Chapter 100: Do You Still Want To Be Friends With Me?
“I wanted to be friends with you, but you insisted on competing with me!”
Friends? Interesting.
Xu Ling didn’t respond again, just stood on the outside with hands on hips and shrugged his shoulders. If you listened carefully, he could hear the insults from Cavaliers fans in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
LeBron James made both free throws. 5 to 6.
But the Grizzlies’ response possession didn’t keep the opponent waiting too long. Kidd, like a steady captain, firmly controlled the helm.
After several concise and efficient passes, the ball went through Josh Howard and was finally softly put into the basket by Darko Milicic.
5 to 8.
“Beautiful team offense! Jeff, did you see that? Even in such a tight game, Jason Kidd still firmly controlled the situation!” Mike Breen exclaimed from the commentary booth.
Not long after, LeBron James forced his way to the basket again, passing out in the chaos to Big Z for a jump shot and points.
Xu Ling just took a deep breath, and in the next possession, he immediately responded with action—through a backdoor cut, receiving the ball, and steadily hitting a mid-range jump shot.
After that, the pace became faster. The Cavaliers’ outside shooters gradually got going, but the Grizzlies’ offensive push was fiercer. Not only Xu Ling, but even Kidd hit consecutive three-pointers.
The Grizzlies, who came to the away game, led by 4 points at the end of the first quarter with a more efficient offensive push despite the officiating clearly favoring the Cavaliers.
28 to 24
The highly anticipated matchup between Xu Ling and LeBron James also didn’t disappoint the audience.
They not only trash-talked each other on the court but were also key figures for their respective teams.
Xu Ling had 8 points and 3 rebounds in the first quarter, while LeBron James showed his versatility with 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
However, considering Xu Ling was a rookie while LeBron James was already a top-five player in the league, this performance didn’t earn the Kings more recognition.
“Well done, Eli!” Roderick Craig excitedly said to Xu Ling coming off the bench for a substitution. “That’s how you do him! What Kings! He’s far worse than Kobe!”
Xu Ling just smiled and didn’t pick up on Craig’s words.
Judging solely from the first quarter performance, LeBron James was indeed the familiar version Xu Ling knew: wide court vision, one-on-one drives nearly unguardable with the officiating favoring the Cavaliers, but facing the Grizzlies’ rim protection inside, scoring wasn’t that easy, so he dished out 3 assists.
This style looked mighty and dominant but was predictable, while Kobe was a different concept—completely unpredictable when he went off.
This made Xu Ling want to see LeBron James go off too. The Chosen One’s berserk mode in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals sent off the Eastern Conference gods Pistons with a shocking performance, but that really wasn’t his norm.
On the other side of the court, LeBron James sat on the bench with a towel over his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over the glaring “28-24” on the scoreboard.
He listened to coach Mike Brown’s instructions, but most of his attention was on his own thoughts. That rookie… was tougher than he expected.
Though it wasn’t surprising—if he were just a regular super rookie, he wouldn’t have stirred up storms in a place like Memphis.
Though superheroes need luck too, those one-of-a-kind strongmen often change their surroundings themselves.
LeBron James thought, wasn’t what Xu Ling did in Memphis exactly the same as what he did in Cleveland?
Even
LeBron James didn’t think further, just gripped the towel tightly.
“We need tougher defense! Give them physical confrontation! Let them know every possession is hard-earned!” Mike Brown’s voice carried a hint of anxiety. “LeBron, rest a few more minutes first. When the time comes, we need you back to take over the game!”
LeBron James softly acknowledged.
On the Grizzlies’ side, it was Xu Ling leading the second unit with Lowry, Ariza, Warrick, and Radmanovic.
Because Xu Ling had been subbed out to rest a few minutes before the end of the first quarter, Marc Iavaroni wanted to exploit these few minutes while LeBron James was off the court to let Xu Ling go all out and extend the lead.
The game resumed. Grizzlies ball.
Xu Ling didn’t rush to take over the offense but handed the ball to Lowry and started a lot of off-ball movement. He was like a slippery fish, weaving through the heavy shadows of Varejao and Big Z’s movements.
Lowry got the message and delivered a precise bounce pass to Xu Ling cutting out off Warrick’s screen.
“Swish!”
Xu Ling hit a three-pointer.
31 to 24
The lead stretched to 7 points.
Boos erupted immediately from the crowd. Cleveland fans couldn’t tolerate this bastard yellow man who openly disrespected LeBron James continuing to show off on their turf.
