Chapter 156: The Subversive Rookie Challenge

Early the next morning, He Xinghui first went to the airport to pick up his family.

His ready-made old mother and ready-made cousin had come to Houston, which made He Xinghui somewhat conflicted. He did not know how to face them or whether he could avoid awkwardness.

Fortunately, Cai Xuemei did not treat him like a stranger. The moment they met, she pinched his muscle: "Good grief, cousin, you've gotten so much bulkier."

"Of course. Nowadays, I can carry three sacks of cement up to the fifth floor without even breaking a sweat," He Xinghui said.

What kind of description was that?

Cai Xuemei burst out laughing on the spot.

"Who bought these clothes for you? They don't match at all and look terrible."

Cai Qiuju glanced at her son with a myriad of conflicting emotions, but when she finally spoke, she ended up critiquing He Xinghui's outfit.

"Mark, my agent. Who cares if they look good or not? I'm an athlete, not a model. As long as I play basketball well, going shirtless is not a problem. If I play poorly, wearing a few flowers on my head won't help either," He Xinghui said.

"Hahahaha, cousin, why have you become so unhinged?" Cai Xuemei laughed.

"This is called humor. It works really well here in America."

He Xinghui was unable to act exactly like the original owner of the body, so he simply blamed his transformation on the American environment.

The effect was quite decent; at least his mother and younger cousin bought the excuse, for the time being.

Once in the car, Cai Xuemei was still chattering away, asking questions left and right. "Where's my cousin-in-law? Why didn't she come to pick us up?"

"Which one are you referring to?" He Xinghui asked.

"..."

Cai Qiuju felt utterly exhausted.

What should one do when their son turns out to be a playboy? Waiting online for answers.

"Cousin, you're done for. Just wait until your game is over, and see how auntie deals with you," Cai Xuemei gloated.

Upon reaching their destination and settling the luggage, He Xinghui took his family out for a stroll around Houston. Along the way, he was even accosted by a few blonde beauties asking for autographs and photos.

One particularly bold young woman took advantage of the photo opportunity to launch a sneak attack and planted a kiss on his cheek.

This made Cai Qiuju realize to a certain extent just how difficult it was for He Xinghui to want only one girlfriend in a place like America.

The women here were simply shameless.

Kissing someone's cheek in broad daylight was one thing, but doing it to a complete stranger was utterly absurd.

By the afternoon, He Xinghui handed his family over to Zhao Liping and set off to take care of business.

At 5:00 PM, the 2006 NBA Rookie Challenge officially commenced.

Amidst the passionate introductions of the DJ, the players stepped onto the court one by one.

As the biggest star among the rookies, He Xinghui was naturally kept for last, taking the grand finale spot.

The DJ shouted into the mic: "And now, please welcome this year's super rookie, a dance king and vocal god wrongfully delayed by the NBA—He!"

The spotlight hit the stage, and the audience was met with a sight they knew all too well.

Michael Jackson's "Dangerous."

This was the entrance method He Xinghui had chosen.

If one were to ask which celebrity held the greatest influence in America, Michael Jackson would undoubtedly secure a spot on the final list without a single doubt.

Just last year, Michael Jackson's child molestation trial had concluded with a verdict of not guilty.

However, a disheartened Michael had already left America, completely vanishing from the public eye without a trace.

This was precisely a time when the American people deeply missed Michael.

For He Xinghui to pay homage and show respect by performing one of Michael's classic numbers was undoubtedly an extremely crowd-pleasing move.

Of course, the prerequisite was that he had to perform it well.

If He Xinghui put on a botched performance that insulted the idol of Michael's fans, the angry fanbase might just start hurling shoes at him.

He Xinghui dared to pull this off because he naturally had full confidence.

As the music blasted, He Xinghui and his backup dancers flawlessly executed "Dangerous."

It was a near-perfect replica, making it difficult for anyone to tell for a moment whether the person on stage was He Xinghui or Michael Jackson himself in the flesh.

That intense sense of rhythm instantly ignited the emotions of the audience.

The Michael fans in the crowd burst into tears of excitement.

The passions of hardcore fans were always this rich and dramatic.

"This guy really knows how to put on a show," David Stern remarked with emotion. He put aside the work in his hands and decided to watch the Rookie Challenge to the end.

