Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 114 No one can judge me

Durant said he learned a lot, but how much did he actually learn?

Some people were also dissatisfied with Xu Ling's somewhat disrespectful remarks, such as ESPN reporter Chris Sheridan, who has been publicly blocked by Xu Ling: "I often hear people say that Eli is not wrong, that the fault lies with those who are narrow-minded, but if everyone can't get along with you, then whose problem is it?"

The feud between Xu Ling and Sheridan is well-known in the NBA.

Sheridan's relationship with Nike is very complicated. Since Xu Ling entered the NBA, the former has been writing articles opposing the latter's various actions. This dispute reached its peak on "Finger Wagging Night".

Xu Ling refused to answer Sheridan's questions and publicly expelled him from the media interview room.

That was a very symbolic event. Sports journalists live like superstars, and a sports journalist without connections in the industry is no different from a basketball fan.

Few reporters are truly willing to offend a player to the point of death, let alone a superstar like Xu Ling who has become a prominent figure in just half a season since his debut.

Sheridan's experience made other media outlets treat Xu Ling with more caution, because they didn't know when they might fall into the wrath of the regicide.

Normally, Xu Ling wouldn't pay attention to Sheridan because he doesn't follow journalists' columns unless he sees them online.

This time, he happened to see Sheridan's article and tweeted: "I completely agree with Mr. Sheridan. So in order not to 'disrupt the peace,' I choose to continue blocking him. That's my way of resolving issues."

Moreover, after posting the tweet, Xu Ling put the matter behind him.

The outside world also didn't take it seriously, because Xu Ling had greatly raised people's threshold. This kind of thing was commonplace for him and not worth mentioning. It would be news when he started to play the game of tai chi.

The Grizzlies still need to fight for a playoff spot.

In the extremely competitive Western Conference season of 2008, falling behind by four games was not something that could be easily overcome.

However, even at this moment when the Grizzlies are focused on chasing a playoff spot, they still inadvertently became the subject of news.

Moreover, it wasn't Xu Ling who attracted media attention this time.

The main character in the news is Vladimir Radmanovic.

His story has a rather mundane beginning.

Upon returning from vacation, Radmanovic reported that he had "accidentally fallen" in Utah, resulting in a left shoulder injury. The team issued an injury notification according to procedure, without much fanfare.

But a few days later, rumors spread like wildfire in local Utah tabloids, claiming that Radmanovic had been seen sledding at a ski resort in Park City—a clear violation of the NBA contract's prohibition against high-risk sports. Under pressure from public opinion and his own conscience, Radmanovic confessed to the team through his agent: he had lied; he had been injured while sledding.

When the news reached Jerry West, president of basketball operations, the man with the logo was furious.

"Are we building a basketball team, or running a fucking circus?"

So much has happened this season.

The Grizzlies have made headlines more times in all their seasons combined than in the past half-season.

“Contact the league office immediately,” West ordered. “Provide a full report. Prepare an internal disciplinary plan—it must be severe, but within the rules. We cannot give the players’ union any excuse to make trouble.”

West's considerations were professional and restrained. However, when the matter was reported to team owner Michael Heisley, it triggered a different kind of reaction.

Hayesley, who has never interfered in the team's operations, believes that this unauthorized breach of contract has caused serious losses to the team and must be severely punished.

Hayesley gave instructions to impose the harshest punishment on Radmanovic: $100 million.

West felt a surge of annoyance. He loathed this pointless toughness, which would only make things worse.

As expected, the players' union erupted in outrage when the Grizzlies submitted their intention to impose a hefty fine. Executive Director Michelle Roberts called West's office to protest, vehemently denouncing the proposal as "absurd and provocative" and threatening to file for the most severe arbitration.

The media frenzy reached its peak.
What? "Memphis Ski Team," "The Logo Man's Nightmare," "Million Dollar Sled"—all sorts of sarcastic headlines flooded the internet, and West once again made his team the focus of the sports world in the way he least wanted to be.

Throughout the entire process, Michael Heisley never publicly expressed anger again. He didn't even personally intervene in the dispute with the union. When things reached a stalemate, West again asked him to lower the penalty.

As a result, the owner completely changed his attitude and regained his composure: "This incident fully proves that our brand awareness is increasing. Jerry, you need to minimize the damage from the fine as soon as possible. I don't want this to continue to distract the team from the game."

West finally realized that the key issue wasn't how to deal with Radmanovic, but rather that the team owner really enjoyed being in the global spotlight.

Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, the Grizzlies have now become a popular team in the NBA.

Considering their market, this is simply incredible.

The team that Hayesley bought years ago is appreciating rapidly, which is completely beyond West's expectations and has given Hayesley a different perspective on this kind of media matter.

And so, everything settled down, with West, as the top decision-maker in the Grizzlies' basketball operations department, issuing Radmanovic a $50 fine.

The players' union accepted the punishment, and the "skiing man" had no major objections.

This was a minor incident during the Grizzlies' playoff push. It's rare that they weren't forced to comment on the matter because Xu Ling made headlines. But what can teammates say when they hear such nonsensical news? They can only express their regret.

On February 24, the Grizzlies had won three straight games since the restart. They were three games behind the eighth seed in the West, but they had already moved up to ninth place in the West with a narrow 0.5-game advantage over the Trail Blazers.

However, a major test soon presented itself to the Grizzlies.

They will face the Dallas Mavericks on the road in their third meeting this season. In their previous two encounters, both before the four-team trade, the Grizzlies held a 1-1 record. However, since the trade, the Mavericks have won more games than they have lost, currently holding a 37-17 record and ranking second in the Western Conference, just one game behind the top-seeded Suns.

