Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 119 The Giant's Wound
Upon hearing that Yao Ming was calling, Xu Ling immediately took the phone.

Even before the match, Xu Ling had heard that Yao Ming had suffered a stress fracture. He had planned to call Yao Ming after the match to offer his condolences, but Yao Ming called first.

Xu Ling then called back.

Seeing this, Jaffaroni didn't gossip and went into the locker room alone.

Krieg also consciously walked away, leaving Xu Ling with ample private space.

Soon, Yao Ming answered the phone.

"Brother Yao, how's the situation?"

Yao Ming's gentle voice came from the other end of the phone: "That's fine, it's a stress fracture, this time it's more complicated."

Xu Ling was silent for a moment. He heard that the first thing Yao Ming said to the doctor after his injury was, "We must save the Olympics no matter what."

This statement may be somewhat ambiguous, but Yao Ming made it clear at the subsequent press conference that missing the Beijing Olympics due to injury would be the biggest loss of his career.

The Olympics, held on home soil, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and any athlete with ambition will give it their all.

"How long will the recovery period take?" Xu Ling asked again.

“The doctor said it will take at least four to six months, and,” Yao Ming paused, “even if he recovers, the extent to which he can recover and whether he can make it to the Olympics are all unknown.”

These words were spoken calmly, but Xu Ling could sense the heaviness in them.

"All you need to do now is focus on recovering," Xu Ling said. "Don't think too much."

"How could I not want to?" Yao Ming said with a wry smile. "The Olympics being held in China is such a rare opportunity. I have to make it no matter what."

Xu Ling wasn't actually that worried about whether Yao Ming could catch up.

Because he knew Yao Ming had caught up.

Although it's unknown what impact this comeback, which goes beyond the timeline, had on the other person's prematurely ended career, he just happened to be there.

"I just don't know," Xu Ling said, "whether I can make it in time."

This statement was like a stone sinking into the sea.

There was a long silence on Yao Ming's end.

As far as Yao Ming is concerned, he certainly hopes that Xu Ling can join the national team. A young forward/guard who averages 25 points per game in the NBA, he is fully capable of taking over his mantle and becoming the leader of the Chinese men's basketball team for the next decade. What a regret it would be if they missed the Olympics held on home soil because of the so-called "association recognition" issue!

However, this matter was clearly beyond Yao Ming's authority.

He's just a player.

Moreover, he knew why Xu Ling had brought it up.

Xu Ling also wanted to know whether he could make it to the Beijing Olympics.

“It’s funny to say,” Yao Ming finally spoke up. “If I hadn’t been injured, the higher-ups might have considered the political implications. But if even I can’t guarantee my fitness to play, then you are their last lifeline to ensure their results.”

"so.?"

“I think there’s a good chance,” Yao Ming said. “I’ll ask around for you.”

They chatted for a few more minutes about everyday things before hanging up.

Back in the locker room, Xu Ling specifically asked team doctor Dr. Frederick Hazard about the stress fracture.

Dr. Hazard believes that injuries are almost inevitable for players of Yao Ming's height and physique.

Throughout history, generation after generation has always done it this way.

Furthermore, Yao Ming's height needs to be categorized separately; let's tentatively call him the 220CM Club.

While basketball is said to be a game for giants, it's not necessarily true that the taller you are, the better.

The taller you are, the greater the pressure on your body. Before Yao Ming, among all the NBA players who grew to 220 cm, only one had ever averaged 20+10 in a single season. That was Yao Ming's predecessor on the Rockets, Ralph Sampson. However, Sampson's career declined rapidly after he got injured.

In terms of attendance, Yao Ming is practically an ironman compared to players like Sabonis, Muresan, and Schmitz.

"So, there's no hope?" Xu Ling asked Dr. Hazard a question that made him nervous.

Dr. Hazard gave a meaningful smile: "Nothing in this world is absolute. I think there must be a way to prevent the same fate from repeating itself in Yao."

The problem is, Dr. Hazard didn't know that he was just optimistically believing, or rather, he just wanted Xu Ling to be more optimistic. Because he was just a doctor, he didn't know any way to help Yao Ming. The only advice he could give was to lose weight and reduce playing time.

Rockets: Sorry, we can't.

The Rockets are well aware of Yao Ming's value and how fragile his body is now. But no matter how much value he has, he can only realize it by playing. The Rockets' lackluster performance, like Minnesota's SpaceX, was all talk and no action, and the level of attention they received was completely different.

Therefore, this is almost an unsolvable situation. Yao Ming carries the expectations of the entire nation. As a leading figure in Chinese sports, the most important mission of his career is to lead the national team to a breakthrough. This means that as long as his body can still support him, he cannot miss the national team's training camp. And the long NBA season tests every player's limits.

Working year-round without a break, coupled with her excessive weight, Yao Ming's fate seemed sealed under this double strain.

