Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 81 The Initial Appearance, The Final Appearance
Xu Ling's harsh comment was like a double slap across Durant's face. The FedEx Forum arena instantly erupted, with cheers surging from all directions.

As Durant watched Xu Ling's departing figure, he suddenly remembered the familiar question asked by reporters before the game: "How do you view your competition with Eli for Rookie of the Year?"

How did he answer?
“I don’t care about that; what I value is continued growth and progress. I respect Eli’s achievements.”

It's all bullshit.

Respect? Progress?
He just wanted to prove himself better; he wanted to prove he was the undisputed Rookie of the Year.

When Oden's rookie season ended in injury, everyone thought he would easily win the honor. Now, only a month into the season, many people already believe that Xu Ling has won this honor.

What do they know?
Durant believes he has made great progress since his college days, and he must get some retribution from Xu Ling tonight.

Nike's Elgin was ashen-faced and silent, simply sprinting forward. He desperately needed to respond on offense, using his most effective method—scoring.

The SuperSonics were on offense. After a few passes, the ball found Durant, who was positioned on the wing. He received the ball and faced Xu Ling's tight defense, where his enormous height and wingspan advantage became apparent. Instead of using complicated dribbling, he took advantage of the space and pulled up for a jump shot.

Xu Ling jumped with all his might to interfere, but Durant's arms, which were even longer than Oden's (226CM), and his extremely high shooting arc made this defense seem somewhat futile.

"Shh!"

Durant, who usually plays well silently on the court, rarely yelled at his opponents and made his attitude clear: "Don't think you have the right to point fingers at me!"

"Beautiful response! KD has shown his talent!" Mike Brin laughed. "Look, he's yelling at Eli!"

Xu Ling himself didn't seem to feel anything, but the audience at FedExCare Center booed Durant as if they were devout believers who had seen someone blaspheming God in person.

As Xu Ling's biggest competitor for Rookie of the Year, Durant was already unpopular here. When he made an offensive gesture, the fans in the arena erupted in intense hatred as if they had gone crazy.

Go back to your mother's Seattle!

"Skinny guy, shut your dog mouth!"

"You dare compare yourself to Eli? You Nike bitch, you're not even as good as Eli's toes!"

For some reason, Durant, who was being cursed by the entire audience, experienced a morbid pleasure. He discovered that being disliked by people he didn't care about was such a pleasant thing.

No wonder that damned Xu keeps reinforcing his villainous image; all his illogical behavior has a reason.

Meanwhile, as Durant was lost in thought, Xu Ling had already sprinted across half the court.
Perhaps because he hadn't encountered someone like Durant who could overwhelm him with talent in a long time, Xu Ling didn't use more aggressive defense against him for a moment, which allowed Durant to easily return the ball.

But he won't give them that chance again.

Xu Ling didn't even call a screen, directly facing Durant again at the top right of the arc. With a series of crossover dribbles and changes in rhythm, Durant remained fully focused, not daring to slack off for a moment.

Suddenly, Xu Ling made a quick crossover, seemingly about to break through from the left. Just as Durant shifted his weight, Xu Ling pulled the ball back to the right with an incredibly swift behind-the-back dribble, instantly creating half a body length of space.

Without hesitation, Xu Ling pulled it up again.

Durant reacted extremely quickly this time, his long arms completely covering the area.

But Xu Ling's shot was faster, with a slight backward lean, the basketball almost grazing Durant's fingertips as it flew towards the basket.

"Shh!"

Hit again!

"You're being quite serious about defending," Xu Ling asked casually. "You don't actually think you can stop me, do you?"

Durant felt a chill run down his spine; with his current defensive skills, it would indeed be very difficult to stop Xu Ling.

But not wanting to lose face in this situation, he retorted, "You can't defend against me either!"

It seems that while reading the Bible may not guarantee a trip to heaven, it can certainly provide some faith from God.

