Chapter 19 The Underlying Current

The article "China's First NBA Player" written by Maxson, a reporter for *The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin*, was like a small stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples…

Well, it was a pretty big lake, so it quickly returned to calm.

The speed of dissemination of print media and television was completely incomparable to that of future social networks, which is why NBA executive Mark didn't notice the report for a full five days.

After all, *The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin* was just a local Philadelphia newspaper.

If Maxson's report hadn't been viewed as full of mockery by those in the industry, Stern probably wouldn't have noticed that there was such an interesting Chinese high school student in Philadelphia.

Even though ESPN had broadcasted segments of the Lower Merion vs. Chester High School game where Su Feng and Kobe used the "Sam I Am" crossover, the focus was mainly on this new breakthrough technique.

In Su Feng's previous life, the "Sam I Am" crossover wouldn't become popular for another two years, but even when it did, Sam I Am himself didn't become famous.

The reason was simple: Sam I Am himself hadn't made a name for himself in the NBA.

Therefore, this was why industry insiders generally felt that Maxson's report was unprofessional.

You want to talk about talented high school basketball players in America?

Well, it wasn't just the American media bragging, they could pull out a new one every day, and they wouldn't be the same.

Unless it was a prodigy like Kobe, Carter, McGrady, or that man in the future, who frequently appeared in mainstream basketball magazines and newspapers in high school, who knew who you were in the American basketball world?

A player who hadn't even played in an official high school basketball league game wasn't worth hyping up in the eyes of industry peers.

Therefore, after Maxson's article was published, the cold irony and mockery directed at Maxson came one after another…

But it was precisely because of this that NBA executive Mark had the opportunity to notice the report and pay attention to Su Feng.

So, this was fate!

Mark and Stern were in different positions, so they naturally saw things differently from those industry peers.

In Mark and Stern's view, whether Su Feng could play in the NBA was still unknown, but so what?

They could provide Su Feng with other opportunities in the future!

What the NBA needed was a bridge. Did it matter if the bridge was a sea-crossing bridge or a stone arch bridge?

Well…

At least it didn't matter at this stage!

Of course, in Stern's view, necessary investigations were still needed.

Therefore, he and Mark privately discussed having Mark send someone to Philadelphia to further investigate the specific situation of this Chinese high school student named Su Feng.

If he really had talent, then in Stern's view, he absolutely had to hype him up.

Because if you didn't hype him up, with the speed of news dissemination in the 90s, who knew how long it would take to reach China across such a vast ocean?

If they couldn't reach China, how would the NBA and the Chinese market build a sea-crossing bridge?

Moreover, if they didn't hype him up, what if Su Feng could really play in the NBA in the future, but was rejected because the NBA teams didn't believe that a yellow-skinned player could play in the NBA?

For Stern, as the president, he had to formulate Plan A and Plan C at the same time.

In any case, Stern's mood had improved a lot these past few days.

Looking at the young Chinese boy sitting on a chair holding a basketball in the newspaper, Stern felt that he looked like his long-lost… Bah!

"He's quite good-looking. If he can make it, he'll be another idol," Stern thought with emotion.

…

Let's set aside the secret observation from the big boss for the time being.

Philadelphia.

As a news worker with professional ethics and a conscience, Maxson was now very remorseful.

Of course, Maxson wasn't regretting the report he had written.

He was regretting that he had forgotten to consider Su Feng's feelings when he wrote the report.

"He's just a child. I'm so stupid!

This kind of predictive report based on insufficient evidence will definitely cause ridicule in the industry.

I was prepared for it, and the newspaper was prepared, but what about him?

What if he can't withstand the pressure from the outside world and collapses?" Maxson felt that he needed to go to Lower Merion and apologize to Su Feng in person.

Just as Maxson decided to express his apology to Su Feng in person, in the Lower Merion High School gymnasium, the tool man Swartz was cautiously feeding Kobe the ball.

Swish!

Another beautiful fadeaway.

"Su, forty push-ups!" After making the shot, Kobe looked at Su Feng with a smile and said.

