Su Feng had become a sort of Pennsylvania celebrity all of a sudden after Team Lower Merion had defeated Team Ridley with an astonishing 55 - 84.
His popularity had rapidly surged sky-high as if riding a rocket…
Ahem. I was joking.
There was no internet or social media in the 1990s. How could one possibly rise to fame with merely one friendly match?
Su Feng would rather spend the time thinking about where Kobe would bring him this weekend.
"Why do I feel like I'm shooting for a reality show? Should I call it Where Are We Going,
When Su Feng recalled the serious look on Kobe's face at the end of the fourth period, he really wanted to give Kobe a good beating…
"Why must he leave me hanging?" This personality of Kobe could probably make him an annoying web novel writer.
Ahem, back to the topic.
Although Su Feng didn't actually become a celebrity, he had made a strong impression in the mind of the Ridley head coach, Fernandes, through the friendly match.
After the match, some reporters had interviewed Su Feng. That was a new experience for him.
They had come to know more about Su Feng, collecting new material for their future articles on the high school inter-school games.
Moreover, the basketball scout from Duke had even sent his congratulations to Su Feng as soon as the match had ended.
However, it appeared that the North Carolina scout had no intention to be acquainted with Su Feng.
"I wouldn't have expected anything more from North Carolina. Even their scout is so unapproachable!"
"It's almost impossible for your name to appear in the newspapers or on the TV through a friendly match. But things will be different in a real match. You'll be a famous man across all of Pennsylvania if you can keep up your good performance," Kobe said, patting Su Feng's shoulder encouragingly.
Su Feng nodded. Then, he asked, "Oh and, Kobe, can you tell me where we are going this weekend?"
Kobe immediately put on a mature look and said, "You'll know when we get there."
Su Feng was speechless.
….
In the remaining days of the week, Su Feng had fought hard against his impatience. Finally, it was the weekend.
August 24th. Saturday. Sunny.
New York City, the Big Apple.
As a matter of fact, Kobe was indeed a rich kid.
He had sponsored Su Feng's plane ticket, again.
But different from the future billionaires that Su Feng had known, most of whom were born in slums without a father, Kobe was indeed the chosen one.
He was from a rich family, and both of his parents were alive and healthy. Although Joe Bryant had been a failure as an NBA basketball player, he had played a pivotal role in Kobe's professional career.
Moreover, Kobe's grandfather had been a fervent basketball player too. While living in Italy with his father, young Kobe had received a pile of NBA videotapes from his grandpa.
After the family returned to the States, Kobe was awarded a full scholarship due to his excellent performance. Hence, in Su Feng's opinion, Kobe was a precious friend that should be cherished.
"Recently, I realized that I'm running out of breakthrough tactics.
"If I solely rely on crossover and a sudden change in the direction or speed, I may not even be able to break past you," Kobe said with the utmost seriousness once he and Su Feng had gotten off the plane.
Su Feng was speechless.
"Not even me? What does he mean?
"Is he implying that I'm weak?"
"Err, Su, I meant no offense. You know that the NBA is my dream. I do admit that you are an expert at defense, but you surely understand that there are better defensive players than you in the NBA, right?" Kobe explained. He thought Su Feng was mad at him since the latter hadn't replied to him.
Actually…
Kobe was overthinking.
Su Feng was just wondering whether they would have any luck finding helpful ball-passing tactics in New York.
An expert in Kobe's former life stories, it couldn't ring a bell even for Su Feng regarding the connection between New York and Kobe.
"Are you bringing me to Rucker Park? Want to find some inspiration via street basketball?" Su Feng asked, curious.
"Not really… But we can go there if you want," Kobe said, smiling.
So it was not Rucker Park?
With burning curiosity, Su Feng followed Kobe to Brooklyn.
New York was the busiest city in the United States. Hence, many people would marvel at its prosperity when they first arrived.
However, the New York slums were appalling.
Su Feng would have been worrying about his personal safety if Kobe hadn't been with him.
The Brooklyn slums were filled with fierce-looking muscle men and ladies in scanty clothing and thick makeup…
The hellish borough formed a stark contrast with the rest of the flourishing city.
Kobe turned to Su Feng and said, "Eyes forward. Follow me closely."
Su Feng nodded.
Before long, they arrived at an automobile repair shop that looked shabby on the outside.
When Su Feng and Kobe walked towards the shop, a black young man in a white T-shirt and light blue jeans came forward, gripping a wrench in his hand.
Su Feng clenched his fists defensively. Having noticed Su Feng's reaction, Kobe patted his shoulder reassuringly and said, "We are here."
