The arena replayed Su Wan’s premature celebration of his score over and over, and each time the footage showed him pretending to press the remote, a gasp would rise from the crowd.
That image was just too eye-catching.
Even though this was MCI, the Wizards’ home court.
But in such moments, it’s easy for some home fans to switch allegiance.
And such moments are often great moments.
Su Wan had created one classic moment after another, but this game-winning shot just now was by far his most classic moment on the court to date.
All the journalists present would describe the game with such a headline:
Su Wan made the most spectacular shot of his career thus far.
Under the watch of "Special Agent 0".
In fact, until Eddie Jordan held his head, as a low murmur rose again and again throughout the arena, and some dejected Wizards fans left the stands, Arenas hadn’t yet snapped out of the scene before his eyes.
Less than 10 seconds ago, he was Washington’s hero, the most dazzling presence on the court tonight; 10 seconds later, he became completely the backdrop for Su Wan.
His boastful game-winning shot not only took control of the entire crowd but also rooted him to the spot...
Arenas felt like he had taken a severe hit!
Bill Walton was flipping through the stats of the two players tonight:
Arenas made 11 of 24 shots, 4 of 5 free throws, 2 of 6 from three-point range, racking up 28 points for the game, along with 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals; Su Wan tonight made 9 of 17 shots, 5 of 5 free throws, scoring 23 points for the game, with an additional 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block...
Comparing the numbers alone, Arenas had a slight edge.
But Su Wan’s game-winner erased any advantage there was in the stats.
This is the NBA, where the last one to laugh is the biggest winner.
Su Wan’s game-winner could compete for "the best regular-season game-winning shot in history"... mainly because it was so memorable.
Post-game interview segment:
"He is indeed an excellent agent. He completed his mission. He will grow up very well, making people look forward to his future." — Eddie Jordan on Su Wan;
"An incredible guy, his performance is just astonishing." — Jia Misen on Su Wan;
"He’s smart and has brains, and he combines skill with intellect and body perfectly. I’m not surprised by his flamboyant character now. If I could do as well as he does, I’d be crazier than him, but the fact is, I can’t." — Larry Hughes talking about his last-minute duel with Su Wan;
"I lost this game, but I will win the next one and prove myself. This is what I’ve always been doing!" — Arenas ended his interview with a single sentence;
"Incredible, I’m really curious whether that early turn was impromptu or if he had the idea before taking the shot. It’s crazy, but that’s Su Wan." — Rick Carlisle on Su Wan’s last shot;
"Under the same circumstances, he almost never lost, and tonight was no exception." — The pride in speaking about Su Wan comes with a gradual increase from the younger O’Neal;
"One of the best game-winning shots in history, no doubt!" — Artest is routinely praising Su.
"What were you thinking at that moment, why did you consider turning early?"
"I just felt that this shot had to go in, and a real man never looks back at the explosion; that’s what I did, and it felt great."
"Your first game-winner in your career, how does it feel?"
"Does this count as a game-winner? The two teams were tied; even if I hadn’t made it, we could have gone into overtime. There was no pressure in such a shot; to me, it doesn’t count as a game-winning shot, there’s no difficulty! If I couldn’t make that kind of shot, I’d immediately practice shooting 500 more times." — Su Wan kept on boasting after the game, and it just felt one word: thrilling!
The next morning, as expected, the game caused a sensational reaction all over the United States.
Mainly because Su Wan’s early turn and the act of pressing the remote were just too slick, even if he had only completed an ordinary mid-range jumper as the game-winner, it was still eye-catching.
A game-winning shot is always the most thrilling, and the "showboating" actions after a game-winner are an indispensable part for the public as well. It’s like at a pool party full of "big Rays", an absolute bonus.
The discussion heated up, so much so that more details were unearthed.
Including Su Wan’s line, "Larry, I’m going to end it here," which gave some senior media folks and old fans a sense of temporal dislocation.
Although the final result wasn’t exactly the same, they still had that feeling.
They saw the "Big Bird" of the old days in Su Wan.
Yes, they always had this faint feeling, but until last night, they dared not connect Su Wan with Larry Bird, even though it was "the third greatest rookie in history"; that just seemed too insane.
But after last night’s arrogant game-winner and saying, "A tie game-winner isn’t a game-winner," they felt the "Bird King" aura in Su Wan was even stronger.
The reporters interviewed Larry Bird, asking if he saw his younger self in Su Wan, to which Larry Bird said, "Maybe a little, after all, he imitated my moment, not a bad result, not good either. He made the shot, but didn’t finish the game-winner like I did, at the right place!"
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