Chapter 171: First Battle with the Wolf King

On the evening of the 25th, at the Staples Center, the Clippers faced off against the Timberwolves.

This game garnered relatively little attention. There was no nationwide broadcast, with coverage limited to TNT and a local Los Angeles television channel.

The primary reason was that the Minnesota Timberwolves were simply too awful to watch.

Aside from Kevin Garnett, there was hardly any player on the roster whom fans would recognize.

Just on the 25th of last month, the Timberwolves had completed a blockbuster seven-player trade with the Celtics, shipping out their second option, All-Star small forward Wally Szczerbiak, in exchange for Ricky Davis.

The two players had comparable scoring averages, but Szczerbiak’s shooting percentage was five percentage points higher than Ricky's, and his overall value to the team vastly outweighed that of Ricky Davis.

One was an All-Star small forward, while the other was a perpetually discarded stats-padder—a clear testament to the gulf in quality between them.

The only reason the Timberwolves made such a brain-dead trade was to trim payroll and avoid paying the luxury tax.

Garnett’s salary for the upcoming season was set to skyrocket to 21 million. Had the team not traded Szczerbiak, their total payroll next season would have exceeded 70 million.

With the salary cap for the following year projected at around 49 million, any amount exceeding 56 million would trigger the luxury tax penalty.

Though Szczerbiak was only four million cheaper than Ricky Davis, under the rules of luxury tax calculation, shedding those four million would save the franchise tens of millions of dollars in taxes.

Yet, the cost of saving money was a progressively worsening roster and a plummeting record.

From the 1999-2000 season until just last season, the Timberwolves had been a perennial playoff powerhouse, peaking with a trip to the Western Conference Finals.

However, ever since the penny-pinching strategy took effect this season, the Timberwolves missed the playoffs consecutively, prompting the Wolf King to decisively seek an exit.

From this perspective, Garnett had never truly shown loyalty. His previous refusal to leave was solely because the Timberwolves were competitive, rendering departure unnecessary.

True loyalty was sticking by a team even when it was hopelessly broken, not merely staying somewhere for a long time.

Could Kobe Bryant’s "one man, one franchise" narrative truly be called loyalty? The Lakers paid the luxury tax without hesitation and constantly utilized various unscrupulous tactics to acquire star players to assist him.

Dozens of superstars—like Carter, McGrady, AI, and James—would have gladly accepted that kind of "loyalty," had circumstances only permitted.

One could argue that in this league, a truly loyal "superstar" had never existed. If they remained with a single franchise for an extended period, it was unequivocally because the team remained competitive during that span.

As the players took the court, Garnett proactively approached Xinghui He to chat.

The Timberwolves were beyond saving, and he had already entertained thoughts of leaving.

The Los Angeles Clippers were undeniably a stellar destination.

A major market, and powerful teammates.

The Clippers' weakest position was small forward, and as it happened, that was his preferred spot to play.

Furthermore, the Clippers were most frequently criticized for being overly hip-hop and lacking a hard-nosed, gritty spirit—which happened to be his greatest specialty.

"Ho, great to match up with you. Actually, I'm a big fan of trash talk myself. We're going to have a lot to talk about," Garnett said.

Hearing this, Xinghui He almost failed to keep a straight smile. He replied, "Not necessarily. Maybe we'll just end up cursing at each other for two hours."

Since they were both practitioners of the "fight and retreat" school, a real physical altercation was out of the question; mutually jawing for two full hours was entirely plausible.

"That sounds like fun too, don't you think?"

Garnett was still buttering him up. For the sake of the Chinese market and his future prospects, he didn't mind lowering his pride to court Xinghui He.

"Maybe," Xinghui He replied indifferently, showing zero warmth.

Toward the vast majority of players in the league, he harbored neither special fondness nor animosity.

He understood why Garnett cultivated a hypocritical persona of toughness for financial gain, but he had no interest in befriending him.

He likewise understood why LeBron grew hypocritical in pursuit of glory and profit, yet he had equally zero desire to forge a deep friendship with LeBron.

Following this bland exchange, the two parted ways to their respective sides.

After a brief warm-up, the game commenced.

For the Clippers, Sam Cassell felt a slight physical discomfort and was rested, with Shaun Livingston stepping into the starting lineup.

Simultaneously, Xinghui He shifted back to the small forward position.

The starting five became Livingston, Mobley, Xinghui He, Gasol, and Kaman.

For the Timberwolves, the starting point guard was Marcus Banks, acquired in the seven-player trade with the Celtics.

He averaged 5.9 points and 2.4 assists for his career, with his primary trait being cheapness—commanding an annual salary of just over a million dollars.

The starting shooting guard was Trenton Hassell, boasting career averages of 5.8 points and 1.4 assists, whose main attribute was also being cheap.

The Timberwolves' bench was littered with several more players of similarly bargain-bin status.

The small forward was Ricky Davis, finally someone with a modicum of genuine talent.

However, the moment he realized his direct defensive assignment was once again Xinghui He, he mentally unleashed an untold string of profanities, and his effective skill level automatically dropped by thirty percent.

Back when he was with the Celtics, the team's wing rotation was so crowded he had been forced to play shooting guard, where he was thoroughly shredded by Xinghui He.

It had even left him with psychological trauma for a time.

Having moved to the Timberwolves, just as he thought he could finally return to his accustomed small forward role, Xinghui He went and switched positions.

Ricky Davis desperately wanted to loudly demand of Xinghui He: Why did you have to switch? Why? Why?

He was filled with a chestful of grievances, with no idea where to vent them.

The power forward was Garnett, the team's sole star, whose abilities were even more all-around than Xinghui He's.

Offense, defense, passing, mental warfare via trash talk, and rallying team morale—there was nothing he couldn't do.

From that standpoint, his massive salary was somewhat understandable.

The center was Mark Blount, a blue-collar big man also shipped over in the seven-player trade. His defense was reasonably tough, though his rebounding left much to be desired, and he offered a sliver of scoring punch on the offensive end.

In short, he was better than the two guards.

The opening tip-off commenced, with Garnett representing the Timberwolves.

On this team, he truly had to play the role of both father and mother.

The whistle blew, and Garnett easily tapped the ball toward his own side.

His leaping ability was astonishing; rumor had it he could touch the very top of the backboard when fully airborne.

Banks brought the ball upcourt, while Xinghui He trailed right beside Ricky Davis, greeting him in a remarkably friendly manner: "Ricky, long time no see. I honestly thought we wouldn't cross paths again this season. It is simply fantastic that you could make it to the Western Conference."

"......" Davis.

"I don't like the Western Conference," he replied, acting on some inexplicable impulse.

"Well, that's simple. I'll work extra hard this game and utterly blow you out. That way, the Timberwolves will lose their patience and dump you, giving you a real shot at returning to the East."

Hearing this, Davis nearly slapped himself across the face.

Xinghui He kept chattering away: "Of course, that's not guaranteed either. Who knows, by then maybe no other team will even want you."

Three seconds into the game, Xinghui He delivered a devastating triple-whammy straight to the heart.