Chapter 11 Returning to Miami

Having defeated the Trail Blazers, the Heat returned to Miami with their 11th win of the new season, as they had hoped.

According to the schedule, the Heat would have a valuable two days of rest before their next home game against the Suns.

Originally, after returning to Miami, Riley had already started heating up the "sauna room"...

After all, as a training fanatic...

In Riley's eyes, how could his men rest before such a big battle?

However...

For Su Feng's sake, Riley ultimately decided against pushing his players to their limits before the game against the Suns.

"Pat, the guys have just finished a road trip. I think it's better to give them a proper break at this time, which will be more conducive for us to contend for the championship."

In the Heat's training facility, watching Riley, who was still planning to intensify training after the morning session...

Knowing that he had to step forward to relieve Payton, Su Feng took the initiative to approach Riley and said to him.

Hearing this, Riley immediately became unhappy.

Because in Riley's view, even his beloved Su Feng couldn't repeatedly violate his inviolable principles!

However...

Just as Riley was about to explode...

Su Feng immediately handed two buckets of ice water to Riley.

Riley: "..."

"Actually, I also think it's time for us to rest."

Inside the training facility, looking at the Heat players who were all anticipating his "ice bucket headshot" performance, Riley instantly deflated like a punctured balloon and said weakly.

At this moment, the Heat players, who had all thought they would be entering hell in the next two days, couldn't care less about admiring Riley's "ice bucket headshot" skills.

"Su, you're just too amazing!" Veteran Mourning, who had tasted Riley's hellish training more than once, cried while covering his face.

"Is there anything in this world that you can't do?" Haslem, who knew how painful Riley's whip could be once it was cracked, said to Su Feng with a face full of emotion.

"What are you all talking nonsense about? This is clearly Pat being considerate of everyone. What does it have to do with me?"

Inside the training facility, noticing that Riley's expression was a bit off, Su Feng promptly stopped his teammates from making a fuss and gave Riley a thumbs up.

At this time...

Riley, who had been feeling a little uncomfortable, instantly felt much better.

In fact, after working with Riley last season, Su Feng knew very well that Riley wasn't the type of person who was completely unreasonable.

It was just that ordinary people weren't qualified to reason with him, and he wouldn't listen to the reasoning of ordinary people.

Therefore, the reason why Su Feng put two buckets of ice water in front of Riley just now was to tell him the principle of "do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself."

Since the NBA schedule was too long, engaging in hellish training during the regular season for the Heat, which had many veterans, was tantamount to ruining their own prospects.

"Coach, are we really going to cancel the upcoming training schedule?" Beside Riley, looking at Riley, who had been successfully persuaded by Su Feng, Spoelstra asked with a curious expression.

"Erik, do you think I would doubt Su's judgment?" After patting Spoelstra on the shoulder, Riley asked him rhetorically.

Spoelstra: "..."

"Since even Su thinks that we have reached the point where we need to rest...

Then we have reached the point where we need to rest." After sighing deeply, Riley added.

"Then... those two buckets of ice water?"

"Well, since Su went to so much trouble to bring those two buckets of ice water over...

Then Erik, it's time for you to try the taste of the ice bucket like a man."

"..."

...

After successfully persuading Riley to give the Heat players a day and a half off...

On the afternoon of the 17th, Su Feng, who had returned home, began to count his gains after completing the "Fury from a Super Center" task.

First was the 【Big Boss】customized badge.

From the system's description, like the 【God Slayer】, this was also a badge that didn't require occupying an equipment slot.

And its effect was also very interesting.

Unlike those badges and exclusive skills that could enhance one's performance on the court, in Su Feng's view, this badge was more like a special badge customized for him when taming those "untamable Pippens."

After obtaining the badge, it would concretize Su Feng's prestige value in the hearts of his good friends through data, based on his interpersonal relationships in reality.

For example, Su Feng's prestige value in O'Neal's heart was currently as high as 9999.

And in Carter's heart...

It was only 58 points.

In this way, Su Feng could not only find out who was talking bad about him behind his back through the badge in the first place...

Moreover, in the future, when playing brothers' basketball or school district housing basketball, Su Feng could also quickly find teammates who were willing to fight alongside him through the badge.

However...

Just as Su Feng was planning to use the 【Big Boss】 badge to check his prestige value in Little Zhan Zhan's heart...

He found that because James hadn't been his teammate, the line between him and Little Zhan Zhan was still gray.

"So... the biggest use of this badge is actually to allow me to better control the entire team?"

