NBA's King of Talking

Back home, Jia Fei wanted to play a few games on his phone, but looking at his iPhone 4, he lost all interest. Right, it's 2011 now, and there's still a year until that supposed doomsday scenario. He thought to himself that he really didn't seem to have any friends or family in this world; he'd unknowingly become a shut-in.

Just as I was feeling down, Kemba Walker called...

“Moshi moshi, Kemba-kun, I’m going to kick your chicken!” Jia Fei suddenly blurted out a sentence in Japanese.

“Jia, what’s wrong with you? Are you watching Japanese adult films like Jeremy?” Kemba Walker asked.

"No, I'm way past that age. I don't watch those kinds of things anymore. I prefer to watch something more uplifting like movies or anime," Jia Fei said.

"I don't really believe it!" Kemba Walker, of course, didn't believe it. Jia Fei, a hot-blooded, single man not even 20 years old, watching a healing film? You're kidding me! More like an erotic film...

"Did you call today to ask if I've eaten yet?" Jia Fei joked.

“No, I just watched your game against the Dallas Mavericks, Fuck, you played really well!” Kemba Walker said.

"But I only got 6 points, not even double digits!" Jia Fei said deliberately.

"Don't try to impress me. Your game is very diverse, and scoring doesn't reflect your true value at all!" Kemba Walker said confidently.

"Haha, thank you anyway, Kemba, your advice was very helpful!" Jia Fei said sincerely.

"No need to thank me. I really hope that everyone from our University of Southampton can establish themselves in the NBA. Ja, it's really hard to have a stable position in the NBA. I hope you can persevere!" Kemba Walker spoke in a warm tone, like an older brother.

Jia Fei also felt the warmth; Kemba Walker was indeed a good captain and a good friend.

On December 20, Jia Fei traveled with the team to Dallas, Texas, for the second preseason game against the Mavericks.

Dallas is the third largest city in Texas and the ninth largest city in the United States. Compared to Oklahoma City, it is significantly larger in both population and urban vibrancy.

There used to be a classic saying in the NBA: the three great illusions of Texas – the Spurs are old, the Mavericks are weak, and the Rockets are strong.

Yao Ming has now announced his retirement in July of this year, and the Mavericks' upset victory over the Heat last season to win the championship has further confirmed this famous saying.

On the evening of the 21st, the Thunder played against the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks' home arena.

The Thunder's starting lineup remained unchanged from the previous game, while for the Mavericks, Nowitzki returned to the starting lineup for this game.

After the game started, the Thunder quickly gained the upper hand. Neither Jia Fei nor Reggie got any playing time in the first half. They didn't return to the court until the end of the third quarter, just like in the previous game.

After Jia Fei came on, he started with defense and played off the ball on offense, making him a perfect 3D player.

After Jia Fei and others entered the game, the Thunder took control of the match. The Mavericks couldn't match their athleticism, and in the end, the Thunder easily defeated their opponents on the road, completing a preseason home-and-away sweep of the Mavericks.

贾飞本场比赛出战14分39秒，得到5分5个篮板2次助攻3个抢断2个盖帽，依然是轻松填满数据栏。

Jia Fei was quite satisfied with his performance. The low score wasn't important; it was a preseason game, and garbage time at that, so who would really care how many points you scored? He needed to show the coaching staff his value: first, his defensive impact, his ability to defend multiple positions with flexibility; second, his attitude, from being aggressive on defense to not dominating the ball on offense, being willing to share the ball, creating space, and being able to run fast breaks; and third, his compatibility, as he could play alongside the "Big Three" (Sefolosha, Lin Dan, and Dwight Howard). He didn't need the ball and could act as a role player on the perimeter, just like the team's starting shooting guard, Thabo Sefolosha.

After the game, the Thunder players flew back to Oklahoma City that same night.

According to the schedule, the Thunder's season opener will be a home game against the Orlando Magic on December 26.

It was already past midnight when Jia Fei returned to Oklahoma City, and he went home to rest. With both preseason games over, now it was a matter of "man proposes, God disposes"—whether he made the 15-man roster depended on the team's decision.

The team had a day off the next day, and Jia Fei woke up close to noon. After eating some bread and vegetables at home, he received a call from Reggie Jackson and went out to the supermarket.

Reggie's Ford pickup truck was parked at the entrance of Jia Fei's residential area. After Jia Fei got in the car, Reggie stepped on the gas pedal hard, the engine roared, and a strong sense of acceleration came over him.

Jia Fei lamented that the pickup trucks in the US are what you call pickup trucks. In China, pickup trucks are basically just sedans with the trunk removed and a cargo bed added. They are mainly used by power and water companies. Real large pickup trucks are not allowed to enter the city at all.

Reggie and Jia Fei went to a large supermarket in eastern Oklahoma City. After parking their car in the supermarket parking lot, they got out one after the other and went inside the supermarket.

In the supermarket, Jia Fei suddenly realized that Christmas was approaching. The Christmas atmosphere in the supermarket was already quite strong. In the United States, Christmas is as important as the Spring Festival is to China.

Jia Fei and Reggie each pushed a shopping cart to go shopping. Americans rarely go to the farmers' market; they usually spend a long time shopping at the supermarket. The supermarket was indeed well-stocked, and meat was cheap. Pork knuckles and chicken feet, which are popular in China, were practically unwanted here.

As for animal offal, Americans don't seem to care much for it, which is completely different from China. In China, animal offal can be used to make a wide variety of dishes. This comparison is enough to illustrate the profoundness and breadth of Chinese culinary culture.

"Hello, are you Jia Fei?" Jia Fei was pushing his cart and searching for goods on the shelf when a sweet, delicate voice suddenly came from behind him. He and Reggie both turned around, and what came into view was not a Barbie doll-like beautiful girl, but a woman who weighed over 200 pounds and was less than 1.7 meters tall, who looked somewhat like a domestic variety show star with the same surname as him.

"Hello, I'm Jia Fei!" Jia Fei stopped and gave a friendly smile. He felt his smile was genuine, completely without any falsehood.

"I've seen your posters and watched your matches live. You...you play so well!" Babibi continued to bombard Jia Fei and the others with her heavenly voice.