On the other end, Daniel Gibson tried to use speed to isolate Lowry, but his floater was disrupted by Darko Milicic and missed. Xu Ling grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed forward himself.
The Cavaliers’ retreat defense was quick, but Xu Ling’s speed was faster. Like a bolt of blue lightning, he executed a sharp crossover dribble near the midcourt line to blow past the first line of defense Delonte West, driving straight to the basket!
Guarding the basket was the Cavaliers’ small guard-forward Devin Brown. He spread his arms, trying to draw an offensive foul or at least disrupt Xu Ling’s layup.
But Xu Ling didn’t slow down at all. With one step left before Brown, he exploded off the floor, his body soaring as if escaping gravity, right hand raising the basketball high, colliding fiercely with Brown in mid-air!
“Boom!!!”
Xu Ling maintained balance in the air with powerful core strength, powering through Brown’s block to slam the ball toward the basket!
“Boom!!!!!!!!!”
After landing off-balance and stumbling back a few steps, Xu Ling immediately steadied himself and let out a long-suppressed roar toward the baseline camera—and toward the entire booing Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
No and-one; the referee didn’t call a foul. No matter, he had achieved his goal, thoroughly enraging the entire crowd.
“!￥!@￥%@”
“Oh my god, Eli came out firing at the start of the second quarter!” Mike Breen shouted excitedly. “He even roared at the home crowd—you ever see him do that anywhere else?”
LeBron James flung the towel onto his seat; he couldn’t sit idly by anymore.
Just one minute into the second quarter, the lead was already 10 points.
Coach Mike Brown had no choice but to heed the Kings’ will and make an early substitution adjustment.
Half a minute later, during a dead ball, LeBron James checked in.
His first possession back, he immediately posted up against Xu Ling in the low post.
“Does he post up?” The thought flashed through Xu Ling’s mind.
The next second, LeBron James caught the ball, shoulders down, backing into Xu Ling and grinding deeper step by step with pure brute force.
Xu Ling immediately understood.
LeBron James, like him initially, was just using the post as a tool to push the defender out of position. Once at his spot, he spun, jumped—a fadeaway where success depended not on post technique but on that touch at the top of the fadeaway.
“Bang!”
The basketball clanged off the rim. But Varejao alertly grabbed the offensive rebound under the basket and easily put it back in.
“Hope you’re not only going all-out against our bench,” LeBron James said as he ran past Xu Ling. “I’ll be waiting for you in the backcourt.”
Then, whether intentional or not, Xu Ling went to the same spot LeBron James had attacked from—the left low post.
“Eli’s posting up?”
“That’s not his strength!”
“And his physique is no match for LeBron—this isn’t a good choice!”
LeBron James could only smirk inwardly. It seemed those scouts who always messed up had finally gotten Xu Ling’s template right.
This guy did have a Kobe-like Mamba mentality. With better options, he insisted on posting up. What gave him the right to attack from the post?
LeBron James immediately went body-to-body defense, arm firmly across Xu Ling’s back. He was confident— he’d just attacked that way himself. Though the shot missed, the process showed his strength advantage. He expected Xu Ling to try a similar brute-force attempt.
But Xu Ling’s first post-up move surprised him. The power wasn’t just blind pushing but feints mixed in. After a solid backdown, Xu Ling suddenly spun on his right foot toward the baseline, his body’s center of gravity and shoulder fake incredibly realistic.
LeBron James’s weight shifted instinctively toward the baseline for a split second.
In that instant, Xu Ling quickly pulled back his step, body twisting like a cat to face up and cut down the middle.
His footwork was clear and quick, gaining half a step advantage in one move.
Fooled by the realistic fake move, LeBron James was a beat slow to slide and block, watching helplessly as Xu Ling cut past him to the basket, rising lightly against help defense from Varejao for a drifting reverse layup off the glass.
Xu Ling’s post techniques, honed since college, shone in this moment. Though his footwork combinations were still limited, they were enough against the current LeBron James.
Xu Ling glanced at LeBron James without uttering a word of trash talk.
This silent contempt naturally wounded the King’s pride.
This was his castle, where he held the power of life and death. He absolutely wouldn’t allow himself to fall behind in this globally watched matchup—that would make the world start doubting.
Was the King all hype?
Did he deserve all the expectations?
Should the basketball world still revolve around him?
No one could bear such doubts, let alone such losses.
