Chapter 35: I'm Back
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Haha, Su, you're too weak. I win again!"
In Philadelphia's "Old Winton basketball training camp" indoor basketball court, Kobe looked at Su Feng, who lost to him in a one-on-one again, and laughed gleefully while having his arms akimbo.
Come to think of it…
Ever since Su Feng used his big palms to hurt Kobe's feelings, Su Feng discovered that during the winter break, whenever Kobe had the opportunity to, he would taunt him.
He truly was-
Kobe-Calculating-Bryant.
"Come, Su, let's continue until we can determine the victor!"
The extremely energetic Kobe did not rest. After taunting Su Feng, he immediately asked to start the next one-on-one.
Su Feng was speechless.
Because this was not deciding the victor, I've been losing and losing and losing!
On that day, Su Feng secretly swore in his heart.
He had to prepare a hundred million sentences of classic trash talk.
This was so that when he beat Kobe, he could teach him how to truly be a bricklayer.
Heh, as a firm and unyielding Kobe fan, Su Feng was naturally Su-calculating-Feng.
…
It was now January 23, 1995. After completing his winter break special training, Su Feng experienced another evolution.
His jumping attribute had been increased to 61. Although he did not know whether the system had a "slam dunk" attribute yet, Su Feng could already easily complete a slam dunk after leaping up with one foot.
Possibly because of his "frustration" towards "slam dunks" in his previous life, Su Feng wanted to do a slam dunk whenever he got the chance to now.
"I won't have to worry about becoming known for forced dunks in the future anymore!" Su Feng thought excitedly.
Of course, Su Feng also quickly discovered that, under Kobe's defence, there was no way he could complete a slam dunk.
Su Feng: orz.
Moreover, after his special training during the winter break, Su Feng had upgraded "Kobe's fadeaway shot" to NBA draft second round pick level.
The skill was passively levelled up as Su Feng laid bricks. Furthermore, Su Feng couldn't possibly decide not to level up his skills just to get more Brick Shot Points, right?
If not, what was the point of him bricklaying?
So, Su Feng discovered that after obtaining the system, he was either acting depressed or actually depressed.
What a dilemma!
"Eh, the system updated my height?
"I'm already 191.5cm. Who knows how tall I'll eventually become.
"I've also gained 0.5kg. How could I 'grow fatter' a little bit more?"
What was worth mentioning was that Kobe actually went to buy two bottles of iced Coke one day because he could not stand Joe Bryant drinking Coke in front of him and Su Feng during the winter break.
Why were they drinking iced Coke in the winter, you ask?
Because if Coke isn't iced, can it still be called Coke?
"I'll only drink it once! This is the last bottle of Coke I'll ever drink in my life!"
Su Feng remembered that Kobe's self-restraint was very astonishing. But no matter how good your self-restraint was, who could stand being taunted by someone straight to their face every single day?
But at a crucial moment, Su Feng developed a new black
Because after he secretly added some nutrient fluid into the Coke…
Su Feng discovered that although some of the nutrient fluid's effects were neutralized, the effects were still there!
Su Feng instantly had an eureka moment and felt like he had opened up a new door for himself.
So after telling Kobe that there was a UFO behind him and tricking him into turning his head, Su Feng also secretly added a little nutrient fluid into Kobe's Coke.
After all, Kobe had helped him obtain many opportunities in this life, and Su Feng was not an ingrate.
"Eh, why do I feel stronger after drinking the Coke?" Kobe thought that it was possible that his dad was lying to him when he said athletes should not drink Coke.
"It should be fine if you don't drink too much." Su Feng changed the topic.
"Yes, we'll only drink a little next time," Kobe said.
Although English numbers were not as interesting as Chinese numbers when read out, Su Feng had already automatically translated Kobe's "a little" into "a lot" in his brain at that moment.
Of course, gluttony would only make one lose their way.
To Su Feng, even though he had discovered the correct way to drink iced Coke, he would not focus his attention on it.
After all, playing basketball was way too interesting!
…
Lower Merion, indoor basketball court.
"My dear coaches and teammates.
"In the match between us and Hery Catholic High School on December 20 last year, I let our winning streak get to my head and cost us the match in the end.
"I am deeply sorry for my mistake.
