Chapter 336: Chapter 283: This Badly Injured, and He Can Still Play?

The Warriors’ home court, Oakland Arena.

At 11 a.m. on the 22nd, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team arrived at the arena for their final court familiarization practice before the warm-up game.

"Look at this place, it’s magnificent," Liu Wei said, nudging Yao Ming beside him with his elbow and pointing at the giant LED screen overhead.

And the stands, rising tier after tier, looked like they could hold at least twenty thousand people.

In comparison, the CBA arenas were downright shabby.

"Even the floor is different," Liu Wei said, stomping on the court. He could clearly feel that it had more give.

At this, Liu Wei’s tone turned a bit sour. "Da Yao, you’re about to play at the Staples Center. Look at me... when do you think I’ll get to play in the NBA?"

’The main thing is the money,’ he thought.

To welcome Yao Ming, the Lakers had offered him a four-year, 18-million-dollar contract, with an annual salary of nearly four million US dollars.

That was over twenty-seven million yuan!

It was a number Liu Wei wouldn’t even dare to dream of.

And that wasn’t even counting the commercial endorsements.

Being picked first overall and joining a powerhouse team like the Lakers had made him an A-lister overnight. Who knew how many companies were knocking on his door seeking partnerships.

You could say Yao Ming had already become the highest-earning athlete in China.

He compared that to his own salary of just over ten thousand yuan a month.

"You’ll get your chance," Yao Ming said, patting Liu Wei’s shoulder. He then pointed to the screen overhead. "And this, we’ll have these in the future, too."

The country was developing so fast. As the old saying goes, "We’ll have our bread, and we’ll have our butter, too."

Just as he spoke, Liu Wei’s expression changed. He quickly lowered his voice and said, "Quick, look. Da Zhi is here."

A tall figure entered through the players’ tunnel.

Yao Ming frowned slightly but didn’t go over to greet him.

In fact, none of the players on the court went up to him.

On the National Team right now, Wang Zhizhi was a taboo subject.

If you didn’t want to get involved, the best choice was to stay out of it.

Wang Zhizhi stood on the sideline, looking like he wanted to greet someone. But after raising his hand and getting no response, he sighed dejectedly and walked over to the National Team’s leader, Kuang Lubin.

However, everyone’s attention remained on Wang Zhizhi.

In a corner of the court, Li Nan’s gaze followed Wang Zhizhi, and he let out a quiet sigh.

"Stop staring. Let’s practice," said Liu Yudong beside him, meticulously going through his warm-ups.

Li Nan looked away. He was about to speak when he saw Liu Yudong brace his right knee as he stood up, his brow furrowing in pain.

"Old Liu, are you sure your knee is okay?" Li Nan couldn’t help but ask.

The two were teammates and knew each other’s situations well.

Starting around last season, Liu Yudong’s knee condition began to worsen. His right knee, where he had torn a collateral ligament, at one point got so bad he couldn’t squat and even had trouble walking.

Li Nan knew that Liu Yudong kept a rope for hanging IV drips by his bed year-round. Every few days, he needed an anti-inflammatory drip. When that wasn’t enough, he often had to get fluid drained from his knee and take cortisone shots just to be able to play.

Despite all that, during the Summer finals against the Eastern Team led by Yao Ming, Liu Yudong still averaged 41.5 points over four games.

Li Nan had no idea how the guy managed it.

Originally, Liu Yudong had planned to rest and recover properly during the Summer after the season ended. But because of the situation with Wang Zhizhi, the National Team had called him up on short notice.

He came without complaint, dragging his injured leg with him.

But over the past few days, after training first in Canada and then with the Nuggets for a few days, all that shuttling back and forth had clearly made Liu Yudong’s condition worse in Li Nan’s eyes.

Liu Yudong’s face was taut. After a moment, he shook his head. "It’s nothing. I can bear it."

Li Nan gave a bitter smile. ’You call that bearing it?’ he thought.

After a moment’s hesitation, Li Nan said, "By the way, have you heard of that doctor with the Phoenix Suns, surname Chen? He’s supposed to be amazing. I think Da Yao knows him. He’s treated so many stars. Baggio’s knee was worse than yours, right? And he fixed it, even helping Italy win the title. We’re in the United States anyway. You should go let him take a look at your knee."

A flicker of light appeared in Liu Yudong’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came. He waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it. Getting treatment in the United States must be expensive, and he’s a specialist."

At the mention of money, Li Nan fell silent.

They were still part of the state system, earning a fixed salary. Someone like Liu Yudong made fifteen thousand yuan a month. With various win bonuses, his annual income might add up to two or three hundred thousand yuan.

That kind of income really wasn’t enough to support getting medical treatment in the United States.

"Just give it a try. Just make an appointment for a consultation," Li Nan suggested. "You don’t have to get the treatment here. At least you’ll know what’s wrong with your knee. Otherwise, this constant pain and swelling can’t go on."

But Liu Yudong still shook his head.

With that, he ran off to grab a ball and start his shooting practice.

Li Nan sighed, clenched his jaw, and turned to find Yao Ming.

「The next evening.」

Chen Yu arrived at the arena with the team on the Bus.

"Quite a crowd," Nelson remarked, looking at the swarms of fans outside the window.

Chen Yu saw them too. He thought for a moment and said, "It’s probably because there are a lot of Chinese people in the Bay Area."

Otherwise, a simple warm-up game wouldn’t draw so many spectators.

During the pre-game warm-ups, Chen Yu was sitting on the sidelines, lost in thought, when he felt someone sit down next to him. He turned his head and saw Phil Jackson.

