"What? A handsome young Asian boyfriend?"

Su Xi really disliked the wording used by *Hollywood Entertainment Weekly*. He said to Mike O’Connor, "Don’t they have any other adjectives?"

The outlet was famous for exposing Hollywood celebrity scandals and gossip. They had snapped a photo of Su Xi and Jessica Alba kissing after dessert, another of the two of them going to a hotel room, and one of Jessica slipping her hand into Su Xi’s pants just before the elevator doors closed.

"Boss, you’ll have to forgive these clueless paparazzi."

Mike O’Connor said, "After all, they don’t have a sharp eye like me. I can see a woman’s cup size through her clothes, and I can also see a man’s... Heh heh, Boss, yours is quite magnificent!"

Su Xi frowned subconsciously and asked, "You have that kind of skill?"

"It’s just a matter of practice makes perfect. There are always tell-tale signs for these things. Boss, if you want to learn, I can teach you..."

Mike O’Connor had that internet spirit of sharing everything.

"Forget it." Su Xi waved his hand dismissively. He had no interest in studying the size of other men’s "little brothers"—his was bigger anyway. "Let’s talk about this report. You just said it was a double-edged sword?"

"Yes, Boss," Mike O’Connor explained. "I’ve handled relationship crises for a lot of stars. Affairs, cheating, some paid for it, some didn’t, some went to court..."

"We’re in a real relationship," Su Xi cut him off. "Please analyze this situation seriously."

"Alright, Boss. NBA players have very active off-court lives. Even superstars have a lot of messy stuff going on, and the sports media doesn’t really care. But if you’re dating a movie star like Jessica Alba, it’ll be a hassle if you want to go out and ’play’ in the future. People will feel like you’ve hurt a Hollywood goddess, and the entertainment media loves to make a big deal out of things like that. That’s the biggest risk."

O’Connor added seriously, "If you want to play around, you’ll have to do it secretly. The kind that requires signing an NDA, and it’ll cost you two or three times more than usual. I used to do that for..."

Su Xi cut him off.

Okay, he got it. O’Connor had a colorful past.

"Besides that, what else?"

"Everything else is good news. Dating a movie star will increase your exposure, boost your advertising value, and make fans more curious about you. It’ll make you stand out among the other rookies in your class. Beckham is just like you—handsome, got a female celebrity for a girlfriend, and now he’s huge in Europe with massive commercial value."

O’Connor said.

"Oh, I get it." Su Xi nodded.

Then O’Connor started talking about the negotiations with Pepsi. After Su Xi got back-to-back triple-doubles in Los Angeles and then a super quadruple-double in his Sacramento debut, O’Connor said, "I’ve already got them preparing an offer of 2 million USD a year. They’re asking us for 24 hours to consider it."

"It’s basically a done deal," O’Connor added. "This was all Lucy’s doing. She’s very aggressive and great at leading opponents into a price trap. By the way, she’s coming to Los Angeles soon."

"Okay."

?

Su Xi frowned. He realized something: ’Xiaoman doesn’t read these kinds of street gossip magazines, does she?’

...

The Cavaliers’ second opponent was the Los Angeles Clippers, and their third was the Los Angeles Lakers. After that, they would return to Cleveland.

James would miss both games in Los Angeles. Su Xi had already spoken to him on the phone. Ah Zhan was in stable spirits, his only worry being a potential decline in his good looks due to the surgery. Otherwise, everything was fine.

He also congratulated Su Xi on his super quadruple-double. "...Seeing news about you on TV every day feels really great. I hope you lead the team to two victories in Los Angeles! Then, I’ll come back and continue to lead the team!"

"Also, make sure you don’t let Ricky Davis use this opportunity to seize control of the team."

James added.

He was very wary of Davis.

Although he was very jealous of Su Xi getting a quadruple-double in the first game, and hated the feeling of having his thunder stolen—so much so that his lungs ached from holding it in.

But in James’s mind, the number one rival on the team was Ricky Davis. He had averaged 20-5-5 last season, so he was definitely a capable player.

Su Xi was the supporting player he had personally chosen. He had a low-key, reserved personality, was sincere, and didn’t seem to want the spotlight. His quadruple-double was a stroke of luck. If Chris Webber hadn’t been frantically feeding him opportunities, his chances of getting a quadruple-double would have been almost zero.

When his agent, Goodwin, visited him in the hospital, he also said, "Jack’s luck is truly the best in history. For something like this to happen to him..."

At that, James flew into a rage. He thundered, "His luck is great, sure. But his agent is even better! His agent got him a beverage endorsement worth 2 million a year. And you? You only got me 1 million USD, and it’s not even for core Coca-Cola, it’s a secondary product! It’s Sprite! Even a dog wouldn’t drink Sprite!"

"You took a seven or eight million cut from my shoe contract, but you’re only taking a million from Jack’s! He got an advance of over twenty million, so why did you set mine up as installment payments? Do you have any idea how many investments I could make with that much money upfront?"

The more James spoke, the angrier he got.

Goodwin patiently explained, "Jack has the Asian market, which is why these consumer brands are willing to spend money on him. Besides, you saw the Nike contract, didn’t you? The clauses are ridiculously demanding! They’re practically impossible to achieve. It can’t be compared to your 92 million."

