Chapter 152: Going Together to Save Their Souls

Before the game even started, the broadcasting crews from major television networks had already begun their work.

On ESPN, Mike Breen and Jackson were chatting about pre-game gossip.

Ever since TNT became famous for showering praise on Star, ESPN had chosen a different path by becoming dedicated Star-haters.

Although Mike Breen actually quite liked Star Xinghui, for the sake of the broadcast's entertainment value, he had no choice but to play the role of a Star-hater.

Mike Breen said, "As everyone knows, Star is a very difficult player to get along with. He pushed Brand out in his very first season, and I don't expect Gasol to have a pleasant partnership with him."

"I completely agree. We can notice that before the game, players from both teams usually interact with each other. Among them, the player who interacts the least with his opponents before the match is none other than Star," Jackson added.

Since they couldn't criticize Star's abilities on the court just yet, they had no choice but to target his character.

Moreover, their critique was quite clever, as everything they said was technically the truth.

Not long after they finished this topic, the players from both sides took the court, and Dwight Howard took the initiative to walk up to Star and strike up a conversation.

This left Mike Breen and Jackson slightly embarrassed, and inwardly they cursed Howard for not giving them any face at all.

......

Pre-game interactions between players are actually quite common, after all, they all run in the same circles.

It is hardly a novelty to see opponents on the court acting as friends off it.

Previously, Star's sudden rise and his various cocky antics had alienated a group of people, resulting in very few players taking the initiative to talk to him, while he himself never made the first move.

However, now that he had made a name for himself in the league, establishing his own status and value, other players were forced to seriously acknowledge their relationship with him.

LeBron had taken the initiative to talk to him before, Nowitzki had as well, and now Howard had followed his agent's advice to come over and exchange a few words with Star, striving to look familiar in front of Chinese fans.

Of course, if he could seize this opportunity to make a friend, it would be even better if they could potentially team up in the future.

For Howard, a three-point shooter like Star who could both drive and shoot was the ideal partner.

"Star, welcome to Orlando. After the game, I'll take you to the club to party."

The Beast's mindset was very simple, much like a child's. Making friends meant sharing the things you liked with the other person.

And what he liked most, naturally, were the young ladies at the clubs.

"Oh, you mean going to the club to... rescue the souls of those misguided maidens?" Star said halfway through, suddenly changing his phrasing.

"Hahaha, I love that phrasing. Yeah, we'll go rescue their souls after the game."

Howard laughed even more happily. He realized the media was slandering Star; how could Star be as annoying as the reports claimed? He was clearly very easy to get along with and totally matched his taste.

"That's a really good suggestion, but let's save it for next time. Right after the game today, I have to fly straight to Houston to get ready for the All-Star Weekend." Star said.

Although he hadn't been selected for the main game, he had a spot in the Rookie Challenge, and there were also several commercial events he needed to attend.

"Then we can go together, I'm going to Houston too."

After just a few words, Howard was practically treating Star like a buddy.

This level of enthusiasm left Star feeling a bit at a loss.

Fortunately, Howard seemed to realize that he also needed to travel with his team and didn't dwell on the issue any further.

Howard's hearty laughter was broadcasted across the United States via ESPN.

Some casual fans immediately developed a sense of aversion toward ESPN.

Complete nonsense, how was Star difficult to get along with, and how was he unpopular? You couldn't just refuse to treat someone like a normal human being just because Howard was nicknamed Superman.

Consequently, about one percent of the fans chose to switch channels to TNT.

On TNT, there was never any shortage of voices praising Star.

As soon as they switched over to TNT, fans heard Smith singing Star's praises.

"The Clippers had Brand last season too, but we saw their record. I believe Star will prove that he is the indispensable one."

......

As the game began, the only change in the Clippers' starting lineup was at the power forward position, where Brand was replaced by Gasol.

Their height increased, while their overall tonnage decreased.

On the Magic's side, the starting point guard was Jameer Nelson, a short and stout pocket-rocket who excelled at mid-range and long-range shooting.

He was a rookie from the 2004 class, named to the All-Rookie Second Team, and although it was only his second season, he was already showing flashes of stardom.

Through his outstanding performances, he had squeezed out Franchise.

The starting shooting guard was DeShawn Stevenson, a fierce player whose draft template was Michael Jordan, and the NBA's number one LeBron hater.

He had openly stated in front of the media that LeBron was an overhyped hypocrite.

Although everyone knew this kind of thing implicitly, for a role player to voice it out loud like that was considered crossing the line.

While everyone else was condemning him in unison, he still remained enthusiastic about going against LeBron.

When LeBron called for the league to retire the number 23 jersey, Stevenson declared that he would change his own jersey to number 23, purely for the sake of trolling.

In short, he was a player with a lot of personality, except his ability wasn't quite enough for others to understand that personality, making him look a bit like a clown.

