Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 55: What a Perfect Injury

After the game, Pleasance made a point to find Tracy McGrady and ask if there was a problem between them.

If there was one thing Pleasance had learned from Rivers’s dismissal, it was the importance of communicating well with the team’s stars.

Pleasance couldn’t be bothered to worry about whether asking so directly would undermine his authority as head coach.

’I was just an assistant coach, after all.’

"No problem at all." The out-of-the-blue question caught Tracy McGrady off guard.

Seeing Pleasance’s knitted brow, Tracy McGrady said, "Don’t worry, Coach. While Hill is out, I’ll do my best to help the team win."

He thought Pleasance was unhappy with his performance.

It was true; his first-half performance had been a mess. He had been too impatient.

Fortunately, his idol had been paying attention to him.

That was why Tracy McGrady was in such a good mood now.

Meanwhile, Hill was also surrounded by reporters.

As was Chen Yu.

No one knew Hill’s situation better than Chen Yu.

Having been on TV before, Chen Yu was much calmer in front of the cameras. He smiled and said, "All I can say is, it will be faster than expected."

That single sentence made headlines in the sports section the very next day.

Nearly every media outlet was dissecting Chen Yu’s words, analyzing them down to the letter.

Some outlets even brought in medical experts to try and analyze his health based on his gait.

Even though he was out with an injury, he was still a top-tier star in the league, so this kind of attention was not at all an exaggeration.

It had even reached the point where the league commissioner in far-off New York, David Stern, had taken notice of Hill’s situation.

"Lars, what are your thoughts on this health management department?" Stern looked up at the league’s deputy commissioner, Lars Granic, who was sitting across from him.

In fact, Ewing had already contacted them about this a week ago.

But Stern hadn’t rushed to give his opinion, instead taking a week to think it over.

Granic studied the white-haired Stern, trying to guess his thoughts. He couldn’t figure out whether Stern supported the idea or not.

On the surface, it seemed like a good thing for the Players’ Union to establish a health management department to oversee the health of each team’s players, preventing misdiagnoses and players being forced to return to the court too early.

But looking at it from another angle, wouldn’t this expand the power of the Players’ Union?

This was the *union*!

They were the natural adversaries of the NBA owners, and Stern represented the interests of the 29 team owners.

If they established a health management department today to meddle in team management’s operations, what was to stop them from creating some other department down the line to oversee management’s functions as well?

Granic believed this was Stern’s biggest concern—not wanting to give the union too much power.

After a moment of thought, Granic decided to be evasive. "Why don’t we talk to Patrick again and see exactly how he plans to operate and manage this department?"

Ewing had opened his big mouth and just said he wanted to establish such a department, but he hadn’t gone into detail about its specific operations or what powers it would have.

Stern’s fingers tapped a rhythm on his desk. After a long moment, he suddenly came out with a non-sequitur: "This Chen... he’s of Chinese descent, isn’t he?"

Granic was taken aback for a second, then nodded. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

A nobody who had shaken up the Magic’s management, causing both a general manager and a head coach to be fired—it was major news that he couldn’t possibly have missed.

The media had certainly done its share of digging into Chen Yu’s background.

His mother’s family was from San Francisco, while Chen Yu’s father, born in Chicago in ’46, was half-Chinese. He had been a linebacker for the Chicago Bears before an injury forced him into early retirement at 28.

"David, are you thinking of using his identity to expand our business in China?" Granic asked.

He had always known that Stern wanted to expand into the Chinese market.

Back in ’89, when Stern stood waiting in the biting wind outside the CCTV station in China, he had been there too, and had endured plenty of that same cold wind.

And ever since, Stern had been working hard, for instance by trying to get Jia A players into the NBA, though without success. As far as he knew, besides the big man who had once blocked David Robinson, Stern had his eye on another Chinese giant who resembled Sabonis.

Stern neither confirmed nor denied it, just smiled. "Let’s talk to this Chen first. In any case, I don’t believe for a second that Patrick could come up with a suggestion like this."

After that so-called betrayal, Ewing had been keeping his head down; there was no way he would dare stir up trouble for the Players’ Union again.

This suggestion had most likely come from Chen Yu.

Because Ewing had later given an exclusive interview to reporters where he strongly supported Chen Yu and Hill. Anyone with half a brain could see the two were connected.

After defeating the Bulls, it was as if something had clicked for the Magic. At home, six players scored in double digits as they beat back the rebuilding Knights, who had just traded away Rainman Kemp.

As for Chen Yu, he was in the final sprint of getting Hill ready for his comeback.

Although Hardaway had flown back to Memphis for Christmas the last couple of days, Chen Yu’s small clinic was still packed because the Magic players kept visiting.

It was a much better deal than paying a fortune for seats near the players’ tunnel at the Waterhouse Center.

Thus, Chen Yu still had enough patients to farm treatment effects from, speeding up Hill’s recovery plan.

But in truth, Chen Yu’s focus had already shifted to Hardaway.

The treatment effects he farmed from Acupuncture and physical therapy were useless for Hardaway.

Chen Yu needed medical-type effects—in other words, surgery.

He had contacted Wash and Matthew long ago, but he still hadn’t gotten a chance to be a guest surgeon.

Chen Yu felt quite helpless about it.

’I can’t just operate with only two Silver-Level effects, can I?’

’I need at least one Gold-Level effect.’

Chen Yu decided he would have a good, long talk with Matthew about it during Christmas.

With Christmas just around the corner, Chen Yu was definitely going back to Miami to spend it with Lexi.

As for Chicago...

Chen Yu would just have to find some time to go back and visit later.

On Christmas Eve, Chen Yu’s clinic was open as well. Around six in the evening, after treating his last patient—someone with a cold—Chen Yu hung up the decorations he had bought.

’Got to have a little holiday spirit, right?’

It was already dark by the time he finished.

Just as he was about to lock up and leave, someone suddenly called his name from behind.

He turned his head and saw a van parked across the street. A head was sticking out of the passenger-side window, shouting for him.

Chen Yu frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

"Can I help you?"

It was the young man who sometimes showed up with Quinn—the one who had kicked in his door. ’His name is Raul, I think.’

Raul nodded and pointed to the back of the van. "You’re a doctor. Can you treat this?"

Chen Yu leaned in to look.

Inside the van, several burly men were squatting. Another man was lying on the floor, his right leg drenched in blood, moaning in pain.

Seeing Chen Yu remain silent, Raul pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. "It’s... inconvenient for him to go to a hospital. You’re a specialist. Can you handle this?"

Chen Yu snapped back to his senses.

’Inconvenient?’

’Is he wanted, or does he not have legal status?’

’But this injury...’

Chen Yu’s gaze fell on the man’s knee.

A comminuted patellar fracture. The meniscus, ligaments, and tendons were a complete mess too.

Chen Yu was 100% certain it had been caused by being struck with some object.

’But... this injury is just too perfect.’

’Ligaments, meniscus... everything needs to be repaired. This is exactly the kind of patient I need most.’

After a quick moment of thought, Chen Yu asked, "How did he get hurt? Did a hammer fall and hit his knee while he was renovating a house?"

Raul stared blankly for a full five seconds before nodding hastily. "Right. We were renovating a house, and a sledgehammer fell and landed right on his knee."

"Then bring him in. I’ll take a look at the situation first."

Chen Yu said with a faint smile.