Basketball Terminal

Chapter 64 Promise
In a frozen goods warehouse near the Hudson River pier in Manhattan's Clinton borough, Li Yue and Su Lanqi were examining shoes in a large wooden crate. The warehouse was dark, with only their cell phone flashlights providing light.

"You can only take three pairs to inspect the goods; you can't look at more than that. If you want them, take them all; you can't choose."

A Mexican man, dressed in a greasy chef's uniform, leaned against a nearby frozen food shelf, loudly reminding the two men of the rules for inspecting and handling the goods. Two other men, also dressed in chef's coats, stood guard at the warehouse entrance. This place, in Manhattan's Clinton borough, also goes by the name Hell's Kitchen.

"Hey, what do you think of the shoes?"

"No major problems, it's new, Air Jordans, authentic. What do you think?"

"I think it's fine, so...shall we take it?"

"Hmm... wait a minute, let me take another look."

Su Lanqi examined the three shoes he had randomly picked from the wooden box again, looking them over carefully. They were indeed fine. Both were seasoned sneaker enthusiasts, and could easily distinguish between authentic and counterfeit products.

They're asking $6,000 for this huge wooden crate of Air Jordans, but if they resell it, they'll definitely make more than double that. Apparently, a Mexican restaurant chef found it while cleaning out a food storage room; if it contains commemorative or collector's editions, he'll be rolling in it.

"There won't be any problems, it's definitely authentic. We don't know anything about shoes, we'll sell it for a fixed price, you can decide what to do with it. Hurry up, it's getting a bit cold in here," the Mexican man urged impatiently.

Sulanki stood up, exchanged a glance with Li Yue to indicate that there was no problem, and then said to the Mexican, "OK, one price, six thousand dollars. Help us move the boxes to the car later."

The Mexican man clapped his hands and said there was absolutely no problem. Li Yue stuffed the three pairs of shoes into the wooden crate. Just then, he suddenly paused, sensing something was amiss. He quickly grabbed another shoe, glanced at it, then grabbed another, and another…

"Hey! I said you can only watch three! What are you doing!"

"Sorry, we don't want this shipment. We're leaving for Sulanki!"

Li Yue put down his shoes and pulled Su Lanqi toward the warehouse door, but they were stopped by two other men. The Mexican man slowly walked over and said coldly, "The deal is done, and you've seen the goods. You can't just back out like that!"
-
The Nets-Kings game was nearing its end, and the conflict between Levi and Barnes further intensified the match, making the atmosphere increasingly tense. However, no one dared to use any underhanded tactics against Harden, knowing that a formidable opponent was protecting him.

Harden has dished out 13 assists tonight, at least half of which went to Li Wei. If Li Wei doesn't step up for Harden, he'll be wasting Harden's good intentions of feeding him the ball.

Under increasingly intense physical contact, the Nets' superstar lineup demonstrated its value. Under high-intensity one-on-one and help defense, Irving and Harden were stumbling, but they still seized the opportunity to break through the middle, one with a floater and the other with a reverse layup, breaking the scoring deadlock that had lasted for more than three minutes.

The Kings called a timeout to regroup and launch a final attack, but missed several shots. During a fast break, Li Wei received a pass from Harden at the left corner and drained a three-pointer! Harden delivered his 14th assist of the game, and Li Wei made the only three-pointer of the game.

Over the course of three games, Li Wei's three-point shooting has been frighteningly accurate, making 3 of 4 attempts. Of course, he didn't attempt many, being very cautious with his shots. This basket brought Li Wei's total to 19 points, along with 15 rebounds—the stats of a star center.

The Nets widened their lead back to 13 points with three minutes remaining, making the game largely a foregone conclusion. Meanwhile, the Kings continued to make mistakes on both ends of the court, including missing two free throws, slowing their comeback attempt.

One issue was the repeated loss of defensive rebounds. Li Wei and DeAndre Jordan kept pushing the rebounds outwards in the paint. Even if Harden, Harris, and Brown missed their outside shots, it didn't matter, as the two of them could always push the ball out and reorganize the offense.

This not only wasted game time but also dampened the Kings' defensive morale. On one fast break, Irving was on the backcourt, refusing to move, resulting in a 4-on-5 situation in the frontcourt, which missed. Levi grabbed the rebound and passed it to Harris on the perimeter, but that also missed.

DeAndre Jordan slapped the ball away, hitting De'Aaron Fox's hand and sending him rolling down the other half of the court. James Harden then leisurely walked over, caught the ball, and reorganized the offense.

When it comes to the ability to walk the court, anyone with James in their name is a master. This chaotic situation completely eroded the Kings' fighting spirit. The last two minutes became garbage time, and Harden still didn't forget to assist Reeves, but unfortunately, Reeves' floater missed.

But in the final minute, Li Wei still managed to score two points with a tough putback, bringing his total to 21 points and a solid 18 rebounds – the stats of a superstar center. Especially considering Li Wei only played for about twenty minutes, the 21 points are understandable, mostly from easy baskets. But the 18 rebounds are truly impressive.

For Li Wei, rebounding is relatively easy when he can predict the ball's trajectory. Predicting the ball's trajectory is much easier than predicting a person's movements, and it consumes very little energy—enough to feed Li Wei.

However, the ball must be in motion to predict its future; if it's stationary and unaffected, its fate is unknown. Otherwise, Li Wei could practice some more and go to the casino to play roulette; making money would be easier and faster.

The big screen and television cameras focused on Li Wei; he was the star of the night. His 21 points and 18 rebounds were dazzling. The more than 300 fans in the audience, who initially knew very little about him, stood up and applauded him at the end of the game—applause that a player deserves for his outstanding performance.

