Chapter 260: Chapter 58: Fated Battle of the Eastern Conference Finals (Part 2)

Artest’s wife carried on her family’s fiery temperament, and Artest couldn’t get the upper hand. They were taken to the police station, and the news immediately caused an uproar across Indiana, even though it was just a domestic dispute.

But a bruised and swollen Artest insisted on declaring to the media, "I hit her. Her injuries are way more serious than mine."

This led to protests from women’s rights organizations across the country. They even organized a protest march in the normally quiet state of Indiana.

Jason Kidd was actually quite familiar with this playbook. He had also hit his wife back in the day, which had also sparked protests. But now, he’d fallen to the point where his wife was the one hitting him.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

Su Xi asked Artest in frustration, "Now you’re just causing a lot of unnecessary controversy."

The Pacers’ staff were trying to persuade Artest’s wife, hoping she would be lenient and not press charges against him.

The playoffs were in full swing, yet Artest had somehow gotten himself into this ridiculous domestic dispute.

Artest was the type to suffer just to save face.

While the Pacers were doing everything they could to resolve Artest’s internal dispute, the results of the Conference Finals matchups were settled.

The Pistons eliminated the New Jersey Nets 4-3.

The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated the Sacramento Kings 4-3.

The Lakers eliminated last season’s champions, the San Antonio Spurs, 4-2, avenging last year’s defeat.

The matchups for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals were now set.

Pacers vs. Pistons.

Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves.

Major media outlets conducted detailed analyses, and experts began making their predictions.

In the West, there was little disagreement. Most people believed the Lakers would defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games.

The Timberwolves, after all, lacked experience.

The Lakers, on the other hand, had just completed a three-peat. With the addition of Karl Malone and Gary Payton, they had formed a super "Fab Four." Across the entire league, who could possibly stand up to them?

In the East, opinions were more divided. Roughly sixty percent of experts believed the Pistons would win, and win easily at that.

The other forty percent predicted the Pacers would win, but that it would be a hard-fought victory.

Both sides had their reasons, and they were compelling.

This series was packed with compelling storylines.

First, Larry Brown had previously coached the Pacers, and some even said that the Pacers’ foundation had been laid by him. But that was mostly nonsense. After Larry Brown, Indiana had gone through three head coaches, and the roster had turned over several times. How could it still be considered Brown’s foundation?

If anything, the Pistons were built on the foundation left by Rick Carlisle. Carlisle was the Pistons’ previous head coach; he had single-handedly built their current framework. But he was unexpectedly let go by Joe Dumars during the last offseason, and Larry Brown had swooped in to reap the rewards.

Therefore, this matchup was considered a battle for vindication between the two head coaches.

Second, the two teams had some extremely heated regular-season games. Ben Wallace was even beaten so badly he was laid up in a hospital bed for two weeks. His agent had already declared, "This is a revenge game. Ben is going to take back the glory that belongs to him. He won’t let Little Sheep Su Xi’s schemes succeed."

On the entire Pistons team, the person who hated Su Xi the most had to be Ben Wallace. He had taken the worst of it in that brawl, his reputation had been ruined, and he’d received the harshest punishment. There was no way he could just let it go.

Then there was Rasheed Wallace. His beef with Su Xi dated back to before his time with the Pistons, and he was also fired up to put Su Xi in his place.

...

Just as the Pistons arrived in Indiana, Artest’s wife finally dropped all charges against him. She stated on camera that Artest hadn’t meant to do it and that she had completely forgiven him.

Artest’s wife was a large, imposing woman with a stern, fleshy face.

She looked much more powerfully built than Artest.

Little Ao joked in private, "I’ve always suspected she has hair on her chest."

Artest was seething.

He’d gotten his ass kicked, been blasted by women’s rights groups in the media, and in the end, after some "counseling" from Larry Bird, he still had to go and apologize to his wife.

Artest felt like his mental issues were about to flare up.

"I have to give the Pistons a brutal beatdown. I have to unleash all my anger on them."

Artest vowed in the locker room.

It was a good thing he had all this pent-up anger.

But everyone couldn’t help but snicker.

The whole situation with Artest was just too ridiculous.

...

The TNT Channel was broadcasting this marquee matchup nationwide.

Before the game started, they hyped it up like crazy. The promo video was edited to look like the fight of the century.

The clips of them trading blows were even more spectacular than the UFC, especially the shot of Ben Wallace being helped up, staggering and unable to walk in a straight line... looking exactly like a KO’d boxing champion.

In addition, TNT also aired a short promotional video the NBA had produced for Su Xi.

Su Xi was the biggest surprise of the NBA season. When he first entered the league, absolutely no one was optimistic about his prospects, even though he had won the NCAA MOP and recorded an incredible quadruple-double.

People still felt he wasn’t worthy of the eighth pick, and the trade between the Cavaliers and the New York Knicks was considered baffling.

But then, Su Xi dropped a quadruple-double in his very first regular-season game.

From then on, he continued to work miracles, carrying over his swagger and bravado from the NCAA. He made a name for himself in the NBA as the "Genius-Killer." This season, far too many superstars had fallen before him.

Like a reaper, he continuously racked up honors.

His rookie season—in terms of stats, on-court impact, and off-court legendary status—was historic.

The NBA had no reason not to produce a promo for him.

Because he was the absolute core of the Pacers, their undisputed leader, despite being only nineteen years old.

Su Xi’s promo video was incredibly cool, with a grand, epic feel.

His quadruple-doubles, monster triple-doubles, highlight-reel plays of the season, two All-Star Weekend MVPs, Rookie of the Year, All-NBA Team, All-Defensive Team... as all these honors filled the screen, one after another...

...Su Xi tore through them with one hand, revealing his handsome face.

He delivered a single line: "The fun is just beginning."

The viewers at home went wild, especially his stans.

In fact, compiling these stats and achievements was exactly what his stans did best.

The NBA was just amplifying their work.

When it came to promotion, to marketing campaigns built on a ’factual basis,’ who could possibly do it better than the stans?

James sat in front of his TV, deeply unhappy.

’The NBA has really gone downhill,’ he thought.

’The NBA should be giving *me* a special feature and broadcasting it on national television.’

’How did Little Sheep Su Xi end up looking like the Chosen One?’

’Is he really going to overshadow me?’

He was furious.

But as the broadcast cut to the Pacers’ home arena and the Pistons players appeared on camera, he relaxed.

He had faith in the Pistons.

Three days earlier, Billups and Prince had called him. They had asked James how to defend Su Xi.

James knew Su Xi well, and he was also considered to be the person who disliked Su Xi the most.

This was despite James claiming to the media that they were friends.

But the Pistons had clearly come to the right person.

When Billups explained his idea, James immediately spilled the beans, telling them everything he knew.

He had spent a lot of time with Su Xi, and he frequently reviewed Su Xi’s game tape. His basketball IQ was high, so he truly did have an in-depth understanding of him.

The information he provided was a huge help to the Pistons.

Prince and Billups assured James, "You’ll see. Little Sheep Su Xi is going to be black and blue from running into our ironclad defense."

"Thanks, James."

"You’re welcome," James said with a smile. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’It’s the least I could do.’

’In fact, I’m being pretty restrained,’ he thought. ’After all the ways Su Xi has provoked me lately... his shoes selling so well, getting a girlfriend, putting me on blast in the media, letting those fans of his attack me and say I didn’t deserve Rookie of the Year...’

’...doing this little bit is being more than fair. I’ve already honored our past friendship enough.’

James felt he was being incredibly magnanimous.

Soon, the whistle blew. TWEET!

The Eastern Conference Finals had officially begun.

...