The longest river

Chapter 96 Who isn't a sneaker designer at some point?

“We did everything we could to stop him from receiving the ball and shooting, but he still kept hitting three-pointers.”

At the post-match press conference, Ewing spoke with a mixture of helplessness and emotion about Yang Shuai's performance.

Although Yang Shuai didn't have the same sense of pressure as Jordan, he did things in the final quarter that Jordan could never have done.

"This was a performance that rivaled the Miller Moment, perhaps even more insane. Hansen Young completely turned the game around."

Head coach Jeff Van Gundy accepted the defeat wholeheartedly, arguing that if Yang Shuai had missed even one less three-pointer, the Pacers wouldn't have won tonight.

After the Knicks' press conference ended, the Pacers' representatives arrived at the press conference venue.

The moment Yang Shuai appeared, the spotlights on set started flashing wildly.

After Yang Shuai sat down, he became the target of numerous questions from reporters.

Have you been following the bet between Johnson and Abbott?

"I had heard about it before the competition, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

People of this era would find it very novel to hear media people making bets, but for Yang Shuai, it's already commonplace.

He even knew that those bets were essentially just attention-grabbing tactics to attract traffic.

"But I will definitely watch the latest episode."

Yang Shuai's next words drew laughter from the audience.

As he spent more time in the league, this high school student became increasingly adept at using humor in press conferences.

"You took four outside shots in the first three quarters and only made one, but you made all six of your shots in the last quarter. How did you adjust?"

"Believe in yourself. On the field, all you can do is always believe in yourself."

Yang Shuai's performance in the last quarter certainly had an element of luck, but luck is built on strength.

He needs three-point shooting ability, clutch ability, and confidence; if he lacks any one of these, luck won't come his way.

Were those three-pointers part of the team's tactical plan?

At this moment, a question from an NBC reporter drew the attention of all the other reporters to Yang Shuai and Brown beside him.

Brown had a tense expression ever since he appeared at the press conference.

This reporter from NBC clearly noticed this.

Although Brown has never publicly expressed it, most people know that he actually dislikes three-pointers deep down.

Of course, they soon turned their attention to Yang Shuai.

They were very curious about how Yang Shuai would answer this question.

"Of course, as you know, we are a disciplined team, and we always play according to tactics," Yang Shuai said with a smile.

Brown's expression grew even uglier after hearing Yang Shuai's answer, and his hands clenched into fists under the table.

Yang Shuai may seem to be speaking up for him, but he is actually trampling on his dignity. After all, everyone knows that his team would never allow players to play like Yang Shuai did tonight.

However, he couldn't say anything to Yang Shuai. After all, from Yang Shuai's perspective, how could he possibly answer that it wasn't the team's tactics?

That would mean Brown has lost control of the team.

The next day, Yang Shuai dominated the front page of almost all sports media newspapers, and even Sports Illustrated featured her on its cover.

The last time a player on Indiana received this treatment was when Miller created "Miller Time".

No, or rather, it's even more outrageous, because even The New York Times featured Yang Shuai's performance prominently.

After all, Miller was already an established star when he created "Miller Time," while Yang Shuai was just a high school rookie. There are much more stories to tell about him that can be passed down through generations.

Yang Shuai, who had been enjoying such intense media coverage, was sitting at home watching the latest episode of "NBA Insider" with Robertson.

Albert will fulfill his bet on the show by eating 5cm of wasabi in front of the audience.

However, they waited quite a while, as Johnson and Albert were still there analyzing the playoff situation.

Of course, the production team knows what the audience wants to see most, but they just keep them in suspense.

Yang Shuai found the TV somewhat boring and shifted his attention from the television to chatting.

"Hansen, I'm planning to retire at the end of this season."

"So sudden?"

Yang Shuai was quite surprised. Robertson's performance this season was actually not bad, especially after joining the Pacers, he helped the team a lot.

Moreover, Robertson will only be 34 years old in July this year, which is a crucial age for a guard to make his mark.

"Every day after training or a match, it felt like I was being tortured in my back."

Upon hearing Robertson's words, Yang Shuai immediately understood.

Injuries are a player's biggest enemy.

As they were talking, Yang Shuai's phone rang.

It's Vaccaro who's arrived, and he's already downstairs.

He greeted Robertson and then went downstairs.

"Hansen, it's time to start designing your signature shoe."

Vaccaro greeted Yang Shuai with a big smile.

At the beginning of the season, he brought Yang Shuai a pair of Pacers-themed "Above the Rim" shoes, which have now become his signature shoes.

However, those were essentially just two colorways of sneakers, not Yang Shuai's actual signature shoes.

It was around that time that he encouraged Yang Shuai to perform well and strive to put the signing shoe project on the agenda as soon as possible.

Now, Yang Shuai has done it, and in a groundbreaking way.

There couldn't be a better time to announce the launch of Yang Shuai's signature sneaker project. Yang Shuai was overjoyed upon hearing the news and took Vaccaro directly to his study.

After sitting down, the two began to talk.

According to Vaccaro's plan, Yang Shuai's signature shoes will first have their design plans announced, then prototypes will be released this summer, and of course, the actual release will definitely be next season.

