LeBron James monopolized the ball. He played like he was back in a high school league, directing his teammates where to go.

The title "The Chosen One" and the halo the media had placed on him made him feel a cut above the rest.

But in reality, as the game progressed, he was drawing complaints from his teammates.

His efficiency was low, his shot was ice-cold, and his success rate when driving to the basket was poor. On top of that, he wouldn’t pass the ball even when his teammates got open.

This gave Su Xi an opportunity.

Su Xi first grabbed two offensive rebounds, assisting Wade on a follow-up layup and Chris Bosh on a jumper from the free-throw line.

With 2:27 left in the game.

Ginobili hit a three-pointer, and the Sophomore team, whose offense had been incredibly efficient, pulled ahead by 2 points.

Just then, Su Xi ran to the baseline to receive the inbound pass, with LeBron James standing to his left. James looked at Su Xi strangely. ’Why is he running over here just to get embarrassed? There’s no way the Freshman team will pass you the ball. Stop trying to steal the spotlight.’

But the next second, something unbelievable happened.

Bosh, who was inbounding the ball under the basket, turned to the side and, as if he hadn’t even seen James, passed the ball directly to Su Xi.

Su Xi caught the ball and pushed it up the court.

James’s surprise quickly turned to anger. On the way back up the court, he asked Bosh, "What are you doing? Why didn’t you pass me the ball?"

Bosh scratched the back of his head, his long, intelligent neck swiveling. "I didn’t see you..." he said.

Hmm?

James thought, ’You couldn’t see me with that long neck of yours?’

But he couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, he lowered his voice and said to Bosh, "You don’t want this guy stealing all the glory, do you?"

Bosh nodded.

But really, he was thinking: ’But I want to win even more.’

Su Xi brought the ball to the top of the arc. For a moment, the Sophomore team couldn’t find anyone to defend him.

Su Xi seized the opportunity, quickly driving to the basket. The Sophomores scrambled to collapse on him. Nene came over to help, but Su Xi pushed him aside. Nene quickly closed in again, but Su Xi used the momentum to pass the ball to a trailing Bosh.

Bosh jumped and slammed the ball into the hoop with both hands.

This was a crucial basket, tying the score for the Freshman team.

On the other end, James was defending Ginobili.

Ginobili executed a beautiful crossover. James tried to go for a gamble steal and was blown by. He quickly turned to chase, but Ginobili pulled back, stepped back behind the three-point line, and shot... James’s massive frame made it hard for him to turn back, and he could only watch helplessly as Ginobili released the three-pointer.

SWISH!

It went in.

138-135.

The Sophomores were back up by 3.

Wade was inbounding the ball. Su Xi ran over again, and James went for the ball too.

James shouted, "Dwyane!"

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than the ball was in Su Xi’s hands.

As Su Xi pushed the ball forward, James, furious, ran over to Wade and asked, "Why didn’t you pass me the ball?"

Wade hesitated for a second before replying, "I thought you were telling me to pass it to Jack."

"He just got the ball on the last possession!"

Hmm?

James frowned. ’What’s going on? How can everyone’s comprehension be so poor?’

"From now on, don’t pass it to him. Give the ball to the most reliable person," James ordered Wade.

Su Xi brought the ball past half-court, and Carmelo Anthony ran over to set a screen for him—a classic opening play from their Syracuse University days.

Except now, Su Xi was countless times stronger than he had been at Syracuse University.

With a single burst of speed, he left his defender behind, even taking Anthony’s defender, Prince, with him. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After driving in two steps, he made a slick pass back to Anthony. Anthony caught the ball as Jaric quickly rotated over to defend. Without a moment’s hesitation, Anthony dished the ball out.

Wade received the pass, playing the role of their old Syracuse teammate McNamara, and shot from beyond the arc... SWISH!

The three-pointer was good.

138-138.

Tie game!

BEEP!

The Sophomore team called a timeout. 1:03 left on the clock.

It was time for the final showdown.

James was the first one back to the bench. He said to Doug Collins, "Coach, it’s crunch time. We need to increase our height in the paint."

James’s meaning was obvious: he wanted Su Xi subbed out.

Doug Collins glanced at James. Just then, Su Xi and the others walked over, discussing the previous play with Anthony and Wade.

Once the players were gathered, Collins asked Su Xi, "You still want to play?"

Su Xi nodded.

Then, Collins began to lay out the strategy: "Kaman, Bosh, you two lock down both sides of the paint. Don’t let Ginobili drive in easily again. Jack, you’ll go back to the 1-spot and partner with Wade. Carmelo, you need to use your size advantage to set some off-ball screens. Here, and here, these are your firing zones..."

Collins laid out the plays on his clipboard.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

No one seemed to think anything was wrong.

It was as if this was how it was supposed to be.

At first, James didn’t notice anything either. After all, he was The Chosen One. But as Collins went deeper into the strategy, he felt something was off. ’How come he hasn’t said my name yet? What am I supposed to do?’

’Something’s not right!’

’I’m not in!’

’A team can’t have six players on the court.’

’Doug Collins, what’s the meaning of this? Benching me at a crucial moment? Weren’t you supposed to be assisting me? Why are you assisting Jack now?’

’Have you made a mistake? I’m The Chosen One!!’

James stared at Doug Collins with a confused and slightly angry look. The whole world said Collins was the best at dealing with a ’young God of Basketball.’ ’What? Am I not the young God of Basketball in your eyes?’

Collins didn’t make eye contact with him.

TWEET!

The whistle blew, and the five players from the Freshman team whose names had been called started walking onto the court.

James lowered his voice and asked Collins, "What’s going on, Coach!"

Collins just smiled. He was a stubborn man. He had accepted travel expenses from James Dolan, so naturally, he had to do Dolan a favor. Plus, Su Xi was his favorite player. So... if he had to offend James, so be it.

"Thanks for the suggestion, LeBron. You’ll definitely become an excellent player-coach one day." Doug Collins was a master at playing dumb.

"What I mean is, why am I not on the court? This is a critical moment! The freshmen can’t be without their leader," James said in a low voice, but the pressure behind his words made it almost a roar.

"Well, Jack’s out there. Isn’t he doing a great job?" Collins lifted his chin, gesturing toward Su Xi on the court.

Su Xi was discussing tactics with Wade, Anthony, and Bosh. They looked more like a cohesive unit.

’Who am I? Why am I not over there? Look how happy they are, smiling together.’

’Am I being isolated?’

’I’m the one being isolated?’

James’s head was buzzing.

...

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