Almighty Coach

Osef sat on the bench, but his attention was not on the court. His gaze was on the fans that were on the other side of the court.

He was looking at the VIP section for the Cleveland home fans. One of the women seated over there had a sumptuous body. She had a big belly, so it was clear that she was several months into a pregnancy.

This woman was Osef’s ex-wife.

Osef initially thought that he would hate her but, upon seeing her again, he realized that he could not bring himself to hate her at all.

She was the woman who used to drive him mad, the woman who had deeply hurt him. She still held an important position in his heart.

Osef gazed at his ex-wife dumbly, reminiscing about the good old days.

His ex-wife noticed that Osef was looking at her, so she then sent a smile Osef’s way.

She is smiling at me! Does she miss me? Osef felt as if his heart had melted. His heart started thumping faster.

This smile was also seen by someone else. The center for the Cavaliers, Terry, who was Osef’s ex-wife’s current husband, also saw Osef and his wife looking at each other.

He then saw his wife winked at this other man, her ex-husband. Terry was infuriated.

Is it possible that they reconciled? Terry guessed at what this exchange of looks meant in his heart.

If Osef was still as self-destructive as he had been, Terry would not even bother with worrying. A drug addict was trash. Who knew? An addict could overdose any day.

The current Osef, however, was back playing basketball; moreover, he seemed to be doing well. It even seemed like he was returning to his peak condition. Obviously, Terry had to be more vigilant in observing their interactions.

When the ex-husband of his wife had been a loser and trash, it made Terry feel powerful and successful as a male. If his wife’s ex-husband was stronger than him, then Terry would feel defeated and emasculated.

These external factors affected Terry’s concentration. Over the next few minutes, Terry made consecutive defensive errors, letting his man slip past him. The Clippers also capitalized on the chances this gave them and went on a 15-3 offensive streak.

The physicality and the execution of difficult movements in a basketball game made the sport one of toughest to play. Players had to concentrate intensely. Once a player was on the court and immersed in the game, he had to focus every second. Once a player lost his concentration, even if he was a superstar, his performance would slip.

The head coach of the Cavaliers noticed that Terry’s attention was not completely on the game. He decisively subbed Terry off. It was an unusual substitution. Everyone could see that the head coach wasn’t satisfied with Terry’s performance over the past few plays, which was why he was subbed off the court.

To be subbed out of a game like this was humiliating. Terry felt that humiliation and he could feel the unfriendly gaze from surrounding fans. It was as if they were trying to say that the team was losing because of him!

On the other hand, on the Clippers, Osef was subbed into the game.

Osef was not the kind of player who excelled at scoring points, but he was an all-around warrior on the court. The way he played, if he performed well, one could feel his presence everywhere on the court. He appeared under the net when it came to getting rebounds; he appeared to throw a block; he appeared during a cut-in; he also appeared in space when his teammates needed to pass to someone. Occasionally, he would even make a couple of beautiful passes, assisting his teammates in scoring.

When it came time for the substitute players to make their appearance, Osef’s performance was even more eye-catching.

In the current Clippers’ lineup, Osef was the core of the substitutes. A versatile miracle player like him could do anything on the court was very suitable in the role.

Sometimes, when one knew how to do everything, it meant they weren’t a master of anything. Osef, however, was skilled enough to bully the substitutes of the other teams.

After all, the substitutes of a team were not as strong as the first team players. Even on a top-class team, the bench would only have one or two strong points. The other players were not strong enough to get on the starting lineup.

Faced with the bench players of the Cavaliers, Osef performed amazingly in the few minutes that he played. He scored, rebounded, and assisted. He displayed for all to see his ability as an all-around great player.

Of course, this was because the bench players of the Cavaliers were weaker. The Cavaliers had three superstar players in their team. They had gotten three giants, and these three people took up most of the salary the team was allowed to pay. This meant that the Cavaliers could not pay the other players high wages. Without sufficient funds, it was natural they could not attract players of a higher caliber to join them in lesser roles.

This was a common problem for a lot of teams. The stars of the team took up so much salary space that the other players had to have lower wages. Typically, the strength of the player was in proportion with their wages. That being true, the strength and ability of the players on the bench, who had lower salaries, were concerning.

It was normal for the bench to be weaker. Any team with 20 to 30 million dollars lying around would try to get a star player before spending the money on benchwarmers. When it came to substitutes on NBA teams, everyone was in the same boat. If a team had an amazing substitute, it basically meant that they were aiming for the title of best sixth man.

Coincidentally, Osef was once the best sixth man!

…

In the battle between the bench players, Osef’s presence was strong. He also attracted the attention of the cameras.

The director of the broadcast was a troublemaker. Every time Osef did something worthy of a highlight, the camera would pan and aim towards Osef’s ex-wife and zoom in on her.

