Chapter 270: Chapter 63: I’ll Smash the Mouth of Anyone Who Dares to Bare Their Teeth

So, Nike wasn’t too worried about paying another 10 million USD.

Su Xi had just finished his interview when he got a call from Scarlett. She told him excitedly that she had already bought tickets for the next two away games.

She sounded ready to face the hostile environment of the away games right alongside Su Xi.

Women are often like that. Deep down, they always have that ’I’ll take on the world with my man’ kind of spirit.

This spirit often blinds them when choosing a partner. Many women even become estranged from their own families because of it... but more often than not, it ends in disastrous failure.

Scarlett was on location shooting her new film. Her popularity hadn’t dipped at all because of the relationship. For a star with her bombshell image, getting involved in a scandal—especially one packed with so much drama—was like activating a cheat code.

Her popularity was skyrocketing.

After all, to the entertainment world, Su Xi was the total package: handsome, cool, healthy, and energetic. On top of that, he exuded an ’aura’ that made women swoon.

If the basketball world respected Su Xi as much as the entertainment world did, Michael Jordan might wake up one day to find his all-time ranking had dropped a spot.

...

Su Xi was not welcome in Detroit. The city’s auto workers were out in force, chanting and hurling insults at Su Xi in front of The Palace of Auburn Hills before the game even started.

The last time Su Xi played at the Palace of Auburn Hills, he stole the show. He won the game and gave Ben Wallace a concussion.

The incident sent a shockwave of anger throughout the state of Michigan. The blue-collar workers took it as a profound humiliation. They were desperate for their team to tear Su Xi to shreds and completely crush that pretty boy.

The auto workers didn’t go in for refined, elegant things; they certainly couldn’t appreciate Su Xi’s handsome face.

Furthermore, they were convinced that Su Xi would get beaten so badly at The Palace of Auburn Hills that he’d run away with his tail between his legs.

That was why they were roaring so furiously for the TNT cameras.

"Fu-ck...Su Xi!"

"Fuck you, Little Sheep Su Xi."

"We’re gonna bust your sheep balls."

"I’m your daddy, Little Sheep Su Xi!"

"..."

Su Xi watched the segment on TNT: a mob of rabid Pistons fans ranting at the camera. They wore jerseys for Wallace, Billups, and even old ones for Isaiah Thomas, showing off their rowdy side.

"Very interesting."

Su Xi told Charles Barkley, who was there to interview him, "They’ve got a lot of spirit."

Barkley asked him, "You don’t feel threatened? The Palace of Auburn Hills is one of the most intimidating home courts in the entire league. These guys are experts at creating a hostile atmosphere. Aren’t you worried they’ll get to you and affect your game?"

"I’m not worried about that," Su Xi said. "If they were really capable of that, why didn’t they show it during the regular season?"

"But the Pistons are full of confidence now. Rashid Wallace is back in the lineup, and the mainstream media thinks they’re going to make a comeback and win this series. Doesn’t that worry you at all?" Barkley pressed.

Su Xi replied, "I’m not worried. I’m just a little confused. Do those basketball experts in the mainstream media have some kind of accountability system? For example, if their predictions are wrong, does it affect their salaries?"

"I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just saying... when a basketball player plays poorly, the stats show it, and the losses are marked against his name. So... shouldn’t we create a database for these basketball experts? One that lists their successful and failed predictions. That way... maybe it would make some of these people who don’t know what they’re talking about shut their mouths."

Su Xi had turned the tables, offering the media a suggestion of his own.

Barkley couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up. He loved the suggestion.

But a lot of people definitely wouldn’t like it, since it was an idea that threatened their livelihoods.

The pre-game interview quickly ended.

Night fell, and with it came the game being hyped as "The Start of the Pistons’ Counterattack."

7:30 PM, Eastern Time.

The Palace of Auburn Hills was filled with bloodthirsty roars, a chaotic cacophony of sound.

Viewers watching on TNT saw the lovely figure of Scarlett Johansson. She and Hilary Duff had arrived courtside, a stunning sight that lit up the gloomy Motor City.

