Guys there is already content on patreon, if anyone wants to become a chunin or jonnin.
patreon.com/Chuga320 (More 50 chapters)
—————————————————————————————————————————————
"You're a little brat who doesn't get up this late. Go wake up Liam!"
"Oh, he's finally resting, why are you so indulgent?"
"How indulgent should I be? He's still asleep after 11 AM. He's been sleeping for days. He doesn't sleep at night and can't afford to sleep during the day. If this keeps up, he'll be useless. Go wake him up. I'll make some beans here. They'll be ready soon, let him eat while they're hot."
"Okay, okay, I know you feel sorry for the kid..."
Javier mumbled, got up from the large, soft couch, went to Liam's room on the second floor, knocked on the door, and shouted with a rough and loud voice: "Liam, get up and eat some beans! It's almost noon! Get up!"
Bang, bang, bang! He waited a while, but there was no movement behind the door, so he increased his efforts and repeated it.
"Uh... oh – Got it, Dad, I'll be up in a minute… um…" Liam's lazy voice came from inside the door.
"Hurry up, I'm making beans. Don't you like freshly made beans? You won't get to eat them if you're too late!" warned Javier, then turned and went downstairs.
Five minutes later, Liam emerged from his bedroom, groggy, with messy, fluffy hair and the collar of his nightgown crooked. His legs seemed stuck to the ground, swaying weakly, and the slippers on his feet made a "pap-tat-tat" sound.
He held onto the stairs with one hand and reached the first floor. Maria had just finished making the beans and was cleaning the cutting board. Seeing Liam's appearance, she shot him a glare: "Look at you, still sleepy? Hurry up, go brush your teeth and come eat beans with pork and green onions, your favorite filling!"
Liam hadn't fully woken up yet. Upon hearing this, he simply nodded mechanically and walked to the bathroom.
After a while, the beans were cooked. Javier used a large strainer to scoop out some beans, shaking it up and down to filter out the water, then tilted it slightly, and the beans obediently slid onto the plate.
"Alright, let's eat!"
Javier smiled at Liam, the wrinkles on his face becoming finer with the smile, and then went to scoop out the remaining beans.
"Alright!"
Liam grabbed the plate eagerly, took three or two steps at a time, quickly approached the dining table, placed the plate, moved swiftly and smoothly, and then sat down.
"Hoo, ho..."
"Eat slowly, no one's racing you. This kid's already an adult, earning a lot of money, but still the same as when he was little. Doesn't care about burning himself..."
Maria, who had just put away the cutting board, rolling pin, and pumpkin, looked at Liam with a smile. She was also wearing an apron covered in white flour, her tone soft, though her words were neither too gentle nor too harsh.
Liam...
Not long after, Liam finished two and a half plates of beans in a rush, slumped into his chair, and let out a satisfied sigh.
The beans Maria made had thin skins and large fillings, and Liam was so full that he didn't want to move at all.
"Are you full?" Maria took a dumpling in her mouth, bit into the garlic, chewed slowly, and looked at Liam.
Liam nodded, with a satisfied expression on his face:
"Then tomorrow I'll make some patacones to change the taste," laughed Maria.
"Why are you in such a hurry? We'll finish them in two days. You can fry me some meat tomorrow," Liam replied oddly.
"Your father and I will return in two days, and then we won't be able to make beans for you anymore," Javier added a little vinegar to his small bowl.
"Return? Why are you going back? Aren't you two having fun here?" Liam said, surprised.
Liam was stunned for a moment, took his phone, and looked at the time. Today was May 5th, six days since the Warriors were eliminated from the playoffs.
After the Warriors lost Game 6 to the Suns, Liam had booked flight tickets for his parents, and Liam had applied for passports for them last summer in Colombia. Maria and Javier had flown to San Francisco four days ago, coming to the U.S. for the first time.
In the past few days, Liam had enjoyed the leisurely days of shopping for clothes and eating freely. Although Tina had served him before, Tina didn't understand his lifestyle habits as well as Maria did. These days gave Liam a sense of home, good food, and deep sleep, even the complaints from Maria about his habits sounded very kind.
But now, Maria and Javier obviously couldn't adapt to life in Oakland. The best mansions in the Glenview community didn't attract them. Liam had taken them to several three-star Michelin restaurants, but they weren't used to them either.
"Alright, if there's anything else you want to eat, I'll make more in the next two days so you won't be greedy again," Maria nodded with satisfaction.
"I'll come back next month after I've been busy for a while. Then you can cook it for me," Liam said with a playful smile.
Maria laughed and cursed:
"Little brat, I have to take care of you wherever you go, right? Let your dad do it for you!"
…
After putting all the beans in zip-lock bags and storing them in the refrigerator, then putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Liam sat on the living room sofa and turned on the TV.
Since all the TV channels were in English, although there were Spanish channels specifically for Latinos, the content tended to be old Novelas or random stuff, and Maria and Javier didn't like watching it, so they hadn't been watching much TV these days.
So when the TV turned on, it was ESPN, with Bill Simmons, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and other commentators gathered around an oval table discussing yesterday's game.