"Phil, what are you doing here?" Chen Yu asked, surprised.

Jackson shrugged and retorted, "What do you think?"

Chen Yu thought for a second and guessed the reason. He was probably here for Yao Ming.

It seemed the Lakers were really serious about developing Yao Ming.

That was good. Chen Yu had met Yao Ming twice and had a very positive impression of the big man from his homeland. Since he couldn’t come to the Phoenix Suns, Chen Yu still hoped he would have a bright future.

On the other side of the court, the China Team hadn’t arrived yet, so the two sat and chatted.

"Chen, how did you do it? How did you actually get Shaq to lose weight?" Jackson asked curiously.

It had been almost a month and a half since O’Neal’s surgery, and he was already able to get out of bed and move around.

He hadn’t been idle. Through his agent, he’d released a statement to the public, saying he would definitely return healthy next season, stronger than before, and help the Phoenix Suns defend their title. He also revealed that he was on a diet and the pounds were just melting away.

It was just that the security at Chen Yu’s clinic was too tight, so not even the most resourceful reporters had managed to snap a photo of just how much thinner O’Neal had become.

A problem had given him a headache all season, and Chen Yu had solved it. Jackson was incredibly curious.

"Oh, that," Chen Yu said with a laugh. "Simple. After the surgery, he was stuck in bed and couldn’t move. What he wanted to eat and what he was allowed to eat were my decision. So even if he didn’t want to lose weight, there was nothing he could do about it."

This was probably what you’d call involuntary weight loss—lose it or not, the choice wasn’t his.

Jackson gave him a sidelong glance. ’Isn’t that a little... harsh?’ he thought.

But on second thought, for someone with O’Neal’s personality, you had to use such drastic measures.

"And he didn’t object?" Jackson pressed.

Chen Yu said, "Of course he objected. He threw a fit constantly. But I just ignored him. After nearly a month of protesting, he ran out of steam and finally gave up."

Jackson gave him a thumbs-up. "I’m impressed."

Then Jackson added, "Also, about you getting the league to send out that notice for all teams to hire psychologists—I think you were right to do that. I never really paid attention to that issue before, but thinking about it now, players’ mental health is actually very important."

He himself was good at dealing with players and had enough authority, but for some issues, like the conflict between Kobe and O’Neal last season, perhaps things would have turned out differently if they’d had a good psychologist.

In Jackson’s view, it was like a married couple having a conflict and seeking counseling. If a psychologist had been there to help mediate, would it have escalated to the point of divorce?

The Lakers did have a psychologist, but they were just a consultant. They would only be brought in for treatment if a player explicitly said they had a mental health issue. They never proactively monitored the players’ psychological state like Chen Yu was suggesting.

Chen Yu told Jackson about the yips, which gave Jackson quite a scare.

A superstar rookie in Major League Baseball suddenly losing his ability to throw due to pressure and psychological issues... that was terrifying.

As they were talking, the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team started trickling onto the court for their final warm-up.

"They’re here." Jackson’s eyes lit up, his gaze falling on Yao Ming.

Yao Ming obviously saw Jackson too and immediately walked over.

He shyly extended a hand. His English wasn’t good, so he could only manage a simple "Hello."

Jackson, however, gave him a friendly hug. He then pulled Chen Yu over to translate, telling Yao Ming to play hard. He even gave Yao Ming some pointers. He said that Da Ben was undersized, so Yao should learn to use his height advantage. He also mentioned that the United States Team lacked overall height. Combined with the difference in rules, Yao Ming could camp in the paint, but when he did, the United States Team would definitely try to drive from the perimeter to draw fouls.

So he needed to be careful about fouling.

Listening to all this advice, anyone who didn’t know better would have thought Jackson was the opposing team’s head coach.

But Chen Yu didn’t mind. ’There’s no way the United States Team could actually lose to the China Team, right?’

Yao Ming listened intently, nodding repeatedly.

Finally, Jackson patted Yao Ming’s shoulder and said, "When you have time, practice your English more."

Yao Ming nodded, taking note. Then he suddenly said to Chen Yu, "Dr. Chen, I have a bold request. If it’s possible, could you please take a look at one of my teammates? His knee is in a lot of pain."

Chen Yu shook his head helplessly. ’Great,’ he thought. ’First Jackson coaches Yao Ming, and now I’m getting roped in. I’m actually being asked to examine an opposing player right before a game.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After a moment’s thought, Chen Yu nodded.

’It’s like I thought before: the overall skill gap is just too wide. Even if I help the China Team, what difference could it really make?’

"Who is it, and how did he get injured? Bring him over, I’ll take a look." ’No point waiting until after the game,’ he thought. ’It’ll just take a glance.’

"Right now?"

Yao Ming was stunned for a second, then quickly ran back and pulled Liu Yudong over.

"Huh."

Seeing Liu Yudong, Jackson, who was standing beside him, let out a small sound of surprise.

After deciding to trade for Yao Ming, Jackson had his people immediately gather all of Yao Ming’s information and game tapes.

And Jackson and his staff had watched the tape of the most recent Jia A finals many times over.

Besides being impressed by Yao Ming, who dominated the Jia A league, Jackson was also deeply impressed by another player.

That player was Yao Ming’s opponent, Liu Yudong, who now stood before him.

You could say that in that series, Liu Yudong’s performance was in no way inferior to Yao Ming’s.

Liu Yudong, not knowing the language, could only give an awkward smile and a nod.

And upon seeing him, Chen Yu also let out a small sound of surprise.

’This guy is that injured, and he can still play?’