However, a loss is a loss, and Su Wan isn’t a sore loser. When Francis hit that "Super Long Three Points," he just gave a thumbs up.
The post-game atmosphere wasn’t that harmonious though.
Howard, who scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in this game, told the media directly, "I hope everyone can see that the 2004 class isn’t just about Su, there are other excellent rookies too, and we’ve changed a lot since our rookie season."
What Howard really meant by "we" was himself.
In his second professional season, so far he’s been averaging 16 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, showing signs of developing into a top-tier big man.
Still, his media exposure remained about the same as last season, which frustrated him.
After defeating the "back-to-back" Pacers, he finally found an opportunity to vent.
When Su Wan heard that Howard was stirring things up after the game, he just repeated, "OK, OK!"
The enmity was established.
When Little O’Neal heard about it, he sneered to take revenge for Su Wan, "Honestly, I’ve never seen someone who farts so much during a game!"
Howard just chuckled, "That’s my secret weapon. Nobody can imitate it. Jermaine is just making excuses for his poor performance tonight!"
Little O’Neal only had 15 points and 7 rebounds that evening, a significant drop from his previous streak of 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Su Wan was surprised that Artest didn’t take the opportunity to tease him.
"Is it your aunt’s visit?"
"What?"
"Nothing, Ron, you’ve been really off lately."
On the return flight, when Su Wan saw everyone else gathered playing Texas hold ’em and Artest sitting alone by the window, he took the initiative to chat. But Artest clearly wasn’t in the mood, putting on an eye mask and pretending to sleep.
"Come on, Ron, you’re just upset because the reporters are interviewing everyone else and you’re being ignored, right?"
Artest took off his eye mask and looked at Su Wan in disbelief, as if to say:
How did you know?
Su Wan didn’t actually know, but after Howard’s media rant, he suddenly understood. He was very aware that the original Artest had demanded a trade in front of the media because he felt his exposure wasn’t as high as Little O’Neal’s, which ignited sensitive emotions.
That caused quite a stir.
Little O’Neal and Stephen Jackson both publicly criticized Artest for lacking "worldly honor."
After all, their chances for last season’s championship were missed because of Artest’s impulsiveness. Those accusations also drove Artest, the "Ostrich," away.
Now that the playing style had changed, with Little O’Neal, who had a lesser impact in the post than "Little Tyrant" Little Si, along with Su Wan averaging 27.4 points and ranking in the top ten scorers in the League, and the emerging "ball-handling duo" of Calderon and Dior, they made Artest’s media exposure even lower than before.
Every time Artest returned to the team bus or locker room, seeing the empty spots, he couldn’t help feeling bitter.
He knew he didn’t have the influence of Su Wan, but he also didn’t want to become invisible.
Still, he had promised to win three consecutive championships with Su Wan and Little O’Neal, so he quashed the thought of asking for a trade as soon as it arose—this is where the saying "you become influenced by those you’re close to" applies. By following Su Wan, Artest’s mentality had grown stronger; he wasn’t the "Ostrich" anymore.
But he didn’t know how to break out of the current predicament.
Now that Su Wan was aware of this situation, Artest simply opened up, drowning him in his woes, and finally said, "Su, I want exposure, I want to get back to the All-Star stage, what should I do?"
Su Wan said, "It’s simple!"
"Huh?" Artest didn’t expect this answer. The dilemma he’d been mulling over for days without finding a solution, Su Wan said was simple.
"Tomorrow, just announce to the media that you will become the first small forward in NBA history to win two Best Defensive Player Awards!"
Artest: !!!
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l