"Damn it!" It was strange. It was one thing to lose to Kobe in a one-on-one match, but why had he been beaten several times in a three-on-three?

Uh…

It wasn't that Su Feng looked down on Kobe, but Su Feng thought that with his overall view and teamwork, it was impossible for him to lose to Kobe in a three-on-three match.

Alas…

Fortunately, Stewart and Rassman, who were on Su Feng's team, didn't hear Su Feng's thoughts.

Otherwise, Stewart and Rassman would definitely kneel in front of Su Feng and humbly beg, "Brother, please, please put the passing button back in!"

Well, it wasn't that Su Feng didn't want to pass the ball.

It was just that his passing, vision, and potential were all very low.

Therefore, in Su Feng's view, it was better to use his best shooting to decide the victory than to pass the ball to the opponent.

On the court, after doing forty push-ups in one breath, Su Feng looked at Kobe unwillingly and said, "No, let's do it again!"

Losing was losing, after all, failure was the mother of success.

Besides, he hadn't collected enough bricklaying points for today!

Ever since he set the goal of entering the NBA, Su Feng had been very strict with himself every day.

Well… Su Feng felt that exploiting bugs was only because his body couldn't keep up, otherwise he could keep playing with Kobe until the end of the world without eating or drinking.

"Let's take a break first," Kobe suddenly waved his hand at Su Feng and said.

Su Feng was surprised. Yo, Kobe… Did you recharge your EQ today?

As soon as Kobe finished speaking, the other tool men of Lower Merion quickly fled the gymnasium that they had complained about as the "Moria Mine."

At this moment, these tool men of Lower Merion felt the deep love from their boss for the first time in their lives.

"Su, have you been reading the newspapers and watching TV lately?" Kobe asked Su Feng with some concern.

"I read the newspaper, what's wrong?" Su Feng asked back.

"Then… I, I mean, Su, don't worry too much about what the media says. Didn't they always compare me and Vince before?" Kobe comforted Su Feng.

Huh?

Su Feng sent Kobe an Shaquille O'Neal confused face emoticon.

Oh, right!

Su Feng quickly realized that because of Maxson's report, the Philadelphia media had been criticizing Su Feng's desire to play in the NBA.

Even some professional basketball publications had commented on this matter.

These criticisms and comments were nothing more than saying that Maxson was unprofessional and questioning Su Feng's ability.

But…

To be honest, after reading these media reports, Su Feng also felt that they were right!

Su Feng wasn't stupid. He knew very well that Maxson's report was nothing more than an attempt to make a big prediction, and then when he succeeded, he could become a prophet.

Su Feng had seen many such reports in his previous life. As for some media questioning his ability and saying that he was Maxson's long-lost son…

To be honest, Su Feng's first reaction after reading these reports was:

That's it?

That's it.

Was the media in the 90s so uncreative?

They didn't even know how to criticize people?

As a keyboard warrior who had fought countless times with various NC fans and Mama fans on various forums and had won various criticism badges, Su Feng felt that these reports couldn't affect him at all.

Moreover, even negative reports weren't necessarily a bad thing in Su Feng's view.

Because it meant that someone was starting to pay attention to him!

If you cut a hater in half, wouldn't he still be a fan?

Su Feng really wanted to teach these media how to criticize him, otherwise there would be no novelty and it would be easy for the hype to pass.

And in fact…

The hype that Maxson had created didn't last long.

Of course, unlike Su Feng, Kobe felt that these reports were quite bad, so Kobe was worried that Su Feng would be affected by them.

After all, people's ability to withstand public criticism at this time couldn't compare to the future.

For example, take *DotA2*, which Su Feng especially liked in his previous life.

As everyone knew, Newbee won the championship at TI4, and Chen Zhihao in the Newbee team was also crowned a god because of this.

But Chen Zhihao himself said in retrospect that it was a good thing that the public opinion environment wasn't so bad back then!

Otherwise, the hook that he was hooked by in TI3 might have directly caused him to retire.

