Basketball miracles

Chapter 211 [High-profile or low-profile?]

In the next possession, James found a screen inside and finally shook off Xiao Tu, completing a tomahawk dunk. 92-52.

Even in the final quarter, James' head still goes over the rim when he dunks; his incredible talent is something no unknown, floor-bound center can defend. If Xiao Tu saw him charging, he wouldn't defend under the basket; he'd probably get dunked on, which would be humiliating for him.

James also performed well on the defensive end, closely guarding and interfering with Xiao Tu's shots, and successfully defending against Xiao Tu's two one-on-one attempts.

Physical contact disrupts a player's shooting rhythm. Xiao Tu only has two options: a fadeaway jumper and a step-back jumper, and he can't completely shake off James. His attempts to force his way into the paint are futile; the Cavaliers' interior players are blocking the paint, and there are big men waiting.

Xiao Tu wasn't without options; he could also find cover.

He's deliberately not calling a screen right now; Pat Riley said he wanted to see his scoring ability. If he were to call a screen, it would mean he's coordinating with his teammates.

The Heat maintained their advantage, and Xiao Tu assisted shooting guard Penny on a fast break layup, bringing his assist total to double digits.

At 7 minutes and 22 seconds, Haslem received the ball on the baseline and missed a mid-range shot. Xiao Tu drove into the basket from the middle and grabbed an offensive rebound. He faked a shot, which made Miles jump up, and then jumped forward and collided with his opponent to make a floater and draw a foul.

James completely missed his man on defense. Thinking his teammate would grab the rebound, he shook off Xiao Tu and went on a fast break.

Xiao Tu made the free throw, completing a 2+1 play, and scored 37 points.

At this point, Van Gundy announced a substitution, allowing Xiao Tu to leave the field for a rest.

肖途的数据定格在37分10篮板10助攻1抢断，全场只有1次失误3次犯规。

Not only the Heat coaching staff, but all the viewers felt that Xiao Tu was stronger than James, much stronger.

Riley didn't let Xiao Tu rack up a 40+ triple-double; this is the Summer League, not the NBA regular season, so stats aren't that important.

The purpose of young players participating in the Summer League is to prove their strength and leave a good impression on their team's coaches and management, and Xiao Tu has achieved that.

詹姆斯继续在场上打了一会儿。他出战37分钟，16投4中，三分球2中0，罚球6中5，得到13分7篮板6助攻1抢断1盖帽，还有3次失误。

James' stats were similar to the last game, a well-rounded performance. Shot attempts aren't important; the media didn't mention shooting percentage in the last game either.

The Heat defeated the Cavaliers 108-66 by 42 points.

When Xiao Tu rested, the Heat's offense became very poor. Some fans doubted whether he could lead the team to a 50-point victory if he continued to play.

This isn't a second-round pick challenging the number one pick; it's clearly a star player taking down a rookie!
As soon as the final whistle blew, James immediately headed towards the player tunnel. He didn't want to shake hands with his opponents, he was annoyed by Xiao Tu, and he had no interest in playing the mutual respect card with Wade.

He doesn't even want to talk to his own teammates, so why would he congratulate the winning opponent?
Wade wouldn't actively seek out James to talk to; their one-time encounter didn't foster a deep relationship. In a parallel universe, their friendship was forged during the 2004 Olympics, where they won a bronze medal together representing the Dream Team.

Now Wade prefers to be friends with Xiao Tu. Celebrating the victory, he laughed and said, "Saibu, you're right. We can do great things together, and we'll definitely win the championship in the future."

“Of course, not one, not two, not three, not four, not five…” Xiao Tu began to describe the total number of championships he wanted to win.

Wade paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

As long as others make empty promises, Wade will take them. If he can really win that many championships, what's wrong with being a supporting player for Xiao Tu for the rest of his life?

Xiao Tu knew long ago that Wade liked to hear this. Wade had many flaws in the future, but Xiao Tu found him particularly pleasing to the eye.

My teammate got a perfect score of 10, but I'd give him a 9.

This person was called "Jordan who is five centimeters shorter," but he did not have the ambition to become Jordan.

He's not Pippen either. Pippen wanted to be the leader, and he would have criticized Jordan after retiring.

He was just Wade, a black man with low IQ and low EQ who was good at nothing except sports.

Partnering with Xiao Tu is Wade's good fortune. Because Xiao Tu only wants to be the leader; he won't wait for Wade to win a championship and then come from another team to usurp his position, nor will he abandon a drained Wade after a few years. In the future, Xiao Tu won't advise Wade and Haslem to take pay cuts when renewing their contracts. If management wants to retain players, they should show sincerity; players voluntarily taking pay cuts are foolish. The owner doesn't really need that little bit of money; if the team wins championships frequently, paying some luxury tax is justified.

