The Best Point Guard-Chapter 54 - 52: [The New Banana Boat Crew]

That night, Cameron Anthony and LeBron James pulled Su Xi into a room to chat for a while. The two of them were full of ambition, both wanting to take the entire NBA by storm.

Halfway through their conversation, they also called over Dwyane Wade from Marquette University.

As soon as Wade arrived, he greeted Su Xi enthusiastically. He said he had watched the game live and thanked Su Xi for his words of affirmation.

Su Xi gave an awkward smile. It wasn’t so much that he was affirming Wade’s ability, but rather that he wanted to compete against him to accelerate the fusion of his own talents—especially the super-speed talent he had just acquired from Allen Iverson.

If his speed increased to over 80%, Su Xi’s abilities would take a quantum leap. He struggled when defending speedy guards precisely because he lacked speed. Of course, agility and coordination were also very important factors.

Su Xi had used the Little Elf to scan Anthony’s and James’s talents, but he hadn’t scanned Wade’s because the Little Elf was in a deep sleep, and he was afraid of draining its energy.

However, the fact that Anthony and James could call Wade over meant that Wade was definitely on their level.

’As for me... I’m still a step behind these three geniuses in terms of raw talent. I don’t quite fit in.’

"We should form a 2003 Genius Club. The founding members will be the four of us," LeBron James suggested.

Anthony immediately agreed, "Yeah, I’m in. The 2003 class has to surpass the ’96 and ’84 classes. They were the Golden Generation and the Diamond Generation; we’ll be the Super Platinum Generation."

Wade was still a bit reserved at this point in his life. He said, "I’ll go along with you guys."

"I have no objections," Su Xi said, spreading his hands with an elegant gesture.

James joked, "That shrug of yours is just like Al Pacino. I want to learn it."

"Then you’ll have to find time to train with me," Su Xi replied, making a rare joke.

But James took it seriously. "If you came to play for the same team as me, wouldn’t we be able to train together every day?"

Anthony interrupted from the side, "Dream on, LeBron. Didn’t you see how high the Reebok executives were on Jack today? Jack’s draft stock is definitely in the lottery now. With how sought-after picks are this year, what team could possibly pull together the assets for two lottery picks?"

James shrugged, mimicking Su Xi’s gesture, though it didn’t look quite as good due to his build. It still conveyed his feelings. "Who knows? Maybe it’s possible."

James had immense confidence in himself. He believed he was the Chosen One, and the Chosen One could do things mere mortals could not.

The four of them chatted until ten o’clock at night. Wade then went back to sleep, as he still had to prepare for the next evening’s game. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Su Xi, Anthony, and James all said they would go to the arena to cheer him on.

The four of them had formed a preliminary clique, though their bond was still new and not very tight.

Su Xi and Anthony’s relationship was quite good. On their way back, Anthony said, "Jack, James is really high on you."

Su Xi nodded. James’s desire to recruit him was obvious to anyone.

"But, I don’t think you two are a good fit. He’s actually looking for a subordinate, an assistant, and I know that’s not who you are. LeBron doesn’t like it when other people outshine him. I feel like you’re a dagger hidden in a cloth bag, emitting a faint blue glow. One day, you’ll break free from that bag and reveal your sharp edge," Anthony continued.

Su Xi smiled and patted Anthony’s shoulder. "That’s all just speculation; no need to waste energy on it. We should focus on scouting the Kansas and Marquette game tomorrow night."

"Right!" Anthony nodded. He asked Su Xi, "Who do you think will win, Marquette or Kansas?"

"Kansas," Su Xi replied.

"Then why did you tell the reporters you hoped to face Wade?"

"Because I really do hope to face Wade," Su Xi said. "Besides, saying that also gives Kosinrich and the others a little ’motivation’."

"HAHAHA, you’re more devious than I thought," Anthony laughed, draping his arm over Su Xi’s shoulder. "But I like it. You’re pretty much my best friend. I know you sacrificed a lot for me this season. After we win the championship, I’ll show you a good time. Let me tell you something: Jordan Brand wants to sign me. They said Michael is high on me, that he thinks I’m better than James."

