Although it had only been a little over a year since the last time the "Monthly Best Player Award" was received, and the "drought" wasn’t long, the significance for Indiana was profound after the "Auburn Palace Incident," as it marked the return of a Pacers player to such prestige.
It meant that the Pacers were back on track.
For a team to have a player named "Monthly Best" also meant that the team’s record for the month was not shabby—that’s an unspoken criterion for the award.
—That’s why you’ll never see that high school kid’s name on the list of candidates for the award.
The moment Su Wan received the "Monthly Best" trophy, he took a photo and uploaded it to his Facebook page, then went on with his routine trash-talking James, capping off a splendid day.
But he was fast asleep, while LeBron James was wide awake.
His life had been rough lately, especially since Su Wan’s deal with Nike cost him his biggest support. Now, going toe-to-toe in a war of words with Su Wan, he was essentially getting beaten down one-sidedly.
If only he had accepted the proposal from the rookie from Huaxia to switch to playing small forward and let go of the Point Guard position.
Then he wouldn’t have ended up as enemies with Su Wan and wouldn’t be in such discomfort now...
No, that’s not right!
I am the "Chosen One," how can I entertain such negative thoughts?
LeBron suddenly snapped out of it, realizing the problem lied in the song that was currently playing...
Listening to Netease Cloud Music (implying a music streaming service in the United States) can have that effect.
LeBron turned off the music, went back to the living room, and surveyed everything around him—the expensive bar, the specially customized furniture, and various branded home appliances. Without a doubt, this was a mansion...
How tough the journey from the slum to all that he now possessed had been, only the "King" himself really knew.
He didn’t want to go back to the past, nor did he want to lose his current status and the hopeful future. He couldn’t be crushed by Su Wan; he had to prove himself!
Starting with...
Leading the Cavaliers into the playoffs!
Yes, by improving the team’s performance, that guy would have fewer opportunities to attack me.—Looking over the mocking comments Su Wan made about him, most were regarding his stat-padding but the team’s poor performance.
As long as the Cavaliers made it into the playoffs, he could shut that guy up!
After finding the way to break through, LeBron suddenly felt less agitated. As his thoughts settled, drowsiness crept in, his eyelids growing heavy.—This is how it is with black guys, too much thinking can easily lead to a system crash.
That night, LeBron slept soundly; he hadn’t had such a peaceful sleep in a long time.
The next morning, he burst into the locker room with high spirits, shouting, "Brothers, let’s work hard and make it to the playoffs!"
The rest of the Cavaliers exchanged looks.
They clearly remembered LeBron’s expression when he heard about Su Wan receiving the "Monthly Best Player Award" the previous day—it wasn’t exactly like he had eaten shit, but it was pretty damn close to constipation. How come today, suddenly he was so pumped up with fighting spirit?
But the boss had spoken, so they naturally echoed him. Vallejo was the most enthusiastic, shouting alongside LeBron, "To the playoffs, to the playoffs!"
It’s just that he probably forgot that with his average of about 15 minutes on-court per game, whether or not the Cavaliers made it to the playoffs wasn’t exactly linked to his enthusiasm.
LeBron found his temporary life goal and turned his attention back to the Pacers.
The first game of March was against the Washington Wizards, currently a potential rival for the postseason.
The media dubbed the game "Special Agent Battle."
"Agent Zero" VS "Agent 99."
And more coincidentally, both had less than temperate temperaments.
Of course, if it were up to Su Wan to say, it was Arenas who was more hot-headed, no, pulling a gun in the locker room on a teammate should qualify as being out of his mind. Su Wan, though quick-tempered, definitely wouldn’t do something that stupid.
But before the gun-pulling incident, or more accurately, before the career-threatening injury, Arenas was rather focused on the court and all of Washington regarded him as an absolute "city hero."—It was his arrival that rejuvenated Washington swiftly after the two troubled years of Michael Jordan’s tenure. This season, they remained in the top eight of the Eastern Conference for an extended time; if they keep up their current form, the Wizards are set to embark on their first playoffs journey of the 21st century.
For this reason, the Washington media announced before the game, "The League has only one Special Agent, and that’s Washington’s Gilbert Arenas. Tonight, Gilbert will show everyone the gap between the rookie from Huaxia and him, a gap even wider than the difference in their jersey numbers!"
Artest saw the Washington media’s reports and couldn’t help but ask, "Su, did you provoke something? Why is even a nickname causing such controversy?"
His own nickname was "Beast," but in truth, there were plenty of "Beasts" in the league. His collisions with other "animals" never incited such blatant provocation from the media.
Su Wan responded, "When the dogs start barking wildly, it means you’ve trespassed onto their territory and made them feel threatened!"
"...I think I know ’The Answer’ now." Artest was no longer surprised. With Su Wan’s sharp tongue, if he weren’t Su’s teammate, he’d probably want to punch him too.
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