The NBA Summer League does not hold regular press conferences after games. This differs from the regular season and playoffs, where teams typically release game summaries or player performance evaluations through media channels.

If there are star players on the team, there will be reporters conducting exclusive interviews.

There were no reporters present to interview Xiao Tu and Wade; they were probably chasing after the big names who had fled. Xiao Tu, however, wasn't in a hurry and returned to the locker room with his teammates.

After a quick shower, everyone returned to the hotel together, and there were no reporters interviewing them.

After the resounding victory, Haslem was so excited he couldn't sleep. Lying in bed, he exclaimed, "Seb, you're amazing! Maybe you'll be famous all over America tomorrow!"

Xiao Tu disagreed, saying calmly, "It's possible that no media outlets will report on me at all, let alone mention my data."

"how is this possible?"

"You'll find out tomorrow. It's just a summer league game, not that many people are paying attention. Nike won't just stand by and watch their newly signed prodigy be questioned; they still need to sell shoes for the new season."

Haslem sat up, asking curiously, "Can Nike really control the media?"

"Of course, Commissioner David Stern will also control the media's tone. If a player who has been hyped up for a year becomes a clown because of a Summer League game, wouldn't all the hype have been for nothing? The media will praise me in the future, not now, and they certainly won't praise one while putting down another."

Haslem asked, "How do you know this? Did your agent tell you?"

"I don't have an agent, and I don't need one for the time being."

"Huh?" Haslem thought Xiao Tu was really too unique.

He's incredibly talented but relatively unknown, and doesn't even have an agent. Yet, he's very confident and ambitious. Is he high-profile or low-profile?
No one will ever guess the truth. Even the most unassuming person will become confident after honing their skills in other worlds; strength brings confidence.

As Xiao Tu predicted, the next day, the major media outlets made no mention of Sebastian Shaw and Wade's performance, only talking about how exciting the atmosphere was at the game for "King James," and even included a photo of James completing a dunk in the final quarter.

Some media outlets didn't even mention the score of the game; people who didn't know the score might have thought the Cavaliers won.

What is the score?
Winning or losing doesn't matter at all!
Isn't the Summer League just for fun?
Cleveland media also specifically mentioned James' ankle injury during practice. He wasn't fully recovered, but he forced himself to play so as not to disappoint the fans, resulting in a mediocre performance.

Xiao Tu was fortunate enough to witness history firsthand – the first time LeBron James had dunked his head over the rim while sporting an ankle injury. Xiao Tu will continue his efforts, aiming to have James pose for a photo after the game with ice packs on both knees, showcasing his indomitable spirit despite his disability.

This kind of thing happens frequently in the future, which is a major characteristic of James.

The most classic moments were LeBron James' two head-over-the-rim dunks in the rookie game, a between-the-legs dunk, and a self-alley-oop dunk over Yao Ming's defense. After the All-Star Weekend, he stated that he missed the Slam Dunk Contest due to an ankle injury.

Anyway, it's normal for LeBron James to underperform when he has an ankle injury. If any fans have doubts, then just release another news story to make the other Cavaliers players look bad, saying they're a bunch of scumbags who dragged the King down.

Xiao Tu didn't know if Stern had helped control public opinion, but reading the news gave him a feeling of "unity in the face of adversity."

This is normal. There is a group of interest groups behind James, and the league is preparing to promote him with all its might. How could they let his image collapse in the Summer League?

In a parallel universe, LeBron James' performance in the Summer League wasn't terrible, but it was unremarkable. Then a bunch of people praised him enthusiastically, and almost no one disagreed.

Anyone who says LeBron James has never faced criticism is absolutely lying to themselves. In fact, James' entire career has been accompanied by doubts and countless criticisms.

He has a very capable public relations team behind him who advises him to minimize the impact when he says or does something wrong and tries every means to protect his image.

LeBron James simply needs to follow the script provided by his team. Despite his impoverished background and the loss of his father at a young age, he became the most disciplined and individually capable basketball star, a stylish man, a book-loving business genius, and more…

The interest groups wanted to mold him into a perfect idol, but they failed. Putting aside his basketball achievements, LeBron James has said so many self-contradictory things that they could fill a book of quotes, a must-know for LeBron haters.

LeBron James himself is a LeBron hater, how can we break that?
(End of this chapter)