Chapter 108: The Lord’s Worries And Arrival
Just as NBA stars were about to head to New Orleans for the 2008 All-Star Weekend, with the trade deadline approaching, teams across the league began aggressive maneuvers.
Ever since that shocking four-team trade involving the Mavericks, Grizzlies, Nets, and Lakers, the Western Conference landscape had clearly changed.
The Mavericks had basically emptied their coffers, but to ensure victory over the Celtics’ Big Three in the Finals, they still needed to continue bolstering their roster.
Other Western Conference teams had even more motivation to strengthen.
No one wanted to see the Mavericks dominate alone. The Suns, believing they were in a “break it to build it” phase, decided to make a big move. They chose to send away the soul of their SSOL system, Shawn Marion, and brought in the seemingly over-the-hill Shaquille O’Neal from the East.
This was undoubtedly a shocking trade, and not because O’Neal was some untradeable player, but because the Suns actually thought O’Neal could help them go further.
The league’s fastest-paced team chose the center who least wanted to play fast.
This was abstract, really abstract, like swapping Rudy Gobert for Green next to Curry. Gobert’s interior defense might be far superior to Green’s, and he might even make Curry’s pick-and-roll threes more terrifying, but the NBA would no longer have the Death Lineup, no small-ball revolution, and the Warriors would become another team. In that case, Curry wouldn’t even need to play off-ball, because you couldn’t expect Gobert to handle the ball like Green. So, how much better would an off-ball-free Curry be than Damian Lillard in the best-case scenario?
Who reacted most intensely to this?
LeBron James.
This was another abstract thing.
Before Jason Kidd was traded to the Grizzlies, James, like Kobe last year, kept urging management to make the trade, as if a past-prime, inaccurate-shooting veteran point guard could really mesh with him.
The Kings were interested, and the Cavaliers management naturally obeyed. But who could have predicted that the Nets were abstract too? They completely failed to realize this was an opportunity to ruin the Cavaliers. Instead, feeling sore from being eliminated by the Cavaliers in last season’s playoffs, they said they absolutely couldn’t send their franchise’s greatest player to the opponent to strengthen them, and decisively rejected the Cavaliers’ trade request.
This seemingly absurd decision inadvertently saved Kidd’s career to some extent. Otherwise, all the embarrassment and struggles Russell Westbrook experienced with the Lakers would have played out on old Kidd ahead of schedule.
After Kidd was traded to the Grizzlies and immediately had a significant impact, James publicly expressed dissatisfaction. Especially after Xu Ling made that highly insulting shaking finger gesture at him in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Kings had deeply realized the urgency of bolstering their lineup.
So, James turned his sights to the big shark O’Neal. If they could bring in O’Neal, why fear the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett? Even if they faced the Spurs in the Finals again, someone could handle Duncan. However, the Heat’s helmsman Pat Riley was equally unwilling to trade O’Neal to a divisional rival.
Thus, James’ one-sided bolstering vision fell through again—he always hoped to get a declining, ball-style-mismatched has-been All-Star, but ultimately failed to get his wish.
Rumors swirled in the trade market, but none involved the Grizzlies.
Because the Grizzlies’ roster was now complete; they just needed to wait for buyout market news—pick up a bargain if possible, no loss if not.
However, the quiet trade market didn’t affect the Grizzlies becoming one of the most talked-about teams during All-Star Weekend.
Because Xu Ling was about to reach Pau Gasol’s peak in Memphis—making the All-Star team.
And this was just Xu Ling’s first year in his career. It seemed Memphis’ leader would easily surpass the Spaniard to become the Grizzlies’ franchise’s greatest player in the next few years.
《Memphis Commercial Appeal》 showed no respect to the franchise’s greatest player on this matter: “After making the All-Star team, Eli just needs to lead the Grizzlies to win in the playoffs to surpass PG as the Grizzlies’ franchise’s greatest player.”
However, even winning in the playoffs would just be a small matter for Xu Ling in his rookie season.
Compared to the things he personally created, these were truly insignificant as dust.
February 15, 2008, early morning, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Xu Ling, backpack on, headphones on, walked out with the crowd. His face showed no fatigue from the long flight, but rather the calm of a gladiator about to enter the arena.
Because he knew there would be a lot of damn reporters asking those damn questions here.
“Eli! Over here!”
“Eli, do you have anything to add about the Cleveland matter?”
“.”
Flashes popped like a sudden rain, nearly blinding everyone.
Dozens of reporters thrust voice recorders at him; peripheral fans blocked the passageway completely. Security personnel held hands to form a human wall, barely clearing a narrow path.
Xu Ling stopped, removed one headphone, and calmly scanned the crowd. He didn’t shrink back or seek staff protection like some rookies; he just slightly furrowed his brow, as if annoyed by the commotion disturbing his peace.
But he couldn’t avoid it; this was the price of becoming a star, especially one who made headlines almost daily just by playing.
