The second day of the ABCD Camp was like a dream for Yu Fei, as he defeated Anthony's team.
As one of the most powerful scorers of the new century, Anthony was a star athlete who had ranked highly in Yu Fei's former life. This victory didn't mean much, after all, Yu Fei was still two years older than Anthony.
It's quite normal for an 18-year-old to win against a 16-year-old.
The third game went smoothly for the Jade Team as well.
As for the Ace Team's subsequent games, due to Anthony's injury and withdrawal, they were completely overwhelmed by DeAngelo Collins's team.
After that day's competition concluded, Yu Fei was once again selected for the Best Lineup of the Day.
After resting for a night, Yu Fei went about his routine, waking Roy up for his morning call service.
Even though there was an All-Star game tomorrow, theoretically, for those who couldn't participate in the All-Star game, today was the last day of the ABCD Camp. Roy, after getting up, confidently declared, "The more I sleep, the better I play. I'll become the camp's Tracy McGrady!"
Roy didn't mean he wanted to stand out from the camp like McGrady did back in the day, but rather, he was making a joke based on McGrady.
After joining the Magic Team for the new season, McGrady accidentally became the team's leading player due to Hill's injury, and, unexpectedly, the once secondary player McGrady put on a performance comparable to Jordan's.
Doc Rivers said that McGrady was still growing because he loved to sleep—Yu Fei now understood where McGrady's sleepy eyes came from—as this habit was so severe that McGrady could fall asleep during the Magic Team's video analysis sessions.
Seeing Roy like this, Yu Fei skillfully shot back, "Speaking of which, maybe you'll turn out to be Glen Rice, not T-MAC."
Glen Rice was yet another player prone to sleepiness, but for Rice, sleepiness seemed more like an excuse. When criticized for failing to maintain an athlete's physique, he defended himself by claiming he was so tired during training that he fell asleep on the exercise bike.
"If you're not rooting for me, then you might have to face DeAngelo Collins on your own today!" Roy muttered. "Little Shark is no joke!"
Yu Fei had been observing Collins for two days and didn't think Collins would be a tougher opponent than Anthony.
After all, offensive players like Anthony are unstoppable when they're on a roll, whereas Collins, whether a real Little Shark or not, was still a post player. He liked to work in the low post which highly relied on his teammates' ability to pass the ball, and he was a player with limited defensive range.
Devising a strategy against Collins would be much easier than against Anthony.
Moreover, considering Collins's national ranking, and Yu Fei's plan to bypass college and enter the NBA Draft directly, thoroughly beating Collins would significantly boost his own reputation and be nothing but beneficial for his draft prospects.
"Just focus on defense today," Yu Fei said confidently. "I'll take care of the fake shark."
Roy, seeing the confidence on Yu Fei's face, chose not to say anything further.
At two in the afternoon, at Roseman University
The ball flew to the other side.
Picking up the ball, Collins disrespectfully kicked it back and arrogantly shouted, "Hey, you may be Scottie Pippen, but without MJ you ain't shit!"
Collins didn't know that Jordan was present in a nearby suite, watching the two teams warm up.
Unfortunately, even as he belittled Pippen, Jordan couldn't hear him.
Therefore, Yu Fei's next words would not offend Jordan.
After all, he hailed from the year 2023, born two years after Jordan's third retirement. He hadn't watched a single game of Jordan's, much like Brandon Miller never had. To him, "Jordan" was just a name; that name wasn't even as significant to him as China's "Jordan" shoes, nor as imposing as the "Michael" in Ip Man who nearly beat Donnie Yen to death.
Besides, it was an era overly obsessed with entertainment. A decade earlier, fans revered Jordan as a god; by that time, however, fans treating everything with levity would flippantly call him "Dan Zi."
In such a context, Yu Fei had no psychological barrier to belittling Jordan, "Let me tell you a fact, without Scottie Pippen, MJ would've been left hanging in the first round of the playoffs; another fact is, you're not the Shark, and even if you were, you'd lack a Kobe by your side. A Shark without Kobe is just a fat African mudd fish, and I'll grill you on the court."
Yu Fei's verbal sparring with Collins immediately displeased Collins's entourage.
They stood up, spewing all manner of unspeakable words to denigrate Yu Fei.
Yu Fei ignored them, letting Collins's entourage spout their nonsense while he continued to warm up.
"Kids these days have no manners, outsourcing trash talk?" Jordan, lighting a Cuban cigar, shook his head disdainfully.
Jordan's loyal lackey Rodney Higgins asked, "Michael, should we have Sonny come over?"
"No need to bother," said Jordan, "This is his turf; he'll come over when he has the time."
After 15 minutes of warm-up, the game was about to begin.
Quentin DiMio continued to film with his camera.
Curious, Roy asked, "Quentin, what exactly have you been filming these past few days?"
"Material," DiMio replied, "If we come back loaded with victories, we might make a documentary about the Jade Team."
Everyone, except for Yu Fei, cried out in excitement.
Yu Fei knew about DiMio's plans; he wasn't surprised or expectant, his eyes fixed on the court—Collins and his team had already taken the stage, their faces smug as if they had everything under control.
In the past year, Yu Fei had shattered many a basketball dream, and he didn't mind adding one more.
Given DeAngelo Collins's reputation and his grand entrance, he deserved a brutal takedown.