NBA's Monster Rookie

Chapter Three Debut

October 1, 1996, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Clippers' home opener will be against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This was Arthur Thorne's first NBA game, but no one's eyes were on him. The Lakers were the darlings of the city; they had signed Shaquille O'Neal in the summer, traded for Kobe Bryant from the Hornets, and with Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel, the team was considered a strong contender for the championship.

And the Clippers? The Clippers are just that lousy team from their city. For the past four seasons, they've averaged only twenty-odd wins per year. Their home stands are never full, and even when they are, half of them are there for the visiting team.

During pre-game warm-ups, Arthur ran out of the player tunnel. He was wearing the Clippers' white home jersey, number 32, the same number he was drafted.

His choice of this number was not accidental.

The Lakers players were warming up on the other side. Shaquille O'Neal was practicing hook shots under the basket, each release carrying tremendous force, the ball slamming against the backboard with a dull thud. Kobe Bryant was taking a series of three-pointers, his form textbook perfect.

O'Neal looked up and saw Arthur.

He stopped what he was doing and looked the rookie up and down. The rookie was 230 centimeters taller than him by 14 centimeters and weighed 150 kilograms, 3 kilograms heavier. His hands, hanging at his sides, were unrealistically large, like something out of a comic book.

"Hey, Rookie." O'Neal walked over with his signature smile. "You're that statistic freak?"

Arthur glanced at him. "I am."

O'Neal's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes became more serious. "I heard your physical test stats are outrageous. But you have to understand, the NBA isn't a physical test. The intensity of competition here is unlike any game you played in college."

"I know," Arthur said.

"You know?" O'Neal laughed. "How do you know? You haven't even played a single NBA game."

Arthur didn't answer. He simply turned and walked to the three-point line, caught the ball passed to him by his teammate, and shot it cleanly.

He went to the corner again, caught the ball, and shot it cleanly.

Arched apex. Hollow.

Free throw line. Hollow.

He threw ten balls in a row, and they all went in, all cleanly. The trajectory of each ball was exactly the same, as if it had been measured with a ruler.

O'Neal stood under the basket, watching Arthur shoot, and his smile slowly faded.

Game start.

During the jump ball, Arthur stood opposite O'Neal at center court. The referee tossed the ball into the air, and Arthur, with almost no knee bend, extended his 250-centimeter wingspan like the boom of a crane, and with a light touch of his fingertip, the ball was deflected into the Clippers' half of the court.

Clippers' first offensive possession. Point guard Brent Barry dribbles the ball up half-court, and Arthur calls for the ball in the low post. O'Neal is guarding him from behind.

Barry lobbed the ball in.

The moment Arthur caught the ball, the entire arena fell silent. Everyone was watching to see what this monster with insane physical test results could do against Shaquille O'Neal.

Arthur turned his back and made the first move.

O'Neal felt a bump on his chest and took a half step back. His eyes widened. Since he entered the NBA, no one had ever made him back down in terms of strength.

Arthur took the second shot.

O'Neal took another half step back. His heel was already on the line of the restricted area.

Arthur turned around. His turn was too fast for someone who was 230 centimeters tall and weighed 150 kilograms; it was so fast that O'Neal didn't even have time to react.

Then he jumped.

O'Neal also jumped, but his jump was nearly 30 centimeters shorter than Arthur's. Arthur's arm went over O'Neal's head and slammed the ball into the basket.

The entire basketball hoop shook violently, and the numbers on the timer jumped.

The entire room fell silent.

Then, a gasp erupted from the Clippers' bench. All the players on the bench stood up, some with their hands behind their heads, others with their mouths agape.

Arthur let go of the rim, landed, and turned to go back on defense. His face was expressionless, as if he had done something completely ordinary.

O'Neal stood under the basket, watching Arthur's back, and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed. Not the condescending laugh he had before, but something more complex: surprise, excitement, and a hint of resentment.

"Interesting," O'Neal said in a low voice.

In the first quarter, Arthur played for ten minutes.

He dunked three times over O'Neal, made two three-pointers, and dished out four assists, all to teammates cutting to the basket. Defensively, he blocked two of O'Neal's shots and also helped block Eddie Jones's shot.

Single-quarter stats: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks. 100% field goal percentage.

The Clippers lead the Lakers 31-20.

In the second quarter, the Lakers began to double-team Arthur. Whenever he received the ball in the low post, O'Neal would guard him from the front, and the wing players would immediately come to help defend.

Arthur's reaction was simple: he passed the ball to an open teammate.

