Chapter 262: I want to do something big

The Los Angeles Clippers' road trip began in Oklahoma, then headed to Indiana, Chicago, Minnesota, and Milwaukee, before returning to Los Angeles for the Christmas Day game.

Thunder General Manager Presti is currently being called the NBA's number one GM. He is the only general manager in many years to have built a team with a draft-centric philosophy and succeeded. He successively secured Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Westbrook, Ibaka, James Harden... these brilliant young players, and built a powerful young force.

As of the regular season so far, the Thunder have consistently ranked in the top half of the Western Conference. They are currently third in the West, and the Clippers, having dropped two home games, have been pushed down to fourth place by them.

Fan Xi's relationship with the Thunder has always been good.

He has friendships with both Durant and Westbrook, the Thunder's first and second-in-command. They met at the All-Star Game. At the time, Fan Xi even accompanied Durant to have dinner with his goddess, Scarlett, and it was also at that All-Star Game that Fan Xi met Scarlett... and then so many things happened.

Durant's "infatuation" with Scarlett can be described as known to women and children alike. After all, for a celebrity of his level to publicly state on social media that he is willing to drink Scarlett's bathwater, it would be hard not to cause a sensation.

Even Nike couldn't spin this kind of "loser" behavior; they could only summarize it as "true character."

Durant's temperament is indeed quite unique. Many NBA stars, before joining the NBA, were thin or even ugly, but after entering the NBA and becoming famous, most gained an aura and star quality. Only Durant remains forever in the image of a migrant worker—a one-of-a-kind temperament that makes it hard to believe he is the youngest scoring champion in history.

Now, he is already considered the league's next marquee player.

The league currently has three and a half young superstars. Kevin Durant and Derek Rose earned this status last season; Fan Xi earned it this season after defeating the Big Three again, because he finally displayed the ability to shoot regardless of defense, which only a superstar possesses. The other half is Westbrook.

Westbrook is a point guard with physical attributes that rival Rose's, but his playing style is a bit reckless. He and Durant are complementary in some areas, but have conflicts in others.

But regardless, the Thunder are getting better and better under their leadership. Fans, commentators, and the league all think very highly of them, believing they will become a powerful force in the league.

"Jack, you actually made such big news with Scarlett. Do you know how I felt when I saw the news?"

As soon as Kevin Durant saw Fan Xi, he started talking about the Scarlett matter.

The news he was referring to was the incident where Fan Xi and Scarlett were surrounded by land, sea, and air forces on Miami Beach.

Although this youngest scoring champion in history had dispelled his covetous heart for Scarlett through that meeting, he still remained preoccupied with it.

Fan Xi smiled and shook his head.

"Jack, tell me, have you really been with Scarlett?" Kevin Durant continued to ask.

Seeing him so serious and solemn, Fan Xi didn't shy away and nodded lightly.

At that moment, Durant jumped up excitedly like a monkey, screaming: "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

It was unclear what he was excited about.

Subsequently, he asked Fan Xi: "What does Scarlett taste like? Does she have the feeling of a donut?"

Huh?

Fan Xi didn't react in time.

Westbrook walked over at this time. He greeted Fan Xi, and Fan Xi started chatting with him.

Westbrook is a straight man and a model of a good NBA husband. He has never had any scandalous news, and the woman by his side has always been the captain of the UCLA women's basketball team, even though he is now a red-hot NBA superstar.

"That guy Derek said his recovery in Los Angeles is going very well. He even said his physical condition is better than before the injury. Is this true?" Young Master Wei was very concerned about Rosa.

Deep down, he has always regarded Rosa as his biggest competitor. They entered the NBA in the same year, have similar playing styles, and play the same position.

It is normal to form such comparisons internally.

Fan Xi nodded and said: "I'm not sure if his physical condition is better than before the injury, but his ability to control his talent is definitely stronger. His situation is the same as mine."