LeBron James’s response: He caught the ball outside the three-point line, facing Xu Ling’s defense. He didn’t even use a screen—a simple crossover dribble, then using explosive power to force half a step of separation, bulldozing into the paint like a heavy tank, ignoring all help defense, soaring up. This moment wasn’t about skill but pure talent and strength domination as King LeBron James slammed the ball through the hoop!
“That’s our King!” the arena DJ roared hoarsely.
Xu Ling picked up the ball from the floor, expressionless, quickly retreating to the baseline to inbound. He didn’t look at LeBron James’s celebrating back but quickly said to Lowry: “Give me the ball.”
Lowry got it, inbounded, and dribbled upcourt.
Lowry didn’t rush to find Xu Ling but first directed some tactical off-ball movement to stretch the Cavaliers’ defense a bit.
Xu Ling shook his man on the weak side using a solid screen from Warrick, cutting out to the 45-degree angle beyond the three-point line. Lowry’s pass arrived like a precision-guided missile.
LeBron James’s flying closeout was a step late.
“Swish!”
“Amazing response!” Mike Breen exclaimed. “How big is Eli Xu’s heart?”
The next few possessions fully entered “Xu vs. LeBron” mode. Both attacked themselves or drew defense to pass for teammate assists, their presence filling every possession on both offense and defense.
On paper, LeBron James seemed more versatile, but the crowd clearly felt the King was at a disadvantage.
Because in individual offense, the hot three-point shooting Xu Ling could do anything, while LeBron’s three big moves worked sometimes and not others—especially evident after both teams’ starters returned.
Kidd brought experience and game control, Josh Howard added forward line toughness for the Grizzlies, making LeBron’s aggressive attacks less effective. Without Delonte West hitting two buzzer-beaters off the bench, the Cavaliers would have been down double digits.
Those buckets made Xu Ling take a few extra looks at West.
Xu Ling knew all about this guy. Anyone following the NBA or battling in NBA fan circles knew West’s story with LeBron’s mom. Though it sounded like tacky tabloid gossip, explaining it was pointless—it only spread wilder. Thus, West became a kind of anti-LeBron weapon in Chinese internet lore, his story with LeBron’s mom evolving into the Guan Zhilin golf ball legend.
Then, the half came to its final moments. The Cavaliers had grinded all quarter, but Mike Brown never saw LeBron James truly take over.
The lead peaked at 10 points. After LeBron checked in, scores seesawed between 5 and 8. Now, with 20 seconds left in the half and Grizzlies ball, they still led by 5.
The Grizzlies had the last possession, 20 seconds left. Kidd dribbled to run clock as the crowd stood to make noise.
At the last 8 seconds, Kidd passed to Xu Ling at the top of the arc. LeBron James immediately got into defensive stance, eyes sharp, determined to stop this one.
Facing LeBron James, Xu Ling ripped rapid crossover dribbles, rhythm unpredictable as the shot clock ticked down.
At the last 4 seconds, Xu Ling pump-faked a shot.
His jump motion was incredibly realistic. Knowing Xu Ling’s range and decisiveness, LeBron James instinctively leaped fully to contest!
But it was a perfect fake!
Xu Ling completely lifted LeBron James’s body into the air, but instead of going around, at the moment LeBron descended, he did a jaw-dropping move—bending at the waist, right hand dribbling the ball from an extremely awkward angle directly between LeBron’s legs with a bounce pass!
“Oh My GOD!!”
Mike Breen let out a voice-cracking shout from the commentary booth.
The basketball precisely went through LeBron James’s legs, slicing open the Cavaliers’ final defense like a scalpel.
At the same time, Josh Howard read it perfectly, flash-cutting to the basket in that split-second to catch the unbelievable pass.
Howard caught it with open space ahead, easily rising for the layup!
LeBron James landed off-balance; he hadn’t even fully turned when he heard the swish behind him!
“Swish!”
The red light lit up—half-time over!
The Grizzlies entered the second half with a 7-point lead!
LeBron James was completely stunned.
His face stiffened in shock, then flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead from the opponent’s humiliation.
LeBron James whipped around, not toward Howard who scored, but glaring deadly at the culprit.
Xu Ling didn’t avoid LeBron James’s fiery gaze.
Instead, he met that almost murderous stare with an almost innocent puzzled expression, hands slightly spread, just as friendly as the opening: “Hey, Bron（bron）, do you still want to be friends with me?”