In Su Feng's previous life, as social networks became more and more developed, in addition to faster information transmission, because the cost of criticizing people became lower and lower, the technology of criticizing people could be said to be all kinds of things…

Take LeBron James, whom Su Feng especially liked in his previous life. To be honest, if you changed those reports that criticized James to a normal person, would he explode? How long could he last?

Although one must bear the weight of the crown, and many things were made by oneself, the stress resistance of future people was far from comparable to that of people in the 90s.

However, in any case, although Kobe's comfort was superfluous in Su Feng's view, as his best friend in this life, being comforted by Kobe made Su Feng feel warm in his heart.

There was true love in the world, and there was true friendship in the world!

This was true friendship!

Just as Su Feng was about to tell Kobe that he was fine, suddenly…

"Excuse me, excuse me, is Su here?" Maxson stood outside the gymnasium and asked loudly.

"Did he write the report that caused you to be questioned?" Kobe clenched his fists, seemingly ready to rush up and beat Maxson up at any time.

Su Feng was very calm, because in his view, Maxson's report was actually beneficial to him.

It was still the same sentence…

Regarding those questions, Su Feng really wanted to teach them how to question him!

Otherwise, when he really entered the NBA in the future, where would the joy come from?

"Su, I'm sorry… I came here specifically to apologize to you because my report damaged your reputation." Maxson walked to Su Feng and Kobe and sincerely apologized to Su Feng.

Kobe, who was beside Su Feng, was about to attack, but was stopped by Su Feng. "Apologize? Why do you have to apologize?" Su Feng asked Maxson curiously.

"I'm sorry… I didn't consider that you were just a high school student before I published the report.

If you need psychological counseling, I'll pay for it," Maxson said to Su Feng.

Su Feng didn't expect that Maxson was such a conscientious news worker, which was different from those news workers in his memory…

"Are you talking about those reports? To be honest, I'm fine. I think you also know my experience.

And I'm not the kind of person who will be defeated by setbacks," Su Feng wasn't a saint, but he was also a conscientious person. In Su Feng's view, there was no need to make others feel guilty.

"No, no, no, of course I know about your experience in Nefaria.

But Su, it's all because I didn't do well.

Maybe you're not willing to accept my apology yet, but it doesn't matter.

Su, I've already applied to the editor-in-chief.

In the next season, I will open a column in the newspaper specifically to report on Lower Merion's games," Maxson said very seriously.

Lower Merion's column?

Su Feng knew that what Maxson meant was that since those industry peers ignored you today, I would use one report after another to record your story. When you enter the NBA in the future, they won't be able to afford you!

This was a good thing!

Su Feng knew very well that what he needed most now was this kind of report.

Because without this kind of report, how could he enter the NBA in the future!

Did he really think that the NBA was powered by love?

Whether it was playing in high school basketball leagues or playing in the NCAA in the future, in Su Feng's view, it was all to pave the way for entering the NBA.

But since it was paving the way, how was it possible without media help?

Especially in the 90s, there were no social networks at this time.

Take Kobe, for example. His fame was also built up by those so-called professionals with one report after another.

Looking at Maxson's sincere eyes, at this moment, even his wretched face looked much more attractive to Su Feng.

"But I'm worried that doing so will make industry authorities even more skeptical of Su." Just as Su Feng was still thinking, Kobe beside Su Feng looked worried.

"I know. I'm just an ordinary photojournalist.

My words, and my judgments, may continue to provoke ridicule from those industry insiders.

But don't worry, I've already sent Su's resume to my brother. He's very interested in Su.

Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My brother's name is Jackson. He's an NBA scout," Maxson said to Su Feng and Kobe.

NBA scout?

Wait…

Su Feng felt that he had to sort this out.

That's not right!

This script wasn't right!

Su Feng always felt that this life of his…

Was too smooth, wasn't it?

"I'm really handsome at 360 degrees without any blind spots." Su Feng, who had previously questioned himself in front of the system roulette, regained his confidence and thought.

…