Middleton's "forced growth" plan was progressing smoothly.

Like a piece of cheese, Middleton was caught in a pincer movement between Su Feng and Kobe, two great "demons." In the early stages of training, he was constantly teased by Su and Kobe. However, as time went on, he even began to "counter-kill" these two great demons.

One day in late July.

When Kobe, being careless, tried to bully this young man, who was constantly beaten by him and Su Feng, as he had done before, Kobe was shocked to discover...

This young man, who didn't play by the rules of the martial world, had actually defended against him several times in a row on the defensive end.

Admittedly, even Kobe couldn't guarantee every shot would go in during a one-on-one match.

But you had to know...

When Kobe and Middleton were having their one-on-one, Su Feng, who was responsible for officiating, was, shall we say, "blind as a bat," or at least like Martin Atkinson refereeing in the Premier League... Anyway, he wasn't bringing his eyes to work. (Note 1)

Therefore, it was impossible for an ordinary player to defend against Kobe in this situation...

I'm afraid their mentality would completely collapse within three days of this kind of training.

However, Middleton not only stubbornly persevered.

And while sparring with Kobe, Su Feng discovered that in addition to carefully studying Kobe's one-on-one habits, Middleton had even gradually adapted to his officiating standards.

Sure enough.

In the NBA.

None of the players who leave their mark are pushovers.

In the "Kobe is the Lakers' Boss" household.

Looking at the rapidly growing Middleton...

At that moment, Su Feng's mind almost instantly flashed back to the scene of him teaching young LeBron to play basketball.

And in Oakland...

Perhaps feeling the "love" from King James from afar...

James, who was training with Curry this summer, was also working himself like crazy.

This time, after taking the Logo Man's advice, James didn't choose to continue bulking up to maintain his dominance.

Because from a tactical point of view, the Warriors could provide James with an unprecedented environment for breakthroughs, so this summer, James mainly focused his special training on the "lion fling" from the top of the arc and both wings.

In Su Feng's previous life, why did everyone say that James's three-pointer was an ingrained stereotype?

Because for a while, let alone three-pointers...

Even free throws, James often only made one out of two, or missed both.

On the one hand, this was because James's shooting talent was obviously a bit weaker than that of Su Feng, Curry, and others.

On the other hand, it was because constantly gaining muscle and overly stiff muscles would inevitably lead to a decrease in the stability of your shooting.

In this life, Su Feng, who had to readjust to his new weight every year during those years when he chose to gain muscle, had also experienced a decline in his shooting stability.

And in Su Feng's memory, the reason why "Elementary School Student" lost the "spirituality" that Curry-haters always talked about for a long time.

It was precisely because Curry was also choosing to gain muscle after the 2015/16 season.

If you compare Curry's elbows in the 2021/22 season after Su Feng's rebirth with those in the 2015/16 season, you'll notice.

Although Curry's listed weight on the NBA website hasn't changed much.

But it was obvious.

In the 2021/22 season, Curry, whose elbows were as thick as "Golden State Chamberlain," weighed at least 93 kilograms. (Note 2)

Moreover, Curry, after gaining muscle, also clearly increased the frequency of his attacks on the basket when he couldn't open up the game.

In addition, even after years of research, NBA teams have developed countless versions of their defensive strategies against Curry when he gets going.

Curry's difficulty to defend was also increasing linearly.

Because only by completing his muscle gain could Curry transform into a more difficult-to-defend "little tank" on the court compared to the elegant "baby-faced killer" of yesteryear.

And what about Little James?

Although James couldn't compare with Su Feng and Curry in terms of shooting talent.

But under the Warriors' system, his impact and destructiveness had increased exponentially. As long as he could guarantee the accuracy of his "lion fling," his dominance on the court would also increase exponentially.

From 2003 to 2013.

A full ten years had passed since James entered the league with the titles of "The Chosen One" and "Su Feng's Only Successor."

Even in terms of personal honors.

James had already won the regular season MVP.

But...

For him, who had never tasted the sweetness of a championship...

No one knew how he had gotten through every summer for the past few years!

James couldn't wait, and didn't want to wait any longer.

But...