While Durant at his peak was undoubtedly a monster who could be unstoppable in one-on-one situations, he is still developing. If Xu Ling dislikes strong, conscious, and rhythm-dependent wing defenders, then Durant has virtually no defenses he is not afraid of.

He's just too talented; even when he's being defended badly, he can still pull up for a three-pointer with a high success rate.

Therefore, this requires applying greater pressure to Durant's lower limbs.

Xu Ling already knew how to deal with Durant back in college, so coming to the NBA and picking up his old tricks again was no problem at all.

Durant struggled to move, but Xu Ling stuck to him like glue. The longer it went on, the more he felt his lower body struggling to generate power. Conley barely managed to pass the ball to him.

Mike Brin in the commentary booth exclaimed, "Eli and KD are going head-to-head again!"

Durant couldn't find a comfortable rhythm and had to force a step back with the ball when he couldn't shake off the defense before turning and shooting.

However, Durant's shooting touch faltered under the constant defensive pressure from Xu Ling and the interference of his turbulent emotions.

The ball missed the rim, and Xu Ling returned to the paint to control the rebound, immediately making a long pass to Kyle Lowry who was cutting down the court.

Lowry scores a layup.

"You carry the Bible with you every day, doesn't it teach you to be humble when facing someone stronger than you?" Xu Ling's seemingly casual question touched on Durant's most sensitive point. "Or is your humility just a facade?"

On the other side, SuperSonics head coach PJ Carlesimo couldn't stand it anymore.

Although Durant is excellent, Xu Ling is far more mature than him at present. If Durant were to face him one-on-one, he would likely be completely defeated.

Durant needs time. With his talent, he can make leaps and bounds every year. One day, he will surpass Xu Ling.

With that thought in mind, Carlesimo whistled loudly to signal Nick Collison on the field.

The SuperSonics initiated their play, with Durant attempting to use a screen to get rid of Xu Ling. However, Xu Ling seemed to anticipate his every move, dodging Nelson's screen and sticking to him tightly. In the end, he even managed to reach out and cut the ball out of bounds just as Durant was about to receive it.

Although the ball possession still belongs to the Supersonics, the superiority of one over the other is already clear.

The crowd at FedExCenter resounded with a unified chant of "Lord Eli!" Xu Ling never responded, but simply walking a few steps in front of Durant was enough to cause significant fluctuations in the Holy Infant's mentality.

Durant started to get a little impatient. He called for the ball again to go one-on-one, and his teammates had no choice but to pass it to him.

This time, Durant opted for a more dramatic crossover, attempting to completely get past Xu Ling. However, his dribbling faltered under Xu Ling's aggressive and close defense, failing to create space or penetrate the defense. All the pent-up energy dissipated as Xu Ling caught up and jumped to block his shot.

"boom!!!"

Durant was blocked from the front.

Xu Ling, who landed first, caught up with the uncontrolled basketball at full speed, rushed to the frontcourt, and scored with a gliding dunk under Durant's watchful eye.

No one could tell Durant how to deal with Xu Ling at this moment.

He had tried his best, but every step he took was seen through by his opponent. Even his so-called talent, which he relied on for a living, was covered by shadows before it could shine.

Carlesimo promptly requested a pause.

Seeing Durant's dejected expression, the head coach, who had once been nearly strangled by a player for his overly harsh words, stepped forward and gently patted him on the shoulder: "KD, we can openly admit that you are not yet a match for Eli."

This was an undeniable fact, and Durant's face grew increasingly somber.

“But I believe you will surpass him in the next few years.” Carlesimo quoted a passage from the Bible: “‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’”

Durant looked up but didn't reply, though he clearly took his coach's words of comfort to heart.

"So you know what to do."

Durant certainly understood.

Since I can't beat Xu Ling in a one-on-one match, I'll avoid one-on-one fights altogether.

He should integrate into the team through tactics, seize open opportunities to make shots steadily, and he can also create value for the team.

