O'Neal was a product of Louisiana State University, and as he was the spokesman for this year's Sunshine Classic, the school offered the venue to the organizers free of charge, out of respect for Shaq.
But in reality, this was just a pretense, as there's no such thing as a free lunch.
If a man offers you a free lunch, there's a high chance he's after your body.
Louisiana State University's head coach Dell Brown was indeed coveting the bodies of these young players.
The free use of the venue was because he wanted to use this opportunity to scout for potential recruits at the Classic.
It pays to recruit talent early, and a big reason Shaq had chosen to join Louisiana State University over prestigious schools like Duke was that Coach Brown had established a friendship with Shaq early on and maintained correspondence with him for three years.
Just now, when Roger scored effortlessly over Shaq's head, Dell Brown felt like the person he was looking for had appeared.
If what was written in the files was true, and Roger had only joined the school basketball team a week ago and had not received much systematic basketball training before,
Then how terrifying must his talent be?
Dell Brown crossed his arms and watched the court intently.
Oak Hill Academy would be a good touchstone.
At this moment, on the court, a jovial O'Neal had a staffer bring out a pair of Reebok shoes, signed them, and gave them to Roger.
Because of his interaction with Shaq, the previously unknown Roger became a darling of the reporters and star of the Classic.
So much so that before the game started, a throng of reporters rushed to interview Roger.
And during this interview session, Shaq's affection for Roger grew even stronger.
When reporters asked Roger, "What do you think Shaq will achieve in the NBA," Roger replied,
"I think he will surpass Ewing, the Admiral, and Dream, becoming the greatest center of the era. Duke's Christian Laettner? Georgetown's Mourning? Sorry, but once they enter a bigger stage, they won't be mentioned in the same breath as Shaq anymore."
Shaq couldn't help but display an auntie's smile, seeing that Roger wasn't very emotionally intelligent because he was telling the plain truth!
This year, when O'Neal was selected as the first draft pick, there were still many who said that Laettner, who was selected for the Dream Team, should have been the first choice.
Many in the media were full of doubts about O'Neal, as he hadn't even made it to the NCAA Final Four.
Roger's reply was very reassuring to O'Neal; at least there was someone in the world who made sense.
Another reporter then asked Roger, "For the upcoming game, where winning or losing isn't too important, will you still give it your all, or are you planning to focus your energy on the upcoming league?"
The reporter was being very polite, not directly saying, "a game with no suspense in terms of winning or losing."
Roger stared at the reporter, his smile fading, "I personally have a great admiration for the legendary football coach, Mr. Vincent Thomas Lombardi, especially for his saying 'If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?' I especially love it. There are no games where winning or losing isn't important in competitive sports, so of course, I will give it my all in the next game, and then defeat the opponent!"
Vincent Thomas Lombardi's stature in the world of football is probably equivalent to Coach K + Auerbach in basketball, as he achieved spectacular success in both professional and college-level football, known and revered by everyone in the United States.
Roger, using his quote as an answer, earned the favor of many reporters and successfully leveraged the popularity of football.
This was also the world's first taste of Roger's strong desire to win.
That's right, the more someone lacks something, the more they like to emphasize it.
Roger admitted that his life was damn short on victories!
Not far away, watching Roger surrounded by people, McKinney realized he was no longer the protagonist of this invitational.
As the 25th ranked player in the nation, he felt like a toy that everyone had tired of and cast aside.
He didn't understand what scoring on an absent-minded Shaq proved. "I could do it too."
Austin, standing next to McKinney, was even more annoyed, telling his teammate, "That kid's mine, don't steal."
Unlike soccer or football, the cruelty of basketball lies in the fact that it allows you to single-handedly destroy your opponent, as satisfying as a Western cowboy duel at sunset.
Austin swore that he would brutally annihilate that damn Asian in a one-on-one later!
Before the game started, as both teams were preparing for the jump ball at midcourt, Austin deliberately shouted to his teammates:
"Hey, I just heard the funniest thing in the world, someone said they were about to witness a great miracle, the miracle of a no-name high school crushing the top high school in America. Where do all these miracles come from? Strength is what decides everything!
Whoever faces Oak Hill Academy, it's just their bad luck!"
Roger was already tired of this idiot. He was ugly to begin with, looking exactly like the actor who played Juliet in the 2024 version of 'Romeo and Juliet'.
And on top of being ugly, he had a foul mouth.
Shaq personally did the jump ball at center court, and the basketball was won by Oak Hill Academy.
After the game began, Austin immediately taunted Roger, "Be a man and come guard me."
But Roger coldly replied, "Sorry, your ranking is too low. I'm not interested."
Austin: ???
How can such chilling words come out of that 35-degree angled mouth!
McKinney took the ball past the half-court, and naturally, Roger took the initiative to match up with him.
What's the big deal about being ranked 100th? If you want to play tough, play against the one with the highest ranking today!
Feeling lucky to be guarded by Roger, McKinney thought everyone would soon know who the biggest star of the day was.
He breezed by Roger with a sudden start and crossover in front of him, then pulled up for a mid-range jump shot.
