Chapter 55

Since 2008, the Phoenix Suns had been tossing and turning, and they gave up fast offense. First, they used Marion and others to trade with the Miami Heat for former super center Shaquille O'Neal.

However, at this time, Shaquille O'Neal, except for a body of fat, had long since lost his terrifying dominance of the past. Dunking was a difficult thing for him, and the offensive end became negative energy that dragged down the whole team, and it was extremely incompatible with the then inside core Stoudemire.

Immediately, the Suns traded O'Neal to Cleveland, replacing him with former Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace.

Ben Wallace had the title of the head of the Five Tigers in the Pistons during his peak, and he was the peak among defensive centers. But as he aged, his huge salary became a burden for the team that owned him.

Moreover, his skills on the offensive end were extremely clumsy.

So much so that the Suns had no chemistry with him, and in the end, they sent him away.

This year, the Suns' head coach changed from Terry Porter to Gentry, claiming to play defense, but in fact... it was still that set of fast offense.

Steve Nash, former regular season MVP.

Vince Carter, one of the former four major shooting guards, former super dunk king.

Grant Hill, former Jordan successor, former super slasher.

Plus Channing Frye, Robin Lopez, Pietrus, Dudley, and others, formed a new team.

Before arriving in Los Angeles, Steve Nash was interviewed by reporters: "How do you view Jack Fan becoming the starting point guard for this year's All-Star Game from an undrafted player? Before this, you and Chris Paul were the most direct competitors; according to convention, the Western All-Star team has at most two point guards in the final roster, do you feel that Jack Fan snatched your All-Star seat by unfair means?"

This reporter was stirring up trouble.

They liked to create similar news the most.

However, he was facing Steve Nash.

Nash was one of the most gentle and elegant stars in this league; he had been in the league for so many years, his reputation was very good, and he almost never had disputes with anyone.

Facing Fan Xi's rise, he was very calm: "This is the law of the league. There will always be new-generation players coming up; I have watched Jack's games, and they are indeed exciting. I often cheer for him in front of the TV, and my two daughters are his fans. He has the ability to make the audience in front of the TV obsessed with him, and every vote he gets comes from fans who sincerely love him; congratulations to him for having a wonderful All-Star journey."

"But don't you think this is too absurd?" The reporter continued: "He has only played a few games." The reporter continued: "While other All-Stars have at least struggled for many seasons."

"Point guards are indeed the most 'late bloomers' among the five positions on the court, but I am very happy that Jack has emerged so early. I hope he can make higher contributions to the point guard position."

Steve Nash's speech was full of high-mindedness of "I will have no self."

He was a truly upright person and a senior worth taking off one's hat to pay tribute to.

In fact, other players on the Suns, Vince Carter and Grant Hill, were people with high moral standards; they were all kind to others and didn't have that kind of petty emotion.

Therefore, the reporter didn't stir up anything at all.

This game between the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns was also played very peacefully.

Before the game started, Steve Nash even took the initiative to find Fan Xi to shake hands, and he encouraged Fan Xi: "Come on, little guy. You are very popular now, but you still need to work more solidly on the court so that you can achieve higher achievements."

"Don't become a flash-in-the-pan player."

Steve Nash had high expectations for Fan Xi.

In this game, Kobe Bryant did not play.

However, the Lakers added a small forward, Mike Dunleavy.

The Lakers traded Steve Blake and Ron Artest to the Indiana Pacers, and they got Mike Dunleavy.

Dunleavy was a tall white shooter, and his level outside the three-point line was good.

Moreover, another important reason was... although his annual salary this season was as high as 10.56 million US dollars, this year was his contract year.

After the Pacers had two small forwards, Granger and Paul George, they didn't intend to continue holding a space-type forward on the outside.

The Lakers valued both his ability outside the three-point line and his tall stature. Most importantly, if he didn't perform well, they could not renew his contract next season and let him become a free agent.

Mike Dunleavy seemed quite excited when he reported to the Lakers.

