Chapter 342: Whoever you want to do, do it

The Clippers once again won the Los Angeles derby in a marquee matchup.

The California media the next day were all reporting on this event.

In the past, when they lost, there were always plenty of Lakers media jumping out to offer this or that excuse; they always had a narrative.

But this time, while there were still media members arguing on behalf of the Lakers, the voices of dissent were much fewer.

After three victories in the regular season, the Clippers defeating the Lakers was no longer a "sensational" and unacceptable event. More and more people began to believe that the Clippers had truly risen, that they were capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Lakers and defeating them.

The Lakers were no longer an invincible image, even though they possessed the most luxurious superstar lineup in the league today.

In this subtle process, Fan Xi's image became increasingly towering. The moment he was sold off by the Lakers, he was an object of sympathy, a weak avenger. People sympathized with him morally, but did not believe he could exact revenge on the Lakers.

As time passed, Fan Xi transformed from a weak avenger into an embodiment of toughness; he became stronger and stronger, and the history of the Lakers abandoning him became a part of his legendary story. People went from despising Jean Bas to condescendingly mocking her; she turned from an antagonist into a comical clown.

Some even began to pity her.

How could such a foolish person be the helmsman of the Lakers, causing a traditional powerhouse to be ruined in a single stroke? If she hadn't traded Jack, how strong would the current Lakers be? She actually thought Chris Paul was better than Jack Fan?

Such voices appeared more and more in the media, spreading from the bottom up. It first spread among the fan base, and then authoritative media began to follow suit.

In this process, the person who took the biggest hit was Jean Bas.

Next was Chris Paul.

When Paul joined the Lakers, he was full of ambition; he believed he could achieve every goal he had dreamed of. But now, he was stuck in a quagmire. He didn't get what he wanted; he even lost the crown of the league's top point guard.

The rookie MVP, whom he thought he could easily crush before the season started, was flying higher and higher this season, leading the Clippers in a rapid rise.

Paul no longer had a way out; if he couldn't win the Grand Champion, this would be a major turning point in his career.

Therefore, in the early hours after the game ended, Paul had a fierce argument with Kobe Bryant.

After watching the game review, Kobe said: "If we keep playing set offenses, keep draining their patience and energy, the Clippers wouldn't have the slightest possibility of winning."

"No, Bryant. On the contrary, I think if we had suppressed them from the start, played a dynamic offense, and unleashed our talent to the fullest in the first half, they wouldn't even have had the ability to drag the game into the second half."

"Jack Fan is strong, but there's no need to overestimate his strength."

"We are stronger than the Clippers in every dimension, so why did we lose this game? Wrong decision-making!"

"We need to change our tactical approach; Jack Fan understands the Triangle Offense System better than most of us."

Chris Paul spoke loudly in the locker room; his voice was exceptionally piercing in the Staples Center locker room at 12:00 AM.

When he joined the Lakers, many thought Paul's ball-dominant nature would cause him to clash with Kobe; after all, Paul was the kind of superstar point guard who wouldn't even obey his head coach, and Kobe was a scoring king who felt he lost power if he didn't have the ball.

Their conflict didn't erupt until the Western Conference Finals.

Much later than estimated.

But at the same time, the intensity was much stronger than imagined.

Standing in the corner, Matt Barnes even saw Kobe Bryant's hands trembling. Many years later, Barnes wrote in his memoir: The air at the time was like Alaskan cold wind freezing in a glacier; the locker room was terrifyingly quiet, and I could even hear the sound of mice in the warehouse next door peeing on cotton. This was two powerhouses competing; Chris Paul challenging Kobe Bryant after such a defeat was something no one had expected.

Matt Barnes wrote this passage in his long memoir, which shows the impact this event had on him.

Soon, Magic Johnson intervened. He kept the coaching staff and several core players.

Other players were asked to go to the locker room to shower, and the communicative Matt Barnes was even asked to attend the post-game press conference.

Matt Barnes performed perfectly at the press conference, treating it as something worth boasting about in his career.

Meanwhile, a heated debate was taking place inside the Lakers.

Kobe and Paul almost brought out their worst sides.

They cursed at each other.

Paul said Kobe's style was outdated, and that Kobe's large amount of meaningless isolation plays on the wing would only drag the team down.