Looking at the 【Big Boss】 badge in the system interface, Su Feng always felt that this damned system was hinting that he was a meticulous person.

After all, if he couldn't check Su Feng's prestige value in the hearts of his good friends who hadn't been his teammates...

Then wasn't this badge specifically customized for Su Feng to deal with the "traitors" on the team?

"Eh, wait...

Why do I also have a prestige value of 9999 in his heart besides O'Neal?"

After being confirmed by the system once again for his meticulous nature, just as Su Feng was about to close the 【Big Boss】 badge interface...

Suddenly, a string of numbers instantly attracted Su Feng's attention.

And after Su Feng saw the name of the player who respected him so much, Su Feng immediately became energized.

Because the player who revered him so much was none other than Guo Ailun's uncle, Guo Shiqiang!

"Oh, does that mean that in the 【Big Boss】 badge, the condition that I have been a teammate with is not limited to the NBA?"

After carefully checking, as expected, in the 【Big Boss】 badge list, Su Feng then found more than a dozen players, like Guo Shiqiang, whose respect for him was maxed out.

And among them, besides the teammates from the Chinese men's basketball team...

When he saw that his prestige value in Kobe's heart was also as high as 9999, Su Feng suddenly felt that...

It was time for him to seriously consider the matter of Su Hao and Su Baobao attending school in Los Angeles in the future!

In fact, Su Feng had decided that he would not spend his entire career in Miami before coming to Miami.

And as for the reason...

It was also very simple.

Because Su Feng knew very well that a person like Riley was only suitable for starting a business together.

Although based on Riley's current "love" for him, he would definitely be willing to offer another big contract after his contract with the Heat expired.

But what about after the next big contract expired?

Or what about after the contract after that expired?

Wake up...

In the NBA, even a player as strong as Michael Jordan would have the Bulls hesitate again and again when renewing his contract.

And in the future, once Su Feng's age increased, even if he was still able to play, the always meticulous Riley would never be able to "love" him as much as he did now.

Because in the face of real interests, the value of old guys in this league was not only limited, but once you couldn't reap any rewards from these veterans, then you would also be wasting your team's future in vain.

Therefore, in Su Feng's view, considering his age, which would no longer be able to withstand any more setbacks after his contract with the Heat expired...

Finding a team that would allow him to spend his twilight years in peace and win a few more championships was the best policy.

In short, it still boiled down to that sentence.

In the NBA's business world, not to mention that "one person, one city" was often a tool vigorously promoted by capitalists to morally bind players when renewing their contracts...

Just based on Su Feng's identity as a Chinese player, why should he be an American city's hero?

It was already 2004, wouldn't there still be people who truly believed that Americans would sincerely treat a foreigner as their "city hero?"

Whether it was Philadelphia fans or Toronto fans, it was precisely because Su Feng's departure left them with unlimited memories that they had such deep feelings for Su Feng.

But if Su Feng had stayed in Philadelphia and Toronto all along, then as time went on...

Who could say for sure what the future would hold?

In this world, rather than choosing to believe in the trust between people, in Su Feng's view, it was better to completely grasp his fate in his own hands.

However...

Speaking of which, it was also amazing.

If Su Feng remembered correctly, Kobe had called him a few days ago to complain that his average score this season was less than 30 points...

But...

Who would have thought that Su Feng had such a high prestige value in Kobe's heart?

...

On the evening of the 17th, before "burning incense and bathing" to open the "O'Neal's Golden Legend Gift Pack"...

Because there were a few games that Su Feng had specifically marked that night...

So, while Britney wasn't home, the energetic Su Feng turned on the TV, preparing to carefully study several key opponents of the Heat in the playoffs this year.

In recent years, after Stern continued to deepen the reform of encouraging offensive basketball in the regular season...

NBA's perimeter stars had officially ushered in their "golden age" this season.

On the night of the 17th, in the Cavaliers' game against the Hawks, which was held first, two super geniuses of the '03 generation, James and Wade, engaged in a scoring duel at the Quicken Loans Arena.

In that game, Wade, who had been named the "Eagle King" in the new season, made 17 of 33 shots and scored a total of 43 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists, including free throws and three-pointers.

And Little Zhan Zhan, who was Su Feng's successor, made 18 of 35 shots and scored a total of 45 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 assists, including free throws and three-pointers.

The two NBA young talents scored "one ball for you, one ball for me" in this game, which made the fans in front of the TV shout with excitement.

Immediately afterwards, in the Eastern Conference focus battle between the Sixers and the Celtics, Iverson and Parker staged a movie called "The Fast and the Furious."