His father was the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, and they were a basketball family. Compared to the distant Indiana, he of course yearned more for the prosperity of Los Angeles; life here made him feel more at ease.

Therefore, he said ambitiously at the press conference that he would help Kobe Bryant win the second three-peat of his career.

However, on the first day of entering the training ground, Phil Jackson let him follow Fan Xi's pace.

Honestly, Mike Dunleavy didn't pay enough attention to Fan Xi; he had heard of Fan Xi's name, and Fan Xi's reputation had been deafening recently, but he thought Fan Xi was a product of hype: players playing in Los Angeles could always get extra attention.

Fan Xi didn't care about Dunleavy's neglect.

In this game, he still transported three assists to Dunleavy according to the tactical movement. However, for the final winning shot, Fan Xi didn't pass it to him, but bypassed Steve Nash himself, forced a three-pointer, and locked the victory.

This made Dunleavy unhappy, because he wanted to score 20 points and lock the victory in his first game with the Lakers.

He said privately to Lamar Odom: "I think this little guy is a bit too self-centered."

Lamar Odom turned around and told Fan Xi Dunleavy's words, and also retorted to Dunleavy at the time: "He has already given you enough, think about when you were in Indiana, would Tinsley pass the ball to you?"

The Lakers defeated the Suns and maintained their winning streak.

Kobe Bryant simply made a decision not to return for the next game, focusing on recuperation and giving Fan Xi a sufficient display platform.

The Lakers' next game was against the Clippers.

The two teams were both teams in Los Angeles and shared Staples Center as their home court, so they played six to eight games at Staples Center every year.

This game was the Clippers' home court, and Staples Center would be covered with floors printed with the Clippers logo.

The momentum of the Clippers and the Lakers in Los Angeles could not be mentioned in the same breath.

If the Lakers were the noble team of the City of Angels and the team crazily pursued by the upper class.

Then the Clippers... were unknown.

In the basketball ranking of Angelenos, it was not only lower than the Lakers, but also lower than the U and South California university teams, and even lower than the WNBA women's basketball team, the Los Angeles Sparks.

This was the huge gap between the two teams.

The Clippers' situation this season was not bad, and they had a chance to re-enter the playoffs.

Because the number one pick Blake Griffin, whom they selected in 2009, officially debuted this season. Griffin was a player with great audience appeal; before Fan Xi appeared, he, who was famous for his violent dunks, was the player with the second highest voice in Los Angeles, and many people even thought he could enter the All-Star Game as a rookie player.

However, it was a pity now.

Fan Xi appeared out of nowhere, Fan Xi was like a shining sun, instantly covering his light.

Although Blake Griffin still made dazzling violent dunks every night, people no longer cared about him.

This made him unbearable and full of jealousy toward Fan Xi.

Why could this undrafted player get an unprecedented annual salary of tens of millions? While I, the number one pick, only had half of his.

Why could he get more than a million votes as a rookie, squeeze out Chris Paul to become an All-Star starter, while I could only go to the Rookie Game?

Why could he be left and right, get the love of so many female stars, and Taylor Swift even gave up an endorsement of 2 million US dollars per year for him.

Why did he, a guy with no foundation, still think about creating a brand himself?

Blake Griffin's jealousy was like a raging fire.

When the reporter held the microphone to his mouth, even without provocation, he burned himself.

"In this game, my goal is to dunk on Fan Xi! I don't like him, I don't think he deserves to be an All-Star starter, Chris Paul is a hundred times better than him!"

Blake Griffin said aggressively facing the camera.

As the number one pick, he was full of pride, and his innate super talent made him look down on everything.

Therefore, it was very normal for him to say such provocative words to Fan Xi.

Blake Griffin also said afterwards: "There will always be some players who are flash-in-the-pan, looking very successful and talented. But time will prove everything; everything he has now is just luck, and soon he will lose everything and then fall into endless emptiness."

"Just like, do you really think Taylor Swift will like him? And then stay with him for life?"

Blake Griffin's true jealousy made him unrecognizable.