After all, this is different from adjusting the color scheme. From the completion of the design to mass production, a new sneaker involves various stages such as mold development, material procurement, and production testing, which can take at least a year.

"Do you have any personal preferences?" When discussing shoe design, Vaccaro asked Yang Shuai for his opinion.

It's a pity Robertson wasn't there; otherwise, if he had heard this, his eyes would probably have popped out of his head with envy.

It's important to understand that even with signature sneakers these days, players rarely get to participate in the design process.

"Any requirements?" Yang Shuai immediately became interested after hearing what Vaccaro said.

While future basketball techniques may not necessarily be better than current ones, shoe design will certainly be superior.

Yang Shuai wore quite a few basketball shoes during high school. If he could bring those shoes to this era, he might be able to achieve the same level of success as he did in the dunk contest.

"There are no other requirements, as long as it is targeted at young people."

Yang Shuai's Pacers-themed sneakers are very popular among teenagers, which means he already has a specific consumer group.

To ensure a minimum sales volume for signature sneakers, it's natural to prioritize meeting the needs of this demographic.

Upon hearing this, Yang Shuai thought, "Isn't this exactly what I'm looking for?"
The shoes his parents bought for him in his past life were all of this consumer type.

Then, to Vaccaro's astonishment, he picked up paper and pen and started drawing on the spot.

No way... you can do that?!
Yang Shuai's drawing skills are not very high, but because his parents forced him to take extracurricular classes when he was young, he can still draw a basic style.

Moreover, what's being tested here isn't drawing skills, but rather memory.

Yang Shuai tried his best to recreate the appearance of the sneakers from his memory, even including some of their internal structure.

He drew the Nike JA3, which is Morant's third signature shoe.

He really liked wearing these shoes back then. Besides being comfortable, the main reason was their mesh design, which looked very fashionable and energetic.

Vaccaro stared at Yang Shuai like he was a monster the whole time.

Half an hour later, Yang Shuai handed the completed drawing to Vacaro.

He also specifically requested a color scheme of golden orange and slate blue, which would better highlight the characteristics of teenagers.

Vaccaro stared in astonishment at the shoes in front of him.

Even the most daring designers of this era couldn't design shoes like these.

And of course, there's Yang Shuai's move.

"I think you might be better suited to be a sneaker designer than a basketball player."

"That won't work. Being a designer doesn't earn as much as playing sports."

Yang Shuai's words made Vaccaro laugh; they were truly sincere.

Vaccaro examined the design drawings again and again, and finally made a judgment based on his years of experience:
"I believe it will become a huge hit."

Yang Shuai smiled when he heard this.

Because aesthetics differ across eras, it remains to be seen whether such avant-garde shoes will be accepted by the current market.

But since Vaccaro said so, then his painting wasn't a complete waste of time.

After seeing Vaccaro off, Yang Shuai returned to the living room on the second floor.

To his dismay, Albert hadn't even started eating the wasabi yet.

This is just like the video of James' decision that his deskmate showed him—long and tedious.

Fortunately, they were finally about to begin shortly after he sat down.

Albert picked up a tube of wasabi toothpaste from the table... well, about the thickness of a chopstick.

Well, Yang Shuai feels like he's wasted his time waiting for this show.

As he and Scott had said before, it didn't matter to him who ate the wasabi; he was just watching for the spectacle.

As a result, Albert's attempt to exploit this bug practically screamed cowardice.

Barkley was the best; he kept his word. If it weren't for the show's restrictions back then, he probably would have kissed Kenny Smith's butt in public.

A day later, Game 2 between the Knicks and the Pacers continued at City Plaza Garden.

It's worth mentioning that Bird was also present.

During the pre-match warm-up, he even went to the sidelines and chatted with Yang Shuai for a while.

Yang Shuai could sense that after four years away from the NBA stage, Bird seemed to have rediscovered his passion for basketball.

The first round of the playoffs now uses a best-of-five format. Although it's only Game 2, it's a do-or-die situation for the Knicks, because another loss would put them at risk of being swept by the Pacers.

Therefore, the Knicks applied a very high level of defensive intensity from the very beginning of the game.

However, the Pacers did not fall into a passive situation at the beginning like in Game 1, because Schmitz found his touch in the high post.

With him in control, Yang Shuai on the perimeter and Schmitz in the high post brought back the kind of spacing basketball the Pacers used to play when they were chasing points against the Heat.

Although Van Gundy was mentored by Riley, he is not the real Riley. He is not good at adapting to changes on the court and seemed helpless in the face of the Pacers' offensive changes.

Despite Ewing and Starks' hard work, they were unable to stop the Pacers' offensive pace and quickly found themselves on the back foot.

In the end, amidst wave after wave of cheers from the fans, the Pacers defeated the Knicks 104-98, extending their lead to 2-0 and securing match point.

When the final whistle blew, the fans in the stadium looked absolutely incredulous.

They beat the Knicks 2-0 without Miller!
Perhaps, just like the illustration on the Sports Illustrated cover suggests, Yang Shuai's six three-pointers in the final quarter of Game 1 changed the course of the entire series.

(End of this chapter)