Once Fan Xi said this, Young Master Wei was immediately shocked. Fan Xi was much fiercer after his injury than before. After the Finals ended, people said his Achilles tendon was torn, but in the first preseason game, he came out with an imposing straight-arm dunk.

If Rosa is stronger than before the injury, then how can I catch up?

Young Master Wei felt some worry in his heart.

He couldn't help but mutter: "This makes me want to get injured once too."

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

Fan Xi quickly covered his mouth and said to him: "Don't talk nonsense."

Then he quickly chanted: "No taboos, no taboos."

The cordial interaction before the game did not affect the tension of the match in the slightest.

The Thunder played with extreme impact.

Usually, the coordination between Westbrook and Kevin Durant always has aspects that give the head coach a headache, but tonight they were perfectly in sync. Joining forces, both played exceptionally well.

Young Master Wei charged forward unscrupulously, and Durant's shooting seemed to have a locator installed; both of their physical attributes are bugs in the NBA.

The Clippers felt a bit helpless against them.

This is the benefit of having two superstars on the team, and superstars with completely different playing styles at that. Theoretically, the ceiling of the Westbrook and Kevin Durant duo is higher than that of James and Wade, because Wade and James overlap somewhat. However, the premise is that Young Master Wei doesn't burn his CPU, and Young Master Du isn't overly sentimental.

In terms of mindset, Wade and James are much more mature.

But unfortunately, the Clippers ran into a non-CPU-burning Young Master Wei and a Young Master Du who was focused on playing ball and not being sentimental tonight.

The Clippers didn't have very good luck.

It's unclear if it was because of Fan Xi talking to them before the game.

In the end, the Thunder defeated the Clippers 111:108. They defended their home-court advantage and continued to lead the Clippers in the standings.

This result is a good thing for both the Lakers and the Spurs.

Fan Xi recorded 22 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in this game—a standard performance, not far from his season averages.

However, Griffin continued to struggle tonight; he played very poorly.

Facing Ibaka, he lost his composure. Ibaka is a power forward full of energy and athletic ability; although far inferior to Griffin on the offensive end, he was enough to render Griffin's advantages non-existent on the defensive end with single coverage.

Griffin has recently fallen into an obsession.

He is eager to prove himself, but haste makes waste.

Not only did his stats become ugly, but his relationship with his teammates also dropped to freezing point.

The young players no longer talk to him, and the older players just stand quietly to the side.

The coaching staff no longer seeks him out for private talks.

He felt the strangeness within the team.

Fan Xi decided to talk to him, but on the plane to Indiana, they could no longer calmly discuss this issue.

Because the matter of Clippers owner Sterling had come to light.

This incident broke out while the Clippers were playing the Thunder. After fermenting overnight, by the next morning, almost all media in the United States were reporting on it.

This is a very sensitive matter that brought about extremely negative social impact.

Sterling, a sanctimonious billionaire, actually looked down on people of color in private and used such despicable and frivolous language to describe them... although in the hearts of many traditional old white men, this doesn't count for much. Discrimination has long been deeply rooted in their hearts.

But such things cannot be made public; this is a challenge to the entire social logic.

Moreover, the NBA is a league with black people as the main body.

As the owner of a team, how could Sterling say such things?

Public opinion could no longer be suppressed.

Everyone is discussing it, and everyone is attacking Sterling.

When Sterling saw the news, he was completely dumbfounded. He never dreamed that the damn Mexican woman would secretly record their conversation, and he never expected her to make it public.

Now, the whole world knows.

It's over!

Sterling called a PR firm; he needed PR.

However, the PR firm didn't dare to take this case, no matter how high a price this miser offered.

It completely turned into a social event.

The Clippers club was surrounded by angry crowds that day; many people were burning Clippers jerseys and threatening to return their tickets.

Angry emotions permeated many people, and it seemed it was about to evolve into a crazy incident.

NBA commentators cursed Sterling to the ground, big anchors on TV were attacking him crazily, and some even spread rumors about boycotting all Clippers games.

