The longest river

Chapter 5 Brain is a good thing

A month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The biggest event of the month was Jordan's sudden announcement of his retirement on October 6th.

There are many theories about the reasons for Jordan's retirement. Jordan said to the media that basketball had lost its challenge for him, but many people speculated that it was because of his father's accidental death, while others said it was because he was deeply involved in a gambling scandal.

But whatever the reason, the departure of this "God of Basketball," who single-handedly built the Nike empire and propelled the NBA's influence to its peak, casts a huge shadow over the future of the NBA.

Rondo was also unhappy because of Jordan's retirement.

However, this did not affect Yang Shuai at all; he is now focused entirely on training.

In addition to successfully improving his jumping ability to its limit, his basketball skills have also made considerable progress.

His weight also successfully increased from 75 kg to 78 kg.

Although he still looks very thin, his physical strength has improved significantly compared to before.

During this period, Johnson would occasionally treat Yang to a nice meal to replenish his energy.

However, because his weight has not yet met Johnson's requirements, Johnson has not scheduled him to play.

As time went on, this caused him some anxiety.

After all, he needs to earn points to continue improving himself, and he can't rely on Luther to farm points alone, let alone deliberately cause conflicts with other members of the school team to farm points, because he wouldn't be able to stay on the school team if he did that.

As for positive energy, it's much harder to make someone like you than to make them dislike you.

Therefore, the best approach is still to play in the game.

After training that day, Yang Shuai and Rondo went home together.

After returning home, Lin Xiulan prepared a surprise for them.

The two small beds in the room were replaced with bunk beds made of wood.

This way, they no longer have to squeeze into a makeshift bed to sleep like before.

Alex and Aria were already jumping and bouncing excitedly on the bed; having their own bed was such an exciting thing for the children.

Rondo looked at Yang Shuai with a happy expression: "Do you want the left or the right?"

The two younger children slept on the lower bunk, while the two older children each had an upper bunk.

"I can do it."

Yang Shuai appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was surging with excitement.

For families that are not financially well-off, replacing two beds at once is a considerable expense, which is obviously directly related to his appearance.

After dinner, Yang Shuai said goodbye to Lin Xiulan and then went for a walk with Rondo.

"Let's go play basketball on the court," Yang Shuai suggested to Rondo after they went outside.

Since he can't play in school team games right now, playing on a local basketball court will do the same.

"Won't the coach be angry if he finds out?" Rondo asked, somewhat worried.

"How would we know if we don't tell him?" Yang Shuai didn't go to play pickup games before not because he hadn't thought of it, but because he was worried about the risk of injury. But now the increased weight and physical contact have given him confidence.

Rondo hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "But we need to be back before 10 o'clock."

If they go home after 10 p.m., Lin Xiulan will not allow them to go out at night again next time.

Cleveland is not only built along a lake, but also along a river, which divides it into east and west sections by the Cuyahoga River.

They are currently located in the East District.

The East Side is home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, which boasts the second-largest collection in the United States after the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Rockefeller Park, founded by Rockefeller; and Gund Arena, the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

These landmark buildings make the area densely populated, and naturally, there are many people playing streetball.

They randomly selected a nearby stadium, which was packed with people and bustling with activity.

For those who don't play sports, November is a time when the weather turns cool and they need to wear more clothes when going out. But for those who do play sports, the crisp autumn air is the perfect time to play.

They tried to join a smaller group, but they soon encountered a problem: no one wanted to team up with them.

Yang Shuai knew the reason without even thinking, because a system notification would occasionally ring in his mind.

"Negative energy from Bobby West +5".

"Negative energy from James Joseph +4".

……

These people didn't know Yang Shuai before, so they naturally wouldn't have any conflict with him like Luther did; they simply looked down on Yang Shuai.

In the era before Yang Shuai's time travel, there were at least Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin, proving that Asians could also make a name for themselves in the NBA.

But in this era, people of Asian descent are seen as incapable of playing ball, and like Luther, they look down on people of Asian descent.

It's pretty good for Yang Shuai to be able to get points without doing anything, but he still needs to play on the court to get more points.

They tried several different venues before finally finding a white man who was reluctant to team up with them.

They were still waiting when a black player was wreaking havoc on the court, violently attacking the rim in various ways.

“David Smith, from Cleveland State University.” To Yang Shuai’s surprise, Rondo actually knew him.

Ohio has several NCAA Division I teams, among which the most well-known are Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University.

Cleveland State University is the least well-known of them all.

Even if they aren't particularly outstanding, they are still an NCAA Division I team, and those who can play in Division I are exceptionally skilled on the amateur courts.

“He used to be from West City High School, and I played against him in last season’s tournament,” Rondo explained.

