Chapter 438: Uncle Fan Xi

Fan Xi looked at Kevin Durant, whose face was full of grievance.

At that moment, he felt he truly was a scumbag, and this felt far more genuine and earnest than the accusations he received from a female star.

"Hey, Kevin, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Fan Xi muttered, "I definitely have to help my teammate; you could also become my teammate."

Durant ran to the other side, tangled with Leonard, and wanted to square off against Leonard.

However, Fan Xi didn't pass the ball to Leonard; instead he set a pick with Nowitzki, who hit a three‑point shot, and Ibaka couldn't extend his defensive influence beyond the three‑point line, even though he was a very mobile forward.

How many defenders in the world can handle Fan Xi and Nowitzki's pick‑and‑roll?

Westbrook accelerated, sprinting, and used a head‑push cut to get past Lu Biao: whatever Derek Rose accomplished on Lu Biao, he wanted to take back piece by piece.

Before this season, Westbrook and Rosa were called lifelong rivals; although Rosa, as the Bulls' leader, was half a body length ahead, it was still up for debate.

The two were similar in height and physical quality. Yet this season, few compared Westbrook with Rosa. Rosa bore the title Duke of Roses, and his name was placed among Heaven's Chosen Son, the Grim Reaper, the Evil Eastern Monarch, and the Beast among those super‑super superstars.

That made Westbrook very upset; he was eager to reclaim the court.

However, he drove to the basket, leapt for a dunk, and Xiao Jordan pounced.

It must be said, Westbrook's war axe was beautiful.

But his aerial game lacked some variation; his brute style was highly entertaining. Yet Rosa had now evolved—Rosa's many changes were hard for defenders to decipher, and he didn't treat dunking as the ultimate goal.

Bang!

Westbrook was suppressed by Xiao Jordan.

Although the head referee blew the whistle, his offensive attempt undeniably ended in failure.

Westbrook, angry, walked toward the free‑throw line, and at that moment Durant came over to tell him a couple of words.

Westbrook's complexion wasn't good.

Westbrook is a relatively simple person; his mind is rather rigid—generously described as obsessively craving victory, bluntly put, he can't turn, lacking a flexible baseline.

Durant's words to him were something Fan Xi could think of with his toes; Durant the Young Master would go on a killing spree tonight, proving his All‑Star starting caliber.

But that was already a done deal—Leonard was the starter, leaving no chance of a comeback. Moreover, he had already been selected for the All‑Star, as had Westbrook.

Bang! Swish!

Westbrook made one of two free throws.

On the way back to half‑court, Westbrook walked beside Fan Xi and said, "Jie Ke, do you really think I'm worse than Derek Rose? I'm just missing one chance."

Listening to Westbrook's complaints and recalling Durant's earlier grievance, Fan Xi felt like an old uncle, with everything coming to him for solutions.

"You're already great, Russell. Few people at your age are as successful as you."

Fan Xi praised Westbrook: "Moreover, you activated the Fan Xi Clause; did you know? You're the fourth player to trigger the Fan Xi Clause."

Westbrook activated the clause through two All‑Star appearances.

But Fan Xi was fine until he mentioned the fourth; that made him upset: Fan Xi is the namesake of this max‑salary clause, and Durant and Rosa were ahead of him.

He doesn't care about that fourth spot.

Westbrook felt the current situation stemmed from not being cultivated as a core. Durant spent a day with the Thunder, and he would forever be a concubine.

He wants to wield great power, to establish his own house; he's harbored that thought for a long, long time. Especially after watching the third‑year Harden rise in Space City, he believed he was only one chance away.

"Jie Ke, do you think I can still surpass Rosa?" he asked Fan Xi.

At that moment, Fan Xi had already reached his offensive spot, so he told Westbrook, "We'll discuss this after the game; we have plenty of time to talk during All‑Star Weekend."

Then Lu Biao passed to Nowitzki, who one‑on‑one'd Ibaka, using his deft back‑to‑basket move to draw Ibaka's defensive focus; as Durant cut sideways forward, Nowitzki bounced the ball to the trailing Leonard, who single‑handedly dropped it into the hoop.

Leonard's play lacked aesthetic beauty, but it was practical. He always scored in the simplest, most plain way.

Durant felt very uncomfortable.

So, he returned to half‑court, demanded the ball from Westbrook, then used his huge stride to change direction, Stop-and-Go Jump Shot… Swish!

It went in.

The scoring king Durant lived up to his name.

As he neared a three‑peat as scoring king, more people called him the hardest scoring king to guard; he was already the recognized strongest scorer in the league, with his height, wingspan, deft touch, and increasingly terrifying breakthrough and change‑of‑direction ability.