The MVP award was generously given to Li Wei, and Boss Cai on the sidelines was clapping with a big smile, clearly very satisfied with Li Wei's performance and Nash's decision to put Li Wei in the starting lineup.

In Tsai's view, if Nash could completely side with him, it would be beneficial for him to have complete control of the Nets. After Marks took office in 15, he did make many good moves, cleaning up the mess left by Billy King and allowing the Nets to slowly recover until the arrival of Irving and Durant, transforming the team overnight.

Because of Max's abilities and achievements, owner Tsai has never touched the uniform staff, who wield considerable power. Owner Tsai has no say in many decisions; they are made by the group of white executives in the uniform staff—the Nets' uniform staff has a very high proportion of white employees, very few Black employees, and virtually no Asian employees, which often sparks controversy.

Mr. Cai was dismissive of any employee diversity policy. Although he wanted to put on a show, he hired two Black men as physical therapists and security guards, Max employed a Black assistant, and hired three Black employees recommended by Kevin Durant. Chinese people value pragmatism; a cat that catches mice is a good cat, regardless of its color or color. If you're capable, it doesn't matter if you're Black, White, or Asian.

But when it comes to actually taking sides, you'll find that race and skin color are incredibly useful. Black people will always side with Black people, even if it's unreasonable. White people, pressured by political correctness, may not say it, but they silently give the most important positions and jobs to white employees, with other ethnicities playing a supporting role.

Li Wei and Cai are determined to secure the contract, and doing so now is the most elegant and respectable outcome. From the management to the coaching staff, and even the fans, no one can voice any criticism. It's about merit and performance, not connections. If you don't sign, the fans will condemn you. This forces Max to guarantee the contract is secured and stop thinking about anything else. Li Wei isn't thinking about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering; he doesn't care. He's busy giving interviews, and journalists are always the best judges.

"Tell me your feelings about the game."

"I'm very tired, but very happy. I've made enough contributions to the team. I'm very grateful for the support of the coach and my teammates. Basketball is a team sport, and everyone's excellent performance is inseparable from their teammates and the team. I'm grateful to them for giving me this opportunity."

"What are your plans after the game? Maybe have a meal with your teammates, or go celebrate?"

Li Wei glanced at Zhenli, suspecting she had something on her mind. Their eyes met, and he knew he was right.

"I'm going to grab something to eat and have a drink with my friends to celebrate. I want to spend time with them. It's going to be a wonderful night, and I'll always remember it."

In the locker room, the Nets players gave Levi a quick celebration by pouring water over his head to cool him down. Scott Mitchell filmed it all and told Levi that news about him would definitely be all over the place tomorrow.

"No need for tomorrow, tonight is fine."

"You're right, buddy."

However, while Levi was celebrating his outstanding performance and a guaranteed contract, Shumpert and Noah Vonleh had already played their final game for the Nets. Marks texted them that he would not be re-signing.

The two packed up their belongings in the locker room, leaving two empty lockers behind. A cleaning lady came over, took a scraper, and peeled off the name tags from the lockers, ready for their next owner.

Li Wei looked at the empty, nameless lockers, touched his own name on the locker next to him, patted it twice, and left the locker room. He was the last one to leave. The cleaning staff turned off the lights; everything about the game tonight was over.

In the parking lot, Li Wei couldn't see his car. Where did Li Yue go? He took out his phone to make a call when the $800 Chevrolet sped up and quickly stopped in front of him.

"Damn it, where did you go? I was in a competition, and you went out to drive for Uber?"

Li Yue got out of the car, panting heavily, and grabbed Li Wei, saying, "Brother, brother, I almost died! Luckily, luckily I made it back!" Li Wei looked down at the car and saw an Indian girl in the passenger seat with her eyes blinking, looking somewhat frightened, like a wounded fawn.

Li Wei pulled his younger brother aside, closed the car door, and said, "You little brat, you went to pick up girls in my car? Holy crap, you even slept with Indian girls? You good-for-nothing."

"No, no, I didn't sleep with her."

"You can't even get with Indian girls? You're a loser."

"Oh dear! We...we went to buy shoes!"

Lee explained the whole story to Levi. When they were stopped, Lee suddenly pulled out a submachine gun, took the Mexican man hostage, and drove away from the warehouse. Because of fear and tension, he took many detours, hid in different places for a while, and finally drove to the Barclays Center.

Where did you get the gun?

"Isn't that your fake gun? It was just to scare people! Luckily they didn't search us; I fooled them with the fake gun."

"The fact that they didn't search you means they're unprofessional; don't be too worried. How do you know there's something wrong with those shoes?"

“We randomly checked three shoes, and they were genuine. But when we packed them in, I noticed they were all left-footed. So I checked three more, and they were still left-footed! I knew there was something wrong with this batch of shoes; they might all be single shoes. If that happened, we'd be doomed, and all our money would be wasted!”

"You're pretty clever, but don't do such dangerous business again. Your family won't be short of money, and neither will you."

Li Yue already knew about Li Wei's performance tonight. He was proud and happy for his brother, but also still felt lingering fear from the near-death experience. As soon as he felt relieved, he started sobbing again. After all, he was still just a 17-year-old boy.

Levi patted his younger brother, telling him to take a taxi to send Sulanki home, and then he would go back to Flushing, leaving the car at the Barclays Center to avoid being followed. Levi asked, "What about you?" Levi replied, "I have a date. You take care of yourself and your Indian girlfriend. Don't try anything funny in my car, I've installed a camera. Hurry up and take a taxi home."

"Dude, you're a pervert, but I like you the way you are now."

　Thanks to King Grey K for being the patron.

　　I am extremely grateful for your long-term support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)