As soon as he thought of Su Feng's desperate and terrifying dominance in that previous Western Conference Finals...

"No, I have to do 500 more three-pointers before I go to sleep tonight!"

On the training ground, James felt full of endless motivation!

I, LeBron James, wasn't born strong!

I'm just...

Forced to be strong!

Meanwhile, in Boston.

Leonard, who had grown up under the Celtics' reckless allocation of resources, was obviously not as anxious as the Crown Prince.

After all...

Even if the sky fell in Boston, Old Deng, Bird, Karl, and others would be there to support Leonard.

However...

Even if he couldn't understand James's feelings, for Leonard, who only wanted to bring something to the Celtics at this moment...

He also dared not waste every minute and every second this summer.

Pull-up, fadeaway.

Fadeaway, pull-up.

Leonard, who was more like Su Feng in terms of his physique, thought about the game in which that man had scored 100+ points in front of him almost every day.

And the more he researched and studied Su Feng's skills.

The more Leonard discovered...

That man...

Was simply the strongest secret manual that you would gain new insights from every time you opened it.

Su Feng...

He was really too strong!

"A... A... Achoo!" Back to Los Angeles.

In August, Su Feng, who felt like people were talking about him behind his back all the time, was pleasantly surprised to find...

In this happy time of special training with Kobe, in addition to Middleton's growth exceeding his expectations, Kobe, who was extremely competitive...

Actually still had potential to be tapped in terms of his technical attributes!

Through the Iron Smelting System's ability value viewing function, Su Feng noticed that Kobe's three-point shooting and ultra-long-range three-point shooting had respectively risen to 83 and 84 points.

In addition, after the Iron Smelting System was updated in July...

On the newly added forced shot and pump fake ability values that could be viewed after the update, Kobe also received scores as high as 98 and 97 respectively.

Although as Kobe's best friend, Su Feng thought it was quite unreasonable that Kobe's forced shot ability didn't get a full 100 points.

But looking at Kobe, who was still constantly improving...

Su Feng couldn't help but sigh that people's ambition really couldn't be compared.

…

As time came to mid-September in Los Angeles, the summer special training of the Su, Kobe, and Middleton trio also came to a temporary end.

In late September, the NBA teams began to gather one after another.

On this day, Steven Adams, who had performed well in the previous Summer League, had just cautiously walked into the training gym when he was pulled aside by Su Feng with a dissatisfied expression.

Seeing this, where was the tough guy image in Su Feng's memory for Adams, who didn't know where he had offended Su Feng?

In a corner of the Lakers' training ground, the aggrieved, weak, pitiful, and helpless Adams stood with his hands in his pockets and his head down, looking just like you when you were being lectured by your homeroom teacher.

But...

What Adams never expected was...

The reason for Su Feng's dissatisfaction was that he had shaved his beard too clean... And that his hair was too neat.

Adams: "..."

Seriously!

Boss!

Wasn't I thinking of leaving a good impression on you on the first day I formally reported to the team?

How...

Did paying a little attention to my appearance also become something you were unhappy about?

"With your boy band look, Steven, tell me, did you really come here to play basketball?" In the corner, looking at Adams, who had no deterrent effect on his appearance, Su Feng said with a look of disappointment.

What a joke!

Without the big beard and the messy hair...

How could that be the generation's rebounding monster, Adams?

No cap.

It's like telling Harden to shave his beard.

Because Adams without a beard was really too "gentle"...

So Su Feng simply couldn't feel any sense of security from him.

"I understand, from now on, I won't shave my beard." On the training ground, Adams, who didn't expect to shoot himself in the foot, said to Su Feng with a look of grievance.

"Oh, right, you've built up your muscles well. It looks like you didn't waste any time this summer." After the lecture, Su Feng didn't forget to praise Adams for the 4 kilograms of muscle he had gained in just two months this summer in order to adapt to the intensity of the NBA.

Unlike most rookies who need time to adapt to the intensity of the NBA and the level of competition after entering the NBA.

Because Adams's physique was already very solid before he was drafted, even Gasol felt the strength of this New Zealand rebounding monster was no less than his when battling for position on the first day of practice.

