Chapter 61: Sixty Million Dollar Man
Jerry West gazed far at the players under the court, but the scene that emerged in his mind was another picture—that was decades ago, when the Lakers traded with the 76ers for Wilt Chamberlain to confront the Celtics and Bill Russell.
On the surface, that was a dynasty team composed of the NBA’s greatest forward, the most dominant center, and the most versatile guard. Why couldn’t they achieve success? Winning in a garbage league of plumbers, part-time lawyers, and drivers wasn’t that difficult, but what was the outcome? Elgin Baylor and Chamberlain’s friendship ended in the face of their mutually incompatible realities.
Baylor was used to giving orders, while Chamberlain always went his own way; Baylor needed wide offensive space, while Chamberlain always guarded the low post; Baylor was passionate and outgoing, a natural leader, while Chamberlain was sensitive and arrogant, often lost in confusion. They never truly accepted each other.
This reluctant combination ultimately only brought repeated failures year after year. West could never forget that when he finally won the championship in 1972, he found Baylor was no longer in the lineup—that moment’s anger and emptiness almost devoured him. But when he calmly reflected, he painfully realized that if Baylor were still there, they might not have won that championship at all.
Does the past of that era have any enlightening significance for today’s NBA? Perhaps, but not much. In the era when West played, the NBA could hardly be called a commercial league, with low salaries, low social status, and different off-court interference factors, unlike now, without huge rule restrictions like the salary cap. So, you could see teams like the Celtics where players worked together like a big family, but today, that situation no longer exists.
Of course, you’ve definitely seen players on the court countless times warmly hugging, high-fiving, and celebrating, scenes that often make people think they are intimate, but in fact, it’s just a group of people with no intersection in life sharing the adrenaline rush in repeated training and highly collaborative games.
The real situation is how Gay treats Xu Ling, because Xu Ling hasn’t played a single game yet but is already considered the Grizzlies’ new core, because Xu Ling’s draft pick is higher than his, because the amount of that world-shocking endorsement contract Xu Ling signed with Adidas might be ten times his. Modern NBA uses real numbers to alienate people from each other; that’s the gap, and the gap between Gay and Xu Ling might be tens of millions of dollars.
How can he tolerate this gap?
So, the team’s rift is inevitable, and their fight is inevitable. Perhaps the Grizzlies should be glad they don’t pretend to like each other.
Although the rookie team where Xu Ling is has overall strength clearly inferior to the veteran team composed of the Grizzlies’ starting lineup from the previous season, it’s not without resistance. Besides Darko Milicic, there is Xu Ling’s old captain from TTU, Julius Jackson, as well as power forward Andre Brown and white small forward Casey Jacobsen.
Jackson has never truly talked to Xu Ling about the signing. Although everyone knows deep down that his joining the Grizzlies is inseparable from Xu Ling—but as long as Xu Ling doesn’t bring it up, he prefers to believe it was earned by his own strength.
At this moment, the atmosphere on the court was tense, Jackson smiled and leaned in to ask: “Is this situation within your plan?”
“If you mean being deliberately targeted by someone surnamed ‘Gay’,” Xu Ling responded indifferently, “then no, it’s not.”
Jackson knew that the easy and tacit days from college were over. From the moment they stepped onto this court, they had to adapt to a brand new, more realistic NBA.
“But you absolutely can’t lose, right?” he asked in a low voice.
Xu Ling’s mouth curved up: “Thanks to you all, I only lost two games in my freshman year, so I’m really not used to losing.”
No matter what the actual situation was, these words were comforting to hear. Jackson laughed: “Then I definitely won’t let you lose today.”
“Alright, alright, can we catch up on alumni feelings later?” Darko Milicic interjected with a bit of teasing, “The game is about to start.”
Although Xu Ling thought he would play shooting guard more in the NBA, today he was playing small forward. The reason was simple: he wanted to match up with Gay, and besides, the team’s white small forward Casey Jacobsen played small forward in college, but in the NBA, he could at most play scoring guard because his talent was too lacking.
However, the veteran team’s lineup was relatively “reasonable,” consisting of Lowry, （Eddie） Jones, Gay, （Hakim） Warrick, and Pau Gasol.
Only three were starters from last season, the other two being the backup point guard and a veteran about to retire.
The veteran team in black jerseys won the tip-off.
Gay immediately ran to the frontcourt, with Xu Ling following closely behind.
Then, Hakim set a pick and roll on the outside, Gay ran off the screen, Gasol passed the ball in place, and Gay spun for a graceful jump shot that went in.
“Hey, Sixty Million Dollar Man, does Adidas give you that much money without including defense costs?”
After just making one shot, Gay couldn’t wait to start trash talking.
Xu Ling didn’t respond. He was waiting.