Xu Ling was powerless to change this. All he could do at that moment was focus on the regular season – the Grizzlies were just one step away from eighth place in the Western Conference and had a real chance to overtake them.

A few days later, the Grizzlies faced the Rockets at home.

The Rockets are also a major contender for the playoffs, especially after Yao Ming's season-ending injury, when it was widely believed that they would fall behind in the fierce Western Conference playoff race.

How could you possibly perform better without your core inside player?

But the Rockets have always had the tenacity of cockroaches running through their veins.

From the Moses Malone era's miraculous upset of the "Showtime" Lakers to the 1995 championship team hailed as the "toughest ever," this team has always been able to unleash incredible vitality to turn the tide in seemingly hopeless situations.

Moreover, the Rockets are currently on a winning streak.

When Yao Ming went down, they had achieved a twelve-game winning streak.

Just when everyone thought their winning streak was over, they pushed the Grizzlies to the brink of defeat with their incomprehensible team basketball.

Xu Ling knew about the Rockets' winning streak because they later made a short documentary about it, but he had no interest in being one of those dead.

However, sometimes luck lies with the opponent.

When the Rockets double-teamed Xu Ling in a crucial moment, Xu Ling passed the ball to Josh Howard. Howard missed the jump shot, but Milicic grabbed the offensive rebound, and the Grizzlies still had a chance to score the game-winning shot.

However, Milicic was still intimidated by Mutombo's defensive prowess, even though Mutombo was probably already a hundred years old.

After a missed hook shot following a post-up play, the Rockets launched a counterattack, extending their lead to 3 points. With little time remaining, the Grizzlies called a timeout, but ultimately couldn't even get Xu Ling to catch the ball and shoot a three-pointer to tie the game.

The century-old problem of sideline throws wasn't created by Mr. Zhou in 2019. It was only after Mr. Zhou dealt a fatal blow to the men's basketball team with a sideline throw at the end of the 2010s that we belatedly realized, "Yes, this is a big problem."

The Grizzlies lost their chance to win after a turnover on the inbound pass.

"We know how to handle these moments," McGrady said after the game. "We just knew, and that's why we won."

Sometimes, being constantly victorious is a form of self-hypnosis, or even a habit.

They simply continued the correct choices subconsciously from their winning experience, and continued to follow the right procedures when the score was close, and then magically solved the problem.

Xu Ling was speechless; they had no choice but to become the fourteenth corpse under the Rockets' feet.

This has widened the gap between the Rockets and the Warriors, Nuggets, and Grizzlies, putting them in sixth place in the West, so they don't have to worry about being squeezed out of the top eight for now.

(1) There was an error in the previous text, which was that I mentioned the Warriors were ninth in the West. That was because I subconsciously thought the Lakers were still in the top eight, but in fact the Lakers have been squeezed out. So the ninth in the West at that time was the Trail Blazers, and the seventh in the West now is the Warriors, and the eighth is the Nuggets.

The Nuggets failed to capitalize on this opportunity to widen their lead, losing at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LeBron James recorded a triple-double at the BBK Center, giving the Grizzlies a huge boost.

Of course, whether this was the king's original intention is another matter.

After losing to the Rockets, the Grizzlies enjoyed a few days of rest. The team returned to Memphis, finally able to catch their breath.

This is perhaps the most difficult phase of the entire season—with the season nearing its end, the management has no room for maneuver, and the team's fate rests entirely on the performance of the players and coaching staff. The true test of the effectiveness of that league-shaking four-way trade will come at this final juncture.

Jerry West has become increasingly reclusive lately, and the players hardly notice his presence.

But on the night the team lost, this legend was furious in his office.

Just last night, when Kidd's inbound pass error directly led to a point for West, he smashed a vase on the table to pieces, his roar echoing throughout the entire floor: "A great point guard would never pass a ball like that!!!"

Anyone could sense from his agitated emotions a burning desire to immediately trade Kidd.

However, after his outburst of anger, West always managed to quickly regain his composure. Because he knew better than anyone that even the basketball god himself was not immune to making mistakes on the court.

However, such a brief outburst of emotion always leaves a trace in the air. The players' eyes and ears will naturally relay the news to the locker room—this is having a subtle but profound impact on West's image within the team.

According to Grizzlies Vice President Dick Vissach, West's occasional emotional outbursts will eventually become a potential problem for the president.

Players don't like being criticized or threatened with trades, and if they hear such rumors circulating inside the organization, they will hate that person.

Such emotions may not seem so important on ordinary days, but when there is a major upheaval within the team, the accumulated dissatisfaction can create a tsunami of pressure.

Vesac knew that if he wanted to gain an advantage when that day came, his top priority was to establish a strong relationship with the team's new cornerstone, Xu Ling.

However, as time went by, the right opportunity never came.

But today, his chance has come.

(End of this chapter)