Chapter 72: Chaos Is A Ladder
Late at night, the desk lamp in Jerry West’s office was the only light source in the entire administration building.
He had just hung up the phone from Marc Iavaroni’s call.
Iavaroni was no longer complaining, but nearly collapsing in plea—the locker room had completely lost control, the SSOL system had failed, and he begged for a “real point guard,” otherwise he couldn’t continue coaching. He even vaguely mentioned resigning.
Almost at the same time, several new emails popped up successively on the computer screen.
The emails were from the team’s public relations and West’s trusted assistant coach. They detailed everything that had just happened: the out-of-control confrontation, Iavaroni’s outburst of accusations, Gasol’s humiliation and silence, and how Xu Ling strongly intervened, took control of the situation, and ultimately forced Iavaroni to apologize.
West leaned back in his chair, fingertips together, his sharp gaze seeming to pierce the darkness as he stared at the team’s roster, quickly assessing the evening’s events.
Iavaroni couldn’t steer this ship. SSOL was the root of the failure, but he was a cheap hire, and owner Heisley would never be happy to pay the buyout for firing him. Moreover, if they fired Iavaroni, who could they find to fill the head coach position?
Gasol was already determined to leave. Forcing a distracted All-Star to stay would only accelerate his devaluation. If they traded him, they must trade, and they must do it fast.
Gay was actually the biggest problem; he had a lot of talent, and if he could realize it, his ceiling would be very high. He had once been very humble, fooling people including West, making them ignore the many scouts’ repeated mentions of “Rudy Gay lacking the drive to become a great athlete.” Now he was the truly harmful tumor in the Grizzlies, unable to provide emotional value to teammates on the court, unable to help the team on defense, taking inefficient shots for the second-most on the team every game to get 18 points, unstable from outside the three-point line, which caused the team to face concentrated outside defense resources on Xu Ling no matter what system they played. In the past three games, if he had played the role of a secondary scorer in even one, the Grizzlies wouldn’t have suffered three straight losses.
Xu Ling
The shadows on West’s face seemed even deeper—Memphis’s only hope, with outstanding leadership and responsibility, had fully shown the potential of a franchise core.
West took a deep breath and first called Iavaroni back.
“Marc, forget that Phoenix stuff. From now on, we’re playing ugly basketball, the kind that emphasizes defense and rebounding battles, giving the ball to Eli as much as possible and letting him decide the game. Your job is to maintain locker room unity until the trade happens.”
Iavaroni knew in his heart that accepting this arrangement meant defaulting to his tactical authority being completely undermined. But did he have any other choice?
Iavaroni replied in a low voice: “I understand.”
Immediately after, West called Gasol and got straight to the point: “Pau, it’s time. Starting today, I’ll push the trade with all my effort. I promise you, I’ll get you to a competitive team. But before that, you must perform better. The better you perform, the greater your chance to leave Memphis.”
Gasol reacted calmly upon hearing this, just asking back: “This time, will the owner agree?”
If not for owner Michael Heisley’s previous forcible block, Gasol would have left last season. Heisley’s reason for keeping him was simple: the Grizzlies’ market was already dismal, beloved Sean Battier had been sent away, and if they traded the top star too, how to guarantee the record? And what to attract fans to buy tickets?
However, now the situation was different.
More and more people were chanting “Lord Eli,” flooding the gymnasium in Grizzlies No. 1 jerseys. Gasol’s status as the face of the franchise had in fact already changed hands.
“He’ll agree,” West said with certainty, “he has no reason to object.”
Gasol instantly understood the implication.
After ending the call with Gasol, West found Rudy Gay’s name in his contacts, but his finger hovered over the dial button, hesitating to press it.
Xu Ling had been at odds with Gay since before the season.
West had talked to him about it, and that conversation wasn’t pleasant. He remembered warning Xu Ling to “pretend everything was normal.”
How come when it came to it, he himself almost forgot this point?
Was now really the best time to openly discuss a trade? Gasol was destined to leave, while Gay was nominally still a key development player for the team—to trade him, they should do it at his highest value, not now. The team was already mired in trouble; if there was another unsettled, uncertain player in the locker room at this time, how could the team get out of the predicament?
West quickly scrolled the screen and found Xu Ling’s name in his contacts. He didn’t call, just sent a short message: “Chaos is not a disaster, chaos is a ladder.”
What chaos was, Xu Ling didn’t know.
When he woke up, he found that the locker room conflict from last night had been completely leaked. Not only did ESPN report on the Grizzlies’ locker room infighting based on insider sources, but more unverified messages and outrageous rumors were rampant.
First was ESPN reporter Marc Stein’s report: “After three straight losses, intense argument erupted in Grizzlies locker room, head coach Iavaroni had serious conflict with star Pau Gasol, rookie Eli Xu got involved and clashed verbally with both sides,” and explicitly pointed out “the conflict involved fundamental doubts about the team’s tactical system.”
Then, bizarre rumors quickly spread, with Xu Ling unexpectedly at the storm’s center: “According to insiders, the conflict nearly got out of control, Xu Ling made ‘excessive moves’ during the mediation, even picking up nearby objects（ rumors include hockey sticks, folding chairs, etc.） accidentally injuring Gasol, causing him to be ‘bleeding profusely’ and rushed to hospital for stitches!”
Even more absurd, because Xu Ling had once posted a joking “Memphis Three Sticks Gang” tweet during training camp, many clueless fans quickly dug it up, leaving mocking comments: “After all this, you’re the real locker room violence perpetrator!”
Despite Pau Gasol actively connecting with ESPN to publicly clarify the so-called “being beaten into hospital by Xu Ling” incident, he did not deny the existence of the conflict itself.
