novelhk Chapter 2: Dunking over O'Neal, becoming a star in one game.
Chapter 2: Dunking over O'Neal, becoming a star in one game.
The cheers in the stadium stopped abruptly the moment Lin Hao sprinted up from the floor.
"Clang!"
More than 20,000 eyes in the stadium were fixed on the young Asian man who had flipped into the arena, collectively falling into a world-class state of bewilderment.
One second the audience was going crazy for the suona horn, the next their mouths were agape, and their popcorn buckets were clattering to the ground. The security guards on the sidelines were a beat too slow; by the time they reached out to grab him, Lin Hao had already dashed three meters away with the ball. Several burly security guards chased after him like hen chasing a weasel stealing rice, but they couldn't catch him.
At the Lakers' bench near the baseline, O'Neal had half a piece of fried chicken dangling from his mouth, butter dripping down his chin. He held up his greasy hand, staring wide-eyed, completely forgetting to chew. Kobe, who had been leaning back in his chair, instantly sat up straight, crumpling the towel he was using to wipe his sweat into a ball, his brow furrowed so deeply it could trap a fly.
The Nets players were standing on the other side of the court. Kidd spilled his sports drink all over his pants, but he didn't bother to wipe it off. Who has ever seen a spectator grab the ball and rush onto the court during halftime of the Finals, heading straight for the basket?
Lin Hao's mind went completely blank, leaving only two words: Deduct from his head!
In his past life, he trained children in a county youth training camp for over a decade, dissecting techniques and predicting movements. He could memorize every shift in a player's center of gravity during a drive or defense with his eyes closed. While O'Neal's 300-plus-pound frame was an insurmountable mountain to others when he stood under the basket, to him, it was full of openings.
His eyes were fixed on O'Neal's left foot—before each block, the fat man would always lower his left heel and shoulder by half an inch, then use the momentum of his turn to swing his arm to block. He had watched this move at least eight hundred or a thousand times in the video, and he could time it perfectly even with his eyes closed.
O'Neal finally realized what was happening.
He froze for two seconds, then burst into a deafening laugh, spitting out the crumbs of fried chicken he was eating. In all his years of life and playing in the NBA, this was the first time he'd ever seen a skinny Asian kid dare to charge at his basket in front of the entire arena.
He didn't even take it seriously, slowly taking two steps towards the basket, casually raising his greasy hand as if shooing away a fly. In his opinion, this kid was just going to make a fool of himself at most, and wouldn't even touch the rim.
But the next second, Lin Hao stepped just inside the free throw line, pushed off the ground hard, and soared into the air like a cannonball!
O'Neal's smile froze instantly.
He hadn't expected the kid to jump so high, and he certainly hadn't expected the kid to be aiming for a dunk on him! He instantly abandoned his playful thoughts, and just as Lin Hao had predicted, he suddenly sank his left foot, pressed down on his left shoulder, and turned his massive body in the process, slapping his fan-like hand hard towards the basketball in the air!
He calculated Lin Hao's jump height and the trajectory of the basketball, but he didn't expect that Lin Hao had already figured out his movements.
Just as O'Neal's large hand was about to touch the basketball, Lin Hao forcefully pulled the ball back in mid-air, exerted his strength in his waist and abdomen, and used the force of the confrontation to twist his body slightly to the side, just dodging O'Neal's block. Then, he grabbed the basketball with one hand and slammed it hard towards the basket!
With a deafening thud, the basketball was slammed into the hoop, sending the net tumbling into a white wave, and the entire basketball hoop wobbling three times.
Lin Hao hung on the rim with one hand, looked down at O'Neal who was standing at his feet with his head tilted back and a blank expression, grinned, and then let go and landed steadily.
The entire stadium was deathly silent.
The kind of sound you could hear a pin drop.
Three full seconds later, a deafening roar of cheers nearly lifted the roof off the arena! The crowd jumped up like madmen, waving whatever they were holding and yelling, ten times more frenzied than when the Lakers had won half the game!
"My God! He dunked on Shaq!"
"That kid who plays the suona! He dunked on Shaq!"
"My God! What am I seeing?!"