Scarlett, wearing tight jeans and Su Xi’s No. 33 jersey, looked both sexy and refreshingly sweet. Before sitting down, she blew a kiss to Su Xi.

This sent many of the courtside Detroit fans over the edge.

They started shouting.

No!

You can’t!

Scarlett, you have to leave that pretty boy!

That punk is nowhere near good enough for you!

They were as worked up as if someone had just stolen their own girlfriends.

But it changed nothing.

All they could do was unleash even louder boos and curses when Su Xi took the court.

Su Xi’s expression remained calm.

As he walked past Billups, Billups said to him, "You’re going to run into the biggest trouble of your career tonight."

"We’re going to tear you to shreds," Rashid Wallace added with some vicious trash talk of his own.

After one season in the NBA, Su Xi had heard that line so many times his ears had grown calluses.

So he replied coldly, "Go fuck yourselves. You’re just a bunch of guys destined to get swept."

When it came to trash talk, the more devastating, the better.

Sure enough, Rashid Wallace’s composure cracked. He took a deep breath, his chest still heaving, and said fiercely, "You’re the most arrogant rookie I’ve ever seen. Just you wait. There won’t be anything left of you by the end of tonight."

TWEET!

The whistle blew, and the game officially began.

Rashid Wallace and Foster met for the opening tip, and Foster tapped the ball to Su Xi.

Su Xi caught the ball and immediately accelerated.

Despite the storm of boos and curses from the entire arena, his drive to the basket only grew more ferocious.

Billups tried to cut him off at the three-point line but was simply bulldozed aside by a full-steam Su Xi, who continued his charge into the paint.

His eyes were locked on the rim.

Rashid Wallace tried to chase him down for a block from behind but was screened by Artest. Ben Wallace couldn’t get there in time.

Su Xi drove straight into the lane and leaped up as Prince flew in from the side to attempt a block.

But by the time their bodies collided in mid-air, Su Xi was already bringing the ball down for a powerful dunk.

Like a leaf in a storm... Prince’s slender frame was knocked back in mid-air. He still desperately tried to interfere with his long arms... but Su Xi, ball in his right hand, just brutally powered through him. There was no stopping it... even though Prince knew Su Xi wasn’t an incredible leaper and that his own attempt to block was well-timed.

But he couldn’t stop it. It was that simple.

Power was an insurmountable gap!

BAM!

The dunk crashed through the hoop.

Su Xi’s right hand slammed the ball through with a thunderous roar.

With a powerful, ferocious, and arrogant dunk, Su Xi announced his return to The Palace of Auburn Hills: "I’m... back!"

SCREECH!

The crisp sound of Su Xi’s signature shoes skidding on the hardwood floor also shattered the hearts of many Pistons fans.

As Su Xi raised his hands high in a celebratory gesture,

the twenty thousand fans in The Palace of Auburn Hills reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling and letting out a collective shriek.

Their boos and insults grew louder, more piercing, more vile.

But Su Xi just smiled.

He even made a graceful, elegant flourish in the air with his right hand.

Su Xi wasn’t like the other superstars of his generation. When they first arrived in the league, they were often raw and shy, taking the boos and curses without fighting back.

But Su Xi, on the other hand, seemed to be here to shake up the entire league.

You bare your fangs, and I’ll smash your teeth in.

"Now that’s what I call a commanding presence,"

Barkley said, leaning back in his commentator’s chair for dramatic effect. He told the viewers at home, "Even Michael Jordan didn’t dare to be this arrogant in Detroit back in the day. The Pistons gave Scottie Pippen mental scars."

"So are you saying Jack is even better than Jordan?" Kenny Smith had a knack for jumping on his partner’s words.

"If we’re only looking at their rookie seasons, I don’t think Jack’s is any weaker than Jordan’s. And if Jack leads this team past the Pistons, then I’ll say it—his rookie season is definitely better than Jordan’s!"

Charles Barkley said with conviction, "Jordan and I were in the same draft class. I have more right than any of you to say this. Jordan is great, but his greatness was only cemented after his two three-peats. Before he won those championships, he was just another superstar."

Barkley was putting Su Xi in the same conversation as Jordan.

It was the first time in Su Xi’s career that anyone had made such a comparison.