bookbashuk Chapter 19 Williams Declares War, the Bet Escalates
Chapter 19 Williams Declares War, the Bet Escalates
After scoring 38 points in the opening game against the Lakers and earning respect from the Black Mamba, Lin Hao's name has become one of the hottest keywords in the NBA.
Within 24 hours of its online release, "Northeasterner on the Basketball Court" garnered over 10 million views, firmly securing the top spot on major domestic music platforms. Even on North American Spotify's Hot Songs chart, this Chinese song, a blend of suona (a traditional Northeastern Chinese opera instrument), Northeastern dialect, and basketball passion, managed to squeeze onto the charts. On short video platforms, the hashtag #SuonaDunkerLinHao# surpassed 10 billion views, with countless fans creating fan art using highlights of his dunks on Shaquille O'Neal and his basketball duels with Kobe Bryant. Even Northeastern dishes like sweet and sour pork and canned yellow peaches experienced a surge in popularity.
Riding this momentum, the Warriors won two more regular season games, starting their road trip with a three-game winning streak. Their first stop was the United Center in Chicago.
This game had been hyped up by the American media for a week, simply because the Bulls' star point guard, the 2002 second overall pick, Jay Williams, had never swallowed the bitter pill of being faked out and defeated by Lin Hao in the Summer League.
After the Bulls' practice the day before the game, Williams was surrounded by reporters in the player tunnel. When asked about tomorrow's game against the Warriors, especially his thoughts on guarding Lin Hao, the smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by an undisguised sarcasm.
"That internet celebrity who became famous online with a song and a lucky game-winning shot?" Williams tugged at his Bulls jersey, speaking slowly to the camera, his contempt almost overflowing. "I'll say it again, he doesn't deserve to be an NBA starter. He hyped up the crowd during halftime in the Finals, made a lucky game-winner in the Summer League, and now he's trying to grab attention with a catchy pop song. This isn't what basketball is all about."
He stepped forward half a step and spoke into the microphone, word by word: "In tomorrow's game, I will personally guard him. I can bet everyone here that he will never score more than 10 points on me. I will let him know that there is an insurmountable gap between a second-round pick and a second-round pick, and that an internet celebrity can never become a real player."
These words were like a bombshell, instantly igniting a firestorm throughout the American sports world.
ESPN, TNT and other major sports media outlets changed their live broadcast schedules overnight, upgrading what was originally just a regular season game to a prime-time broadcast across the United States, with headlines that were more sensational than the last: "The Fateful Revenge Battle Between the Second Overall Pick and the Second Round Pick" and "Can the Internet Celebrity Miracle Continue? Williams Vows to Teach Lin Hao a Lesson."
In TNT's live broadcast studio, Barkley and Kenny Smith immediately made a bet. Barkley slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "I bet Lin Hao will win! This kid is definitely not some internet celebrity; he's the rookie with the highest basketball IQ I've ever seen! Williams is just a paper tiger; he can't guard Lin Hao at all!"
"Charles, are you crazy?" Smith retorted with a laugh. "Williams is a genius second overall pick from Duke. He was just careless in the Summer League. This time, he will definitely expose Lin Hao's true colors! I bet Williams will win, and the loser will have to wear the opponent's jersey and commentate on the entire game!"
Back in China, across the ocean, the debate was in full swing. On the homepage of Hupu forum, eight out of ten posts discussed the game. Some criticized Williams for being a sore loser, accusing him of being stubborn even after being defeated in the Summer League; others were on tenterhooks, worried that Lin Hao would be overwhelmed by the targeted defense against the determined second overall pick; and many more fans were chanting "Lin Hao beats him," waiting to see him silence all the doubters once again.
At the training facility of the Chicago hotel where the Warriors were staying, Richardson had just seen the interview video of Williams and immediately exploded. He slammed the water bottle in his hand to the ground, the plastic bottle hitting the floor with a loud bang.
"That son of a bitch is shameless!" Richardson cursed, his eyes red. "Xia Lian got shoved to the ground by Canned Food Guy, and after that game-winning shot, he's still not convinced? Now he dares to spout nonsense? Tomorrow I'll make sure he doesn't even recognize his own mother!"
His teammates joined in their indignation. Murphy clenched his fist and cursed, "10 points? He's too arrogant! Even Kobe couldn't stop Lin from scoring 38 points in the opening game. Who does he think he is?"