Bill Simmons spoke in his usual brusque tone:
"Come on... How weak is the Eastern Conference? Last night, the Hawks lost to the Magic by a full 43 points! Only three of them scored in double digits, namely, Josh Smith with 14 points, Joe Johnson with 10 points, and Pachuli Asia with 12 points! And this is a team that finished third in the Eastern Conference in the regular season! I dare say if the Hawks were in the West, they wouldn't even beat the Warriors, and it's not just the Hawks. Since 2000, only two teams from the East have won championships. The West is strong, and the East is weak. This is shocking and we need to face this problem!"
"Then, Bill, what do you mean?" Jeff Van Gundy asked, somewhat confused.
"Ahem, what I mean is..." Bill Simmons' eyes gleamed with a sly light, "James' MVP isn't that valuable!"
"Oh, Bill, are you joking?" Jeff Van Gundy said.
Mark Jackson also shook his head repeatedly:
"This is nonsense. The Cavaliers are first in the Eastern Conference. James' stats and efficiency are top-notch. His MVP is indisputable!"
Bill Simmons retorted:
"Really? If the Cavaliers were in the Western Conference, would they still have that many wins? In my humble opinion, there are a lot of teams in the East that don't even have NBA-level strength. They should be in the D-League! Look at the first place in the Western Conference this year. The eighth-best margin in the West, the Lakers only lead... The Trail Blazers won seven games first and had to fight for six games in the first round to decide the winner. And the Cavaliers lead the Bulls by 20 games in the East? And the Hornets, the Hornets are in first place in the West! James' dominance is fake, that's a fact!"
Jeff Van Gundy shook his head:
"No, Bill, I don't think so…"
Liam watched as several people surrounded Bill Simmons, smiled, put down the remote control, and watched the commentators with interest.
On May 2nd, the league announced that James was named the MVP of the regular season. He won this award again and received the trophy at the University of Akron. His Cavaliers teammates also came to support him.
On April 27th, the Cavaliers eliminated the Bulls 4-1, and on May 1st, they beat the Celtics 101:93, making a good start in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was James' time to shine. While accepting the award, he made bold comments:
"The regular-season MVP is just the beginning, I'm going for the Finals MVP!"
In the following days, the discussion about James winning the MVP became a hot topic. The general public believed that this was the beginning of James' collection of honors. Cavaliers fans even talked about James possibly achieving the Grand Slam, winning MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and more.
However, some people questioned the merits of James' MVP. They believed that the MVP should go to Kobe. Although the Lakers' wins weren't as good as the Cavaliers', the competition in the West was much fiercer, and the Lakers' record was more valuable.
Of course, this kind of person was only a small minority, and Bill Simmons was the representative figure. Most people believed James was the indisputable MVP of the season, both from the perspective of the records and the data.
It's just that Bill Simmons wasn't just talking nonsense. The results in the first round of the playoffs were his strongest argument.
Except for the Hawks' difficult 4-3 victory over the Bucks in the Eastern Conference to advance to the semifinals, the gap between the strengths and weaknesses of the other three rounds in the East was very obvious. The Cavaliers and Celtics swept the Bulls 4-1, the Heat and Magic even swept the Hornets 4-0, and in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, they beat the Hawks by 43 points 114-71. It can be said that, except for the Hawks, the top four teams in the Eastern Conference were on two completely different levels from the rest of the teams in the East: Magic, Celtics, and Cavaliers were the only three competitive teams, and the others were just lambs to be slaughtered.
In the Western Conference, no series ended with a sweep or a gentleman's sweep. Except for the Warriors' 2-4 loss to the Suns, the Lakers and the Trail Blazers fought in 6 games, and the point difference in each game was within 6 points. In G6, the Lakers narrowly beat the Trail Blazers by 3 points and almost went to a tiebreaker.
Roy averaged 27.4 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game in 6 games, repeatedly hitting key shots. He competed with Kobe and showed very strong force. When the Trail Blazers were eliminated, even the Staples Center gave applause and respect from the Lakers fans.
The Jazz even managed to defeat the Nuggets 4-2 and successfully advanced to the next round.
Of course, the number of victories between the two teams was exactly the same, and their strength was about the same. No one would be surprised at who won and who lost.
But the Spurs defeated the Mavericks 4-3 and completed the Black Seven Miracle, which was an astonishing achievement.
Under Popovich's guidance, the Spurs played smooth team basketball. The GDP combination showed tacit understanding like a married couple, and their cooperation was very pleasant to watch.
Although Nowitzki managed to score 26.7 points with a shooting percentage of 54.7% in this series and was called an unstoppable shooting machine, he could not defeat the six-handed opponent: Duncan, Parker, Ginóbili, and Georges. With over 14 points, Nowitzki only had Butler as a reliable scorer, and the interior defense was even weaker. In the end, he lost to the Spurs. After being hacked eight times in 2007, he once again became the backdrop for seven hacks.
For a time, Nowitzki and the coward were almost completely equated, and the Mavericks marked the beginning of their darkest moment.
End of Chapter
Quite difficult this chapter translating all the meals and dialogues.
Bull shit
Note: Hi if you really like NBA novels, you can support me either in this pg with stones, reviews etc, or in patreon since the niche of sports and specially NBA is very small is Webnovel since people prefer to read Naruto, Pokemon, comics etc.