Su Xi was very happy for Anthony. However, he reminded him, "While Jordan’s endorsement is important, the money is important too. You can use Reebok to drive up the price. I think Reebok would be more than willing to do that. Nike and Adi are fighting tooth and nail over James right now, so they probably won’t offer you more."

Reebok was playing the role of a major disruptor right now. They had publicly announced a hundred-million-USD endorsement offer for James, but everyone knew it was just for show. LeBron wouldn’t take it seriously.

Anthony thought for a moment and said, "I’ll listen to you."

Then he asked Su Xi, "What about you? Are you going to sign with Reebok?"

"I’m different from you guys. I don’t have enough leverage. You’re already budding superstars. I came out of nowhere, and while I have some advantages, they aren’t enough to make them pay top dollar in cold, hard cash." Su Xi had a very clear understanding of his situation.

Anthony couldn’t add anything to that. He usually listened to his family and agent on these matters.

Now, he had one more person to listen to: Su Xi.

It sounded ridiculous. They were clearly college students with nothing to their names, yet they were talking about deals worth tens of millions of USD.

And it didn’t even feel out of place.

That was the allure of the NBA. A great commercial league could create many rags-to-riches stories overnight.

...

The next evening, Su Xi, Anthony, and James sat side-by-side in the front row of the Super Dome Arena. Next to them were the Phoenix Team’s star player, Stephon Marbury, and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett.

Marbury was in town for an away game, while Kevin Garnett was resting an injury.

James greeted them skillfully. Cameron Anthony’s social skills were a bit lacking, while Su Xi just lowered his head, lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t have any special feelings for these two NBA superstars; after all, they weren’t Allen Iverson, the player he’d actually voted for in the All-Star game.

The game started quickly.

The University of Kansas came out swinging. Their inside-outside core was Kosinrich and Nick Collison, both white players from Iowa. They both had perfect résumés and were NCAA superstars. Furthermore, they were surrounded by a group of skilled and tough players, and their head coach was the famous Roy Williams.

In comparison, Marquette University’s head coach, Tom Crean, was extremely green.

Marquette University was this year’s super dark horse. Their run to the Final Four was entirely thanks to Wade’s incredible performance.

He didn’t have a single true star player as a sidekick. Looking at their roster, you could tell from the players’ backgrounds... most of them were from Wisconsin.

Only Wade had been recruited from Illinois. There was also Karen Bradley from Texas, who was under six feet tall. Another player, Jared Shickele from Minnesota, was six feet tall. But none of them were Five-Star Players.

The only other talented players on their team were an inexperienced freshman, Travis Dina, and another freshman, a tall white shooter: Steve Novak.

How could they possibly compete with the supremely talented Kansas team?

In this game, Marquette’s collapse was even faster than the Longhorns Team’s in the previous game.

Not even five minutes into the first half, the formidable Kansas team was already up by double digits.

Watching from the sidelines, Su Xi and Anthony were secretly astonished.

This was definitely the strongest opponent they had faced all season. Kansas not only had talent and experience, but their tactical execution was also extremely refined.

The inside-outside combination of Kosinrich and Collison was strikingly similar to the peak-era Jazz.

Kosinrich anchored the backcourt. Although he was a white player, his defense was incredibly tough, and he practically shut down Wade. (This carried over to the NBA; after The Flash entered the league and was lightning-fast, he would always struggle badly whenever he faced Kosinrich in his early career. Later, Kosinrich got injured, and after being replaced by Rose, he gradually faded from the league. For a time, he was the leader of the young Chicago team.)

Collison dominated the paint. He was unstoppable, making Marquette University’s big men bow their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Tomorrow night’s game is going to be tough. Craig won’t be able to handle Collison," Anthony remarked at halftime.

Just then, ESPN’s sideline reporters quickly ran over. They actually shoved their microphones right in front of Su Xi, knowing he could generate headlines.

At that moment, the viewers at home were also eagerly awaiting Su Xi’s ’straight talk’.

After all, this was a man who dared to make all the geniuses in the NBA feel fear.

His words from the day before had created a huge stir in the NBA after being reported.

Now, it had become a tradition for NCAA fans to tune in for Su Xi’s post-game interviews.

They hadn’t expected to see Su Xi at this game.

Everyone was extremely excited.

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