Immediately after, Grizzlies vice president Dick Versace held a press conference, issuing a statement considered weak and powerless: “The team did have intense discussions internally on how to win, which is normal in professional sports. Rumors of a bloody locker room incident are completely baseless.”
Finally, Xu Ling’s agent Leon Rose swore to sue the rumor mongers for defamation, but this threat was a bit powerless, because in any country, proving defamation is very difficult.
And right at this moment, another report came: the Grizzlies had begun listening to trade offers for Pau Gasol and were actively exploring various trade possibilities.
Everything seemed connected.
Maybe there was no bloodshed, but the conflict did happen. And to outsiders, the core of the conflict was undoubtedly Xu Ling and Gasol—a scorching hot super rookie, a prime All-Star seemingly abandoned; one favoring fast, open outside play, one a traditional inside player used to slowing the pace and setting up. For such two people, not infighting would be the real surprise.
Even more alarming, behind the public opinion field seemed an invisible force constantly collecting and amplifying these negative news, ultimately converging into a wave of doubt targeted at Xu Ling.
When ESPN’s Chris Sheridan discussed this in his daily column, the article hid barbs: “Whatever the truth, a locker room conflict of this scale itself shows the Grizzlies are a team losing control. We have long pointed out that the SSOL system fundamentally doesn’t suit the Grizzlies’ current lineup. Forcing Eli into the point guard position has caused severe offense-defense imbalance—this is why his individual stats shine but they can’t win, and likely the root of ongoing locker room conflicts.”
Ironically, this was originally an article summarizing NBA rookies’ performances so far.
However, when discussing Xu Ling, Sheridan avoided his individual performance, instead talking extensively about the team’s plight; and when later mentioning Kevin Durant, he suddenly “remembered” it was a rookie feature, not only delighted at Durant’s recent string of 20+ point games, but actively defending the SuperSonics’ dismal record: “Let’s set aside wins and losses for now. Kevin Durant has no All-Star teammates, no suitable system; he’s carrying the team single-handedly. You can’t ask more of a rookie. KD is not verbose; he’s just a pure-hearted boy with a backpack, treating basketball like oxygen. I firmly believe he will be this season’s Rookie of the Year.”
Afterward, Sheridan tweeted that he received thousands of “hate emails” from Memphis, including warnings to “not show up in Memphis or you’ll end up like Martin Luther King.”
This tweet, besides adding more negative impression to Memphis already labeled as “bluffing,” had no real effect. But Sheridan still chose to publicize it, showing he not only holds bias against Xu Ling but also lacks basic respect for the entire Memphis city.
For many Grizzlies players, they weren’t yet used to the high attention the team now faced. As a team once ignored by all, now frequently on national headlines, with buzz even rivaling spotlight teams like the Lakers and Knicks.
What an honor this was?
The atmosphere on the flight was unusually oppressive. No one openly asked how the news leaked—everyone seemed possible, and in the whole storm, the one under the greatest pressure was undoubtedly Xu Ling at the center.
But Xu Ling himself had no intention of assigning blame. He wore headphones with eyes closed the whole time, as if all the outside turmoil had nothing to do with him.
The other players exchanged glances, eyes filled with suspicion, as if each wanted to personally unmask the mole hidden in the locker room. But this was destined to be an unsolvable case.
When the Grizzlies’ private jet landed at the New Jersey airport, as the players exited the gate, a large group of waiting reporters swarmed, instantly surrounding Xu Ling.
Questions about infighting, tactical conflicts, locker room chaos came one after another.
Facing the surging questions, Xu Ling remained calm, just repeating the same sentence in different ways:
“I won’t discuss locker room matters.”
“Team internal issues, we’ll handle ourselves.”
“Sorry, details can’t be disclosed.”
“I only care about the next game.”
“These things aren’t worth public discussion.”
He got on the team bus without saying a single substantive word to the reporters and left the airport with the whole team.
Nine o’clock at night
Continental Airlines Arena
This arena, standing here since 1981, had witnessed the New Jersey Nets transform from a cursed bottom-feeder to the Eastern Conference powerhouse that reached the NBA Finals for two straight years.
Jason Kidd should be forever remembered by this arena—in the decades before he arrived, the Nets had only won one playoff series. Though he didn’t bring a championship, those two straight Finals runs had become the most cherished memory for New Jersey basketball fans.
However, with the core lineup aging, the former Eastern powerhouse had long lost its glory. In the past few seasons, they had repeatedly fallen in the first round of the playoffs. Even the best team, if unable to keep winning, often falls apart in an instant.
Warm-ups ended, and both teams’ starting players took the court one after another.
Nets forward line core Richard Jefferson walked up to Xu Ling and asked mockingly: “If you lose again tonight, will I see news tomorrow of you killing someone in the locker room?”
Xu Ling didn’t look at him, just faintly replied: “Instead of worrying about our locker room, worry first about whether you can score in front of me tonight.”
After tip-off, Jefferson seemed determined to give Xu Ling a lesson, calling for an isolation play. In the subsequent quick pick-and-roll offense, he used experience to shake his defender and drove straight to the basket, launching what he thought was a sure layup.
In a flash, a figure leaped fiercely from the side rear!
Xu Ling arrived as if predicting it, delivering a clean chase-down block, directly swatting the ball out of bounds!
The entire Continental Airlines Arena instantly erupted in gasps.
Then, Xu Ling received the ball at the top of the arc, facing Jefferson’s tight defense. He did two quick crossover dribbles, suddenly accelerated one step for a strong drive.
Jefferson shifted with all his effort to block, but was shouldered open hard by Xu Ling’s physique, watching helplessly as he drove into the paint and leaped up.
“Boom!!!”
Xu Ling hammered down a powerful one-handed dunk, accompanied by the rim’s violent clang, hanging on the rim looking down at the still-dazed Jefferson.