In that game, the "American Mustang" Iverson, who was able to weave freely through the jungle of muscles, scored a total of 47 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in the entire game.

And Parker, who had originally been brought in by Bird as a spare, conquered the entire Green Army management team in one battle.

In the game, the top supercar from France repeatedly used his miraculous fancy floaters to tease the Sixers' interior fortresses.

"Allen Iverson dominated this game!

But Tony Parker is the real winner tonight!"

In the entire game, the "French Little Ferrari" scored a total of 41 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Green Army.

And with Parker scoring points for him, Duncan, who had been promoted from Little Stone Buddha to Old Stone Buddha, also showed the demeanor of "DPOY" in this game.

As Su Feng had predicted earlier, how quickly Parker could integrate into this Green Army before Randolph's rookie contract expired...

Was the key to determining whether this Celtics team was qualified to become the Heat's opponent.

At this time...

In a trance, Su Feng also once again felt Riley's unconventional approach to team building.

As a complete "gambling dog," if Riley hadn't chosen to gamble on Payton instead of draft picks in the previous "Shark Eastward Journey" deal...

Then, Parker and Iverson would have been enough for the Heat to handle in the playoffs.

Because of the time zone difference between the east and west coasts of the United States, after Su Feng finished watching these two Eastern Conference games, it was then the turn of the Western Conference powerhouses to take the stage.

In the new season, as the team that was currently ranked second in the Western Conference...

And also the team with the highest average score in the NBA this season, the "only offense, no defense" Don Nelson laughed to the end in his running and gunning battle with D'Antoni.

From a lineup perspective, the Warriors, who hadn't changed much in the new season...

No matter how you looked at it, they weren't a match for this Suns team.

But the reason why Steve Nash was able to be elected as the NBA's MVP twice in Su Feng's memory was because this mortal mixed among supermen...

Was really able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the gods on the NBA stage with his mortal body.

In Su Feng's original timeline, there was a joke that said that if Nash had half of Curry's defense, then that Suns team would have likely already won a championship.

If you hadn't seen Kidd's game, you wouldn't have known that basketball could be played like this.

Then...

If you hadn't seen Nash's game, it would be difficult to imagine that basketball could really be played like this.

In Phoenix, Stoudemire, who had worked hard on his mid-range shot in the summer, ushered in the highlight of his career.

The "Little Overlord," who had charged in and out of the Suns' formation seven times, scored a career-high of 42 points and 9 rebounds in this night under Nash's crazy feeding.

And Nash, who made five of five three-pointers, eleven of eleven shots in the entire game, and six of six free throws, once again showed the world what efficiency was with a score of 33 points and 19 assists.

There was no other way.

Even though Tracy's younger brother also scored 49 points in this game.

But after this game, McGrady could only go to the empty scoring group to find Little Zhan Zhan and Iverson to warm each other up.

"It's strange, are these people all on drugs?"

In Miami, looking at the NBA perimeter stars who broke out all together on this night, Su Feng felt that the editors of the major American sports newspapers and magazines would be "depressed" to death tomorrow.

Because...

With these god-like games played on this one night, how could these editors choose which picture and which star's data to use for the headline?

Beijing time, 11:30 AM on the 18th.

Los Angeles time, 9:30 PM on the 17th.

Los Angeles, Staples Center.

In the new season, although Kobe had been leading the league in average score since the start of the season...

But because this Lakers team was still integrating their new lineup, and the Heat on the east coast was the focus of people's attention this season, compared to the Lakers, who were constantly making news in the past...

In recent years...

This year was definitely the quietest, most ordinary year at Staples.

However, as this league's "Master of Understanding Kobe" and an "Encyclopedia of Kobe," Su Feng knew...

This year's Mamba Snake was also the most unprovokable year in history.

Because...

People who were familiar with Kobe's personality should know...

In addition to liking to slap the faces of those who questioned him through his on-court performance...

Being selectively ignored was also a fact that Kobe, this obsessive-compulsive, couldn't accept.

To put it simply.

If you criticized Kobe, he would play harder and harder.

If you didn't criticize Kobe, he would also play harder and harder.

This season, after the Lakers refused to renew Phil Jackson's contract, Tomjanovich, who was invited by the Lakers from Houston, talked about his views on Kobe's obsession in a recent interview.

"He's like a scoring machine that will never stop.

Believe me, as long as he wants to, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets 70 points, 80 points, or even 100 points in the game."