At the start of the game, the Grizzlies were overwhelmed by the Mavericks' relentless offensive.

The Mavericks' biggest problem is their defense. They don't defend the small forward position, and Nowitzki is basically undefended as well. At the center position, they have Dampier, who was once hailed as the second-best center in the West, but he's just a competent blue-collar big man.

However, they don't need a suffocating defense like the Celtics in the East. As long as they have a more aggressive offense than the Suns, most teams will be out of the game after one round of attacks.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was an astonishing 38-24, with the Mavericks leading by 14 points. The Grizzlies' defense was riddled with holes under the unstoppable offense of Nowitzki and Kobe.

In the second quarter, Xu Ling began to respond.

He no longer focused on initiating attacks from the perimeter, but instead dropped to the low post more often. For the first time, he received the ball with his back to the basket on the left side of the post, facing Kobe's defense.

Xu Ling dribbled and pushed the ball against his opponent, feeling their strength, before executing a clean and crisp right turn and fadeaway jump shot, the basketball swishing through the net.

A few rounds later, Xu Ling called for the ball again in a similar position.

This time, the Mavericks opted for a double-team. But Xu Ling remained calm. He astutely spotted his teammate cutting to the basket and delivered a subtle bounce pass to Milicic, who easily scored.

Xu Ling's improved defense in the low post also left a deep impression on his opponents.

When Stackhouse attempted to post up Xu Ling, Kobe noticed something different. In their previous two encounters, Xu Ling had either been pushed aside or fooled by Stackhouse's low-post offense.

This time, however, Xu Ling stabilized his lower body, using his chest to block Stackhouse's power, while his hands constantly interfered with Stackhouse's dribbling and vision.

Stackhouse was forced to make a very difficult turnaround jump shot, but the ball bounced off the rim.

"This kid's low-post defense has improved so much." Kobe recalled the rookie who seemed a bit awkward in the low post at the beginning of the season, now he was a completely different person. "His core strength has improved, and his defensive positioning is worlds apart. And his low-post footwork, although still rough, is already showing promise."

Led by Xu Ling, the Grizzlies stabilized their position. By halftime, they had narrowed the gap to 58-65, trailing by only 7 points.

In the second half, the game entered a stalemate.

Other Grizzlies players also contributed in the third quarter, finally putting the Mavericks' offense on hold for a while. At times, they relied heavily on Kobe and Nowitzki's isolation plays.

This stalemate continued into the fourth quarter, where the Grizzlies committed only a few turnovers and Xu Ling missed a few jump shots, allowing the point difference to widen to 12 points.

With no timeout in sight, Kobe called for a pick-and-roll and hit a four-pointer over Milicic, sealing the victory.

The game entered garbage time in the last five minutes.

Marc Jafaroni voluntarily substituted his key player, signaling the start of garbage time.

However, Kobe praised Xu Ling after the game: "I've played in the NBA for twelve years, but I've never seen a player learn his lesson like Eli. He looked much better than the night he 'judged' me."

Kobe was referring to the night Xu Ling slammed down the Lakers with that game-changing dunk that changed the Lakers' season.

Back then, facing Kobe's 58-point outburst, Xu Ling responded with 48 points and a game-winning dunk. That scene was clearly much more intense than tonight's, but Kobe said that Xu Ling was better tonight than he was then? How does that make sense?

Xu Ling didn't appreciate the gesture and said sarcastically, "Kobe won, so he can say whatever he wants. I reserve my opinion on that."

On the night of their defeat in Dallas, there wasn't much dejection in the Memphis locker room; instead, there was a sobering feeling of having been "educated" by a top team.

Grizzlies coach Mark Jaffaroni told his players after the game, "You all saw that, right? That's the intensity of a top team. But the good news is, we held on for most of the game; all we lacked was a little finesse and a bit of luck."

This is a necessary but pointless statement, because the Grizzlies cannot dwell on this loss; they will wake up tomorrow and prepare for the next game.

However, Jason Kidd dismissed Jafaroni's words.

In his view, there are still many issues to be studied in this game, but Jaffaroni only knows how to spout these correct but useless platitudes.

However, he won't cause trouble for the coaching staff like he has in the past, because no matter what, it's just a normal loss, and losing to the Mavericks is not a shameful thing.

Kidd was just wondering if they could really trust Jaffaroni's coaching staff in the playoffs.
Then he glanced at Xu Ling, who indicated that he didn't care, so he didn't care either.

It doesn't matter for now.

The Grizzlies continued their advance, quickly shaking off the shadow of their loss to the Mavericks. They secured their third consecutive win, further narrowing the gap with the top eight teams in the Western Conference, now only 1.5 games behind.

But at this very moment, devastating news came from Houston that was very favorable for the Grizzlies' playoff prospects, but enough to break the hearts of all Chinese fans: Rockets' star center Yao Ming suffered a stress fracture and was out for the season.

At that time, the Grizzlies were on their way to Denver for a crucial game. The Nuggets were currently ranked eighth in the Western Conference, and the two teams were only 1.5 games apart in wins. The outcome of the game could affect the fate of both teams in the season.

“I don’t care about anything else, all I know is that I’m going to get the Memphis guy home.” Iverson’s way of welcoming guests was quite unique. “Eli is a young and promising player, but this isn’t Cleveland, and it’s not Los Angeles. Nobody needs to be judged.”

"And no one can judge me."

In response, Xu Ling said after the team's private plane landed, "Oh, the trial is a judge's business. I just want to win this game, and that's not an unreasonable request."

Is it really not excessive?

(End of this chapter)