Roger's defense wasn't very impressive, mainly because he lacked experience and his skills were still green, not yet able to easily lock down his opponent.
But after Roger was breached, Andrae unexpectedly lunged forward, disrupting McKinney's jump shot, causing him to miss.
Roger's pre-game words had woken Andrae up.
If you surrender before the fight, you'll never win in your life.
Yeah, Oak Hill Academy is nothing. Even if we lose, we'll lose like men!
Protected by his teammates on the rebound, Roger raised his hand for the ball and quickly counterattacked.
While sprinting at full speed, Roger suddenly came to a sharp stop, pulled back, his rhythm flawless.
Forcing McKinney to come to a halt as well, Roger then smoothly changed direction, darting past McKinney's side.
Dell Brown couldn't help but applaud; the move was exceptionally brilliant, and he knew that Roger's recent basket wasn't just luck!
Roger's feel for the ball was too perfect; such overflowing talent and skill simply couldn't be hidden.
After getting by McKinney with the change of pace, Roger stopped abruptly in the mid-range area and took a jump shot.
But at that moment, Austin lunged out; he had been eyeing Roger all along, waiting for an opportunity to help on defense.
When Roger took his shot, Austin perfectly timed his block, his help defense was incredibly precise.
Austin was confident he could stop Roger, but next, he heard the beautiful sound of the ball swishing through the net.
That bit of interference was completely ineffective against Roger.
"Swish!"
The same mid-range stop and jump shot, the same encounter with help defense.
But the outcomes for Roger and McKinney were worlds apart.
The endless cheers drowned out the gym; Roger didn't disappoint the crowd. In just one round, he humiliated two high school students ranked in the top 100 nationwide!
Seeing Roger score softly over Austin's defense, Dell Brown shrugged at his assistant coach, "High schoolers simply can't stop him. His jump shot, his offensive skills, they're just on another level!"
After scoring, Roger pointed at Austin, then at McKinney, "The game's only got 30 minutes, so come at me together. I don't have the time to deal with you one by one!"
Having said that, Roger couldn't help but laugh as he retreated on defense.
First it was Andrae, then McKinney and Austin.
Roger found himself more and more infatuated with the feeling of crushing his opponents!
The rest of the game could be described in one sentence: McKinney and Austin walked off the court peacefully.
The scene of Roger dominating them repeated over and over throughout the game.
At various positions, using off-ball and on-ball mid-range shots, he tormented McKinney and Austin's nerves time and again.
What's the best way to stop a scorer? Force him to pass the ball.
Austin wanted to force Roger to pass through a pressing double team.
But what Austin never expected was how solo Roger could play!
Faced with open teammates, Roger staunchly refused to pass even once!
He would rather take shots under double coverage than pass it off!
Therefore, Austin's eager help defense only resulted in repeated humiliation.
It was self-degrading, again and again!
To be honest, with Roger's level of shooting, McKinney and Austin's interference was truly negligible.
Roger deeply understood what's called a "double-team with a lot of space."
It turned out, Kobe was really playing sensibly!
Dell Brown didn't like this way of playing, but he couldn't criticize it because... it was unorthodox but he really scored!
Roger hardly got any wide-open opportunities throughout the game; most of his shots were taken under pressure.
Yet, his scoring efficiency was exceedingly high, his shooting as steady as a machine.
Dell Brown could see that the extremely high shooting percentage came from Roger's textbook-perfect shooting form.
The basketball soared repeatedly between Roger's hand and the basket, its arc graceful, its spin perfect.
Shot after shot as if by divine aid.
He may not have passed the ball, but that didn't stop his team from maintaining the lead.
Dell Brown had already labeled Roger in his mind: This was a scorer, a super scorer!
As the game went on, McKinney and Austin began another round of wishful thinking—maybe he can ignore the interference, but once he starts to fatigue, his shots won't be so accurate, right?
Unfortunately for them, Roger's shot stability wasn't affected by the passing of time.
George Gervin earned the nickname "Iceman" not only because he was always cool and collected.
It was also because his teammates noticed that no matter how much he played, he hardly ever sweated, as if his body temperature wouldn't rise, earning the distinction of a precursor to trash talkers.
Inherited with such exceptional physical talent, Roger, in a high school level game, could not possibly get tired, much less have his shooting affected by it.
Watching Roger's score increase relentlessly, McKinney felt an intense sense of powerlessness for the first time in his life.
He felt as though Roger was even harder to guard than Stackhouse!
As for Austin, he knew very well that this was his last day as a top 100 player in the country.
Because after today, Roger will definitely enter the rankings. And no matter where Roger stands, his 100th spot will be pushed out.
In the midst of Roger's compelling performance, only 43 seconds were left in the game.
The highly-favored Oak Hill Academy trailed Block High School by 13 points.
The miracle, without causing a ripple, became reality.
Faced with such a situation, Austin couldn't help but think, am I just a small high schooler, ranked 100th nationwide, to meet such a deity at a mediocre invitational?
Meanwhile, numerous scouts in the stands all wrote down the same phrase, "Roger, the first top-level high school player from Asia in history!"