He wanted to see just what kind of tricks He Xinghui could pull off in the rookie game, and where he got the audacity to claim that the All-Star Main Event would be meaningless without him.

Judging by He Xinghui's entrance so far, Stern admitted it was pretty good, but that was far from enough.

Following his hyper-flashy entrance, He Xinghui took off his suit and walked onto the court.

The Rookie Challenge officially began.

"Hahahaha, what on earth are they up to?"

During the opening tip-off, the live audience burst into laughter.

Neither team sent their tallest center to jump for the ball; instead, they chose the two shortest players, Nate Robinson and T.J. Ford.

One was 5'9", and the other was 6'0".

In an NBA populated by towering giants, their heights looked just like children.

A group of tall, brawny men surrounding the two little guys looked utterly comical no matter how you looked at it.

To the audience's further surprise, Nate Robinson won the tip, displaying his formidable jumping ability.

This...

Stern was left speechless.

Even if beaten to death, he never could have imagined that a plain and ordinary jump ball could be turned into a comedic spectacle by He Xinghui.

Nate advanced the ball, and T.J. Ford immediately rushed up to attempt a steal.

At the commentary desk, Charles Barkley chimed in: "Ford, hailed as the Steal King, just stole a whole bunch of nothing."

The Steal King—this was a persona He Xinghui had assigned to Ford.

At the same time, he had also given all the designated personas to Barkley, telling him to use them during the broadcast to make things a bit more interesting.

"The ball is in the hands of Chris Paul. Word has it that he is a point guard deeply obsessed with post-up plays. Why someone of his stature is infatuated with post-ups, I haven't the foggiest, but that's what my player profile says. Look, he's posting up Howard. Holy mother of..."

Barkley laughed so hard he sounded like a squealing pig. What kind of messed-up personas were these? They were completely jarring.

Paul posting up Superman—you would probably never see this in an official game.

The reason, of course, was that he simply couldn't budge him.

An 80-kilogram player posting up a 120-kilogram center; if he managed to move him, it would be a miracle.

Watching Chris Paul grit his teeth as he tried to back down while Dwight Howard stood completely immovable, quite a few audience members rolled over with laughter.

"What on earth was Brett, the rookie coach, thinking having Paul post up? Let's check out Brett on the sidelines. What the f***! Brett is actually clapping. Is he praising Chris for playing well?"

Kenny Smith ranted wildly.

"Kenny, tell me I'm dreaming. This is not the Rookie Challenge I'm familiar with."

Barkley played along.

On the court, Chris's post-up had zero effect whatsoever. When he jumped up to attempt a fadeaway jumper, Howard snatched the ball right out of the air.

At that moment, Howard was grinning like a goofball. He was having the time of his life; routine basketball games never offered him such amusing scenarios.

The Sophomores took over on offense, with Howard controlling the ball on the perimeter, searching for an opportunity to launch a three-pointer.

His persona for this game was a sharpshooter infatuated with long-range three-pointers, while Nate Robinson's persona was a shot-blocking master obsessed with swatting shots.

Consequently, the court witnessed a scene of Nate Robinson leaping into the air to block thin air.

However, missing the block didn't matter at all because Howard airballed the three-pointer entirely.

The basketball fell straight into the hands of Andrew Bogut down under the basket. His persona was a center of abysmal skill yet incredible luck, relying entirely on 'scavenging' rebounds to survive in the league.

Although Bogut had massive objections to this persona, with everyone else in agreement, he could only swallow his tears and accept it.

Two possessions in, neither team had scored a single point.

Yet, a vast swath of the audience had already cracked up laughing.

Being able to witness so many comical and mind-boggling iconic moments—who needed points?

If you wanted to see points scored, any regular season game could satisfy that craving.

However, a hilariously absurd game like this was something that would never, ever happen in a normal match.

Barely two possessions in, the audience's interest had been maxed out.

They wanted to see just how many more tricks were waiting for them next.

Meanwhile, Stern and a few of the more rigid-minded spectators sat utterly dumbfounded.

Could a basketball game really be played this way?

Their worldview was utterly shattered.

Yet, they were forced to admit that this game was genuinely interesting, wonderfully novel, and made people unable to stop laughing or wanting to keep watching.