At the small forward position, the Magic's starter was Hedo Türkoğlu, a Turkish athlete adept at shooting three-pointers.

Power forward Tony Battie, an ordinary player.

Center Dwight Howard, the 2004 number one draft pick, who was also just in his second season this year.

However, fans had already seen endless possibilities in him and were full of expectations.

As the game started, Star matched up against Stevenson.

He said, "I heard your draft template was Michael Jordan?"

This definitely counted as Stevenson's most shameful meme.

Template Jordan, yet he averaged a mere 2.2 points per game in his rookie season.

What did those numbers have to do with Jordan in the slightest?

Ever since him, the neutral term "draft template" became a derogatory one.

"Shut up, you overhyped guy."

Star looked down on him, and he looked down on Star just as much.

He didn't care that Star was currently averaging over twenty points per game, nor did he care that Star had put up an 82-point performance; he simply felt that Star was overhyped and that the current Star was definitely not a superstar.

Even if everyone else was sucking up to Star, Stevenson refused to follow the crowd.

Hearing those words, Star almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

The jump ball went up, and Howard easily tipped it to his own team.

Nelson brought the ball upcourt, while Star kept chattering away right beside Stevenson: "Have you ever seen a Jordan who doesn't handle the ball? I'm playing against a Jordan who doesn't handle the ball right now."

"Fuck you."

Stevenson blurted out a swear word.

As someone who couldn't even pass the minimum college entrance examination score, he didn't know those roundabout, sarcastic sentence structures; he preferred simple and crude methods.

"Tell me, do you think Jordan got so angry he nearly passed out when he found out he became your template?" Star asked.

"You're nothing special either." Stevenson said.

"I scored 82 points in a single game."

"I scored 28 points in a single game."

Stevenson's proud and confident demeanor almost made Star's head spin.

For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

He had clearly emphasized his 82 points, so how could the opponent manage to be this confident when mentioning 28 points?

While they were casually chatting away, Nelson passed the ball to Türkoğlu, who attempted a three-pointer.

The shot missed, but Howard wreaked havoc in the paint, stubbornly snatching the rebound right out of the hands of Gasol and Kaman.

Having grabbed the offensive rebound, Howard wanted to go right back up for a shot, only to be blocked by Gasol.

Gasol was far more experienced than Howard and knew the youngster was going to try and finish.

The loose ball was gathered by Star, who handed it off to Cassell to slowly bring it upcourt.

The players on this Magic team were extremely young and energetic, fast-paced, and unafraid of playing a transition game.

And a young team often meant a lack of defensive experience, making them prone to defensive breakdowns in half-court sets.

Both teams settled into a half-court offense, and Star drove past Stevenson, charging toward the basket.

Seeing this, Howard rushed over directly, attempting to block Star.

It looked just like a kid showing off his strength in front of a new friend, trying to win their approval.

Unfortunately, he was just a bit too eager.

Star whipped a pass to Gasol, while Kaman stepped in to set a screen on Tony Battie.

Gasol instantly found himself wide open; he even had time to take aim at the rim, release the shot, and sink it.

This left Gasol quite thrilled; scoring on their very first offensive possession was a good omen.

"For an elite player, integrating into the offense is just this simple," Smith remarked with emotion.

The Magic took over on offense, initiating once again through Nelson.

Since Stevenson was merely the fourth offensive option on the team, his touches were limited.

Star seized upon this and mercilessly mocked him: "Jordan certainly wouldn't be sleepwalking out there on the court."

"Fuck you, it's not like I asked those people to make Jordan my template, I'm innocent." Stevenson finally snapped and offered a defense.

"Are you sure you didn't use some special methods? Then how do you explain your high school exams? Don't tell me someone forced you to cheat on those too?" Star taunted.

Stevenson's grades throughout high school had hovered around the 400-point mark, but suddenly skyrocketed to 1100 points in the second semester of his senior year, which naturally led people to suspect he had cheated.

Ultimately, the Educational Testing Service in the US required him to retake the exam, whereupon his true colors were exposed, forcing him to give up on college and enter the draft early.

With a record like that, it was hard for people to believe he hadn't had the media help rig things for him before the draft.

"......"

Stevenson was already boiling with rage.

If not for his apprehension regarding Star's current fame and clout, he genuinely would have wanted to throw a punch.

But he couldn't do that.

As a player who had yet to prove himself, he had never secured a decent contract, and this season was his highest-paying year yet, amounting to a mere 2.75 million.

That kind of money was certainly a lot to an ordinary person.

But to a big spender like Stevenson, it was really just so-so.

Getting fined tens of thousands of dollars for a fight, plus getting suspended for a few games, was a loss he simply couldn't afford.

"Shit, these league-favored golden boys are just too unfair."

Stevenson cursed inwardly, throwing LeBron into the mix as well for good measure.