Chapter 42

After qualifying for the finals, Su Feng and Kobe, while preparing for the match, had the most fun “listening” to Michael Jordan’s match.

“Michael is here—! Wear your safety belts, my friends! Oh… Michael missed his shot.

“The Chicago Bulls are using their famous triangle offense technique. The ball is passed to Michael at the corner, let’s see what choice he will make.

“Oh wow, crossover, hoho, what is this? Hmm, Horace Grant, although you are Michael’s ex-teammate, you are able to perform steadily this time… Oh, Michael’s middle-distance shot was a miss.

“Michael, Michael! This is the best distance for him, the classic Michael’s fadeaway shot… Oh, Michael did not succeed with his fadeaway shot.”

As he listened to the radio, Su Feng never knew that the English commentary was so interesting.

Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan, this could happen to you too?

Of course, Su Feng, who was familiar with history, knew that apart from being the dark period after Jordan made a comeback, it was also the time period before he returned to his peak.

To be honest, not only was Jordan not as his peak, he had yet to adjust his competitive mindset.

On the 24th, during the match between the Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic, Anfernee Hardaway, “Jordan’s successor”, attracted much attention by obtaining one more point than Jordan.

Meanwhile, those who held their hopes for the Chicago Bulls were disappointed.

However…

Did they know that even though Jordan was in a terrible condition, he was going to make a dramatic comeback?

If Su Feng remembered correctly, a few days later, the Knicks would head over from the Empire State to “assist” Jordan.

As the special background used in the 1990s, Michael Jordan would get 55 points in the match against the New York Knicks on the 28th.

Of course, the blame could not be all put on Ewing, as the person who was defending Jordan was…

John Starks.

Jordan’s “ex-friend”, who was also one of the “heroes” with the champion title of the Houston Rockets.

Look, the New York Knicks were very reliable.

Su Feng felt that the New York Knicks should change their name to: Rob the Poor to Help the Rich Knicks.

In Su Feng’s past life, the chances to become champions in the 1990s hit the New York Knicks like raindrops.

However…

The New York Knicks were able to open their umbrella in time to reject these chances.

Apart from being the background, after a few years, the proud New York citizens would have to pay the price for their arrogance. They would not be able to get in touch with a superstar for nearly 20 years.

And that was it.

The New York Knicks would become the top target of gossip before any match every year.

…

…

On the 26th, at the Penn State Harrisburg Gymnasium.

It was the finals of the 94/95 Pennsylvania High School Basketball League.

The Lower Merion supporters dressed up and “painted” the indoor basketball court white.

Although it was an unbiased match, the players from Hery Catholic High School felt the hatred from the world.

As the trump card of Hery Catholic High School, Michael Carter said to his teammates, “Since everyone choose to support them, we will prove for ourselves with our actions that we are better than them!”

“Okay.”

“Of course.”

“Rest assured.”

Michael Carter was speechless.

What the f*ck, where is your confidence?

We clearly beat them in the regionals!

Why are all of you so deprived of confidence?

Actually, Michael Carter had misunderstood his teammates.

Why was that considered a lack of confidence?

They merely followed what they felt…

The aura of Lower Merion was extremely strong. Even Su Feng felt like he was playing for the NBA.

Well, who asked the Philadelphia 76ers to be so disappointing this year?

According to the people in Philadelphia, they would rather head to Harrisburg to watch Lower Merion than watch the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kobe received cheers from his warmup dunk.

Su Feng remembered that when Kobe participated in the 1996 draft, many Philadelphia fans hoped that he would be selected.

That was because Joe Braynt was born and raised in Philadelphia. Therefore, the people in Philadelphia viewed Kobe as the “son of Philadelphia”.

“Su, listen, your reputation is catching up with mine.” Kobe smiled and patted Su Feng’s shoulder during warm up.

Hmm… Su Feng suddenly heard the fans cheer his name.

Although the cheers received by Su Feng was not comparable to Kobe, the “son of Philadelphia”, Su Feng was still very popular.

But…

Su Feng felt that he had to teach the Americans how to pronounce his name correctly. If he kept hearing “lose, ;lose, lose”[1], it would be extremely not auspicious.

However, that being said, since it was the finals, it was definitely different from the previous matches.

Take the opening ceremony of the two teams for example. The DJ gave the first players of both teams a solo introduction.

