Chapter 617: The Loyal and Righteous Goat Su Xi

Chapter 617: Chapter 99: The Loyal and Righteous Goat Su Xi

The atmosphere within the Knicks was incredible.

The team’s morale was at an unbelievable high.

BEEP!

The whistle blew, and the second half of the game began.

Kobe attacked the paint right from the start. He knew he was getting the calls now, and he drew a foul on Zach Randolph.

He made both free throws.

But on the next possession, Su Xi drove into the paint, kicked the ball out to the corner, and Lowry caught it and drained a three-pointer.

Kobe continued to attack the paint, but Su Xi blocked him from behind.

But the head referee called it for goaltending.

Afterward, Su Xi hit a pull-up jumper.

The Lakers were getting some favorable calls, but it couldn’t stop the Knicks, whose shooting was just too hot.

They were completely unable to pose a threat to the Knicks.

Even in the latter half of the third quarter when Randolph went to the bench for a rest, David Lee came in and was even more ferocious, continuously knocking down mid-range jumpers.

By the end of the third quarter, the momentum was completely gone for the Lakers.

In the end, Kobe had lost.

He hadn’t just lost his individual battle; the team had lost as well.

With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Phil Jackson called a timeout. He subbed Kobe out, signaling the start of garbage time.

The Knicks also put in their bench lineup.

But even after the bench unit came in, they continued their offensive surge.

The final score was 129 to 102.

The Knicks won by 27 points.

This was the largest point differential in this year’s Finals.

It also meant the Lakers had completely lost any chance of competing for the championship.

Madison Square Garden Arena had been erupting in cheers since the last five minutes of the game, the ecstatic New York fans making all sorts of clamorous noise.

They were overjoyed.

They could already see the championship trophy on its way.

After the game ended, Isaiah Thomas was interviewed by ESPN.

Su Xi had already left early.

He wasn’t very interested.

Although he knew the reporters definitely had a lot of questions for him.

But for him, he was more eager to get back home and hold his four-party conference.

‘Ah, once you start having big meetings, there’s no going back.’

Isaiah Thomas was beaming with pride. He was very happy, very excited.

Ever since Su Xi arrived, every single boast he’d made had come true. No matter how absurd his flexing was, it always materialized.

Therefore, he had come to a conclusion: in the world of basketball, Little Sheep Su Xi was omnipotent.

“There’s no special trick to it. It’s just a matter of skill.”

“The Lakers are a strong team, of course. If they weren’t, how could they have made it to the Finals?”

“Winning wasn’t a surprise for us. We were actually being a bit too humble in Los Angeles. Jack didn’t want to go to war with Kobe; they have a good relationship. He wanted to let Kobe save face, which is why he only averaged 30 points in the previous two games. Tonight, we convinced him. We told him: ‘Goat, put a little more effort into it. This is a game, please don’t let those critics run their mouths with nonsense.’ And then, he said, ‘Alright, I’ll only use eighty percent of my strength for this game.'”

“And then, you all saw the result. Jack scored 59 points.”

“I asked him, ‘Jack, why didn’t you score one more point?'”

“He said, ‘I scored 59 points to prove my own strength. Not scoring 60 was out of respect for Kobe.'”

Isaiah Thomas was weaving a story on television.

He was very good at making up stories, and he knew very well that if Su Xi wanted to achieve a greater legendary status, stories had to be created.

Why is Jordan so legendary?

By creating stories!

Jordan created so many imaginary rivals for himself. In his autobiography, he wrote in such a flowery and exaggerated way; a lot of it was just hyperbole.

If Jordan could do it, why couldn’t Goat Su Xi?

‘Besides, what I said is at least eighty percent true.’

‘Don’t Su Xi and Kobe have a good relationship?’

‘Didn’t Su Xi hold back in Los Angeles?’

‘Couldn’t he have scored 60 points tonight?’

When these facts were put together and embellished a little by Isaiah Thomas, a legendary filter immediately appeared.

Many people watching on TV were deeply moved. Even some Lakers fans felt that Su Xi was a man of great loyalty and integrity, even though their team had just been destroyed by the Knicks.