“Eli, congrats on making the All-Star team!” A reporter up front seized the opportunity. “First All-Star trip—how does it feel? Anything you’re especially looking forward to?”
Very standard opener. Xu Ling nodded and answered concisely: “Thanks. I have a lot of expectations, but at the moment I don’t know what I’m expecting. I might need some time.”
Were the reporters here a bit more normal than elsewhere?
Just as Xu Ling was slightly revising his view of the group, an aggressive voice cut in from the side, from a male reporter wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a serious expression, with a microphone labeled with a Cleveland local media logo.
“Eli Xu! I’m Richard Morris from 《Cleveland Plain Dealer》. Your behavior in Cleveland, especially that highly insulting gesture, has been seen by many fans and commentators as completely violating sportsmanship! Do you feel any regret at all? Do you think you should apologize to LeBron James and all Cavaliers fans?”
The question instantly quieted the scene a bit,
All lenses locked tightly on Xu Ling’s face, awaiting his reaction. This was exactly the question the media most wanted to ask.
Xu Ling began to believe that his finger-wagging at James would follow him for life, like his college coach Bob Knight’s chair thrown onto the court.
But he absolutely didn’t want to carry that label through his entire career; he believed he’d do even more outrageous things, and then people would drop the finger-wagging and focus on something else.
But now, he had to counter this Cleveland reporter.
Xu Ling looked at the reporter, his face showing no anger but instead a playful smile. He didn’t answer immediately, but slowly removed the other headphone and carefully stowed it in his bag.
“Regret? Apologize?” Xu Ling repeated the key words, his voice clear through the microphone. “Mr. Morris, your question confuses me a bit. I remember LeBron himself already said publicly, right? He said it was just part of the game, he understood the competitor’s mindset, and, in his own words, something like ‘I respect Eli’s competitiveness’?”
Xu Ling paused, scanning the reporters as if seeking agreement.
“See, the man involved, LeBron, has already shown such magnanimity and publicly forgiven me. Why are you, as a professional reporter, more hung up on it than LeBron himself, eagerly demanding some so-called apology on his behalf?”
The 《Cleveland Plain Dealer》 reporter’s face instantly flushed red; he hadn’t expected Xu Ling to say that and stammered trying to retort: “Because LeBron is a gentleman! That doesn’t change the nature of the incident—”
“Nature?” Xu Ling interrupted immediately. “I made a good play, then did a celebration gesture. The league thought the celebration was over the top, so they fined me, and I accepted it. The matter is over on every level. If you still want to discuss the moral level—”
“I think, compared to a celebration gesture, going all-out on the court is the greatest respect to opponents, fans, and the game. That’s what I do every game. What do you think, Mr. Morris?”
Finished, Xu Ling gave the man no chance to pester. Before his agent could smooth things over, he added one last line: “If you’re really that concerned about LeBron’s feelings, next time you interview him, why not ask him personally if he needs an apology from me. But I think he’d rather win it back next time they match up than endlessly hear you all discuss a past game moment.”
Leon Rose, seeing this, immediately squeezed to Xu Ling’s side, his face piling on a professional slick smile, deftly blocking most microphones: “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Eli’s flight just landed. What he needs most now is rest, not a press conference.”
As he spoke, he subtly but firmly patted Xu Ling’s back, signaling him to move immediately.
Rose knew clearly he had to quickly get this sharp-tongued little ancestor away from this “minefield”—who knew how many blunt traps awaited next, or how many bombs he’d drop.
“All-Star Weekend is just beginning; see you in the next few days!”
Rose steadied the scene with a polite closer, then with bodyguards’ help, escorted Xu Ling swiftly out of the encirclement.
The group hurried through the airport terminal and quickly got into a black Mercedes sedan prepared in advance by Adidas.
Xu Ling could hardly imagine this was just a brief opening to the exhausting All-Star Weekend trip.
“God!” Xu Ling rubbed his brow, unable to hold back a complaint. “I feel like for the next few days, I need a sign around my neck saying: ‘Yes, I shook my finger. Next question, thanks.'”
Leon Rose, the shrewd agent sitting beside him, straightened his suit tie while chuckling, his face showing a weird mix of sympathy and schadenfreude.
“Be content, Eli.” Rose shook his head with a wry smile. “You’re just hounded with ‘Why did you shake your finger?’ Think about my other client—he’ll face countless microphones for months, even years, repeatedly answering variants of the same question: ‘LeBron, talk about how it felt getting shaken down?’ ‘Was getting finger-wagged at in your home court the most humiliating moment of your career?'”
Rose mimicked the reporters’ snarky tone, then spread his hands: “Trust me, your situation is much easier by comparison.”
Xu Ling paused, then imagined James surrounded by reporters grilling him on “shake down details,” and couldn’t help but smirk.
That image was indeed a bit too cruel.