Kobe criticized Paul for never having proven himself, telling him not to define the playoffs with regular-season standards. He also claimed that if Paul didn't follow his pace, he would never win a championship in his life.

Subsequently, Paul said: "You have always been a selfish person; you only care about your own shots."

"No, you are the most selfish player; you just package yourself as selfless. You only look selfless; you hog the ball for long periods, and the basketball just bounces meaninglessly in your hands. I only need a few seconds to shoot, but you hold the ball for over ten seconds; how many seconds are there in a total possession?"

Kobe and Paul went head-to-head.

They finally brought out their worst sides.

They argued until they were exhausted.

Then, Magic called them into a room, and they began to talk about tactics, team status, and the distribution of interests.

Magic was a player who could command the room; he was the greatest superstar in Lakers history. He was also the greatest point guard in NBA history.

His understanding of basketball was at the top.

No one knew what kind of communication, what kind of arguments, what kind of compromises, and what kind of reconciliation eventually happened in that simple room.

In the end, when Kobe and Paul walked out of the room, Paul walked behind Kobe, and then they greeted everyone together, both stating that this was just an effective communication and that they would be more united in the next game.

Because everyone's goal was the Grand Champion.

At least until they won the Grand Champion, their relationship would not show any obvious cracks.

This was the Lakers' biggest consensus at the moment.

…

Fan Xi didn't know what kind of thrilling things had happened at the Lakers last night; he was complaining that the stir-fried chicken with chili peppers Chen Ye cooked today was "tough" again.

Chen Ye helplessly spread his hands: "The chili peppers and chickens here in America are completely different from those in Zhongguo. I've tried my best. If you want to eat authentic ones, hurry up and finish the finals so we can go back home."

Fan Xi shook his head helplessly.

Although Fan Xi had been in America for many years and had adapted to the diet and climate here, he still occasionally wanted to eat food from his hometown. This morning, he wanted to eat Cantonese rice noodle rolls, Xinjiang big plate chicken, Nanjing roast duck, Hunan stinky tofu...

So, he called Chen Ye over.

Chen Ye fussed for the whole morning, but it was always missing something.

Chen Ye also wanted to eat meat burgers, lamb skewers, and spicy soup...

The two Zhongguo people sat at the entrance of the American courtyard, looking at the sky and sighing.

It wasn't that these things didn't exist in Chinatown, but the taste was far from that in the country; it wasn't authentic.

"When we go back, we'll definitely eat our fill," Fan Xi said in a "venting" manner.

Chen Ye nodded quickly.

He asked Fan Xi again: "I heard you turned down two movies to participate in the Olympics; is it worth it? I heard from Brother Lu that you earned over 15 million USD from that movie last year, the price of a first-line Hollywood male actor; aren't you tempted?"

Fan Xi looked up at the sky, then at the stir-fried chicken with chili peppers in the bowl, and said: "The production team changed the schedule to wait for me. How much money can buy authentic hometown food?"

If it were the old Chen Ye, he would think Fan Xi was being pretentious.

But now, he was also a successful person, no longer a martial artist running errands everywhere, nor a small bodyguard following foreigners.

After following Fan Xi, not only did he have a formal job, but he also married a property-owning wife like Laisi, and more importantly, ever since he trained Rosa well, his current rehabilitation training package cost 200,000 USD.

Demand exceeded supply.

Not only did NBA players come to him, but also football players, and even tennis player Serena Williams came to consult him.

He and his wife combined their strengths and made a fortune.

However, he still hadn't quit his job with Fan Xi, driving Fan Xi every day and going to the Clippers training facility as a trainer.

"Did you see the news? Taylor Swift's studio caught fire last night."

Chen Ye changed the subject.

Fan Xi said: "Taylor told me this morning that it only burned some equipment. The media must have exaggerated it."

Chen Ye smiled and said: "What I admire most is your dominant position in relationships..."

Fan Xi didn't talk to Chen Ye about this topic; he stood up to go watch the game tapes.

"These Hollywood actresses are also 'strange'. Although Jack is a bit more handsome than me and a bit richer, other than that... he doesn't seem to have anything special. Don't women like men who spend time and money on them? Jack spends his days revolving around basketball, yet it hasn't stopped those actresses from throwing themselves at him."