From the performance so far this season, except for the occasional one or two games where he competed with Su Feng for the NBA's single-game historical field goal attempts record...

Kobe's touch could be said to be getting better and better from game to game.

Before this home game against the Raptors, on the 15th, in the game against the Bobcats, Kobe single-handedly helped the Lakers successfully defend their home court.

In that game, Kobe made 15 of 33 shots in the entire game and scored a total of 48 points, including free throws and three-pointers.

And among them, Kobe scored 21 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Therefore, although Carter's desire to join the team was already well known, Su Feng still kindly reminded Carter before this game, considering that he had once been his third... ah, no, fifth in command.

However, in the face of Su Feng's reminder...

On the 16th, after arriving in Los Angeles with the Raptors, Carter used his unique spirit to prove his fearlessness to the world in an interview with the media.

"I don't know what's so scary about Kobe.

He's an All-Star, and I'm also an All-Star.

And I'm also a player who has won three NBA championships."

Because this summer, when ESPN released the NBA shooting guard rankings, Carter was ranked behind Kobe and McGrady, so Carter was also very dissatisfied with the list released by ESPN.

To put it bluntly...

In Carter's view, since everyone was one of the four great shooting guards, then wouldn't it be a fifty-fifty chance for anyone to play against anyone?

As the saying goes, you cross the river, and I cross the river too.

Kobe Bryant?

Heh...

Back in the day, in Toronto's Steel City, it was easy for him Carter to hammer Kobe, okay?

However...

At Staples Center, as this game between the Raptors and Lakers began, Carter quickly couldn't laugh anymore.

In the past two years, after Su Feng left the Raptors, Carter had picked up many of his bad habits in defense, with the lack of Su Feng's keen eyes to supervise him.

For example, he preferred to gamble when defending, rather than relying on his physical advantages to firmly defend against his opponents.

And when Carter, who only wanted to get easy fast break opportunities on the court, collided head-on with Kobe, who had already turned on the "God Descending" switch...

The result was naturally that Carter could only watch Kobe make various high-difficulty shots in front of him time and time again on the defensive end.

And in the new season, Jason, who was promoted to the team's head coach after Davis' departure, used his actual actions to tell the world...

In the NBA, not every assistant coach had the qualifications to become a head coach.

In this game, with Kobe unstoppable, Jason didn't take effective measures to limit Kobe in the first place.

And what was even more outrageous was...

In the summer, after trading back Marbury, the Raptors fans themselves thought that the Raptors would take off again.

But who would have thought...

Because Marbury was only thinking about making his stats look good at this time, the Raptors hadn't even made it into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference so far.

And Jason, who should have come forward to stop Marbury at this time, also inappropriately learned Davis' theory of pushing core players to their limits.

In the eyes of Jason and his first assistant coach, Rick, as long as they could give Marbury enough trust, Marbury would definitely repay them with his performance.

However...

The problem of who was the big boss of this Raptors team between O'Neal Jr. and Carter hadn't been solved yet...

Now, after adding Marbury, where was the Raptors' team spirit that made them famous in the past?

Fortunately, this summer, the Raptors' former owner, Chad, had sold the team to Maple Leaf Sports Company of Canada at a sky-high price...

Otherwise, if they waited a few more months...

Who knew how much the price of this Raptors team would drop?

At Staples Center, Kobe, who was in hot form, scored 28 points in the first half alone.

And on the Raptors' side...

Fortunately, at a critical moment, O'Neal Jr. successfully used his experience to defend the last bit of the Raptors' bottom line.

In the first half of the game, relying on O'Neal Jr.'s 8-for-10 performance on the offensive end, the Raptors successfully reversed the score and led the Lakers by 57-51 at the end of the first half.

After the half-time break, the two teams changed sides and fought again.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Marbury and Carter expanded the Raptors' lead to double digits through individual isolation plays.

At this time, even Su Feng in front of the TV thought that the Lakers were going to be finished tonight.

Because with Odom out of form, and Milicic not a match for O'Neal Jr. at this time...

No matter how you looked at it, this Lakers team didn't look like they could turn the game around.

But at this moment...

A rain of three-pointers was instantly poured over the ceiling of Staples Center by Kobe.

In the second half of the third quarter, Kobe, whose touch was getting hotter and hotter, made four consecutive high-difficulty three-pointers from beyond the arc.

And although the Raptors, whose reaction was belated, limited Kobe's shots from the three-point line in the remaining time of the third quarter by expanding their defense...

But who said that a Overlord Spear without a spearhead couldn't stab people to death?