"It's been a long time, Kobe," the young man greeted Kobe warmly with a hit on the chest.
"Indeed. How do you do, Tyrone?" Kobe said smilingly.
"This is?" Tyrone glimpsed at Su Feng.
"My friend," Kobe said.
"Come on. Boss has been waiting for a while now," Tyrone said, showing no intention to ask further. He turned and gestured to Kobe and Su Feng to follow.
Luckily, composure was one of Su Feng's most prominent characters. He wasn't nervous at all!
"How have you guys been?" Kobe asked when Tyrone was leading the way.
"We are fine. There have been a few new men from the Park wanting to challenge us," Tyrone said with a grin.
"I hope Tom hasn't caused you any more trouble?" Kobe asked.
"Nope. He has left us alone ever since we defeated their 'big guy'.
"Besides, everyone in New York knows our boss. Even the gangsters have to think twice before they mess with us.
"Okay. We are here," Tyrone said as he pulled up a rolling door. In the next instant, half a basketball court unfolded before them.
Thump, thump, thump…
Su Feng saw a short and fat… no, short and buff black point guard practicing ball passing.
"My name is Tyrone, Tyrone Evans. You can also call me by my nickname, Alimoe."
"Nice to meet you. Welcome to the House of Tyrone." Tyrone introduced himself and extended a welcoming hand to Su Feng. At that moment, a few pieces of memories surfaced in Su Feng's mind.
Tyrone… Evans.
"Alimoe. It's really him!"
It was hard to be mistaken, given Tyrone's popularity as a street basketball player.
However, this basketball talent would pass away from a stroke in 2013. A pity indeed.
Well, if this young man was the famous Alimoe, Su Feng had roughly had a guess who the buff, little man over there was.
"Su…" Just when Su Feng was going to introduce himself, Kobe interrupted him again. "He's Su, Su Feng. A defensive expert and my teammate in the school team."
Tyrone couldn't help but look at Su Feng for a second longer, now with admiration in his eyes.
After all…
Few could gain approval from Kobe, and Kobe had just called him a "defensive expert!"
However…
A defensive expert?
Su Feng didn't like it.
It sounded like that was his only strength.
The short, buff man stopped his practice and said as he walked towards Kobe and his friend, "When I heard that you were coming to New York to learn about breakthroughs with me, I thought Vince Carter had flown to Pennsylvania and given you a good beating."
"Oh, man. There's only one thing that can bring Vince Carter to Pennsylvania, and that's me beating up his sleepy-eyed cousin again," Kobe said, laughing.
"Good to see you again, mate," the short man said and gave a hit on Kobe's chest. He flashed his big, white teeth when he smiled.
"You too," said Kobe.
"Hello, I am…" Su Feng was interrupted again during his self-introduction.
"Do I have a secret talent called "Interrupted Self-introduction?'" Su Feng thought helplessly.
The short man gazed up at Su Feng and said, "I know you. Kobe mentioned you in the call. He said that you are his Scottie Pippen."
Su Feng was speechless.
"What?? It's more like Kobe is my Pippen!
"Pippen?? Spare me please!"
Then Kobe patted the short man's shoulder and introduced him to Su Feng. "He is…"
"You think only you guys can interject when I'm talking??"
"Shammgod Wells. The best point guard in all of New York," Su Feng said smilingly as he looked at the short man.
Kobe was shocked.
Tyrone and Shammgod didn't know how to respond either.
In the many stories Su Feng had read about Kobe in his previous life, Su Feng remembered one of them clearly.
In grades 11 and 12, Kobe had participated in special training with Shammgod to sharpen his ball passing skills.
In the 1990s, the four most famous street basketball players in New York were Shammgod, Alston, Marbury, and Kareem Reid.
Among the four of them, the most popular one among New York basketball fans was this short, buff man called Shammgod.
Different from many other street basketball players, Shammgod had always dedicated his fancy streetball skills to serious competitions.
Moreover, Shammgod had successfully become a professional player with the streetball style, unlike Alston, who had yielded to the mainstream professional playing style in the end.
Despite his lackluster performance in the NBA, his name would be engraved in the mind of every basketball lover…
Fun fact: Shammgod's birth name was God Shammgod. Yep, the "God"…
Afterward, he had often been ridiculed at school. Hence, his mother changed his name to "Shammgod Wells".
"You know him?" Kobe asked in a surprised tone.
"I've seen him in the magazines," Su Feng lied.