"Exactly! You forgot how we held you to 3-for-17 shooting in the Summer League last time?"
A group of tall, black men, each over two meters tall, were making a racket, as if a pot had been boiled over. Only Lin Hao, on the sidelines, was squatting on the ground, repeatedly practicing his three-point shooting motion after receiving the ball. The swishing sound of the basketball swishing through the net was continuous, but his face remained completely calm, as if he wasn't the one being mocked by the reporter.
Only after he finished shooting the last set of 50 three-pointers did he pick up a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, unscrew a can of yellow peaches, fork a piece of peach into his mouth, and slowly say, "What's the rush? He can say whatever he wants. On the basketball court, the ball counts more than words."
No sooner had he finished speaking than several reporters accompanying the team pushed open the training hall door, shoving microphones in front of Lin Hao and vying to ask, "Lin, Jay Williams said before the game that you wouldn't score more than 10 points against him, and that you're just a celebrity player. How do you respond?"
Lin Hao chewed on a peach, grinned at the camera, and spoke in fluent Northeastern Mandarin through the microphone: "Let's make a bet. In this game, we'll go head-to-head. Whoever scores lower will have to publicly admit on the national live broadcast after the game that the other player is stronger, and also apologize for all the nonsense they said before."
In short, the reporters at the scene went wild, their camera shutters clicking incessantly.
The news reached Williams' ears that very day. He was in the Bulls' locker room when he heard the reporter relay the bet. He laughed on the spot and accepted it without hesitation. He even added to the bet on camera: "I accept. But I have to add a condition: the loser has to be the winner's caddie for a whole week, carrying bags, picking up balls, buying coffee, doing all the chores. And it will be done live on national television."
The bet escalated instantly, causing an uproar across the internet.
Everyone is waiting for this showdown, waiting to see if the second overall pick will get his revenge, or if the second-round pick will once again slap him in the face and completely shatter the "internet celebrity" label.
The night before the game, the lights stayed on late into the night in the video recording room of a Chicago hotel.
Lin Hao sat in front of the screen, his well-worn youth training notebook spread out before him. The screen played a loop of Jay Williams' game footage from his four years at college, as well as every offensive possession from the first two regular season games. His pen moved rapidly across the notebook, meticulously analyzing Williams' every technical habit, movement detail, and defensive weakness.
- He relies heavily on his left hand for breakthroughs, with 82% of his attacks coming from the left wing. His ability to finish breakthroughs from the right wing is extremely poor; before changing direction, his right shoulder always drops half an inch first, and his left toes shift ahead of time.
- There is a noticeable pause before the jump shot, the knees bend down 1 cm more than usual, and the jump rhythm is fixed, making it very easy to predict.
- He is easily fooled by fakes on defense, his lateral movement is slow, he likes to reach out to steal the ball, and he is easily beaten in one step.
The densely packed handwriting was all the details he had painstakingly painstakingly extracted over half the night. In his previous life, during his more than ten years as a youth training coach, his greatest skill was dissecting the opponent's habits thoroughly and then precisely striking their weaknesses on the field.
Just as he closed his notebook, his phone screen lit up; it was a message from Zhang Qingying.
First, there was a table she had spent half the night compiling, showing Williams' offensive hot zones and efficiency statistics for the season. The table used different colors to mark his scoring blind spots and habitual routes, followed by a soft message: "Keep it up, I believe in you. When you win, I'll make you a celebration feast, with plenty of sweet and sour pork, and you'll always get the first bite of canned yellow peaches."
Lin Hao looked at the screen, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his face. He typed a message and replied: "Don't worry, once I win, I'll bring back some deep-dish pizza from Chicago for you to try."
He put down his phone and rubbed his still slightly aching left ankle. The team doctor's words were still ringing in his ears, but there was no hesitation in his eyes, only unwavering determination.
If he can win the Summer League once, he can win the regular season too.
The second day of the game was packed to capacity at the United Center in Chicago.
More than 20,000 fans filled the arena to capacity. Half of them came to see the Bulls' second overall pick in a revenge match, while the other half were there entirely for Lin Hao. The stands were filled with spectators holding up signs. Some read "Williams beats the internet celebrity," while Chinese fans waved the Chinese national flag and chanted Lin Hao's name. Someone even brought a suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) and sang "A Man Should Be Self-Reliant" from the stands, eliciting laughter from the entire crowd.
