Chapter 622: [The Draft]

The Knicks’ championship victory propelled Su Xi to become the most dominant superstar of the 21st century.

Furthermore, even the most discerning critics had to admit that the advantages Michael Jordan held were dwindling, and Su Xi was rapidly closing the gap.

The next day, Su Xi was on the cover of the New York Times.

Time Magazine followed suit.

The New York Media’s adoration for Su Xi reached an unprecedented level.

After all, it was Su Xi who led the Knicks to unprecedented success. It was Su Xi who made basketball the pride of New York again. It was Su Xi who turned Madison Garden back into the well-deserved Mecca of basketball.

In the league today, no one could compare to Su Xi.

Therefore, the attitude around the league had no choice but to change to: “Forget playing fair, everyone just pile on him.”

After the game, Kobe Bryant told the media, “He’s the number one player in the league, that’s indisputable. He changes the game in his own way. He’s already a one-of-a-kind figure in NBA history.”

Regarding the question of who was better, Su Xi or Jordan, he said, “It’s hard to say. They’re super players from different eras. In the end, you can only compare their accolades.”

When asked if he thought Su Xi’s offensive ability had surpassed his own, he said this: “That’s impossible to compare. But I can tell you one thing: if I were about to say that all the scorers in this room are trash, I’d have Jack stand up first. Yes, in today’s league, he’s the only one who has earned that kind of respect from me.”

“What about McGrady?” a New York reporter suddenly asked, bringing up a name that had faded from the spotlight.

“Huh? Him? Why is he part of this conversation?” Kobe asked, genuinely perplexed.

This drew a big laugh, and naturally, it led to a flurry of media reports the next day. It became a whole other controversy.

A minor controversy.

After all, this wasn’t the same Tracy McGrady from his days with the Magic. His scoring ability was potent, but that seemed to be the only thing he had to brag about.

Compared to the incredible, sustained excellence of Su Xi and Kobe, he was leagues behind.

In terms of willpower, they were in a different dimension entirely.

Finally, Kobe congratulated Su Xi on winning the championship and the Finals MVP.

He said it was the second option he could accept.

As far as Kobe was concerned, if the Lakers couldn’t win the championship, the only other acceptable outcome was the Knicks winning.

Additionally, Phil Jackson said Su Xi was the player with the greatest command of the game he had ever seen.

He didn’t, however, weigh in on who was the greatest of all time: Su Xi or Jordan.

The debate over who was better, Su Xi or Jordan, was enough to sustain thousands of sports media outlets.

During the long offseason, there would be plenty of time to write articles on the subject.

But for now, the moment and the glory all belonged to Goat Su Xi.

Su Xi was lounging at home, beginning to enjoy his vacation. He had no national team commitments this year. And while he still had many commercial obligations, he would get more time to rest compared to last year.

Of course, for the fans back in China, they were already starting to prepare for 2008.

This would be the most important Olympic Games in the national team’s history. For the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team, which had already won two consecutive world championship golds, expectations were sky-high: they had to win the gold medal.

And the fans had every reason to believe the national team could do it.

After all, this year’s Finals had been a duel between Yao Ming and Su Xi. If they could battle it out on the NBA’s grandest stage, then surely, when they joined forces, they would sweep away all their international rivals.

Moreover, top prospect Yi Jianlian was entering the draft this year.

His draft stock was high and steadily rising. Some even thought the Knicks would use their second-overall pick on him.

This was because Yi Jianlian possessed great athleticism, along with a decent shot and solid defense. After training with Su Xi, his quickness had noticeably improved, he played more aggressively, and his game was less rigid.

With Su Xi and Yao Ming having paved the way, expectations for Yi Jianlian were very high.

And the American basketball world felt the same way.

At one point, Yi Jianlian was considered one of the top three prospects, right alongside Oden and Durant.

Su Xi, however, wasn’t so optimistic.

He had watched Yi Jianlian’s most recent game footage. Yi Jianlian dominated the domestic league, defeating Wang Zhizhi’s team in this year’s finals. He was following in Yao Ming’s legendary footsteps, heading to a higher level of competition after proving invincible in the CBA.

However, Su Xi believed Yi Jianlian’s trajectory in the NBA wouldn’t be like Yao Ming’s. He should aim to be an elite third option rather than trying to become a two-way superstar.

He would need to adapt, because in China, he was the undisputed centerpiece of his team.

However, the agent he signed with was playing hardball, refusing to let him participate in any pre-draft workouts.

This left many teams feeling unsure.

Three days after the Finals ended, Isaiah Thomas asked Su Xi if they should invite Yi Jianlian for a workout.

Su Xi’s answer was: No.

Even when Isaiah Thomas told him that the SuperSonics were willing to trade their two lottery picks this year to the Knicks for the second-overall pick.

Su Xi asked, “Where did they get two lottery picks?”

“They’re preparing to trade Ray Allen,” Isaiah Thomas told Su Xi. “Presti is planning a complete rebuild for the Thunder.”

Oh!

It all clicked for Su Xi.

‘So they’re actually trading Ray Allen.’

‘Ray Allen is a top-tier shooter.’

Just then, Isaiah Thomas asked Su Xi, “Would you be interested in trading for Ray Allen? The SuperSonics said that if we’re willing, they’ll trade him for a draft pick plus Crawford.”

Su Xi frowned. ‘That *is* a little tempting.’