There are more emotional people in this world than rational ones.

Therefore, the world needs stories.

Isaiah Thomas continued, “At this point, if there’s anyone who still thinks Jordan is the number one player in history, they should go to the hospital and get their head checked.”

“Long live Goat Su Xi! Long live the invincible Goat Su Xi!”

As he was leaving, Isaiah Thomas even raised his fist and shouted a couple of slogans.

In contrast, the other head coach, Phil Jackson, was not in such high spirits.

He returned to the press conference, where he had to endure the scathing sarcasm of the New York Media and face it all.

Previously, the New York Media’s mockery had already made him very uncomfortable.

Now, he had to face even more uncomfortable questions.

The New York Media were absolute professionals when it came to rubbing salt in the wound.

When he sat down in his chair at the post-game press conference, the very first question was incredibly sharp: “Mr. Jackson. Do you believe Jack Su is the number one player in the league?”

Phil Jackson hesitated for a moment, then said, “Judging by the current situation, that’s hard to deny.”

“Then do you admit that you can’t win a championship without the number one player in the league on your team?”

Uh…

Phil Jackson was very uncomfortable.

‘It’s incredibly difficult to lead a team to the Finals, you know? Can’t you acknowledge my greatness even a little bit?’

‘Do you have to insist that I can’t win a championship without the number one player?’

At this point, Phil Jackson said, “We’ve only played the third game.”

“So you’re saying the Lakers can win all of the next four games and pull off an unprecedented championship miracle?”

Phil Jackson fell silent.

He couldn’t continue.

The reporter from ESPN was nicer. He asked a question that wasn’t quite as painful for Phil Jackson: “As someone who has coached Michael Jordan, whose offensive ability do you think is stronger: Jack Su’s, Kobe Bryant’s, or Michael Jordan’s?”

As long as the question wasn’t about himself, Phil Jackson could speak eloquently. “Uh… that’s a very difficult question to answer. Without a doubt, they are all top-tier scorers, all standing at the pinnacle of the all-time scoring list. If you must insist on me saying who is the best, I can only answer it this way: if it’s for a game-winning shot, I would give the ball to Kobe. If it was a game-winning shot with five million USD on the line, I would give it to Jordan.”

“What about Jack?”

“From what I know of him, he wouldn’t let the game’s suspense last until the final seconds.”

Did Phil Jackson answer the question?

It seemed like he didn’t.

But in fact, he already had.

It could be interpreted in any way you wanted.

Then, a reporter asked him about his expectations for Game 4.

Phil Jackson’s answer was: “Play a good game.”

Uh… another piece of correct but useless advice.

But it could also be interpreted as: we’ll go through the motions.

As for whether the Lakers could win the championship, everyone already had the answer in their hearts.

Especially after the Knicks’ huge victory in Game 3.

…

Su Xi returned home and saw the report on television.

When he saw Isaiah Thomas’s ‘story’, he was stunned. ‘When did I ever say that?’

Yet the host on the TV was actually very moved.

The female host said, “…if only Jack treated the three sexy Hollywood starlets as well as he treats Kobe. It would be so wonderful! Jack would rather be responsible to Kobe than take responsibility for the three sexy Hollywood starlets…”

Su Xi immediately changed the channel.

He felt his scalp tingle.

Scarlett and Jessica, who were beside him, were also a bit embarrassed.

They were feeding Su Xi apple slices.

They were all having a happy and harmonious time together.

He switched to an entertainment channel, and it was also decrying the injustice on their behalf.

Su Xi felt a little depressed.

He said, “How about we all go shopping together another day?”

“It’s no use, Jack. If we go shopping together, they’ll definitely think you’re just taking us out for a staged photo op to quell everyone’s anger.”

“Unless we get married! Jack, unless we have a grand wedding.”

“Oh, that’s actually a brilliant idea.”

The two of them reached an agreement.

But Su Xi shook his head and said, “That’s too unrealistic, guys. Don’t get the wrong idea.”