NBA: Warrior godfather.

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St. Louis, Missouri.

This city on the Missouri River is known for its beautiful environment and relaxed pace of life. However, overnight, it became filled with visitors.

Almost every hotel and guesthouse in the city was fully booked, and the once-quiet streets were now bustling with activity.

The reason was simple: this year's NCAA March Madness Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games were being held here.

After the second round of March Madness, fans of the remaining sixteen teams followed their teams here.

As one of the Sweet Sixteen teams, the Bulldogs were staying in a hotel near the venue.

Early in the morning, warm sunlight streamed onto Liam's face, waking him up with the ringing of his phone. He opened his sleepy eyes but was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight, forcing him to squint again.

He sat up from the bed and saw that the curtains were wide open, and the other single bed in the room was empty. He muttered to himself:

"Brad must have seen I was still sleeping..."

He fumbled for his phone on the bedside table with his left hand, saw it was Micah Shrewsbury calling, and answered:

"Hey, Micah, what's up?" he asked, checking the time. It was 7:30 in the morning.

After defeating Kentucky, the Bulldogs waited for the conclusion of all second-round games before flying to St. Louis yesterday.

Liam took advantage of this downtime to sleep in, skipping his usual early-morning workout routine.

"There's a Colombian media outlet called Pionero del Baloncesto that wants to interview you," Micah said, sounding quite pleased.

Normally, such a request would come through the team's operations coordinator, but given the Bulldogs' recent success in making it to the Sweet Sixteen, Micah was riding high on excitement and personally handled anything related to Liam.

The team had only signed Liam to a one-year contract, and Micah wanted to lay the groundwork for a potential renewal.

"Pionero del Baloncesto?" Liam suddenly became more alert.

That name was very familiar to him. Growing up, before the internet became widely accessible in Colombia, Pionero del Baloncesto had been his primary source of NBA news.

"When's the interview scheduled for?" Liam asked.

"The timing is flexible; they said they can do it whenever you're available."

"Alright, let them know I'm in," Liam replied easily.

The prospect of an interview with Pionero del Baloncesto filled him with excitement.

This was different from his previous interview with ESPN Deportes, which felt like a routine post-game interview.

But this time, it was Pionero del Baloncesto!

Once this interview was published, his name would be in the spotlight for Colombian basketball fans.

Thinking about his parents possibly reading his name in the media gave Liam a sense of pride.

After a few more words with Micah, Liam hung up the phone with a satisfied smile on his face.

I'm a celebrity now!

He quickly got dressed, got out of bed, freshened up, and got ready for the day.

Tomorrow was the Sweet Sixteen game, and with the tight preparation schedule, he knew he had to make the most of every moment.

After washing up, he picked up the phone, called the hotel front desk, and ordered breakfast.

The delivery arrived quickly. Liam set the American-style breakfast on the table, turned on his laptop, and started eating while watching game footage.

As he studied the footage, his expression grew serious.

Tomorrow's opponent was incredibly strong, and Butler was facing a challenging situation.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Liam looked up to see Stevens entering, looking upset.

"Brad, what's wrong?" Liam asked, confused.

"Look at these newspapers!" Stevens said angrily, dropping a stack of newspapers on the table.

Liam put down his knife and fork and began flipping through them. Stevens continued, frustrated:

"Except for the Indianapolis Star, none of them are giving us a chance. They all think we'll lose badly!"

Liam quickly skimmed through the newspapers. After getting a sense of them, he put them down, picked up his fork, took a bite of bacon, and said with a smile:

"Of course they do. We're up against the invincible Gators. Isn't it natural to think we might lose?"

At the top of the stack was the sports front page of The Washington Post, featuring a ferocious green alligator head with the headline: "New Dark Horse Faces NCAA Overlord: Butler's Cinderella Story Ends Here."

Every NCAA fan knew that logo represented last year's national champions, the University of Florida Gators.