On the other hand, Nick Young, who had just joined the team and dared to win against Kobe in one-on-one matches, stayed with Kobe until the evening on the first day of training.

As for Garnett, who had been disliked by Su Feng when he applied to join the Lakers...

What the hell was a former All-Star power forward, a lifelong enemy of Duncan and Nowitzki?

If face could be eaten...

Wouldn't people be stuffed to death?

On the training ground, on this day, in addition to always keeping a low profile during training, Garnett even ran faster than Sacre when carrying Su Feng's bag.

In short, it was still that sentence.

Was it shameful to carry Su Feng's bag for him?

Of course not!

So...

What was wrong with carrying his bag and being his lackey in order to cling to Su Feng's thigh?

You had to know, ordinary people wanted to carry it... but they didn't have the privilege!

…

In September, just as the NBA teams were starting their preparations...

In Seattle, the scene that SuperSonics fans didn't want to see the most still happened.

Because of Fisher's successful meddling, the SuperSonics management, who believed that Harden didn't deserve an extra 5 million, were very hesitant about renewing Harden's contract.

Therefore, the once famous SuperSonics Four Youngsters had also become the SuperSonics Three Youngsters.

On September 27th, after the SuperSonics chose not to match the Chicago Bulls' offer to Harden...

Starting next season, Harden would officially wear the Bulls' jersey.

In this life, because Rose didn't win that regular season MVP, he missed the chance to trigger the "Su Feng Clause." In addition, the Bulls' salary structure had been very healthy in the past two years, so this summer, they were one of the many teams that could recruit Harden.

And if Rose, who was out for the season last year, could be reborn under Grover's advice, then the Bulls would undoubtedly become one of the disruptors in the Eastern Conference monster house next season.

Although it was unknown whether Harden could still play like he did in his memory after going to Chicago.

But in Su Feng's opinion, he was very optimistic about the combination of Harden and Rose.

In October, after the team had practiced together for more than half a month, the Lakers officially held a media day on the 4th.

On media day, during the core photo shoot, in addition to Gasol and Rondo, Middleton also stood in the middle with Su Feng and Kobe.

At the scene, a reporter asked curiously, "Su, can you tell us if this is the Lakers implying to the outside world that Chris will become an important member of the team next season?"

Hearing this, Su Feng smiled and said, "Of course.

Chris will be one of our offensive cores next season."

A reporter next to him asked, "But Su, if we remember correctly, Chris was just a role player who could get about 7 points per game last season.

So, can you tell us what reason can make you think that he will become the Lakers' offensive core next season?"

Su Feng nodded and said, "To tell you the truth, Chris has been in special training with me and Kobe this summer.

You might not believe the result, but even Kobe is no longer his opponent in one-on-one situations."

Reporters: "..."

Holy crap, really?

Can this young man named Chris Middleton really beat Kobe in one-on-one situations?

The reporters surrounding Su Feng in the arena were stunned.

And next to him, when Kobe learned of Su Feng's statement, after pondering for two seconds, Kobe also revealed to the reporters, "Su didn't tell you the truth.

Because this summer, not only did I often lose to Chris in one-on-one situations.

In fact, he also lost to Chris many times in one-on-one situations."

Reporters: "..."

Come on!

Why not hurt each other!

"Seriously, why are you so stingy?

What's wrong with sacrificing a little of your face to give the rookie some confidence?" After the interview, looking at Kobe, Su Feng said with a "dissatisfied" expression.

Hearing this, after pausing, Kobe said, "But I didn't lie! Didn't you lose to Chris in one-on-one situations?"

Su Feng: "..."

You're so right, I'm speechless!

"But, Su, are you sure that Chris won't have psychological pressure as a result?" Putting his arm around Su Feng, Kobe suddenly said.

Looking at Kobe, Su Feng smiled after shaking his head and said, "Pressure is motivation.

Young people can't do without some pressure?"

…

ps: Pfft, why are you getting shorter again? You damned shorty!

Note 1: This is a joke referencing a notoriously bad referee named Martin Atkinson in the English Premier League.

Note 2: This is a humorous comparison of Curry's increased weight and muscle mass to Wilt Chamberlain.