"All this while, Coach Gregg has been taking care of us like a father takes care of his children.
"Kobe is the best teammate I've ever met and Su is like a big brother leading us forward.
"And David and Guy are my closest comrades.
"However, I've failed to live up to your expectations.
"No matter whether a match is crucial or not, we should play every match like it's our last.
"Alas, I've disappointed you.
"After this incident, I'll take this as a lesson learned, deeply reflect, and remember this humiliation.
"I will buck up and give my all for each and every one of our upcoming matches.
"I hope my teammates and coaches can forgive me and give me another chance.
"I will definitely use my sincerity to pay back everyone's kindness."
After reading out his apology apologetically, Robbie Schwartz took a cautious look at Kobe.
Kobe was very satisfied with Schwartz's attitude, and he was in a good mood after having the special beef burger Su Fenghad made and iced Coke in the morning. Hence, Kobe decided to be magnanimous and forgave Schwartz.
And after listening to Schwartz's reflection, even Su Feng was shocked.
Honestly, this guy would become a talent in the future!
"Su, thank you for last year!" After being forgiven by Kobe, Schwartz specially ran beside Su Feng to thank him.
"No need to thank me. But Robbie, did you write that apology letter yourself?" Su Feng asked curiously.
Schwartz scratched his head sheepishly. "My girlfriend has a very close friend from China. That close friend of hers helped me to write that apology letter. Apparently, the inspiration for the letter comes from a certain sport in China."
What the heck!
No wonder the apology sounded so d*mn familiar!
"Ah, right, Su, aren't you both from the same country?" Schwartz suddenly realised.
Su Feng pat Schwartz's shoulder and told him not to talk about it anymore because it was heart-wrenching.
But…
It did not seem like much either.
Because at least, he could watch the miracle of 2001 again in this life.
You had to admit, that really was a miracle.
…
Pennsylvania's high school basketball league's divisional matches were going to restart on February 16. In the past few days, Gregg's Three Views were shattered by Kobe and Su Feng during training.
During the winter break, other than improving his jumping, Su Feng also asked Kobe for pointers on blocking and stealing.
That was because Su Feng's defending mainly depended on his attitude. He also had a lot of experience being thrashed by Kobe.
But Su Feng discovered that his height and armspan were similar to those of Kobe. Although he was worse than Kobe in terms of jumping and power, at least his hands were bigger than Kobe's…
Why could Kobe average 4 blocks and 4 steals per match while he could only manage zero point something blocks and steals per match?
After all, this was only high school basketball.
Most of the time, those who appeared in front of Su Feng and Kobe were all weaklings.
Even the slightly stronger ones were only the strongest of the weak.
Although Su Feng knew that his defending was not bad, he was clear that statistics… were the most crucial factor in deciding whether he could play in the NBA in the future.
If Su Feng remembered correctly, Iverson was once crowned the best defender in the Big East Conference when he was in college.
"The Answer" got that award because of his extremely fast hand speed back then.
But in reality…
In Iverson's career, his defending mostly depended on his perseverance and never-say-die attitude.
Many players who matched up with Iverson had very impressive statistics. That was because Iverson's height restricted his defending.
In Su Feng's previous life, which top 3D player in the future wasn't extremely athletic?
Many people said Klay was very ordinary, but in reality, Klay was once number one in distance covered in the NBA for multiple seasons.
And Klay was very powerful as well. In fact, he even went against his opponent's free throw lane player in matches before.
How could you call this kind of talent ordinary?
"Sss~! Do they have cheats?" Gregg pondered after seeing the astonishing speed at which Su Feng and Kobe improved.
Hmm…
Su Feng really did have a cheat.
But Kobe…
Alright, Su Feng also sometimes suspected that Kobe had the exact same cheat he had.
In this life, after befriending Kobe, Su Feng truly experienced what being a chosen one meant and just how quickly they could improve.
Su Feng knew that Kobe's learning ability was pretty astonishing. After he entered the NBA, his skills would improve tremendously every year.
If we were to compare the Four Great Shooting Guards based on their all-roundedness, when Kobe equips his passing key, maybe only McGrady with "Heart of Iron" equipped would be a match for him.
Oh, talked too much.
…
…
How time flew. It was February in the blink of an eye.
