LeBron James, your house got robbed.

On Christmas Eve, even the central screen in the stadium was decorated with snowflake borders and festive cursive English text.

The mascot, dressed as Santa Claus, pushed a gift cart around the venue.

He would stop every now and then, pretending to throw out gifts to tease the young fans on the sidelines, then pull back and continue pushing the cart, repeatedly stirring up the atmosphere.

On the sidelines, Gilbert was in a good mood, relaxed and at ease, watching James on the court.

After a while, Gilbert turned to look at Chen Shuo.

"Chen, what are our chances of winning?"

Chen Shuo clapped his hands lightly, his gaze fixed on Clay on the sidelines.

This guy is in great form, sinking three-pointers in a row.

Upon hearing Gilbert's question, Chen Shuo glanced at the players on the field, then at the fans filling the arena, and said confidently:

"We must win this game. It's the team's first game, and we need some special memories to set the tone for this season."

He paused mid-sentence, then, leaving himself some leeway, smiled and said:

"I'm very confident, but after all, it's not me playing."

Gilbert nodded after listening and joked:

"I'd rather see you play than win."

"Let me see if a genius like you can succeed in any field."

Chen Shuo spread his hands, shrugged, and echoed Gilbert's platitudes.

He could naturally read Gilbert's mind.

Christmas Day match, opening game, arch-rivals, nationally televised – these gimmicks drew massive viewership to the game.

The ample buzz will help Gilbert's quick loan business expand rapidly across the country.

Apply online, get approved quickly, and receive funds promptly.

With this model and sufficient traffic, the company's size can increase several times over in less than five years.

From a rational point of view, Gilbert had no other desires.

But humans are also emotional beings, and Gilbert, sitting on the sidelines, was obviously looking forward to seeing a scene of killing a traitor.

Chen Shuo remained calm and collected, precisely controlling Gilbert's thoughts.

Before the expansion of its quick loan business reaches a new bottleneck, Gilbert needs traffic, which means he needs Chen Shuo's presence.

This is also the source of Chen Shuo's confidence to run the team like a personal fiefdom.

In Chen Shuo's view, Gilbert was indeed a man of great courage.

He delegated power completely when he said he would, and he trusted his subordinates to the fullest extent, even though Gilbert might not have liked his own style of doing things deep down.

In the short term, his relationship with Gilbert, based on shared interests, was quite solid.

Chen Shuo rubbed his temples as usual, and suddenly saw Pat Riley on the sidelines.

Riley, still in his Armani suit, with his hair neatly combed, stood ramrod straight on the sidelines, his eyes sharp as an eagle.

This immediately piqued Chen Shuo's interest.

From being a championship-winning coach with the Lakers to wielding absolute power with the Knicks, and then to the South Beach, Riley has finally achieved his long-cherished dream.

Neither the Lakers nor the Knicks, top-tier franchises, could give Riley what he wanted, so he chose the Heat, who were in dire need of rebuilding.

Miami, as America's gateway to the magical Latin America, has a population of hundreds of millions of Latinos and countless immigrants.

At the same time, it is also a favorite among the older generation of morgue residents in New England in the northeastern United States. As their most preferred morgue, Miami holds a similar status to Hainan Island in the hearts of people from Northeast China.

Coupled with the lingering poison of rampant drug abuse and illegal transnational financial capital, these evils, once burned away by the flames, have created fertile ground here.

Miami's rise to prominence was inevitable, giving the Heat the potential to become a top-tier powerhouse.

Riley couldn't become the godfather of the Knicks and Lakers, so he chose Miami to build his own powerhouse from scratch.

He received a 20% stake from the Alisson family, elevating him from an employee to someone who could engage in equal dialogue with capital, freeing him from any worries and allowing him to fully dedicate himself to building the team.

Chen Shuo was very clear about Riley's goals.

The NBA, as a league, is composed of forces from multiple dimensions.

Players, fans, teams, owners, league offices, council, sponsors, and broadcasters—these forces are organically combined at different levels.

In the eyes of fans, players, or rather, stars, are actors in the NBA.

But in Riley's eyes, the team is what matters; players come and go, but the flags above the stadium always fly.

If you consider the NBA as a long-running drama, the kind that's already aired over 70 episodes, then the 30 teams are the actors in this show.

Riley's goal is to make the Heat a star and one of the main players in the NBA.

As a commercial league, the NBA has 30 teams, but not all of them are the main focus.

A play must have main characters, supporting characters, and villains/clowns.

From the time Stern took office in 83, only a handful of teams could be considered the main players.

The Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks are traditional powerhouses.

The Lakers follow the Hollywood style of producing superstars. Los Angeles has never lacked superstars; they either develop them themselves, or they spend money to bring them in. If all else fails, the league will find a way.

The Celts also had a wealthy past, but they took a different path. In their early years, they relied on cardinals to rob and cheat, while in their later years they depended on a highly professional uniformed team, becoming relatively more low-key and pragmatic.

The Knicks have the advantage of home ground; New York is a megacity where fans are both wealthy and have plenty of free time.

In addition, it boasts the most intense basketball atmosphere, with many NBA players coming from the streets of New York. Coupled with Madison Square Garden, the basketball mecca, it is undoubtedly the top of the NBA.

Those teams that manage to build a team culture later on each have their own stories and circumstances.

The Spurs' team basketball was built on the foundation laid by two generations of selfless and humble number one draft picks.

Later on, they also relied on professional uniform teams; Parker and Ginobili were both products of uniform teams finding overseas suppliers.

The Chicago Bulls' two dynasties were almost entirely due to the glory of the basketball god, a feat that is both rare and precious.

The Pistons' blue-collar culture perfectly matched the city's character, and the Bad Boys' team set the tone.

In the future, whenever the league enters a dark defensive era, the shadow of the Bad Boys will once again loom over this land, playing the villain's role.

To become a leading figure in the NBA, one must have a distinctive cultural identity and at least two periods of glory.

The first moment of glory is a threshold, and the second moment of glory is proof.

The Heat's Big Three was Pat Riley's path to enlightenment.

The thought of building a powerhouse team in the world's highest-level basketball league fills Chen Shuo with excitement.

However, the conditions are not yet ripe, not to mention that Cleveland's foundation is too weak.

The most important thing is that Chen Shuo is still just a working-class person, and everything he does is just wishful thinking.

Thinking of this, Chen Shuo's gaze toward Riley grew even more intense.

Since the timing wasn't right, Chen Shuo was quite interested in being a disruptor.

They abruptly interrupted the Heat's path to victory and should be considered the first name card presented to the NBA.

Riley noticed the prolonged staring.

He turned around and saw a pair of bright eyes staring intently at him, with a wildfire almost bursting from them.

The lights went out, and the classic Christmas melody began as bells rang.

Artificial snowflakes fall, and red and green ambient lights illuminate.

Searchlights from above illuminated the players' tunnel, which was decorated with pine wreaths and red ribbons.

"From Akron St. Vincent-Marie High School—6-foot-9 forward—LeBron James—"

James was the first player from the away team to take the field.

Cleveland still greeted the crowd with a chorus of boos, but this time it ended much faster and was much quieter than before.

It wasn't until the home players came on the field that the fans at Quicken Loans Arena unleashed their thunderous roar.

"Cleveland"

Give me your voices—!!!

The lights swept quickly across the stands as the DJ announced the program.

"A 7-foot-1 championship center"

Cold flames erupted from the ground.

"Let's welcome—!!!"

The DJ belted out the vocals, roaring with emotion:

"Tyson—"

"Chandler—"

Amidst the shouts of 20,000 people, Chandler lightly skipped to the center of the field.