In terms of strength alone, the veteran team is definitely stronger than the rookie team; that’s beyond doubt.
Just with their All-Star player Pau Gasol, the inside advantage is infinite, but the good thing is Gasol’s body is here but his soul isn’t. Although he came in and gave Gay an assist to show his basketball IQ, he might not really go all out in this game.
In the end, the only ones truly going head-to-head and refusing to yield were Xu Ling and Gay.
As soon as Xu Ling got positioned, he received a pass from his teammate. Gay immediately pounced like a hungry tiger, spreading his arms in a pressing defense to create pressure.
Undoubtedly, he possessed the perfect talent that small forwards dreamed of—outstanding height, amazing wingspan, strong explosiveness, plus precise jump shooting. Scouts called him “Little Tracy McGrady” for good reason. But the “Tracy McGrady” label was, to some extent, like a subtle curse: most genius players tagged with that title ultimately suffered from certain mental weaknesses or defensive laziness.
Xu Ling made a quick hesitation dribble to the right, and Gay’s overcommitted defensive center of gravity was immediately pulled off balance. In that instant, the flaw in his defensive judgment was exposed. In the split second as he tried to adjust his center of gravity, the rookie he had mocked as “Sixty Million Dollar Man” had already stepped back to the left, jumped, and released.
“Swish!”
Hollow through the net.
Xu Ling landed steadily, glanced back at Gay expressionlessly, and retorted in the same flat but sharp tone: “Looks like Nike’s endorsement fee to you wasn’t meant for defending anyone either.”
Gay’s face turned ashen.
“He went straight into isolation play.” Lowry didn’t know if he was implying isolation plays had higher value or expressing dissatisfaction. “Is he that confident?”
Gay immediately got heated and just said: “Give me the ball!”
Then he rushed forward.
Lowry wore an innocent smile; he really didn’t want to get involved. The competition between the third pick and eighth pick wasn’t something a small fry like him could interfere in.
The offense set up, Gay raised his hand, and Lowry’s pass arrived.
Facing Xu Ling, he was like a lion defending his territory, eagerly exploding with an amazing first step.
This step was so fast that grasping it well could blow past Xu Ling.
His physique was no problem; the real issue was his ball-handling ability. Gay lacked the dribbling technique to control his own explosiveness, so although this step gained him position, it couldn’t sustain acceleration to reach his most ferocious athletic state.
Xu Ling’s most significant improvement during his year at Texas Tech University was not offense, but defense.
Bob Knight made him guard the opponent’s arrowhead from the start and insisted on extra half-hour defensive slide drills every day. This daily hard work forged his dominant performances locking down the opponent’s core wing multiple times in March Madness. Now stepping onto the NBA court, even facing a talent freak like Gay rarely seen in college, he still relied on outstanding judgment and quick reactions to stick tightly to the opponent.
Under Xu Ling’s airtight defense, Gay barely jumped for a shot and naturally missed.
Milicic tapped out the rebound, and Xu Ling smartly controlled the ball. Before the veteran team could get back, Xu Ling instantly spotted his fast-breaking old captain Jackson and delivered a full-court long pass precisely, assisting the latter for an easy layup.
In the transition gap, Xu Ling looked at Gay whose face was growing darker and lightly added: “Do you know how big a contract Nike initially offered me?”
“What?” Gay didn’t react at first, his mind still on the previous mistake.
At that moment, Lowry had already silently inbounded the ball right to Gay, shouting with a look of enjoying the show: “Rudy, catch! Show him what you’ve got!”
These inflammatory words, mixed with Xu Ling’s earlier unfinished provocation, were like dry wood meeting fire, completely igniting Gay’s fighting spirit.
Gay caught the ball facing Xu Ling, with only the basket in his eyes. This time, he held nothing back, unleashing all his skills—a series of explosive crossover steps connected to a quick spin move, trying to completely shake open space. Every move was full of raw talent’s wildness, yet carried a stuttering sense of shaky fundamentals, completely different from the silky feel that Durant—taller, faster, and longer than Gay—brought to Xu Ling.
Due to unsteady dribbling rhythm, Gay couldn’t fully utilize his speed and explosiveness advantage. In a one-on-one, this offense relying more on instinct than technique was almost destined to be read.
Just as Gay thought he had finally created a slight gap and leaped forcefully for his signature jump shot, Xu Ling seemed to foresee the future, timing his step perfectly to leap with full effort, his long arm sealing the shot line exactly.
“Pa!!!”
A clean block, the ball swatted hard out of bounds.
Xu Ling landed steadily, looked calmly at the incredulous Gay, and finally connected to the earlier topic, teasing: “They offered me 7 years for 40 million. But I chose Adidas, because they not only offered more money, but also have better vision.”
