"Jack, you’re the man! You’ve improved a lot on this trip to Los Angeles."

LeBron James lay on the floor of his luxurious indoor court, turning his head to look at Su Xi. Su Xi was a little tired too.

But he hadn’t used his full strength in their one-on-one just now. He had intentionally held back, going easy on him most of the time. After all, a one-on-one with a "cauldron" wasn’t a life-or-death battle. It was about nuance, relationships, and self-improvement.

If he were to really go all-out against James, with his current Super Entanglement Defense Talent, 95 Strength, 100 Peak Perfection Flexibility, and 95 Super Explosiveness Talent, James’s offensive possessions would end in a traveling violation six or seven times out of ten. And if they played to 10, Su Xi could steal the ball at least twice.

It was simple: his playstyle was a natural counter to James’s.

James wasn’t in high spirits at first, but that changed when an excited Mike O’Connor rushed in and told Su Xi, "Boss, KFC wants to make you their global spokesperson! They also said they want to find a Disney starlet to shoot the commercial with you. The endorsement fee will match the Pepsi deal—2 million USD a year! We have more money to invest in the internet!"

Mike O’Connor always had a knack for showing up and firing up LeBron just when his passion was flagging.

Sure enough, James immediately went all out.

With James using every last ounce of his strength, Su Xi’s Super Speed Talent shot up from 89 to 91, and his explosiveness showed signs of an impending breakthrough.

Su Xi was overjoyed.

At this rate, after a few more sessions, his Explosiveness and Speed Talents would be identical to James’s.

Then, coupled with strength that was already greater than James’s and flexibility that was a whole level above, he could at least be considered a ’lopsided’ genius player, even if his overall talent was still a tier below James’s.

"Let’s go again, LeBron," Su Xi encouraged James.

James waved his hand. "No more. I always feel kind of drained after we play."

"Jack, let’s talk about something serious." LeBron James suddenly turned to look at Su Xi with a serious expression. "We have to get Ricky Davis kicked off the team. He’s an obstacle to our domination of the league."

?

Su Xi frowned. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"The team doesn’t need a player who brags all the time. He’s in the locker room every day harping on his ’20-5-5’ and acting like a superstar. Besides, his offensive efficiency is low. Management doesn’t actually like him either. They only made him the main guy last year because the team had no one. Now that they have us, two cornerstone players, why keep him around to boss everyone around?"

"Jack, we need to work together more from now on. We have to prove to the management that we can play better without him."

James laid out his plan earnestly. "After he’s gone, his plays and his possessions will be all yours. I’ll be the team leader, and you’ll be my second-in-command, handling the day-to-day in the locker room. How does that sound? We’ll be brothers, invincible."

James painted a beautiful picture of the future for Su Xi.

Su Xi reached out and patted James’s head. It was a way for him to exercise his fingers... no one around him could ’escape his demonic claws.’ But, it had to be said, it felt good. When there weren’t many people around, James was quite willing to enjoy this kind of massage.

"But, he’s played pretty well in the last three games," Su Xi said. "Our mid-range offensive skills aren’t as good as his."

"What does he know about mid-range? All he can do is hit a couple of turnaround jumpers," James said dismissively. "Jack, I believe in you. If you just practice hard, you’ll definitely be better than him! The mid-range will be your responsibility from now on!"

James was making empty promises.

Su Xi fell silent. To him, it didn’t really matter whether Ricky Davis stayed or left.

His primary goal right now was to raise his talents, and... to hurry up and find new Super Talents.

Being this lopsided wasn’t a long-term solution.

That evening, Su Xi had dinner at James’s house, where Frank gave him a new "Death Note." He couldn’t help but sigh. "Jack, so many people have been cursing you out lately. What did you do to make everyone so angry?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just got a quadruple-double, slapped Malone, and started dating someone," Mike O’Connor chimed in from the side.

Then, O’Connor noticed an unopened package of KFC in the trash can.

On the way back, O’Connor said to Su Xi, "Boss, I think LeBron James is a bit wasteful and extravagant. Last time we were at his house, he threw out all the Pepsi in his fridge. This time, he threw out the KFC that was just ordered..."

Su Xi just smiled happily. What a dark joke.

...

LeBron James began to execute his plan in the second week of November. He returned to the court, and the team suffered a three-game losing streak.

They lost at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Pistons, then lost again on the road to the Boston Celtics.

James moved back to the point guard position, while Su Xi was shifted to shooting guard. This led to an argument between Stephen Silas and his father. Stephen said that although LeBron had better court vision, stronger playmaking ability, and was more devastating when attacking the paint, his ball-handling wasn’t as steady as Jack’s, and the other players’ morale wasn’t as high when the ball was in his hands.

Paul Silas criticized his son.

Stephen Silas retorted, saying his old man didn’t know basketball.

Paul Silas was stunned by the outburst but said nothing.

He began to stagger Su Xi’s and James’s minutes, making Su Xi the de facto sixth man and starting defensive stalwart.

This change led to a huge victory for the Cavaliers in Toronto. In this game, Su Xi first matched up against Dell Curry. He stole the ball from Curry twice and even caused the elder Curry to fall to the ground during a normal contact play, though he helped him back up. But this made a cute kid on the sidelines burst into tears, wailing and screaming, "When I get to the NBA, I’m gonna destroy you!"

Su Xi just smiled.

Afterward, Su Xi was assigned to guard Vince Carter.