Because American high schools would have a spring break in March, the competition schedule of the high school league would be slightly tighter in February.
What was worth mentioning was that Kobe specially gave Su Feng a videotape he had treasured for years during Chinese New Year…
Uhh, don't be mistaken. It was a videotape of Jordan's matches.
Su Feng was amused. Kobe must have thought the Chinese New Year was similar to Christmas.
But celebrating Chinese New Year alone in a foreign land made Su Feng think back to his days before he transmigrated.
So, when receiving Kobe's present, Su Feng rubbed Kobe's head earnestly.
Don't worry, in this life, that illusion will definitely not happen!
Su Feng decided he would keep telling Kobe about the dangers of helicopters after he entered the NBA in the future.
Hmm… actually, helicopters were a pretty safe mode of transportation.
But that was okay. As an outstanding keyboard warrior, if he did not know how to make something out of nothing, how could he call himself a keyboard warrior?
Su Feng believed that with his relentless dissing, Kobe would definitely stay far away from that d*mned helicopter.
Cough.
Back to the topic.
When celebrating Chinese New Year, Su Feng also specially called his parents to tell them he was well.
Su Feng had previously called his parents when he transferred schools. Although Su Feng had not persuaded himself to accept "Su Feng's" parents as his own, he could still hear the concern the two elderly had for "Su Feng" through the call.
Moreover, after learning that Su Feng had transferred because of basketball, Su Feng's father, Su Weiguo, was actually a little happy.
That was because Su Weiguo felt that playing basketball was a good thing. At least it could train one's body.
Su Feng was caught between laughter and tears because of Su Weiguo. But to prevent his parents from being overly shocked after suddenly hearing that he had come here to play in the NBA, Su Feng felt that he had to report his situation to them bit by bit.
Just like that, after the divisional matches restarted in February, the two bricklayers who were extremely hungry for victory led the "low-key" Lower Merion utility players to end the year's divisional matches with 23 victories and 1 loss!
And that was Lower Merion's best ever result in the divisional matches since the school was established.
And in the zonal matches, Lower Merion got eight wins in a row again.
Ever since they lost to Hery Catholic High School last year, Lower Merion High School got a combined total of 16 straight wins and broke the school team's historical record yet again!
After they advanced to the finals of the state championship with an unstoppable force, Lower Merion had even slowly become the favourite team of Philadelphia's local fans.
Hmm…
Don't ask.
If you ask, the answer would be that lousiness was a tradition of the 76ers.
One must know, whenever Philadelphia fans saw Shawn Bradley, they had to resist the urge to shout the f-word.
The knockout stages of the state championship would start on March 20. Lower Merion's first opponent would be Chester High School. They had "Assumption Monster" DeMarcus and crushed Kobe's dream of winning the championship when he was in grade 11 in Su Feng's previous life.
The eight teams would go through a single-elimination competition. That meant that whether a team could become the Pennsylvania state champions depended on these last three matches.
But…
After seeing the date the matches would start, Su Feng went into deep thought silently.
Su Feng, who knew his history very well, knew that,
The amount of popularity Lower Merion could gain this year would be extremely limited.
Because…
…
…
Let us go forward in time a little bit…
Chicago.
February 4th. Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson officially met.
The "Zen Master" knew that the current Jordan had already decided to return.
Thus, after Phil Jackson, who had a lot of chemistry with Jordan, engaged in some small talk with him, he went straight to the topic. "Michael, I think you can return at the end of the season."
Jordan nodded without hesitation. "I can start playing from the offseason matches."
Phil Jackson immediately shook his head. "No, you need to play some matches to recover your form. How about 25 matches?"
Jordan shrugged. "That's too many. Maybe 20 matches."
Phil Jackson smiled. In that moment, he displayed a smile similar to that of Colonel Sanders. "Twenty matches it is, then!"
And just as Jordan confirmed the details of his return with Phil Jackson, on March 4th…
The Chicago Bulls had an away victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. But as the airplane that was carrying the Chicago Bulls players and coaching team was flying back to Chicago, an accident happened.
Because of loss of pressure in the cabin, the plane plunged from a height of 10,000 meters to 3,000 over meters.
Trays were sent flying all around the cabin and the oxygen masks were activated. It was extremely chaotic.
