The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

Halfway through the game, Cousins had already racked up four fouls. At the start of the second half, the stubborn man chose to keep challenging the refs and, after picking up another foul, he had had enough. Tossing the ball aside, he marched towards the referee to argue:

Ref, I'm telling you...

"Tweet!"

The whistle was the referee's response:

Out you go!

Cousins didn't even finish the third quarter before he was gloriously ejected by the referee.

The already crumbling Kings now had no means of stopping anything.

The Knicks walked away with a victory from Sacramento.

For the rest of March, the only opponent the New York Knicks needed to worry about was the San Antonio Spurs.

However, the New York Knicks had already played the Spurs once this season.

The Knicks won quite easily by 15 points.

There wasn't much surprise in this game either; the New York Knicks smoothly secured the win.

Mainly because the Spurs had let go of Battier over the summer, and because of Su Wan's "butterfly effect," Leonard hadn't joined the Spurs like he was originally slated to, rendering the current Spurs team as nothing more than a "regular season powerhouse."

They dominated the regular season with their fast-paced offense and were still sitting at the top of the Western standings.

But the reality was...

With Tim Duncan aging further, the team no longer had an absolute core player to support the team,

Tony Parker was simply not cut out for that role.

And this team lacked defense.

The New York Knicks were like their "enhanced version," not only having more firepower and pace in offense but also better defense.

When the Spurs met them, they didn't stand a chance.

The game was at the Spurs' home court, watching Su Wan and the Knicks jump around and pocket the victory right in front of them, they were utterly dismayed.

Popovich stood on the sidelines, watching the loss. There was a moment when his gaze turned dull, the whole person seeming dazed.

It was an aftereffect of that fall he took last time.

He sometimes found himself becoming absent-minded...

But he hadn't dared to tell his bosses.

He still wanted to make money.

Su Wan left amid the boos from the crowd, looking at the Spurs' crumbling "Old Car" and the coach on the sidelines who looked as absent-minded as a driver. He was very satisfied with the state he had brought this team to!

San Antonio's past tribulations merited their current ruin...

April arrived.

On the first day, Su Wan saw the news that he had been selected for the "Eastern Monthly Best." Since the NBA headquarters was located in New York, he received the "Monthly Best Trophy" that very afternoon. This was the 14th "Monthly Best Trophy" of his career.

He was just two more away from Michael Jordan's 16 "Monthly Bests."

The New York media were relentless in writing articles, proclaiming "Another one of Michael Jordan's records is about to be surpassed by Su Wan!"

However, Su Wan himself remained calm.

The difficulty in achieving his 14 "Monthly Bests" compared to Michael Jordan getting 16 was still significantly greater; back then, the whole league voted jointly for a single "Monthly Best."

Now, a group of people were competing for the same "Monthly Best."

The difficulty was not simply doubled.

So when reporters asked Su Wan how he felt about possibly surpassing Jordan in the number of "Monthly Bests," he said, "Michael set the bar too low for the younger generation. But no worries, in the future, those guys will have to surpass my record. I'll make sure to raise the difficulty for them!"

The reporters listened with grinning faces.

Interviews with Su Wan always had flavor!

After the interview, Su Wan, holding the Monthly Best, returned to the locker room where Dior was, as usual, holding a cup of black coffee. But this time it was not just one cup, but two, and he handed one over to Su Wan with a look that clearly said he needed a favor.

Su Wan took the coffee, sipped it, and then looked at Dior.

The message was clear:

I've taken your gift.

Now speak your piece.

Dior said, "Do you know about your domestic basketball shoe brands?"

Su Wan nodded, "I know a few."

"Do you know about Li Ning and Anta?"

"I do!"

"Which is better?" Dior asked earnestly, his expression showing that Su Wan's response mattered greatly to him.

Su Wan didn't rush to answer.

He knew that with Dior suddenly becoming the "French Magician," many shoe brands had come knocking, but he was curious, "Didn't Nike and Adidas approach you?"

"They did!" Dior gave a suggestive smile, "But I still want to sign with one of these two brands."

Hearing this, Su Wan knew that Nike and Adidas must have offered too little money.

Indeed, domestic brands like Anta and Li Ning had been gaining momentum recently.

If Su Wan remembered correctly, Li Ning would sign a lifetime deal with Wade that summer with a contract worth 100 million over ten years, which would be the highest offer for a domestic shoe endorsement contract. Su Wan wasn't very familiar with these basketball shoes, but if he had to choose, he would pick Anta.

He offered his advice, and when Dior asked why, Su Wan said, "The name has a good meaning!"

"What?" Dior didn't understand Chinese; he could only say "hello, thank you."

Su Wan translated the essence for him: "Wear it safely."

"Yep!" Dior liked the name even more now.

Two days later, Su Wan found out that Dior had signed a five-year contract with Anta for $6.5 million a year, and they had also given him some shares. All in all, Dior would be pulling in 10 million US dollars per year from Anta over the next five years.