Chapter 145: Provoking Kid

Over the next few possessions, Carter suddenly erupted. He broke through twice in succession and sank both shots.

He Xinghui, meanwhile, had not taken another shot because he could not find a good opportunity.

After scoring his second basket, Carter excitedly taunted him to his face. “Four to three! Four to three! Four to three!”

His childish comeback amused all the spectators.

They were grown men, yet they were bickering like children. Wasn’t that a little immature?

“One hundred percent. Sixty-seven percent. One hundred percent. Sixty-seven percent.”

He Xinghui did not back down in the slightest. He forcibly shifted the comparison to shooting percentages.

Having made his only attempt, his own percentage was still one hundred percent.

Carter seemed displeased that he had failed to gain the upper hand verbally. Seeing this, Kidd came over and whispered, “Vince, there’s no need to trade insults with him. He does this professionally.

“Rather than argue with him, you should dunk on him. If you get the chance, take off without hesitation. I’ll get the ball to you.”

Kidd’s suggestion made Carter’s eyes light up. He loved the idea.

What power did trash talk really have? Dunking on someone was the only way to truly humiliate them.

The moment he imagined it, Carter could hardly wait.

Seeing the two of them whispering conspiratorially, He Xinghui guessed they were probably plotting against him.

So he walked over and said to Kidd, “Jason, is there something you can’t say out loud? You look as timid as a mouse—just like some little man who’s been bullied by his wife for years.”

Kidd would not divorce his wife until the following year, and no one yet knew that she abused him at home.

But He Xinghui knew.

“Fuck you!”

Those three words instantly shattered Jason Kidd’s composure. He exploded into a furious tirade at He Xinghui and even looked ready to throw a punch. Carter had to hold him back to keep him from getting in He Xinghui’s face.

Carter nearly began questioning his entire understanding of life.

Kidd had just been perfectly rationally advising him. How had he ended up losing his temper so easily himself?

“Vince, let me go. I want to see how much strength is left in the fists of a man bullied by a woman—whether they can even scratch an itch.”

Held back by his teammate, Kidd kept raging, while He Xinghui taunted him with even greater confidence. After all, no fight could actually break out.

As the two exchanged those words, the referee had already hurried over and issued each of them a warning.

“Ref, he insulted me first,” Kidd protested, insisting that he had been wronged.

“That’s just normal trash talk. If you can’t handle it, put on some headphones. It’s fine—I promise I won’t laugh at you,” He Xinghui mocked.

Kidd nearly exploded again.

Headphones? To hell with headphones. Only trash wore headphones.

“This is your final warning. Keep arguing and I’ll call a technical foul,” the referee said coldly.

Kidd and He Xinghui immediately shut their mouths. Both men knew exactly where the line was.

Play resumed, but viewers watching at home were already completely stunned.

They never would have imagined that Kidd, known as the Nets’ brain, could lose control of his emotions.

And the reason he had lost control was He Xinghui’s trash talk.

It made no sense.

The Clippers went on offense. He Xinghui called for the ball, then used his footwork to fool Carter and drove toward the basket.

Seeing this, Kidd abandoned Cassell and rushed up behind He Xinghui, bringing his hand down over his head with a vicious slap.

He was clearly targeting the man, intending to teach He Xinghui a lesson.

How dare this young upstart act so boldly in front of him? The young really had no idea how high the heavens were or how deep the earth was.

A resounding smack rang out.

He Xinghui was knocked to the floor. Clutching his face, he rolled across the court.

The whistle blew, but the referee called only a common shooting foul, because Kidd’s hand had also happened to graze the ball when he struck him.

That was the experience of a veteran streetwise player: he always knew how to exploit the rules.

Everyone knew he had been aiming for the man, but no one could prove it.

The call infuriated the Clippers, and their players all began protesting to the referee.

Of course, they were only going through the motions. Everyone knew the decision would not be overturned.

He Xinghui then stepped to the free-throw line.

He made the first shot. Before taking the second, an idea suddenly struck him. He called out to Kidd, who was preparing to box out for the rebound.

“Jason, Jason, look over here.”

He stuck out his backside and struck a rather provocative pose. Then he patted his own buttocks with one hand before making the latter half of a blown-kiss gesture toward the basket.

Kidd instantly went berserk. He charged at He Xinghui, apparently intending to beat him senseless, but Maggette managed to wrap both arms around him and hold him back.

Before taking free throws, Kidd always touched his lips with his fingers and then blew a kiss toward the basket. It was his signature move.

He Xinghui had imitated the blown kiss, except that he had replaced the hand touching the lips with one touching his backside. Kidd felt utterly mocked and humiliated.

And not mildly, either. It was an extreme insult.

Fans watching at home who were familiar with Kidd’s trademark gesture burst into laughter. Some of them even laughed so hard that they rolled around on the floor.

They never could have imagined how He Xinghui had come up with such a move.

It was hilarious—absolutely hilarious.

“Damn it! Hit him! Hit him! You can’t let that go!” Barkley fanned the flames from thousands of miles away.

There was no rule in the NBA forbidding He Xinghui’s gesture.

In fact, if he had done it during another game, no one would have paid him any attention.

But doing it right in front of Kidd made the provocation unmistakable.

So the referee called He Xinghui for a technical foul.

“What? Are you kidding me? What did I do to deserve a technical? I took a slap to the face and he didn’t get one. I only performed a good-luck gesture, and I get a technical?”

He Xinghui clutched his head and cried out that he had been wronged.

To hell with that good-luck gesture.

Even the referee was struck speechless by He Xinghui’s shameless explanation. “Play seriously. Don’t make this difficult for me. If I don’t call a technical on you, this game is guaranteed to turn into a fight.”

He Xinghui wanted to tell the referee that he would not fight back. If he simply lay on the floor, Kidd would be ejected, and the referee was interfering with his victory.

Unfortunately, he ultimately kept those thoughts to himself.

The technical foul stood.

Dunleavy was furious on the sideline, practically jumping up and down. The game had only just begun, and his star player had already picked up a technical. How could that be acceptable?

He loudly protested to the league officials.

It was outrageous. Why should his player receive a technical just because the opposing player could not control his emotions?

If things continued like this, would players have to start taking care of their opponents’ feelings whenever they played?

Unfortunately, the referee ruled the court, and Dunleavy could do nothing but vent impotently.

Play resumed, and Kidd took the technical free throw. He made it.

Scoring that point made Kidd feel slightly better. Otherwise, he would not have been able to swallow his anger without beating He Xinghui senseless that day.

Even now, whenever he thought of He Xinghui’s so-called good-luck gesture, he felt sick.

Disgusted. Utterly disgusted.