According to many Chicago Bulls players, their first reaction during the incident was, "We're going to die."
Luckily, possibly because God felt that this group of people had to play alongside Jordan as he created another dynasty, the airplane landed safely in the end.
To placate his players, Phil Jackson immediately arranged for the whole team to rest for one day after landing.
And right on March 5th, the team's rest day, Jordan went to the Berto Center again and found Phil Jackson.
To confirm his condition, Jordan hoped to be able to train with the team from then on.
Phil Jackson nodded and agreed to Jordan's request.
And at around 6 AM, Benjamin Roy Armstrong Jr, who was still fast asleep at home, suddenly received a call from Jordan
After Benjamin Roy Armstrong Jr., who still had not recovered from the loss in cabin pressure, received the call from Jordan, he rushed down to the Berto Center at blazing speed.
There, he saw a scene that made him extremely excited.
Michael Jordan was shooting, catching the rebound, then shooting and catching the rebound again…
At that moment, memories of the Chicago Bulls' first dynasty kept resonating in Armstrong's mind.
It was as though Michael Jordan had never left.
"BJ, come have a one-on-one with me." Jordan suddenly beckoned Armstrong.
Armstrong nodded. Even if he looked forward to Jordan's return, he also knew that Jordan could not play like he did in the past yet.
But Armstrong got his answer very quickly.
Because Michael Jordan, who was wearing a casual t-shirt and casual shoes, easily defeated him in the one-on-one.
Just like that, Armstrong trained with Jordan for the entire day.
Moreover, besides confirming Jordan's condition, Armstrong later noticed during his one-on-one with Jordan that he had an indescribable…
Love for basketball.
Armstrong knew that the Jordan who loved basketball had really returned.
On March 6th, when the Chicago Bulls' public relations assistant, Tom Smithburger, pushed open the doors of the training center, he was stunned.
On the court, the Chicago Bulls team members were training nervously and their shouts at one another were obviously louder than before.
Next, Smithburger discovered that a black player in casual attire had just completed a slam dunk with ease
At that moment, the entire Chicago Bulls coaching team were in shock. And when he took a closer look, Smithburger was stunned…
Because the player who did the slam dunk.
He was
Michael Jordan.
In the future, in Steve Kerr's memories, Kerr once said that after finding out that Jordan was returning, everyone was shocked. But in the next moment, a thought instantly appeared in the minds of every Chicago Bulls player…
That was that they were the strongest contenders to be the NBA champions once again.
And even though Jordan's return was kept rather confidential, the news of him training with the Chicago Bulls still spread.
There had been more and more speculation about Jordan's return.
Even Kobe, who normally only cared about having one-on-ones with Su Feng and did not bother with the happenings of the world, was getting more and more excited recently…
Su Feng knew that the extremely impactful news, whose impact could only be matched with news of the US president getting assassinated…
Was coming.
…
…
American time, March 19th, 1995.
When Michael Jordan opened his windows and breathed in some fresh air, he slowly spread open his arms. At that moment, it was as though he was announcing to the world, "Prepare to tremble, mortals!"
His manager, Falk, was anxiously modifying the news draft of Jordan's return. And just now, Falk was discussing the details of the publicity of Jordan's return with Stern again.
Speaking of which…
Stern felt extremely good recently.
Yes, the two lads in Philadelphia were both pretty good.
There was hope in building up that pan-ocean bridge.
Moreover, Michael Jordan was returning. Stern believed that he would definitely lead the NBA towards a life of "dry mediocrity" after that!
"Michael, please look at the draft." After working for the entire night, Falk thought that his literary talent was fully unleashed.
Not only was this news draft, which had up to 10,000 words, emotional, it was also definitely sufficiently awe-inspiring.
"I'm such a genius," Falk thought in delight while looking at Jordan, who was engrossed in his words.
"Delete it all."
Jordan said while throwing the news draft aside after a while.
Falk was clueless.
What do you mean??
Delete it all??
Is my writing not good enough?
Or is the story I've written not emotional enough?
Bloody hell. You think it's easy waking up in the middle of the night to flip the dictionary!?
"Use this phrase!" Jordan took out a pen and wrote a phrase on a piece of paper.
Falk took a close look and immediately gasped.
That piece of paper read:
"I'm Back!"
…
-- Gift
received