"Haha, I didn't know I was that famous! Kobe, you've got to buck up!" Shammgod said. He was rather gullible, it seemed…
"Oh, you've come at the right time. I've recently discovered a new breakthrough tactic. Come, you defend, and I'll show you how it works," Shammgod said, holding a basketball in his arm and gesturing to Kobe.
Kobe nodded, clearly interested in this new tactic.
Su Feng was dumbfounded as he watched the pair practice.
He had just remembered another interesting story about Kobe and Shammgod.
As Kobe readied himself in the defensive position, Shammgod had begun to move.
Undeniably…
Shammgod was a rare talent in ball passing.
Most of the so-called "Streetball Kings" only knew how to walk around in circles, but Shammgod's ball-passing skills would definitely be useful in a formal match.
He lowered himself, almost scraping against the floor now. It was impossible to defend if one couldn't move their center of mass low enough.
Thump, thump, thump.
Shammgod had started to charge towards Kobe.
He first stepped forward with his right leg and then his right hand pushed the ball forward. A great deal of careful control was needed to perform this move, and you would only be able to see this by analyzing his movement very slowly.
Kobe had been fooled…
Just when he thought the ball was going to fly off from Shammgod's hand, Shammgod suddenly reached out with his left hand and shoved the ball in the opposite direction.
That was…
"Shammgod—!"
Yes, the move Shammgod was performing was the legendary ball-passing technique that would soon gain popularity in the future—Shammgod!
Yes, that's it…
Su Feng remembered that in his previous life, Kobe had learned this trick while practicing with Shammgod…
The trick didn't seem complicated.
But given its unpredictability and flexibility, it could bring about endless possibilities when put to proper use.
At this moment, Kobe's eyes were beaming with excitement. Looking at Shammgod, who had breached his defense effortlessly, Kobe requested, "Again!"
Shammgod smiled. "Sure."
Thump, thump, thump.
It was almost the exact same moves!
But this time, Kobe didn't hurry forward to snatch the ball.
However…
Thump!
Shammgod suddenly pulled the ball back, stepped back, and did a jump shot.
Swoosh!
"This is the new trick I thought of. What do you think? With this trick, I can break through, I can step back to create an opening, and I can even change my direction of movement within limited space and time. Simply put, it's a perfect transition to any further tactics that you feel like using, so long as you are fast and agile enough," Shammgod told Kobe smilingly.
Kobe nodded and said, "Su, come over and have a try!"
Su Feng nodded. He knew that Kobe wanted to see whether he could defend against this move.
"Okay, get ready. I'm going to start…" Shammgod said, the basketball bouncing between his hand and the floor.
Thump, thump, thump.
When he stepped forward with his right foot, his body leaned forward towards the right side. Actually, Shammgod could also move towards the left, and the direction was up to the player's personal preference.
Su Feng knew that Shammgod was going to change his tactic at the very instant when he pulled back the ball using his left hand.
Hence, Su Feng took a preemptive small step toward his left.
But…
As soon as Su Feng moved to the left, Shammgod suddenly pulled the ball in the opposite direction with a crossover move.
That was totally unexpected!
This tactic worked well with many other breakthrough moves.
Su Feng had almost sprained his ankle, but luckily, he managed to stabilize his body.
"Kobe, your friend is an impressive defensive player. I almost made a mistake," Shammgod commented, looking at Su Feng admiringly.
You may think that Shammgod was mocking Su Feng, but in fact, it was heartfelt praise and Su Feng had almost countered Shammgod's attack successfully.
"This trick…" Kobe looked at Shammgod longingly as if he was seeing a naked girl.
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to keep this to myself. I want more people to learn it. I've even thought of a name for it. I'll name it after myself—Shammgod!
"Hahaha, think about it. Whenever others use this trick in future games, the commentators will have to repeat my name over and over again!
"Sigh. That could be merely wishful thinking. This trick may not be that useful after all," Shammgod said, indulging in his daydreams.
No…
This trick would be extremely helpful.
Moreover, Su Feng was certain that Shammgod's name would be the most-mentioned name by basketball commentators all across the world.
To be more precise, the most-mentioned name of a retired basketball player.
Shammgod patted Su Feng's and Kobe's shoulder and said, "Alright. Let me explain this trick to you."
However, at this moment…
Su Feng suddenly stopped moving.
He was petrified, standing still where he was.
That was because…
A line suddenly appeared in his mind…
"Congratulations! You have won 5 points of control score and 5 points of dribbling score!"
"Congratulations! You have unlocked an original special technique: Shammgod (Original version)!"
"!!!"
….