Brent Barry catches the ball and makes a three-pointer. Rodney Rogers catches the ball and makes a three-pointer. Walter Williams catches the ball and dunks.

The Lakers' double-team lasted for six minutes, during which Arthur dished out five assists, extending the Clippers' lead to fifteen points.

Lakers head coach Del Harris called a timeout. He spent a long time drawing on the whiteboard, then finally threw down his pen and said something to his assistant coach.

"I don't know how to defend against him."

The assistant coach didn't say anything, because he didn't know either.

During halftime, in the Clippers' locker room, the way his teammates looked at Arthur was completely different.

It's no longer the scrutiny and probing of the training camp, but something more direct—convince.

"Dude," Brent Barry patted Arthur on the shoulder, "what were your stats in the first half? Twenty-three points, twelve rebounds, nine assists, and five blocks? You're going for a quadruple-double."

Arthur wiped his sweat. "One more assist to go."

Barry paused for a moment, then laughed. "Don't worry, remember to watch me when I cut to the basket in the second half."

Coach Fitch stood in front of the tactical board, looking at Arthur. His expression was calm, but his hand holding the marker was trembling slightly.

"They'll continue to double-team Thorn in the second half," Fitch said. "So we need to play more off-ball movement. Thorn, you're the one facilitating from the high post, the others cut, screen, and shoot."

Arthur nodded.

"And also," Fitch paused, "Thorne, how are you feeling about your playing time?"

"Great," Arthur said. "We can play the whole second half."

Fitch glanced at him. A rookie, playing his first NBA game, played twenty minutes in the first half, and said he could play the whole second half.

If it were anyone else, Fitch would have thought he was bragging. But when Arthur said this, his breathing was steady, his heart rate was normal, and he even sweated less than others.

Fitch nodded. "Okay."

In the second half, Arthur continued to dominate the game.

He receives the ball at the high post, and when the Lakers double-team him, he passes the ball. When the Lakers don't double-team him, he shoots directly from mid-range to the three-point line, and from the three-point line to the logo area. Every shot he takes is as consistent as if he's practicing.

By the end of the third quarter, Arthur's stats had reached 35 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists, and 7 blocks.

The Clippers are leading by 23 points.

Six minutes into the fourth quarter, the Lakers substituted all their starters, surrendering the game.

Arthur was also substituted off the field. He sat on the bench, took a towel from a staff member, and wiped the sweat from his face.

The game ended with the Clippers defeating the Lakers 117-92.

Arthur's final stats: 41 points, 22 rebounds, 16 assists, 9 blocks, and 3 steals. His field goal percentage was 83%, three-point percentage was 75%, and free throw percentage was 100%.

He almost got a quadruple-double in his very first NBA game.

The post-game press conference was packed with reporters. They weren't there to see the Clippers, but to see Arthur Thorne.

The first question: "Arthur, how do you feel about putting up these numbers in your first NBA game?"

"I don't feel anything," Arthur said. "I just did what I was supposed to do."

The second question: "How would you rate your performance against Shaquille O'Neal?"

"He's strong," Arthur said, "but I'm stronger."

A murmur rippled through the crowd. The rookie spoke the same way he did on the court—unreserved and undisguised.

The third question: "Do you think you have a chance to win Rookie of the Year this year?"

Arthur looked at the reporter who asked the question and tilted his head slightly.

"Rookie of the Year?" He repeated the question, as if savoring the weight of those words.

"No," he said.

The reporters were taken aback.

"I'm not just Rookie of the Year," Arthur said calmly, as if stating a physical law. "I'm MVP. I'm a champion. I'm the future of this league."

The audience was silent.

Coach Fitch, sitting next to him, coughed, trying to ease the tension. "Uh, Arthur means he has high expectations of himself."

"It's not an expectation," Arthur interrupted him, "it's a fact."

He stood up and left the press conference. The reporters behind him remained silent for a long time, then erupted into a noisy discussion.

Some say he's arrogant, some say he's confident, and some say he's crazy.

But in everyone's heart, a voice is asking the same question.

If he scores 41 points, 22 rebounds, 16 assists, and 9 blocks in his first game, would his words still be considered arrogant?

Late that night, ESPN's SportsCenter program dedicated a full eight minutes to reporting on the game.

The host, Dan Patrick, said something to the camera that has been quoted repeatedly since.

"At the 1996 NBA Draft, thirty-one names were called before Arthur Thorne. Thirty-one. I wonder if those thirty-one people will be able to sleep tonight?"

The scene cut to Arthur's final dunk over O'Neal, and played it five times.

Then a line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen:

"A monster has descended."