"How about compared to Luther?"

"His level was about the same before, but now that he's playing in the NCAA, he should be a bit stronger."

Yang Shuai nodded; this opponent was just right. Smith's team had won consecutively, and it was finally Yang Shuai's group's turn to play.

"I'll guard him," the white player in Yang Shuai's group volunteered before going on the court.

Smith looks to be around 1.9 meters tall, Rondo is too short, and Yang Shuai doesn't know how to play basketball, so he's the only option.

However, as soon as he entered the game, the white man was completely outmaneuvered by Smith with a simple and brutal crossover.

Yang Shuai tried to help defend, but he couldn't keep up with the speed, and Smith finished with a dunk.

"Hey! This isn't a place for Asians. Go home and do your math problems!" Smith shouted at Yang Shuai after landing.

A burst of jeers and laughter immediately erupted from the sidelines.

"I know you." But Yang Shuai's reaction was unexpected.

Smith looked puzzled.

"Mike Luther said you're all brawn and no brains when it comes to playing basketball."

"What?! That piece of trash actually dared to say that?!" Smith exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion.

“I think he’s right.” Yang Shuai’s next words immediately earned him a fierce glare from Smith.

"Negative energy from David Smith +65".

Along with the notification sound in Yang Shuai's mind, there was also the jeer from the players on the sidelines.

Rondo couldn't help but laugh at this point, but he was laughing at Smith.

Just as you have to admit that Black people have an advantage in athletic talent, Asians also have an overwhelming advantage in intelligence.

"You asked for this!" Smith said harshly, then took the ball and walked to the three-point line.

Smith drove to the basket, and his white teammate was once again brutally penetrated by Smith.

Unlike Luther, Smith's advantage is his explosiveness, which makes his first step on the dunk very fast and his dunking speed very fast.

However, this time Yang Shuai retreated ahead of time, and had already retreated to the basket when Smith broke in.

The moment he saw Yang Shuai, Smith leaped into the air.

Nothing could vent his emotions better than dunking over Yang Shuai.

He didn't even think Yang Shuai would dare to jump in front of him.

However, he soon realized that his judgment was completely wrong.

Yang Shuai not only jumped, but jumped even earlier than him.

In the verbal exchange just now, Yang Shuai not only gained points but also tested his opponent's personality.

The opponent is all brawn and no brains; there's no way you can miss this kind of shot.

So his quick jump made up for the difference in their jumping speed, and then it became a battle of talent.

Ultimately, Yang Shuai, who is taller and has a longer reach, won the climbing competition.

"boom!"

Yang Shuai swatted Smith's dunk away from the court.

A burst of cheers erupted from the sidelines.

They were making a fuss because they thought Yang Shuai was going to be in trouble, but they never expected that the unlucky one would be Smith!

After landing, Yang Shuai reached out and shook his finger toward the sidelines.

That block not only allowed him to perfectly showcase his jumping ability, but also made him fully experience the increased physical strength resulting from gaining weight.

You should know that in a round like that, if the defending side is at a disadvantage in the confrontation, they can easily be knocked away.

"Negative energy from David Smith +288".

"Give me the ball!" Smith yelled.

After receiving the ball, he called for a screen from his teammates and then went straight to face Yang Shuai.

If he doesn't get his revenge after being publicly humiliated by an Asian player, he won't be able to play on this field again.

The crowd on the sidelines had already started whistling; the kind of head-to-head competition on a basketball court is what makes it so exciting.

Yang Shuai's defensive positioning was far back, a full half meter away from Smith.

The previous play gave him full confidence in his defense under the basket. He wasn't afraid of Smith rushing in, and this distance also prevented him from being blown past by Smith's explosiveness like the white man had.

As for whether this defensive approach would give Smith space to shoot, he had been observing under the basket for so long and hadn't seen Smith shoot once.

As it turned out, Yang Shuai's judgment was correct. Faced with Yang Shuai's defense, Smith still chose to force his way to the basket.

As expected, Yang Shuai seized the opportunity and delivered a powerful block, also grabbing the rebound.

After securing the rebound, Yang Shuai immediately passed the ball to Rondo on the outside, while simultaneously moving quickly towards the baseline.

After receiving the ball, Rondo faked a shot and then drove past the defender to the basket.

Seeing this, Smith quickly moved to cover.

Rondo, without looking, flicked the ball towards the corner.

Yang Shuai had already moved to the corner, and receiving the ball would give him an open three-point opportunity in the corner.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound, Yang Shuai swiftly brought down his three-pointer.

After walking over and giving Rondo a high-five, Yang Shuai then shouted to the still-stunned Smith:
Hey! Didn't your dad tell you that basketball is a team sport?

(End of this chapter)