The pause ends.

After returning to the court, Durant no longer focused on one-on-one plays, and Mike Conley decisively drove to the basket for a layup.

Xu Ling then approached Durant again, called for a screen, and drove straight to the basket for a light layup.

He then looked at Durant, wondering what his next reaction would be.

As a result, the Nike baby who had just been disciplined had eyes as clear as those of a college student who had just finished military training—the unfriendly, aggressive expression that Xu Ling had been trying to teach him a lesson had disappeared.

“At least today, you were the better player,” Durant said.

Yes, Xu Ling admitted that what he said was true, but he admired Durant more for daring to go head-to-head with him at the start of the game. That was more in line with the image of KD he had in mind.

However, once Durant calmed down and stopped getting carried away, he gradually regained his rhythm with the support of his team. He used pick-and-rolls and screens to create mismatch opportunities, drew fouls while dribbling to get to the free-throw line, and even hit open three-pointers during tactical runs. These simple and efficient scoring methods helped him regain his confidence, and he even suddenly showed his talent again in front of Xu Ling—early at the start of the second quarter, he turned around and made a strong shot under Xu Ling's tight defense, as if he had instantly regained his edge.

Xu Ling naturally understood that in a few years, Durant would become an extremely troublesome figure.

He may be the most offensively gifted player in history.

If he doesn't want to be listed as a prime Adula, he has to put in more effort to become stronger.

This sense of crisis has kept Xu Ling from slacking off to this day, and he insists on doing extra training every day whenever he is at home.

However, how strong Durant becomes in the future is none of today's business; he wants to put an end to the discussion of Rookie of the Year today.

Xu Ling quickly responded strongly to Durant's turnaround jumper from beyond the three-point line and continued to apply pressure on the defensive end.

The real show came when the SuperSonics faltered in their half-court offense, and Xu Ling's several dunks on the counter-attack drew gasps from the ESPN commentators every time.

Because the SuperSonics, a bottom-ranked team, have such a strong desire to give their players experience, everyone else has to revolve around Durant. If Durant can't deliver his best performance of the game, winning becomes impossible.

Therefore, the score quickly became a foregone conclusion.

At halftime, the Grizzlies were leading by 20 points. Less than six minutes into the second half, Xu Ling hit a three-pointer to score his 30th point, essentially turning the game into garbage time.

The two teams held on for a few more minutes in this seemingly insurmountable gap, until Grizzlies head coach Mark Jaffaroni finally decided when the lead reached 32 points: "Eli, it's time for you to rest."

Xu Ling, who scored 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, was off the court.

The SuperSonics did not bench Durant just because the game was in garbage time.

Durant continued to roam the court, taking 28 shots but only making 10. When he scored his 22nd point in garbage time, Xu Ling whistled at him and said, "Are you trying to get 30 points?"

“I didn’t want to,” Durant said. “I just had to.”

If Xu Ling put himself in Durant's shoes, he could understand the pressure Durant was under. He entered the league in the last year of the old SuperSonics team, and Seattleites expected him to bring some miracle that would make the owner decide to keep the team in Emerald City. This unattainable expectation was a burden for Durant, and the endless comparisons with Xu Ling also troubled him. Those pressures and the consciousness hidden in the air may have affected his view of the world.

But he must know that's how the world is.

At least for now, Xu Ling is willing to believe that Durant's initial appearance might have been like this. As for why he would become the disgusting 1.5 in the future, who can say for sure? Think about it, Julia, who will debut in three years, is also highly anticipated by the industry. She looks like a rare gem in this industry, like she stepped out of an anime. So what? As long as you stay in this filthy industry for 15 years, you will find that her face looks more and more like a TS.

That might be the evolution of Durant. Years later, you may be fat, greasy, bald, and ugly, but it doesn't matter, because someone has seen what you looked like when you were young.

(End of this chapter)