The Warriors' team bus stopped at the entrance to the player tunnel. Lin Hao, carrying a sports bag and with his ebony suona tucked in his pocket, followed his teammates inside. Just as he turned into the tunnel, he saw Williams with several Bulls players blocking the center, arms crossed, staring at him with menacing expressions.
Seeing Lin Hao approach, Williams took a step forward, slowly made a throat-slitting gesture towards him, and his trash talk was as cold as ice: "Internet celebrity, your good luck is over. Today I'll show you what real basketball is. Later on the court, I'll make sure you can't even catch the ball."
The cameras that were filming the entire scene instantly focused on the two of them, and the tension immediately escalated.
Lin Hao stopped, glanced at him, toyed with the ebony suona in his hand, raised an eyebrow, and slowly let out a thick Northeastern accent: "What? Xia Lian wasn't convinced, so you came here today specifically to cause trouble? The bet has already been made, so don't come crying and refusing to admit it when you lose."
Williams' face darkened instantly. He gritted his teeth and took half a step forward: "Don't worry, I'll make you bow and apologize to me in front of the whole of America, and obediently serve as my caddie for a week."
"Then let's stop arguing here." Lin Hao smiled, patted his shoulder, walked straight past him, and headed into the arena, leaving behind a lighthearted remark that echoed in the corridor.
"We'll see what it's like on the court. If you're capable, let's settle things under the basket."
At the end of the tunnel was the brightly lit stadium, where a deafening roar of cheers filled the air.
This fateful showdown between the second overall pick and the second-round pick is about to begin.
Northeasterners on the court
Verse 1
The rough, tough men raised on the black soil of Northeast China ventured into Jinzhou carrying their suonas.
As a nobody in the second round of draft picks, nobody believed I could make it big.
Foreigners say I'm just a show-off who doesn't understand the rhythm of basketball.
I welded bones from Northeast China to the rim of an NBA basketball hoop.
The lights in the training hall stayed on all night, and the videotapes became wrinkled from wear.
I practiced my fadeaway jump shot so much that my fingertips trembled.
Canned yellow peaches stuffed into pockets, winning buffs stuffed into chest pockets.
Let's use basketball to determine who the hero is on this court.
副歌
I'm a Northeasterner on the golf course; my first shot is so powerful it shakes the heavens and earth.
Who cares if he's a runner-up or a superstar? If he's not convinced, let's face him on the court.
I'm from Northeast China, and I can stand firmly under the basket like a stick.
We'll keep our promise to dunk on you three times, and we'll do it!
I'm a Northeasterner on the basketball court; if I'm not convinced, I'll fight—no beating around the bush.
The stewed pork stew is a testament to passion and spirit, while the suona horn resounds with patriotic fervor.
I'm a Northeasterner who made my name on the basketball court, traveling from south to north.
I'll let the world hear the name of Chinese basketball.
Verse 2
I've long figured out this pattern of dropping my right shoulder and then thrusting to the left.
Even the traffic lights at the village entrance aren't as old-fashioned as you.
I borrowed the Black Mamba's fadeaway jumper and still managed to throw it into the net.
The stubbornness of Northeasterners is ingrained in their bones; they never give in.
The media was full of doubts, and netizens were arguing and criticizing.
I shattered all prejudices with my three-pointers and dunks.
From the Finals halftime show to the All-Star stage
The legend of this Northeastern boy has only just begun.
桥段
As soon as the suona blew, everyone took their positions.
No matter what kind of defensive formation you have, I'll charge right in.
Northeastern men keep their word
The rules under the basket: only the winner is a true hero.
副歌
I'm a Northeasterner on the golf course; my first shot is so powerful it shakes the heavens and earth.
Who cares if he's a runner-up or a superstar? If he's not convinced, let's face him on the court.
I'm from Northeast China, and I can stand firmly under the basket like a stick.
We'll keep our promise to dunk on you three times, and we'll do it!
I'm a Northeasterner on the basketball court; if I'm not convinced, I'll fight—no beating around the bush.
The stewed pork stew is a testament to passion and spirit, while the suona horn resounds with patriotic fervor.
I'm a Northeasterner who made my name on the basketball court, traveling from south to north.
I'll let the world hear the name of Chinese basketball.
end
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