my strength."

His words actually had no hostility, and even had a hint of showing goodwill.

However, when the audience on the sidelines cheered loudly.

Even without hostility, it turned into huge hostility.

And what made the Clippers players feel extremely angry happened in the third round.

At that time, Nash and Rasheed Wallace were playing a pick-and-roll. Fan Xi passed Duhon's defense and entered the paint, just about to pass the ball to Rasheed Wallace, who had pulled out to the perimeter, according to the plan.

Who knew Wallace would follow directly from the other side.

Nash reflexively passed the ball, forming a V-shaped pick-and-roll.

Rasheed Wallace caught the ball without any hesitation; he felt that his training during this period had restored his body to its peak.

He grabbed the ball and dunked toward the rim; he wanted to use a dunk to show his energy as the "Rasheed Wallace."

But... he was really too old; his speed, jumping ability, and explosive power were all comprehensively weakened.

The height he jumped was just enough to dunk.

At the same time, Howard shook off Kwame Brown and came to fill the position head-on. He stretched his arms like a fierce god and pounced on him, using all the strength in his body... Pop!

… ===== CHAPTER 243 =====