All that made him a top‑of‑history scoring machine.

Some even compare him to Michael Jordan, and the answer is that Durant's scoring is simpler, more direct, more efficient.

After all, he truly is a monster.

Durant tried to destroy Leonard; in the following games he kept launching attacks.

His scoring numbers kept rising.

But his team failed to take the lead, and the gap gradually widened.

The Thunder were strong, but tonight they acted too rashly.

Durant the Young Master wanted to prove his All‑Star starter stature, and Westbrook wanted to prove he was tougher than Rosa.

They both got what they wanted.

Westbrook's various fierce drives, leaping about, resembled a rutting rabbit.

Durant's countless unanswerable jump shots were delivered like the Grim Reaper holding a scythe harvesting wheat in the fields.

Durant finished the game with 45 points.

Westbrook recorded 18 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals.

They are both very, very great superstars.

But together their team lost to Kuaisuan by 9 points.

Even with Kuaisuan playing in a restrained manner, Fan Xi still cherished his friendship with Durant and Westbrook.

After the game, he even went out of his way to talk with the two.

Westbrook said one thing: "What exactly am I still lacking compared to Rosa? Why does the media treat me like this? Neglect me! Is it just because Oklahoma is a small city?"

Westbrook feels aggrieved, constantly suppressed by an imagined enemy in his mind, and no one makes him happy.

Fan Xi can only tell him: "You're great, you're awesome. You're a unique shining star. You'll definitely get what you want, but right now you need a victory."

Then, Fan Xi goes to chat with Durant again.

But before Fan Xi can speak, Durant says, "You really want to be teammates with me, right?"

Hm?

Fan Xi thinks, "Did I ever say something like that?"

"Jack, I'm serious, together we are the league's apocalypse."

Durant says.

Fan Xi quickly replies, "Yeah, together, what way out does this league have?"

But Durant says, "That's what I want. The Grim Reaper plus an evil Eastern monarch. Is there any more wonderful combination?"

Hm?

Fan Xi is taken by surprise and is greatly shocked.

He thought Durant was merely emphasizing mutual strength, but didn't expect he truly wanted to team up.

Why is that? Isn't being the boss in O‑City fine?

It seems the scouts were right; Durant indeed lacks the strong resolve to become a leader.

Fan Xi doesn't even know how the conversation with Durant ended.

But he feels dealing with the two young masters is tiring, mentally draining, like chatting with several Fan ladies at once.

…

Kevin Durant ultimately becomes an All-Star starter because Kobe Bryant announced he was injured and could not attend the Houston All-Star Game.

Kobe was too lazy to even make up a reason; he said his index finger slipped on soap while showering, hit the wall, and suffered a severe strain.

In short, he got injured picking up soap.

Since Kobe can't come, Kevin Durant naturally steps up.

No one is more suitable.

The Western All-Star starting five are: Fan Xi, Durant, Leonard, Nowitzki, Howard.

The reserves are Chris Paul, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Tim Duncan, Zach Randolph, Blake Griffin, Aldridge.

The Eastern All-Star starters are: Derek Rose, DeWayne Wade, Le Bu Lang Zhang Si, Cameron Anthony, Kevin Garnett.

The reserves are Ke Li Si Bo Shen, Joe Kinnor, Roland, Tyson Chandler, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Jr. Holiday.

Looking at the Eastern and Western rosters, the teams with the most All-Stars are: the Heat, Kuaisuan, Bulls, and Lakers, each with three selections. If James Harden is counted as a Thunder member, that also makes three. The New York Knicks have two.

This fits the current league landscape well.

The NBA always follows the 80/20 rule where strong teams dominate.

Aside from these six powerhouses, the other teams look pale.

Although the media criticized this, they can't change anything.

Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kuaisuan players even take the same flight to Houston; the Lakers travel with Howard and Paul, while the Kuaisuan side brings a large group: Fan Xi, Leonard, Nowitzki, plus Arenas, Butler, Mili Xiqi, Huaiti Seda.

Arenas is heading to the Three-Point Shot Contest, Butler, besides the Rookie Game, also entered the Dunk Contest. Mili Xiqi and Huaiti Seda are just there for fun; idle time is idle time.

Thus, in first class, Howard and Paul feel a bit awkward.

They are surrounded by Kuaisuan players.

In the end, Arenas greets them: "Hey, DeWitt, I think you can drop out of the Dunk Contest now; other than wearing a Superman cape, you can't do anything."

Very friendly.

At least Howard isn't angry.

He knows that 30,000‑foot altitude isn't a place to be angry, in case the Kuaisuan crew swarms.

…