He was obviously fed up with the overwhelming reports about Fan Xi in the Los Angeles media, which instead ignored him, the number one pick who claimed to be the Chosen One.

He also complained to friends in private: If I were on the Los Angeles Lakers, the person getting super attention now would be me.

If Blake Griffin was still a bit young and energetic.

Then Baron Davis was relying on his age to sell his age.

Baron Davis was a former superstar; he joined the NBA in 1999 and had an iconic big beard.

His playing style was very tough; not long after he debuted, he sat firmly in the position of the boss of the then Hornets. Although the team's performance was average, he was selected for the All-Star Game and also played data of 20+8 per game, and was a point guard ranked at the forefront of the league at that time.

Subsequently, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors.

At the Golden State Warriors, he met the coach nicknamed "Mad Scientist" Don Nelson. Don Nelson gave him full freedom, and he reached his personal peak at the Golden State Warriors. And in 2007, he created a miracle with the team; they overturned the Western Conference number one Dallas Mavericks in the first round as the eighth seed in the West, creating a black eight legend.

His reputation reached its peak because of this.

In 2008, he accepted the high salary offered by the Los Angeles Clippers and returned to his hometown.

This child who grew up in Los Angeles returned to Los Angeles and quickly started his sideline business; he was good friends with the famous Hollywood actress Jessica Alba, he established a film and television company, and also released a record for himself.

He thought he could succeed by relying on Hollywood.

However, after three years, he just kept consuming his salary and didn't achieve any achievements.

And recently, he saw Fan Xi constantly appearing on Hollywood pages, and even becoming a cover figure.

He was jealous.

He was angry.

He was not Steve Nash; Nash had a broad mind, and even though Fan Xi might snatch his All-Star seat, he still didn't get angry from embarrassment.

On the contrary, the big beard Baron Davis had no interference with Fan Xi, and he was actually furious.

When the reporter handed the microphone to his lips, he said in very extreme language: "I want to challenge him, I want to teach him a lesson, I want to make him submit at my feet."

"I am not that weak little guard from New Jersey, I will not give him a chance to start, I will crush him with my stature."

Baron Davis said confidently: "I will tear him apart in front of those fans who voted for him to enter the All-Star starter. This crazy fire of his has been burning for a month, it's time to draw a period here."

The big beard struck a cold terminator pose.

Fan Xi sat on the sofa of the rented apartment watching Baron Davis's interview.

Then, his mother next to him turned off the TV.

Wu Su said very seriously to her son: "Xiao Xi, Nike has an appointment with us to continue talking before the All-Star Game. Adidas has also sent an invitation; they all want to buy shares in our brand, so this game is crucial."

Wu Su was an extremely good business analyst, and he said: "Now they are also waiting for the performance of these two Clippers players; if these two people suppress you, they will definitely try their best to suppress the price. And if you defeat these two people, we will gain absolute initiative."

Fan Xi nodded; he understood the stakes.

He said: "With my current strength, they can't defeat me. However, it is also difficult for me to gain an absolute overwhelming advantage. Strictly speaking, I am a player on the same level as them."

A rookie number one pick who has just debuted, a former All-Star who has slipped from his peak.

Strength is on par with Fan Xi.

Fan Xi's analysis is accurate.

Wu Su thought about it, maintaining a balance is also fine. The bargaining chip will not increase because of this, nor will it decrease.

At this time, Fan Xi's father walked in.

He said with a full face of smiles: "Xiao Xi, Taylor's father invited me to play golf and said he would take me to see Taylor's first solo concert in Los Angeles. Their family is too good!"

Fan Cheng had already become one with Taylor's family.

At this time, Fan Xi's phone rang.

It was from little Jenner.

Fan Xi frowned slightly; he thought, what does Jenner want with him?

Then, he pressed the answer button.

Soon, Jenner's slightly urgent voice came from the other end of the phone.

After Fan Xi heard the content, he stood up immediately.

Happy New Year!

Thank you all for your support all along; in the new year, I will present more wonderful stories for everyone. And, I will speed up.

Love you!