The Finals opponent had emerged, and the Pacers flew to San Antonio overnight to prepare for the Finals.
The hotel they’d always stayed at this time assigned them a few rooms facing the street, with a constant flow of cars and the occasional painfully loud motorcycle and car noises.
Great, the Finals were really about to begin.
"Guys, there’s more to overcome than just this, this is the Finals!" Rick Carlisle tried to appear very professional, but it was his first time leading a team to the Finals.
Had it been the age of the internet, he might have gone online to ask:
"What should I be aware of in my first Finals? Urgently awaiting a response online."
Alright, even though it wasn’t the era of advanced internet, Su Wan did it anyway.
The day before yesterday, after returning to Indiana, he posted on a forum and nonchalantly received a comment from a fan:
"Hahaha, Brother Su is awesome, go hard in the Finals!"
"You can ask Bartel, he played Finals against the Spurs."
"Give me a break, commenter above, does that even count as playing in the Finals? That was at most a practice game. Didn’t you see in the Olympics, that braggart got yelled at by Brother Su? Wearing a Spurs practice jersey, he looked so pretentious. Su Wan might as well ask us instead of him!"
"Stayed up late watching the game, and heard that fat guy Su Wan scored 58 points against once won ’three consecutive championships’?"
"Wasn’t he just piggybacking on Kobe? Without Kobe, he’s exposed."
"Don’t even mention that rapist."
"I think he got hustled by a fairy."
"They probably made each other famous."
...
And as usual, the discussion thread veered off-topic.
The noise outside the window, unsurprisingly, went on all night.
Su Wan wasn’t affected, though, he was only 19 years old. Youth is wonderful, regardless of the racket outside, just pop in the earplugs, hit the hay, and sleep till daylight. 40-year-old Reggie Miller couldn’t cope, and the next morning at breakfast, Su Wan saw him with two deep dark circles under his eyes.
Hmm...
He was a Black man.
But Su Wan could still see his dark circles.
It was kind of magical.
The team’s staff strictly supervised the breakfast preparation by the chefs.
Jordan’s "Flu Game" is a "timeless classic," but not everyone is Jordan with such strong willpower. Crazy fans had dared to poison Jordan’s food. As one of the cities that hated Su Wan the most, who knows what San Antonio fans might put in Su Wan’s food.
They had to be cautious.
The afternoon practice, predictably, faced another issue.
The owner of the temporary gym suddenly informed Rick Carlisle that the AC needed maintenance.
By this time, it was June where the temperature in the morning and evening was fine, but it was close to 30 degrees Celsius at midday; the gym being enclosed, it was even more stifling.
Su Wan gave an interview and complained about all the experiences of the past few days.
As a rookie, this was pretty normal for him.
Moreover...
He believed when the Spurs went to Indiana, the Pacers’ fans would definitely take revenge for him.
The Finals would officially start tomorrow.
Before the Finals, the question reporters asked Su Wan the most was...
If Bruce Bowen plays dirty against your teammates, what will you do?
The Spurs had already been infamous for countless dirty plays.
This year, they’d become even more rabid.
In the semifinals, Bruce Bowen undercut Ray Allen. In the Western Finals, he shattered McGrady’s knee... The Spurs’ path to the Finals was paved with Bowen’s ’career-ending’ hits.
It wasn’t hard to imagine him doing the same in the Finals.
Su Wan had answered similar questions many times, and being asked again today, he seemed a bit annoyed, not beating around the bush he directly said, "If Bruce Bowen plays dirty against the Pacers’ players, then we’ll just end Tim Duncan!"
???
!!!
First confusion, then shock.
The San Antonio reporters were alarmed, "Wait, why blame Tim for what Bruce did? He’s never done those things!"
Su Wan snorted coldly, "What’s Bruce anyways?"
The reporter was at a loss for words, but Su Wan continued:
"Does his tactical role on the Spurs compare to Ray Allen with the SuperSonics or Tracy with the Rockets?"
"After watching the Western Finals, I suddenly understood, Greg is trying to trade sesame for watermelon!"
"Don’t tell me this isn’t Greg’s intention."
"If Greg didn’t want such things to happen, then he should suspend Bruce Bowen and put him DNP. But he didn’t, he let Bruce Bowen play instead and even said other teams hate Bruce Bowen because they don’t have a Bruce Bowen."
"Well, I’m going to show this highly experienced coach whether other teams in the League really need a Bruce Bowen."
"Should Bruce dare act in the Finals, then Tim Duncan better not step on the court, otherwise, I guarantee to have him lying on a stretcher."
"Indiana has been longing for this championship too long, we can accept defeat, but won’t allow the opponent to trample over our bodies using filthy tactics!"
Su Wan habitually ended with Indiana.
He knew well that Pacers’ fans would share his outrage!
As expected, his comments stirred quite a storm in the outside world.
With such a level of hot discussion, this year’s Finals’ viewership was unlikely to be as low as it was in previous years, making it the least-watched in a decade.