Occasionally, the camera would also zoom in on Terry to record his sad expression.

Terry was currently very depressed. He felt as if there was a huge boulder pressed against his heart. The weight of the huge boulder was increasing the more the game went on. He could not wait to get back on the court and to get rid of Osef.

Finally, the bench players had played there time, and the starters were subbed on the court.

Finally, there was a free throw. Terry was called by the coach and subbed on to the court. As he started gearing up to get on the court to show Osef up, Dai Li subbed Osef off the court.

Terry felt a sudden sense of defeat, as if he had been punched in the face.

After that, he witnessed his wife trading glances with Osef again while he was on the court.

Terry’s attention was shifted off the court once again, so he lost his man again. The Clippers immediately scored two points.

…

Terry looked like he was daydreaming the entire game. He kept losing his focus, losing his man, or making unnecessary fouls. As a center, fouls inadvertently affected his game time. Throughout the entire game, his play time was fragmented and totaled to only around 20 minutes. He didn’t play any longer than a substitute normally does.

Moreover, Terry’s performance directly affected the offense of the Cavaliers. One needed to understand that when a team had big centers like Gray, the other players were able to break through and score in the paint. Without Terry’s defense in the paint, it was all too easy for the Clippers to break into the Cavaliers’ paint. Just from winning a few offensive rebounds, the Clippers led the Cavaliers by a dozen or so points.

When there were only five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers subbed off all their starters and sent the “waterboy” players on. This basically meant that they had surrendered. The Clippers immediately made adjustments accordingly. They subbed off their starters and accepted the victory.

The broadcast did not let Terry move on. The camera continued to pan towards the bench, giving both Osef and Terry several close-ups that focused on their expressions. Then, the close-ups were broadcasted on to the big screen in the stadium.

Obviously, the director was looking for trouble. Those who worked in the media industry were delighted to escalate the tension of a moment as much as possible. The more interesting the scene, the more it would attract the attention of the audience. The reporters and journalists at the stadium wanted to see a fight break out between Osef and Terry.

Osef sat on the bench and gazed at his ex-wife joyously. His gaze was filled with care and concern.

His ex-wife occasionally sent Osef a gentle smile. To Osef, the smile was the warmest ray of light in the world. It made him feel unlimited warmth. Osef no longer cared, at this moment, that she had cheated on him. He also didn’t care about her spreading rumors of him being impotent. His mind was filled with happy memories they shared together.

Terry sat on the bench and stared furiously at this adulterous pair. His wife and her ex-husband. It was difficult for him to endure it.

Finally, the buzzer that signaled the end of the game rang.

The Cavaliers and Clippers began hugging each other in a show of sportsmanship.

Terry, on the other hand, stood up violently and walked towards Osef.

“Get away from my woman!” Terry said in a low voice. His gaze looked like it was filled with the intent to kill.

It had not been easy for Terry to endure that game. He did not perform well that game Whether in terms of stats or the way he played on the court, he lost to Osef. More importantly, it seemed like the relationship between Osef and his wife was not over. How could a man endure such a humiliating night?

Hate filled Osef’s face as well. He noticed that he simply could not hate his ex-wife. That being the case, he placed all his hate on Terry. He even decided that it was Terry who took his wife from him. The origin of everything that went wrong was Terry.

Words were useless. Fists were more direct!

The photographers and the videographers immediately aimed their cameras at the two men. The director of the live broadcast immediately focused in on the two of them.

The fans who were leaving the stadium instantly stopped moving. Some looked towards the big screen while others gazed directly at the two people on the court.

“Are they gonna start a fight?”

“I bought tickets for this game just for this!”

Clearly, Dai Li was not the only person who wanted to enjoy the show. Tens of thousands of fans did as well.

…

“What are you looking at?”

“What’s wrong with looking at you?”

“Try looking at me again!”

“I just did. What? Does it bother you?”

“Keep looking. Believe it or not, I’ll cut you!”

Dai Li created these dialogues in his mind.

Dai Li was located relatively far away from the two of them. He did not know what Terry and Osef were talking about, so he had to make up their dialogue in his mind. Dai Li felt that their words were probably leading to a fight.

Dai Li did not know if a fight would have really broken out from someone saying “What are you looking at,” but it looked like Osef and Terry were really going to fight. This dialogue mysteriously appeared in Dai Li’s mind.

Chaos stormed the court in an instant. The game was finished, everyone normally would have left work. The referees were already headed into the tunnel leading to the locker rooms. Of course, some players and coaching staff had also already left the court. At that moment, Osef and Terry actually started to fight.

In the history of NBA, there had been many fights occurring during the course of a game. It was extremely rare, however, for a fight to occur after the game had finished.

