Chapter 606 94: [Jack Su's Ability to Exploit Loopholes]

Su Xi was very busy. He didn't even have time to watch the news that evening.

He received Jessica Alba and Megan Fox at the Hilton Hotel. They arrived at the presidential suite for a cordial meeting with Su Xi, and the three parties engaged in a frank, in-depth, and unreserved exchange.

After six rounds of intense talks, the meeting yielded significant results. It marked a positive start on the path to normalizing relations between the three parties and opened up new prospects for their impending new life together.

The opinions of the three parties at the meeting were unified, achieving an unprecedented level of solidarity.

After consultations, the three parties agreed to hold a new round of talks in New York in three days. Megan Fox stated that she would invite another interested party to join the talks.

Jessica Alba did not express any opposition to this.

Su Xi highly commended their big-picture awareness and expressed sincere joy and admiration for the concessions and sacrifices they had made.

The next morning, bearing the fruits of his victory, Su Xi returned to the Knicks Club's hotel with a spring in his step.

Everyone was understanding about Su Xi's one-night disappearance, and no one raised any questions.

However, everyone was now very concerned about Su Xi's game plan for the next match.

What happened next was completely unexpected.

Many in the media believed the Knicks players couldn't possibly support Su Xi in a one-on-one duel with Kobe. After all, Kobe had proposed an absurd challenge, and it would structurally undermine the advantages the Knicks currently possessed.

However, the first thing Milicic said when he saw Su Xi was, "Jack, you should destroy Kobe. That guy is way too full of himself."

"That's right, Jack. We fully support you. You should shut Kobe's mouth for good."

"The GOAT is the GOAT. You gotta make him accept it, no questions asked!"

Zach Randolph said.

The Knicks were more united than ever. They all stood by Su Xi, firmly believing that not only could he beat Kobe, but he *had* to beat Kobe. Only then could they shut the mouths of all the naysayers.

Besides, Su Xi, the God of Basketball, was supposed to be omniscient and omnipotent!

This was the consensus among the Knicks.

Isaiah Thomas was a perceptive man. 'Kobe's using an open conspiracy,' he thought. 'He wants to use this method to bait Su Xi into a trap.'

And yet, Su Xi had no choice but to walk right into it.

The Smiling Assassin had a sharp eye. He could see that Su Xi's overall scoring ability was no weaker than Kobe's, but there was still a gap in his ability to score in isolation against tough defense.

If they really played by the rules Kobe had set, the Lakers would just have to lock down Su Xi, and the Knicks' fluid tactical advantage would completely disappear.

So, it was an absurd proposal.

No matter the outcome, Kobe couldn't lose.

And yet, as crude as this trap was, Su Xi had no choice but to jump into it.

For a player who had already won three championships, three regular-season MVPs, and three Finals MVPs, Su Xi had only one goal left: to surpass Jordan and become the GOAT.

By setting up this challenge now, Kobe was clearly trying to trip Su Xi up.

'So, are you going to take the bait or not?'

'If you want to be the GOAT, you have to beat me at my strongest game. Otherwise, I won't acknowledge you, and I'll lead everyone else not to acknowledge you either.'

It was a bit of a shameless tactic.

But Su Xi had to accept the challenge.

Isaiah Thomas wouldn't say anything to dissuade him, either.

He was prepared to lose the game.

Su Xi watched Kobe's interview, O'Neal's interview, and even saw that Jordan had commented on the matter.

Wearing a baseball cap, Jordan said, "If there had been a Kobe in my era who said something like that to me, the first thing I would have done is destroy him."

Su Xi didn't think Jordan could actually destroy Kobe. 'In a one-on-one, Jordan against a prime Kobe would be about a 5.5-to-4.5 matchup,' he thought. 'It wouldn't reach a clear-cut 6-to-4 advantage.'

But because Jordan was retired, and the media widely acknowledged that Kobe had modeled his scoring techniques after Jordan, the public consensus was that Jordan's scoring ability was far, far superior to Kobe's.

"Isn't this ridiculous? If he said he could lick the entire basketball in ten seconds, would I have to surpass him in that too?"

Su Xi said this during an interview with TNT before the start of Game 2.

He looked very calm.

"Since when did basketball become a one-on-one game? Besides, his scoring ability isn't better than mine. I'm this season's scoring champion. What is he?"

Su Xi said to the camera.

Then, the reporters took Su Xi's interview back to Kobe.

Kobe laughed and said, "Just you wait and see. That guy says one thing and does another. He's definitely going to challenge me one-on-one tonight, and in the half-court set, too. I know him too well."

The reporter was a little skeptical. He turned his head and asked Yao Ming, "As Jack Su's national teammate, what do you think?"

"I agree. He's a proud man. In China, we have a saying that someone 'can't tolerate a single grain of sand in their eye.' He definitely won't let this 'grain of sand'—Kobe—diminish his monumental achievements."

Yao Ming added, "Besides, if he does beat Kobe, it would be a huge boost to his legacy."

Both Yao Ming and Kobe were so certain.

BWEEET!

The whistle blew, and the game began.

The Lakers' starting lineup remained the same: Vujacic, Kobe, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Yao Ming.

The Knicks' starting lineup was: Kyle Lowry, Su Xi, Stephen Jackson, Zach Randolph, and Milicic.

Lowry brought the ball up the court and then passed it to Su Xi.

Su Xi got the ball in the mid-post, facing Kobe.

Kobe smiled. "Jack. I know you too well. Come on. Show me what you've got."