Low post, high post, wing...

Kobe's picture-perfect fadeaway jumper completely stunned the audience at Staples Center.

And on the Raptors' bench, Rick and Jason felt that they had seen this scene somewhere...

On TNT, as this game entered the fourth quarter, Barkley looked at Kobe's stats and said curiously: "Kobe has scored 55 points tonight...

Does he have a chance to get 70 points tonight?"

A few minutes later, at Staples Center, Kobe gave Charles Barkley his answer.

Because with 6 minutes and 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Kobe's individual score in this game had already broken the 70-point mark!

On the court, Tomjanovich didn't impose any restrictions on the tireless Kobe tonight.

Moreover, noticing that Kobe was in great form, Tomjanovich also decisively issued instructions to the Lakers players on the court to hand the damn basketball all over to Kobe.

And at Staples Center, when Kobe's individual score in this game came to 78 points...

There were no more fans sitting and watching the game in the entire venue.

In the final quarter, the Raptors players, who had just realized that something was wrong at this time, had already taken a crazy double team on Kobe without waiting for the coach's reminder in order to avoid becoming the background.

However...

When a player of Kobe's type entered his own state...

At this moment, what could limit him was only his own touch.

It was a pity...

Even though Kobe's touch was affected by the decline in his physical strength in the second half of the final quarter...

But Kobe, who had transformed into a "big smarty" tonight, was very witty in creating fouls and successfully won free throw opportunities.

At Staples Center, after Kobe made two free throws, raising his individual score in this game to 80 points...

The whole of Los Angeles had already turned into a sea of joy.

At the scene, the Lakers fans who had witnessed Kobe's 80-point feast had long been immersed in Kobe's incredible scoring performance.

And at the commentary booth, commentators from all over the world were constantly reminding all basketball fans in front of the TV...

This was the greatest scoring performance since Wilt Chamberlain created the single-game 100-point record in the NBA!

"It's unbelievable! To be honest, from the perspective of scoring difficulty, Kobe's 80 points tonight are definitely more difficult than Wilt's 100 points back then in my eyes!" On TNT, Barkley didn't skimp on his praise for Kobe at this moment.

Because in the ancient era, there was a much greater gap between NBA stars and ordinary players than there was today, and there weren't many teams in the NBA at that time, so when Barkley made such a judgment, Su Feng also thought that this flying pig's view was correct.

However...

Although Su Feng had appreciated Kobe's performance like this once in his previous life...

On the night of November 17, 2004, Su Feng still couldn't believe...

Everything he was seeing.

Moreover, what was even more terrifying than the 81 points in Su Feng's memory was...

In this game, because Carter had reached Kobe's wrist while defending Kobe's three-pointer in order to prevent Kobe from scoring at the last moment...

Therefore, as long as Kobe made all three free throws at the end...

Then he would score 83 points in this game.

On the court, when Kobe walked to the free throw line, Su Feng could feel the excitement in this guy's heart even through the screen.

Swish, swish, swish!

And at Staples Center, after Kobe made all three free throws, Kobe finally set his individual score at 83 points on this magical night.

"My God... Originally in the 90s, we all thought that Michael Jordan would become the benchmark for all perimeter players in the future.

But tonight, Kobe has done what Michael Jordan couldn't do!"

On TNT, Barkley said with a face full of emotion as the clock in the fourth quarter approached zero.

And Kenny Smith said on the side: "This season, in terms of individual scoring ability alone...

In my opinion, no one can match Kobe."

In Miami, not long after Smith said this, Su Feng received a text message from O'Neal.

"Is Kenny serious? Has he really watched your game?"

In the living room, looking at O'Neal's sour text message, Su Feng immediately laughed.

Because Su Feng knew...

This shark was clearly using him to vent his jealousy towards Kobe for scoring 83 points in this game.

Wow, Kobe!

What a scoring feast.

What a single-game 83 points.

Look at what you've done to this fathead.

At this moment, Su Feng knew that in addition to O'Neal...

There must be countless Kobe fans and Kobe haters who had endless complaints about Kobe that they wanted to vent.

But as Kobe's big brother...

You might not believe it when I say this.

Su Feng really wasn't jealous of Kobe at all.

Looking at the N text messages that O'Neal sent to his phone one after another, after thinking about it for a while, Su Feng decisively sent one back to O'Neal.

And if the English that Su Feng sent to O'Neal was translated...

The meaning would be roughly as follows:

"If my second brother can cross the river, can't I cross the river too?"

...