Chapter 666

Kevin Durant ultimately chose to join the Chicago Bulls, which ignited the offseason discussion frenzy.

The Bulls are a strong team; when James was in the Eastern Conference, he was always second in the East. Derek Rose was also considered a top-five superstar in the league.

In ESPN and other media rankings, he and Durant have consistently ranked fourth and fifth.

Now that they have teamed up, everyone is full of anticipation.

Because Derek Rose plus Kevin Durant is like a copy of James plus Curry. Moreover, the media believes that the chemistry between Rosa and Durant is even better, because their personalities are more similar.

Kevin Durant said at his Chicago press conference that he came to help Rosa win a championship. He also said that Rosa is the current second-best shooting guard, second only to Jie Ke.

Rosa then said, hoping to learn more shooting skills and championship experience from Durant.

They mutually flattered each other; they are both quite low-key.

Fan Xi is optimistic about their combination.

With Durant's addition, the Bulls instantly became the second-seeded championship contender for the new season, while the top seed is the Golden State Warriors.

Kuaisuan ranked fourth, even behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This is not a habitual negative downgrade, but rather Kuaisuan truly made no acquisitions in the offseason. While other teams were strengthening their rosters, Kuaisuan's strength was severely weakened.

The Clippers did not sign any heavyweight players this season, under league rules. They only selected two rookies and also added a Zhongguo forward.

Although with Fan Xi, the GOAT, they could become a member of a super-strong team.

However, judging solely by this roster, it's really hard to believe they can go further in the playoffs.

After all, they lost Durant, the Greek Mini Monster, Huaiti Seda, and JR Smith… Although they still have Jokic, Mili Xiqi, Rubio, etc., as core players, the overall roster is also important.

The new season is coming soon.

At training camp, Fan Xi told the media: "Our goal is to win the championship. Moreover, I think we have no problem winning the championship."

"Our strength has not weakened compared to previous years, and I have become even stronger!"

Fan Xi told the media this.

The latter statement, everyone believed. But the former statement, everyone felt… the Basketball God was joking with them.

The preseason of the new season came soon, Fan Xi brought a group of newcomers to play games, with Tatum, Smart, Ding Yuyuhang, and Allen playing alongside him.

The opponent was the Sacramento Kings.

The game was a leisurely stroll; Fan Xi played 48 minutes, and each newcomer got ample opportunity to showcase.

With Fan Xi restraining on the court, they played very easily.

Ding Yuyuhang even said: "I feel the physicality isn't much tougher than the CBA."

That's a bit ridiculous. Although the CBA's physicality has increased a lot in recent years, compared to the NBA it's not even on the same level. Ding Yuyuhang feels at ease because Fan Xi helped him absorb most of the defense, leaving him almost always wide open.

The other rookies are the same.

This helps them overcome nervousness, allowing them to gradually adapt to the NBA, and to fully display their technical strengths, thereby boosting their confidence.

In developing rookies, nobody is better than Fan Xi.

The entire preseason's structure is pretty much the same as the first game.

Fan Xi played the full game every match, completely without the airs of the Basketball God. He allowed the rookies to get ample growth.

The regular season then arrived, with the first game being the Warriors versus Kuaisuan.

The Staples Center was packed with spectators, bustling.

The Clippers' starting lineup was: Rubio, Fan Xi, Tatum, Capela, Jokic.

The Warriors' starting lineup: Curry, Tang Pu Sen, James, Green, Pachulia.

Before the game, more people thought the Warriors would win than Kuaisuan supporters.

However, after the game started, Kuaisuan took the initiative from the first quarter.

Fan Xi is too strong; Fan Xi is like a naturally gifted basketball machine. On the court, he rises to the occasion against strong opponents, he single-handedly takes on the Warriors' entire defense line, with him on the court his teammates always get open looks, and he always can pass the ball to them.

Moreover, Jokic is also very strong. Jokic's mismatch advantage at the five position is huge.