Chen Ye muttered to himself.

He couldn't figure it out.

Because he couldn't see Jack's core competitiveness.

In the evening, Chen Ye and Fan Xi watched the Eastern Conference Finals together.

The Miami Heat hosted the Chicago Bulls; this game was thrilling, like Mars colliding with Earth. Compared to the first game of the Western Conference Finals, where both sides were cautiously probing and playing high-quality set offenses, the Eastern Conference Finals had a completely different style; the two teams went at each other like needles against wheat from the start.

All kinds of defensive counterattacks, all kinds of pace-pushing, all kinds of lightning-fast speed.

Fan Xi and Chen Ye could feel the intense speed and passion sitting in front of the TV.

This game was destined to be the representative work of Derek Rose's career.

His touch was surprisingly good tonight, hitting 4 out of 5 three-pointers. You have to know that Rose's most criticized aspect was his shooting from beyond the three-point line.

When he had an 80% shooting percentage from three-point range in a game and scored 12 points.

Then, it was no surprise that he scored 46 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in the whole game.

He led the Chicago Bulls to defeat the Miami Heat 111:107.

In this game, his brilliance completely overshadowed the Three Giants.

The Three Giants played well; although LeBron's touch was a bit of a struggle tonight, he brought great help to Miami in other aspects.

Wade also scored 28 points and 8 assists.

However, it was to no avail.

Rose dominated the game in an unprecedented way; after returning from injury, his strength was even higher. The last Bulls player to become stronger after an injury was Michael Jordan.

After Michael Jordan missed the season in his second year, he returned in his third season and directly became the scoring champion with an average of 37.2 points, starting the legendary journey of the Basketball Emperor.

Now, Rose made Bulls fans endlessly associate him with Michael Jordan, and everyone believed that Rose had a chance to threaten LeBron James's position as the current number one player.

After this direct dialogue, some media even said that among the three major superstars of the new generation, Derek Rose was about to lead Kevin Durant and Fan Xi by a step.

Among the three major superstars of the new generation, Kevin Durant was the youngest scoring champion in history, and his scoring ability was the best in the league. Derek Rose was the youngest regular-season MVP in history; after returning from injury, his control of basketball and rhythm changes were even higher, arguably the best athletic point guard in NBA history. Fan Xi was the youngest Finals MVP in NBA history. He didn't seem to have top-tier achievements in technical fields, but he could always create miracles; he was a Miracle Child comparable to the Basketball Emperor.

"I think you will become the most sought-after rehabilitation therapist in the world this summer," Fan Xi said to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye shrugged and said: "Actually, I have already received an order from LeBron James's team; they are willing to spend 300,000 USD to hire me to assist James in his special training this summer. They are really willing to spend money."

Fan Xi shrugged and said: "LeBron is the superstar who spends the most money on body maintenance in the league; I estimate he spends over a million on physical training every year."

"Then you have to work hard."

Chen Ye said: "I see the pattern of the NBA now. The Pan-96 Super Platinum Generation like Kobe and Duncan are already at the twilight of the gods; they are about to step down from the main stage of the NBA. James, Wade, Howard, Paul... this group is the Pan-03 Super Platinum Big Three; they are already the backbone of the league and are taking over the NBA comprehensively."

"You, Rose, Durant, Westbrook are the new generation of superstars. Counting from this year's rookies, it's another new generation... If you directly take down the Pan-03 generation, I feel you are stronger than Jordan; Jordan only ruled one era, you can take down at least three eras."

Chen Ye counted on his fingers for Fan Xi: "Defeating the Lakers, the Pan-96 Super Platinum Generation can be considered ended by you. Taking down James, the Super Platinum generation can also be considered conquered by you. Suppressing Rose and Durant, you are the ruler of this generation. If you are more powerful later, you are the Invincible of the East!!"

Chen Ye joked.

Fan Xi took it seriously.

He gasped and asked Chen Ye: "You say, if I really did it, would I surpass Jordan and become the number one in history?"

"Hey!" Chen Ye gave Fan Xi a sideways glance: "You really dare to think; you think this is dating Hollywood actresses? Whoever you want to do, do it."

…