Chapter 96

Fan Xi did not start.

Phil Jackson called Fan Xi aside before the game started. "Jack, you haven't fully adapted to the altitude sickness yet, rest for a while first."

"Coach, I feel like I don't have any problems now." Fan Xi told Phil Jackson with a smile, and after finishing, he even jumped up a bit.

The Zen Master showed a gentle smile.

Then, he said something meaningful: "Jack, I vaguely remember you have such a proverb in China: exquisite porcelain should never collide with crude earthenware."

"In my heart, you are the most exquisite porcelain in the world."

Jackson patted Fan Xi on the shoulder and then walked over to arrange the tactics.

The Zen Master certainly knew about Raymond Felton's provocation toward Fan Xi, but he also knew that Fan Xi's physical strength could not compare to Raymond's, plus the altitude sickness.

There was no need.

If Jack beat Raymond Felton, everyone would just think... oh, it doesn't seem like anything too strange.

Jack had just won the All-Star MVP and was at the height of his popularity.

But if by chance Raymond managed to dunk on Jack, or knock Jack flying or something... Raymond would definitely make a big deal out of it; he came here specifically for that.

Fan Xi's current fame made a group of players with ulterior motives eye him covetously; they wanted to step on Fan Xi to get ahead too much.

Because in the whole league, or even the world, there was no other All-Star MVP with such great fame but such shallow foundations.

The Lakers' starting lineup was Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Mike Dunleavy, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol.

Although the Lakers had traded Shannon Brown, Ron Artest, and Steve Blake before this, the media generally believed that Los Angeles was stronger. Because of Fan Xi's rise at the number one position, and Mike Dunleavy bringing a deterrent beyond the three-point line for the Lakers... no one dared to ignore the existence of a tall shooter.

What's more, when Phil Jackson created two dynasties in Chicago back then, they both had perimeter shooters.

Even during the Lakers' dynasty, Robert Horry appeared as a tall shooter.

Fan Xi not starting made Raymond Felton particularly unhappy; it was like punching the air.

And what made him frustrated was that Kobe Bryant had his eyes on him.

Kobe was a paranoid person; if he hated someone, he hated them to death. If he liked someone, he would spoil them without limits.

In history, the person he hated the most, and the one he had publicly expressed his hatred for in the media, was his former partner, Smush Parker, a point guard nicknamed "Death."

Now, the person he liked the most was Fan Xi.

From the moment Raymond Felton clamored openly in the airport VIP lounge, Kobe had prepared to give this guy a hard time.

Felton dared to be boisterous in front of him and point fingers at his favorite little brother; wasn't this seeking his own death?

Kenyon Martin helped the Nuggets win possession.

Ty Lawson indeed fulfilled his promise; he passed the basketball to Felton.

Who knew, Kobe was watching him.

Kobe was one of the few offensive and defensive super giants in NBA history. He had been selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team 10 times in his career, which was extremely rare in history; Jordan was slightly inferior in this category. (Kobe Bryant is the superstar with the most selections to the First Team and First Defensive Team in history. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team 11 times and the All-Defensive First Team 10 times. Jordan was selected to the All-NBA First Team 10 times and the All-Defensive First Team 9 times. Ranking third is Tim Duncan, who has 10 First Team and 8 First Defensive Team selections.)

Raymond Felton's pace became difficult.

He kept changing his rhythm, but because of his lack of technique, he couldn't achieve the effect of shaking off Kobe.

Kobe made Felton very uncomfortable between the back-and-forth swings.

Nene hurriedly came up to set a screen for Felton: everyone loves Raymond... 's gold.

Felton took the opportunity to enter the three-point line, and he hurriedly stopped to shoot.

But just at the moment before the shot, Kobe flew over from behind.

To avoid the block, he sped up his shot... Bang! Haste makes waste.

The basketball hit the iron.

Lamar Odom protected the rebound and passed it to Derek Fisher.

Fisher dribbled forward; he was very steady.

Then he passed to Kobe.

Kobe faced Raymond Felton, used his classic crossover, killed into the left low post, turned, shook his shoulders, swayed, feinted, faded back... a series of movements flowing like clouds and water.

Felton misjudged on the third feint.

He watched helplessly as Kobe easily shot the basketball... Swish!

It went in.

Fan Xi watched from the sidelines, mesmerized.

To a certain extent, Kobe's scoring was already an art; he was the player closest to Jordan in scoring technique in history.

However, compared to Jordan's casual and free-spirited... ease of access.

Kobe's offensive technique had traces of thousand-hammered polishing.

Jordan was innate talent plus transcendent inspiration.

Kobe was thousand-hammered polishing and precision after exhausting all possibilities.

There was no distinction between superior and inferior.

If you defend Jordan, you need to pray from the beginning.

Defending Kobe, you need to constantly make multiple-choice questions; you don't know which option you will be passed on, and even if you get all the multiple-choice questions right and predict all of Kobe's feints, in the end, you still need to pray... because you can't truly stop Kobe's shot.

"This is technique." Matt Barnes said to Fan Xi: "Kobe is recognized as the hardest player to defend; Raymond is unlucky to run into him."

Fan Xi nodded. He now had the techniques and talents of many players in his body, still in the process of crazily absorbing and making them his own. Kobe's flowing movements just now made him very envious. He thought that if he could reach this level one day and create his own style, he would be a superstar among superstars, right?

Fan Xi was now incredibly eager to go on the court.

He wanted to use Raymond Felton as a touchstone to polish his own skills.

Because the more formidable the opponent and the higher the level of hatred, the easier it was for him to stimulate a better version of himself.

Fan Xi looked at Phil Jackson. The Zen Master sat firmly on the fishing platform; he even squinted his eyes, his soul wandering outside the sky.

No one would criticize a head coach who created three dynasties for slacking off at work; they would even automatically fill in the blanks: Phil Jackson is worthy of being a top coach, full of spirit, with his own aura.

The game was still going on.

Kobe continued to stare at Raymond Felton. Felton had a headache; he was particularly annoyed. He came here to become famous overnight because of Fan Xi.

Unexpectedly, he was targeted by Kobe and abused to death.

And he didn't even have the chips to fight back.