When a fight occurred in a game, the referee immediately rushed over to interfere. The other players rushed over in an attempt to pull the fighters away. At that moment, the game had already finished and the referees had left, so no one blew the whistle to interfere. The other players had also left or, at the very least, were preparing to leave the court, so no one immediately there to try and stop the fight.

In terms of height, Osef was six-foot-ten and Terry was six-foot-nine. Considering, however, that the record of a player’s height was never that accurate, the height difference between the two men was negligible.

When it came to weight, the official data on the two men were similar. Terry, who played as a center, was heavier. Due to taking drugs in the past, Osef was lighter.

A fight, however, was not determined by the size of a person. A huge person was not guaranteed to win a fight. For example, in the fight today, Osef clearly had the advantage. He caught Terry and gave him a good beating.

The outcome of a fight was related to where a person came from.

Osef was born in Queens, New York. It was the most complicated region in New York It had the world’s busiest airport, the most historical museum, a famous park, and a chaotic slum.

Strictly speaking, the Bronx was the most impoverished borough of New York. It was also the place with the worst neighborhoods. When it came to the degree of chaos in the neighborhoods, however, Queens was worse than the Bronx.

In New York, Manhattan was where the rich gathered and the Bronx was where the poor gathered. Queens had both rich and poor people.

Where the rich lived together, security was, without a doubt, the best. Anywhere in the world, wealthy areas were great. These places had good environments, incredible security, and excellent educational facilities.

Where the poor gathered together, the living standards were certain to be terrible. This did not mean that it was chaotic. If everyone was poor, there was nothing to steal or rob from each other. Everyone simply survived and there was no need for the poor to make life harder for the poor. Instances like this created a “poor man’s order.”

For example, the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was like this in the 20th century. To outsiders, it was a place where strangers should be avoided at all cost. It was filled with all kinds of sins. Still, tens of thousands of citizens lived in the Kowloon Walled City. To them, as long as they followed the rules, they were able to survive.

Where the rich lived together with the poor, chaos was common. The poor, who had no money, had to see the rich walk past them every day. It was hard not to have evil thoughts. Hating the rich was common. In some areas of China, if a person sent his child to kindergarten in a luxury car, he would be attacked by the teachers as well as other parents. Then, he would be kicked out of the parent group. The U.S. was considered the “Gun Capital of the World.” Guns outnumbered people in this country. This put the rich in danger of being shot.

Queens was such a place. It was the most multicultural area in New York. It had luxurious villas, as well as chaotic slums. Both appeared in the same region, so it was natural that there was a lot of chaos.

Osef grew up in Queens. He was raised by his maternal grandmother and aunt. He was considered a good kid who grew up from a poor family. In Queens, there was simply no way a poor kid could grow up there and not know how to fight!

Osef, who grew up in that kind of environment, was an expert fighter.

Terry was born in Canada, both his parents had emigrated from Jamaica. He hadn’t been poor, which is why his family had been able to emigrate to Canada. At the very least, he was part of the middle class. When you were poor, it was impossible to emigrate to Canada.

Terry’s parents had also paid a lot of attention to the education of their kids. Terry was an ice hockey player in middle school. It was a sport that cost a lot of money. Later, as Terry grew taller and taller, his parents ultimately sent him to a prestigious basketball school in the U.S. Canada had 12 years of compulsory education, so if a Canadian sent his child to a high school in the U.S., he needed to pay extra. Since Terry’s family managed to pay extra, it could be assumed that Terry’s family was well-off.

One could say that Terry grew up in a relatively affluent family. He received a better education at a young age. A child who grew up in such a family, even if there were conflicts between him and his peers, would not be in any serious fights. It was unlikely for a person like that to be a good fighter.

Although Terry was over six feet, had a muscular body, and looked very intimidating, he did not know how to fight.

One grew up fighting and the other did not know the first thing about a fight. When the two fought, the result was predictable.

Although Terry was bigger, he was beaten up by Osef.

…

“They’ve started fighting!” Dai Li looked at the two men with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Then, Dai Li opened his mouth and started making comments. “It looks like Osef has gained the upper hand! Not bad, he’s won!”

“Coach, it doesn’t really matter who wins, right? We should pull them apart!” Cassel said nervously.

Still, he did not immediately go over to stop the fight. Two muscular men who were over six feet tall were fighting each other. If Cassel did not get a few people to help him, he did not dare to just walk up to them. The two men had thick arms and fists as large as pots, it would be quite possible for Cassel to get injured by mistake.

“Yes, hurry up and go pull them apart!” Dai Li showed an excited look. “Osef has won, let’s hurry up and stop those who are trying to stop the fight!”

Cassel didn’t know how to respond.