Their starting lineup included Taurean Green, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, and Al Horford, known as the "Florida Four," all incredibly talented players with NBA potential. Under the leadership of head coach Billy Donovan, they played unselfish team basketball, leading Florida to dominate the NCAA.

After winning last year's championship, they could have entered the NBA draft, but they chose to stay and aim for another title, much to the dismay of other top schools.

Given such a formidable opponent, it was no wonder that major media outlets were skeptical of Butler's chances.

Stevens sighed:

"I know it's a tough game to win, but it's hard to accept. We finally made it to the Sweet Sixteen and are on the verge of breaking our best record, but we have to face Florida. It's just unlucky."

Liam looked at him in surprise:

"Brad, I never thought I'd see you so rattled. I thought you'd just say calmly, 'Liam, get it together; we're going to win!'"

Stevens smiled bitterly and replied:

"I wish I could say that, but I can't think of a winning strategy. We don't have Greg Oden, and Florida looks unbeatable... Haven't you finished eating yet? Hurry up, we need to work on tactics!"

"Don't stress. Florida is strong, but we still have a chance," Liam said calmly, finishing his bacon.

At 11:30 a.m., the sun was at its peak, and its warm rays spread across St. Louis.

Many out-of-town fans were scattered across the city, taking in the sights of this city filled with Catholic churches before the game.

But some University of Florida fans in dark blue sweaters gathered outside the training grounds of the Sweet Sixteen teams, holding signs that read "Go Gators!"

They didn't have to wait long. The Gators, fresh from their training session, emerged from the gym, and the crowd's cheers grew louder.

Reporters swarmed the players, but with the help of the Gators' staff, order was quickly restored, and interviews began.

A female reporter handed a recorder to Billy Donovan:

"Coach Donovan, are you confident about tomorrow's game? What are your thoughts on your opponent, Butler University?"

"Butler is a strong team, and Coach Gonzales is a very talented head coach. They also have a scoring sensation in Stephen Curry. Tomorrow will be a tough game, but we've prepared thoroughly. I trust my players, and I believe we will win," Donovan replied calmly.

His answer was diplomatic and gave the reporter little to latch onto.

The female reporter politely smiled, then turned to Noah:

"Joakim, what do you think about tomorrow's game?"

"There's no doubt we're going to win," Noah replied bluntly.

"What do you think of Butler as a team?" she pressed.

"Butler?" Noah shrugged. "I've never heard of them. Coach will tell us how to play. They're no different from anyone else we've faced. Anyway, they're just another opponent..."

Horford, standing next to him, quickly put an arm around his shoulders, smiled, and added:

"Butler is a strong team, and we've prepared well for them. We're confident about tomorrow's game."

Just then, a male reporter squeezed through the crowd, loudly asking:

"Al, in the last game, you took on the role of..."

Ten minutes later, the interview concluded, and the Gators boarded their bus back to the hotel.

On the bus, Horford turned to Noah with a hint of criticism:

"Joakim, you shouldn't have said that in an interview. It could make people think you have low emotional intelligence and might even hurt your draft stock."

Among the "Florida Four," Horford was the most composed and served as the locker room leader, often looking out for the others.

"It's fine; I'm just telling the truth. With the four of us together, we're unbeatable," Noah said dismissively.

"Not necessarily. We might face Ohio State University later, and Greg Oden is a tough opponent," Brewer chimed in with concern.

Taurean Green leaned back from the front row and asked excitedly:

"Hey, do you think all four of us have a shot at being picked in the first round?"

"It's hard to say. Al will probably go highest, and Joakim should make the lottery because he's a big man. But it's not as clear for the two of us..." Corey Brewer began analyzing seriously.

Coach Donovan, seated up front, looked back at his four star players, smiled to himself, and turned away.

"I hope I end up on a weaker team so I can get more shots as a rookie..."

"I'd rather join a stronger team; the winning culture is important..."

The laughter of the four players echoed throughout the bus, but the name "Butler" was not mentioned again.

End of this chapter

Note: This novel as you see I changed the name and nationality, as such is more complicated translate it I hope you support.

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