However, when the DJ reported the average statistics of the two teams, three players from Lower Merion gradually lowered their heads, while Su Feng and Kobe were extremely proud.

Lasman, Stewart, and Schwartz were not complaining.

They just felt like they were freeriders…

They could not repay Su Feng and Kobe’s kind guidance.

They were dragging Kobe and Su Feng down!

Hmm, to Su Feng and Kobe, their teammates must’ve been thinking that way.

…

…

After both teams were ready, the finals began.

Unlike the past, there were at least three times as many NBA and NCAA scouts as compared to previous times.

For the scouts, they would proceed with “long-term observation” for potential players, in order to arrive at a good judgement.

Of course, in history, there were many scouts who misjudged a player.

However, most of the time, a scout’s report of a player determined the player’s future.

Kobe was representing his team for the jump ball again.

Nelson, the center of Hery Catholic High School, had a good height. However, compared to the jumping ability like Kobe, he could only sigh in despair.

Pang!

Lower Merion attacked. Amongst the cheers of the crowd, Robbie-I Am An Experienced Shooter-Schwartz, passed the ball to Kobe after dribbling past half the court.

After Kobe nodded in satisfaction, he began to observe Su Feng’s position.

If one had to use a song lyric to represent Kobe’s performance, it would be, “I only have you in my eyes…”

Hery Catholic High School had examined Su Feng’s style and way of playing.

Small forward Greg continuously stuck closely to Su Feng and did not give him a chance to leave his sight.

However, as an emotionless shooting robot, would Su Feng be afraid if someone was following him?

Moreover, would Kobe give up on passing the ball to Su Feng just because someone was following him?

Don’t underestimate their trust in each other!

Just as Su Feng ran to the 45 degree point on the left, Kobe passed the ball to him.

Kobe nodded to Su Feng.

Su Feng shot Kobe a look of acknowledgement. Then he stretched his leg, sprang into the air, and flicked his wrists!

Clang!

Su Feng was speechless.

Su Feng did not intend to score a brick shot. Moreover, even if he did it intentionally, the system would not recognize it.

What the f*ck, am I destined to not be able to receive Kobe’s ball?

Su Feng wanted to score big in this final match of the championship.

However, Su Feng did not expect himself to…

Score useless Brick Shot Points.

Su Feng had no time to think further as Lower Merion failed to catch the rebound. Therefore, Su Feng quickly moved and went into defence.

However, at this moment, suddenly…

“Ding! Master has satisfied the requirements for the long-distance brick shots in the system!

“Ding! Congratulations, Master. You have received the Sun Flame badge.

“Sun Flame badge, current status…”

On the court, Su Feng did not have time to check the “Sun Flame badge” that had suddenly popped up.

That was because at that moment, just as Michael Carter, the shooting guard of Hery Catholic High School, broke through the defense of Schwartz, Kobe reached and intercepted the ball from Michael.

Then Kobe immediately passed the ball to Su Feng!

Su Feng had no time to think too much. He immediately made a goal.

2:0!

Meanwhile, Su Feng finally had the chance to take a look at the badge he had just received.

“What on earth!?

“Hey, don’t think that I haven’t played 2K before. Doesn’t the badge require a goal? Why for me… The rules have changed…”

Su Feng did not expect that…

Brick shots could really give him such achievements.

“So that means, the brick shots in my past two matches are very… reasonable!”

Cough, back to the topic.

After checking the extremely weird badge, Su Feng took a deep breath.

“Sun Flame badge, current level: Bronze.

“The condition for activation: System detects the coldness on master’s hands.

“The effect of badge: Within six minutes, increase the rate of scoring by 10%.

“Additional effect: Increase Master’s tolerance to distraction for long-distance shots by 5%.

“Note: Apart from the first use, Master can only activate this badge before every match (or training). After removing it, there is a 24 hour interval before the reinstallment.”

“What on earth is ice-cold hands?”

Just as Su Feng sunk into deep thought and Kobe was about to head over to give him a chest bump…

“Ding! The system has detected the ice cold hands of Master!

“According to the statistics in 20 matches, Master’s popular shooting areas are: 45 degrees to the right (three-pointer, mid-range), 45 degrees to the left (three-pointer), bottom left.

“Sun Flame badge, activated!”

…

[1] In Mandarin, the pronunciation of lose is similar to “Su”.