Lin Hao dusted off his hands, glanced at O'Neal who was still standing there in a daze, and blurted out in thick Northeastern dialect: "Don't just stand there, if you're so capable, defend one of them."
O'Neal was completely dumbfounded.
He turned to the referee beside him, and with an innocent look on his face, he shouted, "Who the hell is this man?!"
The referee was stunned. He was so nervous that he almost broke his whistle. He didn't know whether to blow it or not. He had been officiating in the NBA for over a decade, and this was the first time he had ever encountered a situation where, during halftime, the crowd rushed onto the court and dunked over the star player.
The security guards who had been chasing after him finally arrived and reached out to grab Lin Hao's arm, but the entire audience instantly erupted in a unified shout: "NO! NO! NO!"
Some spectators even threw support signs into the stadium, shouting "Let him stay!" The security guards looked at each other, their hands outstretched in mid-air, unsure whether to go in or back.
O'Neal finally came to his senses. He looked down at the swaying rim, then at the boy from Northeast China who was almost a head shorter than him. Instead of getting angry, he suddenly burst into a thunderous laugh, slapping his thigh and laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight, tears welling up in his eyes.
He waved the security guard away, then approached Lin Hao, pointed at his nose, and rattled off a bunch of foreign words.
Lin Hao didn't understand a word, except for the word "man," and he retorted stiffly, "What? You're not convinced? Want another one?"
O'Neal was even more bewildered. He turned around, grabbed his Chinese translator, and pointed at Lin Hao, demanding, "What did he just say? And what did he say when he landed? Translate both of that for me!"
The translator's face turned pale. He looked at O'Neal, then at Lin Hao, his mouth agape for a long time, unable to translate directly. After a long pause, he finally stammered to O'Neal, "He...he said your defense is very strong, and he respects you very much."
As soon as he finished speaking, several Chinese spectators nearby burst out laughing, and one even shouted in English, "He's telling you not to just stand there like an idiot, if you're so capable, try defending against one!"
O'Neal's face darkened instantly, then broke into a smile. He reached out and patted Lin Hao on the shoulder, the slap almost making Lin Hao stumble. He gave Lin Hao a thumbs up, then pointed to the suona in his hand, and rattled off a bunch of things.
Lin Hao still didn't understand, but the system notification sound in his mind rang out at that moment.
[Beep! Temporary extreme mission: Dunk over Shaquille O'Neal, complete!]
[Mission Evaluation: Perfect! The host, with a mortal body, has fulfilled the ultimate dream of 99.99% of basketball fans worldwide!]
[New player gift pack has been distributed! Host level unlocked to Lv1!]
[My past life's basketball youth training experience has been 100% integrated! My physical talent has been upgraded from Grade E to Grade B (NBA rotation player level)!]
[Unlock Skill: Eye of Foresight (Passive) - Accurately detects the movement habits and weight shifts of opposing players!]
Lin Hao was overjoyed.
Become!
I actually dunked over Shaquille O'Neal! I actually made my boast from my past life come true on the NBA court!
He glanced up at the sidelines and saw dozens of foreigners in suits in the first row, their notebooks practically smoking from writing, staring intently at him like hungry wolves eyeing their prey—they were scouts from various NBA teams.
[System Notification: The host has been closely watched by scouts from all 30 teams in the league! Your name will be known throughout the entire NBA within 24 hours!]
Lin Hao grinned, waved to the audience, picked up the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) by the stage, and spontaneously played the tune of "People in Our Village" for O'Neal.
The crowd erupted in laughter and cheers again, and O'Neal shook his big head to the rhythm, looking just like a 300-pound leader of a folk dance troupe.
No one knows what kind of storm this young man from Northeast China, who blasted the crowd with his suona and dunked over Shaquille O'Neal at halftime in the Finals, will stir up a month later at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The scene shifts to New York, at the 2002 NBA Draft.
The spotlight was blinding as David Stern, holding a white envelope, strode confidently onto the stage. The audience was filled with rookies in suits and ties, as well as management from various teams; all the cameras were focused on the stage.
In the last row of the venue, Lin Hao sat with his legs crossed, playing with the ebony suona in his hand, his youth training notes, which he had used for more than ten years in his previous life, tucked into his pocket, a nonchalant smile on his lips.
He knew that his story had only just begun.