"Why?!"
Bosh looked confused, and Wade also turned to LeBron.
LeBron set the newspaper down and said, "19 games, 5 game-winners. Whenever the team is pushed to the brink,
In the most critical moments, when the score difference is just one or two points, he always steps up, delivers a play, and turns the game around with a buzzer-beater.
Blake Su's clutch mentality as a rookie, and his ability to perform in key moments, are beyond question.
However,
To hit those clutch shots and complete those game-winners, there's a prerequisite: the score has to be close in the final moments, and more often than not, his team has to be trailing.
Only then can a game-winner happen.
That also means that teams like the Lakers and the Spurs, strong teams, can push the Suns to the very end. And that suggests the Suns as a whole aren't quite as strong as people think.
Because,
A truly elite team can finish the game in three quarters, or build a huge lead early in the fourth, leaving the opponent no chance to hit a game-winner.
So,
The Suns aren't as strong as they seem. When we face them, we just need to ride the momentum and put the game away within three quarters, or blow it open at the start of the fourth.
No matter how strong Blake Su is, there'll be nothing he can do."
"Yeah."
After hearing this, Bosh and Wade both nodded.
LeBron stood up, gave a faint smile, and said, "No denying it, Blake Su is a once-in-a-generation rookie. But sorry… this season belongs to us, the Heat."
"Of course."
"Right. We came together for a championship."
The three exchanged smiles, their eyes burning with determination.
...
Today was the last day of 2010.
After beating the Spurs, the Suns would have three days off heading into New Year's Day. But the media and the internet showed no signs of slowing down in their discussions about the Suns and Blake Su.
Of course,
Aside from the Suns and Blake Su, the NBA schedule, All-Star voting, and other matters were all progressing steadily.
As for Blake Su,
After flying back to Phoenix overnight with the team, he ignored everything as usual and caught up on sleep. When he woke up, it was still relatively early, 10 a.m.
"Beep beep~"
He had just woken up when he saw a text notification.
He checked it, and his face immediately lit up. Adidas was paying his salary: a total of 1.2 million USD, which came out to about 8 million RMB.
A 5-year, 100 million contract, 20 million a year, roughly 1.67 million a month. After taxes and deductions, taking home 1.2 million USD was perfectly reasonable.
Earning 8 million just by sleeping.
Damn, that felt good.
Payday always put Blake Su in a great mood.
Of course, he knew money meant work. Sure enough, just a few minutes later, his phone rang, Adidas was calling him in for a shoot.
Adi also understood how packed an NBA player's schedule was.
So Blake Su wouldn't be working every day. Only when he had at least two days off would they ask him to come in for filming.
"Let's go."
In his previous life, he'd been an office worker, so he didn't hate going to work. Compared to before, low pay, few days off, and endless overtime,
Now he had high pay, plenty of free time, flexible hours, and no overtime. It was basically a dream job.
After getting up and cleaning up, Blake Su headed out to work.
5 p.m.
Blake Su clocked out right on time. As he took a taxi home, he increasingly felt how inconvenient it was not having a car.
"No way. Getting a car has to move up the priority list. Otherwise it's a hassle, and a waste of the money I spent getting my driver's license."
That's right.
Blake Su already had a driver's license.
Getting one in the U.S. involved both a written test and a road test. While it wasn't expensive, you still had to wait based on how many people were taking the exam.
Blake Su had no issues with driving skills; the only problem was time. To speed things up, he had Austin pull some strings and spent money to become a "VIP."
The whole process was done in half a day, and he got his license within three days.
It made him realize that no matter where you are, money really does make things happen faster.
With his license in hand,
what he lacked now was a car.
...
8 p.m.
Leaning back on the couch, enjoying a rare moment of downtime, Blake Su turned on the TV. Was he going to watch an NBA game live?
No.
He drew the curtains, dimmed the lights, set the mood, then searched for The Ring 2 and hit play.
Yes.
Blake Su loved horror movies.
As the story unfolded, the female lead, Mai Takano, went to investigate the cause of her lover's death in an attic. A strange house. A strange attic.
Everything was filled with a cold, eerie atmosphere.
As she walked down a corridor, continuing her search, she suddenly saw a woman combing her hair in front of a round mirror on the wall. Through the mirror,
The woman smiled as she combed her hair. Her pale face and eerie smile made one's heart race.
Takano felt a chill crawl up her spine. Suddenly, her pupils widened as she slowly glanced backward. The camera followed, slowly turning behind her, accompanied by chilling background music.
It was genuinely terrifying.
Blake Su's nerves were completely taut. He clenched his fists, bracing himself, wondering if Sadako was about to suddenly appear with her hair covering her face.
Right then,
"Beep beep beep~"
His phone suddenly rang.
"Ahhh!"
"Holy shit~"
Blake Su jerked back in fright, shouting out loud and swearing.
"Phew…"
He gasped for breath for a while before finally calming down. Picking up his phone, he was just about to curse out whoever had called at such a terrible moment,
Then he saw it was Mia Quinn.
He had no choice but to swallow it and answered, "Quinnie."
"Hm?"
On the other end, Mia Quinn heard his voice and asked, "Blake~ what's wrong? Why are you out of breath? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I'm just watching a movie."
"Oh~"
Mia Quinn immediately understood and laughed. "Blake, you're watching a horror movie, aren't you? Did my call scare you?"
WTF?
She figured that out too?
But for the sake of his pride, Blake Su curled his lip. "No way. Not a chance."
"Hehe~"
Mia Quinn chuckled and didn't press further. "Blake, congrats on the win yesterday. As your fan, I watched the whole game.
Wow!
It was so intense and exciting!
At one point I thought you were going to lose, but I didn't expect you to pull off the comeback. I never realized you were this good at basketball before.
So tell me,
what have you been up to all these years while I was at school?"
"Hehe!"
Blake Su laughed. "Look at my height. As long as I train hard, of course I'm good."
"Uh… I guess that makes sense~"
"By the way, Quinnie, how's it going with your film crew?"
"It's pretty good. I've already joined one. It's a really tiny role, but still, it's not bad. It's a great start.
Hmm…
Wait, that's not right. Blake, how did you know I joined a film crew?"
Mia Quinn was puzzled. She hadn't told anyone, Blake Su was the first.
"Hehe!"
Blake Su grinned. "Because you're my cousin. We're related by blood, so we've got a connection. I could tell just from your tone."
"Oh please~ I bet you just guessed."
"Seriously~"
Mia Quinn clearly didn't believe him and laughed as she exposed him. "Blake, did you forget? We're not actually related by blood. So… go on, keep making it up."
...
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