The two of them are like two bugs.

Capela and Rubio are both top-tier system players.

Tatum also has great talent; in situations where defensive intensity is lowered, he freely expresses himself, playing more and more confidently.

So, the final result of this game was 133:123.

The Clippers won by 10 points, defending their home court.

After this game ended, everyone realized a true fact: Fan Xi is in another tier; he not only leads this era, but he leads any era.

He indeed surpasses Jordan in all aspects, not just the number of championships.

The current Warriors team could contend for a championship in any era, but in front of Fan Xi, they are still too weak.

The opening game was a microcosm of the 2017-2018 season.

The difference is that Kuaisuan's young players keep getting stronger and stronger; the long season trained them. Fan Xi opened up a fertile plot of soil for them to grow quickly.

Meanwhile, he himself on the other side shatters opponents' hardest bones; Fan Xi dominates the game's pace, while Jokic beside him accelerates the dominance speed. Other players then follow the two big shots, sharing the spoils.

In the regular season, the Clippers won 70 games.

Fan Xi won the scoring title, assists title, steals title, was also selected to the All-Defensive First Team, and won the regular-season MVP.

Also starting from this season, in most arenas across the league, Fan Xi would hear away fans chanting: MVP! MVP! MVP!

More and more fans take pride in having personally witnessed Fan Xi's games.

Fan Xi also missed no game; he knows many people come to see him, and he has taken on the responsibility of promoting basketball.

This is originally what the Basketball God should do.

Of course, this also has to do with escaping the big family… Every time he goes, he is exhausted by a group of sons and a group of wives. During the day he has to play various games with the sons; at night he has to play games with the wives on a custom-made large bed about five meters long and four meters wide.

Once it's a surprise; every time after that it's torment.

Fortunately, Fan Xi's stamina is astonishing, extraordinary.

Compared to family life, basketball is still somewhat simpler.

Kuaisuan's playoff journey remained unstoppable; they successively eliminated the Rockets and the Thunder, then met the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

The Warriors won two games this time.

Then they lost the Western Conference championship.

Fan Xi led the Kuaisuan into the finals, where they met the Chicago Bulls led by Rosa and Durant.

Finally, Fan Xi easily defeated them.

4:1

Gentleman sweep

Fan Xi lifted his eighth championship trophy.

Then came his ninth in 2019.

In 2020, Fan Xi joined the Miami Heat, and in Miami he again led Butler, who had joined the Heat from the Mountain Cat, to lift the championship trophy.

He then returned to Los Angeles and won his tenth championship.

When his eleventh season arrived, Le Bu Lang Zhang Si joined the Kuaisuan.

After being rivals with Fan Xi for so many years, James finally won a championship as an assistant.

On championship night, he wept uncontrollably, crying like a child.

Fan Xi patted his already bald head and told him: "You've performed very well."

In response to Fan Xi's praise, James finally showed a smile.

After the season ended, Fan Xi did not pursue a twelfth championship; he chose to return to his family, as his children had gradually started school, giving him more time to engage in basketball promotion activities.

He brought his wives domestically, using his huge influence and commercial appeal to launch many basic basketball activities domestically, including building standard basketball gyms for more than town and county middle schools, and providing nutritional meals and NBA-level training techniques to all basic school basketball teams domestically.

This allowed Zhongguo basketball to receive the most sufficient nourishment at the grassroots, giving it a foundation for soaring.

Fan Xi spent three years.

In these three years, the NBA championship contention was shattered.

The Clippers, led by Jokic and Tatum, won one championship. Le Bu Lang Zhang Si joined the Knicks and, with Porzingis, won one championship, and the Golden State Warriors, with Curry's performance, also won one championship.

In 2024, Fan Xi made a joke, saying: "I'm back!"

The whole league fell into shock.

But ultimately, Fan Xi did not return to the court.

He announced his official retirement.

For him, there was still a richer life awaiting him.

…

(End of full text)