Champion, please stay!

Chapter 212, Question 210: Elementary school student: I wouldn't even dare say that!
In the evening, Yi Shui arrived in Milwaukee with the team.

Jennings' posters were everywhere in the airport, and there were several large billboards featuring Jennings from the airport to the city.

Yi Shui was jealous. She leaned against the bus window, looked at the billboard, and said, "He got 50+ points, but he got way more ads than I did when I got 50+ points."

Curry replied irritably, "Your one giant ad at the New York airport costs more than all of his ads combined."

Yi Shui: "That's what you call a giant advertisement in New York? The airport isn't even half the size of this one, and the buildings are so short. That poster wasn't even as tall as a single floor. Compared to Jennings's, I'm not even as big as his nostrils on this poster."

Curry: "It's not as exaggerated as you say! It's at least about the size of this!"

Yi Shui: "That's called a rhetorical device."

David Lee interjected, "New York's airport was the largest in the United States 60 years ago, but now it's really old and small, not even a tenth the size of Denver's airport..."

Walsh, who was in the front row, overheard their conversation and took out his notebook to write it down—Big wanted a giant poster.

D'Antoni, who was standing next to him, noticed this and asked in a low voice, "Are you planning to buy a row of billboards for Brook outside the airport? That would take a long time to book, wouldn't it? You might not even be able to book one next year."

Walsh replied, "I'm having the same headache. Last year, we managed to get a row of billboards up for sale in June. We planned to use them to celebrate making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but Brook went back to China, so we gave up. It'll probably be even harder to get a deal this time."

Seeing Walsh's troubled expression, D'Antoni chuckled.

Having a huge budget that you can't spend is probably not much better than dying with money still unspent, right? It might even be more painful, since you can leave an inheritance to your descendants, but you can't leave your workplace's budget.

Walsh's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "I've got an idea! There's a place where we can put up ads every day. We can hold our fan event there this Christmas!"

D'Antoni asked curiously, "Where?"

Walsh leaned over and whispered a place name, which stunned D'Antoni.

His boss really doesn't treat the big boss's money like money!
...

The next day, Yi Shui accompanied the team to the Bradley Center and saw many reporters, just as many as when they played the Bobcats the day before.

Yesterday evening, while reading the local newspaper, he discovered that the local media were treating Jennings like Allen Iverson, and local fans thought so too.

That's actually... quite normal.

Among active players, only he, Iverson, and Jennings have achieved 50+ points in a single game.

In NBA history, none of the players who scored 50+ points in their rookie season have had a bad career. Even Earl Monroe, the Knicks legend with the fewest accolades, was a four-time All-Star and a First Team selection.

A small combo guard, leading scorer, and known for his incredible ball-handling skills, it would be surprising if Jennings wasn't compared to Allen Iverson.

Even the NBA's official website used "the next Iverson" to refer to Jennings in its game preview this morning.

Before the morning training session, Yi Shui gave an interview to local media.

He was reluctant to give a solo interview to the Milwaukee Plain Dealer, fearing that the interviewer might say something too harsh and he might become violent.

After all, his feud with the Wisconsin media goes back a long way; they even exchanged barbs during an interview back in college.

To his surprise, the Honest Man's Daily was quite friendly this time, and the questions they asked praised his 16-game winning streak and 35+ points per game...

As the interview was drawing to a close, the reporter asked, "Brandon, like you, scored 50+ points in his rookie season, but after that game, he was constantly targeted by opponents and went through a slump. How do you think he should adjust his playing style and mentality? Is it possible for him to become a player like Iverson?" Yi Jianlian: So that's what they're after!

He previously praised Jennings' 56-point performance against the Warriors in an interview, which caused a stir among fans in the Bay Area.

"You can't hit someone who's smiling," Yi Shui thought for a moment and replied, "I hope Brandon can become a super scorer, that would make the NBA more interesting. But there's only one answer. I look forward to the day when people mention Brandon, they won't think of him as 'the next Iverson,' or his 56-point rookie year, but as Jennings as a player."

Reporter: "Just like you?"

This shameless attempt to take advantage of the situation made Yi Shui shut his mouth and exhale through his nostrils, confirming that it was indeed the honest man who reported it.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and nodded: "Yes."

After the interview, Yi Shui joined the team for pre-match training.

These past two days, my teammates have been lamenting the end of our 16-game winning streak, but the overall atmosphere is good, and we're all in a relaxed state of mind.

This is also related to the coaching staff occasionally mentioning that "our record is far ahead."

The Cavaliers have the second-best record in the league in the first month, with 13 wins and 3 losses. They lost to the Jazz on the 2nd and defeated the Magic yesterday, bringing their record to 14 wins and 4 losses.

The Knicks have a record of 16 wins and 1 loss, and it's unlikely they'll be surpassed anytime soon.

As expected, at noon, Yi Shui came across the latest sports news from the Honest Man's Daily, with the headline: "The Great One: Brandon Will Become a Player Like Me and Iverson."

He felt that one day his reputation for good judgment would collapse...

At 8:40 p.m., Yi Shui and his teammates entered the stadium. Perhaps because he praised Jennings, the boos from the crowd were not as loud as when he played here last season.

After the players' entrance ceremony, Yi Shui saw a thin, dark-skinned man run up to him—the 56-point scorer had arrived.

He's really skinny! Curry looked bigger than Jennings last season!
Yi Shui wanted to say hello, but Jennings spoke first: "Emperor, you're strong, but I'll be stronger than you! I'll definitely score more points than you tonight!"

After saying that, Jennings turned and left.

"..." Yi Shui paused for a moment, then turned to Curry, who had come over to watch the commotion, and asked, "Is he here to praise me or to provoke me?"

Curry watched Jennings' retreating figure and said, "He's telling you what kind of dream he had."

Yi Shui: "Do you have a grudge against him?"

Curry: "No, it was our first time meeting... but James knows him. He's from Compton like DeMar and James, but he didn't go to high school there. He went to the same high school as Anthony and Smith (Josh)."

"Oh... then he's yours to deal with. I'll handle their frontcourt. I reckon tonight's game won't be easy. If it weren't for Reed's injury, the Bucks could have made it into the top four this year."

The elementary school student nodded, inwardly screaming: Who does this high school kid think he is?! I wouldn't even dare say I'd become stronger than my older brother, and this guy dares to say that! A tiger roars...meow...

On the Yi Shui side, just as they were warming up with some shooting practice, a system notification popped up!

"...triggered by the primary school student's thorn in his side..."

(End of this chapter)