David Stern's entire scalp went numb.

He felt this incident was trickier than any previous lockout. He himself strongly supported the Clippers' conquest in Los Angeles, and he considered Fan Xi a superstar who could further expand the NBA's influence.

But he didn't expect the owner to have such an incident.

Now, owners of other NBA teams are calling him one after another, demanding that the league cut ties with the Clippers; they don't want this fire to burn them.

The trouble Sterling caused cannot be tolerated in American society.

When Fan Xi woke up at the Oklahoma Thunder hotel, he received a call from the team leader, who told him that today's flight might be delayed by two hours.

Because it was unknown whether they could go to Indiana for the game.

Fan Xi rubbed his eyes and subconsciously asked: "What happened?"

"You'll know if you watch TV," the team leader replied blankly. He didn't even know if he could continue working at this club now; public opinion was too overwhelming.

Fan Xi didn't feel his confusion; he thought it might be due to weather or flight delays.

He got up and took a shower.

Then, he started drafting a speech in his mind. He intended to have a frank talk with Blake Griffin. He hoped Griffin would take the initiative to propose a trade to the team, and specifically, to apply for a trade to Dallas.

Fan Xi knew Griffin wanted to be the boss and have a world of his own.

Moreover, the Clippers really didn't suit him; he seemed out of place with the locker room culture here.

So, adding him might convince Sterling.

But how to convince Griffin?

And, should I call Novitski now to get on the same page?

Fan Xi thought about the scene of him partnering with the German Tank, Novitski.

Just then, knock, knock, knock!

Fan Xi's door was knocked on urgently.

Walking out to open the door, it was Griffin.

Griffin walked in angrily and said to Fan Xi: "This is ridiculous, this is unbearable, Jack! I can't stay with the Clippers anymore. The only person I respect here is you, and I must tell you my true thoughts."

Huh?

Hearing Griffin say this, Fan Xi was actually happy. He asked Griffin: "What's wrong?"

"Sterling is simply a bastard. This is an insult to all of us black people. I can't continue to play for such a person, Jack. I think you should be like me and apply for a trade. I've already had my agent issue an announcement to the media."

"I refuse to play for the Clippers again until they trade me."

Griffin acted first and reported later.

Fan Xi was still confused, so he asked Griffin: "Then where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not Milwaukee, Indiana, Minnesota, Toronto, Indiana..." Griffin was still clear-headed.

These places are not conducive to him developing his market.

Fan Xi frowned and subconsciously asked: "How about Dallas?"

"Dallas? Dallas is good. I'm very suited for there, the wild West, the wild me... huh?" Griffin realized something was wrong and asked Fan Xi: "Jack, do you also want to be traded to Dallas? Do you want to continue fighting side-by-side with me there?"

Fan Xi didn't react: "I'm not going. I was just asking. Blake, what prompted you to want to be traded so urgently?"

"Didn't you watch the news, Jack? The whole NBA is in chaos now, and the whole world is discussing... no, cursing that bastard Sterling. He actually mocked us black people, he actually belittled us..."

Griffin said quite excitedly.

Then, he turned on the TV.

It was really as he said; no matter which channel he switched to, they were all discussing Sterling insulting people of color.

Fan Xi was extremely shocked at first.

Then, he began to get a sense of it.

Because he heard Jean Bas on TV shouting indignantly: "We must expel such a black sheep from the NBA. I am ashamed to be in the same league and managing basketball business in the same city as such a person. He should be stripped of his position as Clippers owner, he should withdraw from the NBA entirely..."

The more Jean Bas spoke on TV, the more excited she became.

But the more Fan Xi listened, the more pleasantly surprised he became.

Jean Bas might have wanted to pull the rug out from under the Clippers to let them enter long-term turmoil, but Fan Xi smelled infinite business opportunities.

He picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message: "Mom, prepare a few hundred million US dollars for me. I want to do something big."

... ===== CHAPTER 263 =====