"What if he does achieve them? He got a quadruple-double in his very first game, and if he goes to Los Angeles and wins two more, he might even become Player of the Week. And is there any doubt he’ll make the All-Rookie Team?" James knew the contents of Su Xi’s contract like the back of his hand.

Goodwin fell silent.

’If you’re so jealous of Jack, why did you go through so much trouble to bring him to Cleveland?’ he thought. ’Are you just trying to make things difficult for yourself?’

...

After Su Xi hung up with James, he went to watch game tape with Stephen Silas.

Mike O’Connor handled the sports reporters for him.

"My friends in the press, let’s not bring up the Kings anymore. It’s meaningless. A defeated team, a destroyed former superstar—what is there to talk about?"

"My boss Jack’s nickname is the ’Genius Terminator,’ not the ’Garbage Collector’."

"As for the Clippers, we have no comment. Our boss is a low-key person."

"What? What are my thoughts on the Clippers not using the sixth pick to select Little Sheep Su Xi, instead choosing Chris Kaman?" O’Connor lifted his chin, his natural expression already arrogant enough without any extra effort. "We don’t comment on things like that. The boss says to just focus on doing our own thing. As for whether the Clippers are secretly regretting it, what does that have to do with us?"

"..."

O’Connor was a natural with the media. Although when he was working in the entertainment industry, the entertainment media disliked his ’arrogant face,’ which led to him failing and running off to the adult industry. But the adult industry is a young man’s game, the path for advancement is narrow, and the Los Angeles market was dominated by a bunch of Japanese guys, who were more... delicate.

But the sports media loved O’Connor’s bombastic personality.

This came down to the difference between sports media and entertainment media. At the end of the day, sports is about ability. When you throw out cold, hard stats, who can argue?

Besides, sports is like war; they love people who can create controversial topics.

O’Connor’s words were more than enough for the sports media to create big headlines.

Su Xi had given O’Connor plenty of authorization. O’Connor fit his hiring criteria perfectly. He needed someone to draw aggro for him, because his talent improved by ’interacting’ with other geniuses—the harder they fought, the faster he improved.

"Jack, this is the technical report from your last game."

Stephen Silas said, "You got a quadruple-double last game, which is perfect. But you still exposed quite a few problems. You have almost no ability to create offense off the dribble, aside from driving to the basket for a dunk. Your balance is very poor, and your shot form breaks down easily under contact..."

"...Overall, your offensive ability is far weaker than your playmaking ability, and it lags way behind your defensive ability. In five games at most, other teams will have figured out your technical profile."

Stephen Silas said to Su Xi, "So, you have to make a decision. Are you going to become a ball-dominant offensive core, or a defensive core who also facilitates from the top of the arc?"

"Assistant Coach Deng Hua De’s opinion is that you should focus on defense, which better suits your physical traits. Besides, the team already has LeBron. If you continue to develop as a ball-dominant player, you two will clash. LeBron isn’t Michael Jordan; he can’t play off-ball. And he doesn’t have the ability to post up in the mid-range and punish opponents."

Selas was very frank.

When NCAA stars get to the NBA, the first thing they have to do is make a choice: continue with the superstar playstyle from the lower leagues, or abandon the past and specialize in one skill. Or just become a cog in the tactical machine.

The NBA doesn’t need too many ball-dominant primary playmakers. To become one, you first need to have far superior physical attributes, and your skills must either be at an extremely high level or show extremely high potential.

Many star players who dominated in the NCAA are unwilling to give up their old playstyle and end up becoming mediocre. They go from starter to rotation player, from rotation player to not getting any minutes, and before long, they leave the NBA in disgrace. At the same time, there are many who successfully transition by specializing in one killer skill, or by starting with the dirty work. By doing this, they can actually have very long careers in the NBA. Some even manage to seize an opportunity later on and revert to a ball-dominant playstyle... a roundabout path to salvation.

Objectively speaking, Su Xi was still a long way from meeting the requirements to be a ball-dominant primary playmaker.

This was also why LeBron James never considered him an internal rival, instead seeing Ricky Davis as his competitor.

Ricky Davis would never be a superstar, but on a bad, rebuilding team like this, he was more than capable of being the top dog. Although his physical gifts were far inferior to James’s, he possessed one ability that James lacked: the ability to set up in the mid-range and punish opponents with a diverse set of offensive skills.

"Based on what you know about me, which path do you think I’ll choose?" Su Xi asked Selas.

Stephen Silas smiled. "I told my dad, since LeBron won’t be back for another two or three games anyway, why not let Jack give it a try?"

"Jack, this is the first time since I started working for the team that I’ve knocked on Paul’s door as his son. I’ve sacrificed so much for you," Stephen Silas said, feigning grievance.

Su Xi reached out and patted his head. "Thanks, Stephen."

Although Selas turned his head away, he actually liked it when Su Xi patted his head.

Everyone liked it. Ah Ka, Ah Bu, Ah Zhan.

Because Su Xi’s hands had a natural massaging touch for round things.

If a woman were to be grabbed by Su Xi, she might even let out some indescribable sounds.