Carter had been through some injuries and wasn’t taking off for thunderous dunks as often as before, but his physical conditioning was still formidable.

Su Xi successfully limited him in the third quarter, locking him to the ground. This tough entanglement made Carter uncomfortable... Of the four great shooting guards, Carter was without a doubt the worst at tough, iso scoring.

Against the other three of the four great shooting guards, Su Xi wouldn’t have been so successful.

They would have combined their top-tier talent and top-tier skills to murder Su Xi’s defense!

Just as Vince Carter was starting to figure out some tricks, shifting Su Xi’s center of gravity and trying to beat him with rhythm, garbage time arrived, and the head coach subbed him out.

As Vince Carter left the court, he still looked like he wanted more. He said to Su Xi, "Next time, let’s have a real battle."

Su Xi replied, "Anytime, but you’ll have to be more focused."

Carter raised an eyebrow and thought, ’The rumors are true. This really is an arrogant rookie. Interesting, though.’

The game eventually ended in garbage time. 122-98.

The Cavaliers snapped their losing streak.

As the fourth overall pick, Chris Bosh finished the game with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Honestly, those were already very good stats.

Last year’s number one pick, Yao Ming, only averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game.

But the two Cavaliers rookies were just too amazing.

They were already on another level. James was starting to learn how to be an all-around core, dominating the ball for 39 minutes on his way to 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.

As for Su Xi, he was the one teaching NBA guards about physicality. When he fully unleashed his entanglement defense, who the hell would dare say to him, "Welcome to the NBA"?

In this game, both Carter and Curry, who he matched up against, had a miserable time.

Su Xi played 28 minutes, scoring 9 points on 3-of-10 shooting, with 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 steals, and 1 block.

Currently, his average of 5.2 steals per game ranked first in the league, making him the player with the highest ever single-season steals average.

Even though it had only been a few games, people were already completely convinced that Su Xi was Cleveland’s strongest defensive gate.

After all, he possessed Gary Payton’s Super Entanglement Talent, and some of his own extreme talents were far better than Payton’s.

Moreover, he could switch onto interior players. His ability to defend the pick-and-roll had been analyzed by veteran basketball experts, who concluded through data analysis that it was the best among all guards in the league today.

However, the Cavaliers lacked a strong interior player to support him. Otherwise, they could lock down a huge number of plays initiated from the top of the arc right at the free-throw line.

In Orlando, Chuck Daly personally came over to talk to Su Xi. He highly praised Su Xi’s defensive abilities and even suggested to Paul Silas’s face that he design more offensive initiation plays for Su Xi, saying, "Jack is a very unselfish team player. He still has a lot of potential."

But when James overheard this, he got a little emotional.

The Orlando Magic was the last team Chuck Daly coached; he was now permanently retired from the basketball world.

The showdown against the Magic was a marquee NBA game, broadcast nationally by ABC.

Because this was a duel between the league’s number one small forward and the number one small forward of the new generation.

The media had been hyping up this game for a week.

Everyone was focused on the showdown between the league’s current number one perimeter player, Tracy McGrady, and the future face of the league, the Chosen One.

They also exchanged compliments in the media.

Tracy McGrady praised James for being very talented and having a mature playstyle, saying he would become a superstar in the future.

James, in turn, said that McGrady was his idol and that he had been watching Tracy play since he was a little kid.

And even though the selling point of the game was James versus McGrady, not long after the game started, Su Xi was the one defending Tracy McGrady.

On one hand, it was because James truly couldn’t guard him. On the other hand, Su Xi loved challenging talented players.

On the very first possession Su Xi was on him, Tracy McGrady hit a pull-up jumper right over Su Xi’s head... a pure talent-crushing move.

Su Xi barely even had time to react.

But he was pleasantly surprised, because in the instant Tracy McGrady rose for that pull-up jumper, Su Xi felt the Super Explosiveness Talent within him suddenly surge... it instantly broke through the 95 barrier and was about to rush to 96.

"Hey, little guy, tell me, am I a genius?" McGrady asked Su Xi, the supposed "genius-killer."

Su Xi was very serious. He said, "Yes."

"Then do you think you can shut me down?" Tracy McGrady asked, his lazy eyes filled with killing intent.

Su Xi looked McGrady right in the eye. "Sooner or later."

Arrogance!

McGrady’s eyes narrowed, his killing intent now on full display. He started running back to the other side of the court.

Su Xi followed close behind.

He immediately awakened the Little Elf to scan Tracy McGrady.

Super Explosiveness Talent!

Super Jumping Talent!

Super Coordination Talent!

Infinitely Close to Super Speed Talent!

Infinitely Close to Super Agility Talent!

Infinitely Close to Super Flexibility Talent!

Top-Tier Strength Talent!

Top-Tier Stamina Talent!

After reading the list, Su Xi was stunned.

Three Super Talents, three infinitely close to Super, and two Top-Tier Talents.

He hadn’t expected McGrady’s talent to be this good. It wasn’t just his dynamic talents; his static talents were also nearly perfect. His height, wingspan, and body type were all one-in-ten-thousand rarities. His talent was on the same level as LeBron James’s, and his skills right now were even better.

No wonder he could surpass Kobe to become the number one perimeter player in the league.

However, the Little Elf also noted that Tracy McGrady had a congenital pathological risk, so his talent might not be able to be fully unleashed.

Congenital scoliosis!

Su Xi had read about that in a magazine.