He crossed the courtyard and pushed the door open.
As the door opened, Chen Yu was surprised to hear the sound of a piano.
It was the familiar lody of "Adelina by the Water."
Walking through the hallway, Chen Yu saw Hill with his back to him.
Who would believe it? The NBA was a world of violence, brawls, and profanity. And yet, a guy who played for the Pistons, a team renowned throughout the league as the "Bad Boys," could actually play the piano.
Watching the elegant and handso Hill, Chen Yu suddenly understood. He realized why, after Jordan’s retirent, Stern had relentlessly tried to promote Hill as Jordan’s successor. It was likely an attempt to use Hill to change the fans’ perception of the NBA.
A mont later, the piece ended.
Chen Yu began to applaud.
Hill jumped in alarm. He whipped his head around, saw it was Chen Yu, and was startled again. He blurted out, "What are you doing here?"
Chen Yu walked over with a smile. "Why can’t I be here?"
Hill quickly stood up. "No, I an, there are so many reporters outside. Didn’t they give you a hard ti?"
"Them?" Chen Yu shook his head with a smile. "Not at all. They politely made way for , stuffed a bunch of business cards into my hands, and said they wanted to have on TV."
Hill blinked, completely dumbfounded by what he was hearing.
He didn’t even dare to leave his own house, terrified of being cornered by that mob of reporters.
’And Chen Yu, a key figure in the eye of the storm... how could those reporters have let him go so easily?’
"Alright, show the photos from your training sessions these past two days." Chen Yu sat down, his gaze sweeping over Hill’s left ankle.
It had healed a bit more since he’d last seen it.
Hill quickly sat down across from Chen Yu. "Chen, I told you on the phone, this has nothing to do with you. Leave it to . I’ll explain it to them."
"How does it have nothing to do with ?"
Chen Yu shot back, "Billings is slandering , calling a fraud. The dia is already fabricating fake news about , saying I was involved in a dical malpractice incident and had my license revoked by the hospital. You tell , how does this have nothing to do with ?"
The single sentence left Hill speechless. He looked guilt-ridden and apologized.
Chen Yu continued, "And another thing. You said you’d explain. How are you going to do that? By hiding at ho playing the piano?"
After all, in all the days since they’d returned from the Mayo Clinic, Chen Yu had always assud the piano was just a decorative piece.
Hill explained, "I was planning to wait for them to calm down a bit before coming forward to explain."
"Forget it." Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively. "You’ve been in the league for six years without a single tabloid scandal. Now that you finally have one, you think the dia will let you go? And what about the Magic’s managent? They used such shaless tactics to force you to return. Do you really think they’ll back off just because you say, ’I’m injured, I need more rest’?"
Hill’s brow furrowed. It was true that he was low-key, reserved, and easily swayed, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew Chen Yu was right.
"Then what do you want to do?" Hill asked, exasperated.
For a mont, he felt a disorienting sense of déjà vu, as if he were back with the Pistons.
It was the sa situation back then. For several seasons in a row, they couldn’t get past the first round of the playoffs. The team needed him, and the fans were counting on him to restore the glory of Motor City’s back-to-back championships.
Even though he knew he was injured, he played anyway, as if to prove his loyalty to the Pistons for all to see. The result was a total disaster. In the end, he was backstabbed by his forr teammates and left for Orlando.
"Fight back."
Chen Yu tapped the table, his voice low. "Proving you’re injured and can’t return right now is the easy part. But are you planning to just let it end there? With a managent team like this, if they do it once, won’t they do it again? Do you want to play for a team with this kind of leadership? Don’t forget, you still have a full seven-year contract."
Hill’s expression changed slightly.
Chen Yu continued, "If you don’t, then you need to stand up and tell everyone just how shaless and awful the Magic’s managent is. The best-case scenario is getting Gabriel and Billings fired."
Billings was just stupid and arrogant, but Gabriel was malicious. He could pat Hill on the back with a smile, tell him to rest up and that they’d wait for him, then turn around and stab him in the back, using the dia and fans to force his return.
Hill stared blankly at Chen Yu, sowhat frightened by his words.
「Like a whirlwind, the na Grant Hill instantly beca the hottest topic in the sports world.」
It was Monday, and that night the Magic would face the Bucks at ho.
In the morning, Billings arrived at his office right on ti.
He didn’t have much to do today. If there was anything, it was maybe finding Tracy McGrady later to tell him his shoulder was still a problem and that he should sit out another ga.
This was Gabriel’s idea.
’Wasn’t losing one ga enough? Besides, it wasn’t like they could beat the Bucks anyway.’
Billings supported Gabriel’s thods. At the very least, it had allowed him to satisfyingly curse out that damned rookie in front of all those reporters yesterday.
Even now, he couldn’t forget the humiliation of being at the Mayo Clinic, with Chen Yu pointing a finger in his face and scolding him until he was speechless.
After brewing so coffee and opening the newspaper, Billings could have comfortably sat there all day.
The papers were filled with news about Hill. The buzz was insane.
So celebrities had also caught wind of it and were coming out to state their opinions.
The recently retired Rodman was his usual self, making no secret of his dislike for Hill. In an interview, he claid Hill was making a mountain out of a molehill. He even called him out from afar, saying Hill was like a pretty vase—fragile and precious. How could he have the nerve to sit out for two months over a re sprained ankle? He said Hill should have played back in their day to learn what a real man is.
Then there was Rodman’s equally retired teammate, Lambier, an infamous villain during his career. His trash talk was as sharp and biting as ever, and he bluntly called Hill a sissy.
Of course, Jordan couldn’t be left out.
However, Jordan had just been backstabbed by his own sister last month, and the public outcry hadn’t died down long ago. This ti, he was very cautious, only saying that it was Hill’s own choice.
But that was enough.
Public opinion was fernting. In Gabriel’s script, Hill would be a hero who was deceived by a quack doctor, saved by managent, and would then return to the court to lead the Magic to glory.
As for Hill’s ankle, the cartilage damage definitely had to be dealt with.
’If that Chen Yu could treat it with his weird, unorthodox thods, couldn’t I, a veteran doctor with decades of experience, do the sa?’
Just then, as Billings flipped to the next page, his expression suddenly changed. He pulled the newspaper closer in disbelief.
On the page was a face he knew all too well.
Chen Yu!
The guy had actually given an interview, and he was clamoring to go on television with him for a public confrontation to see who the real fraud was.
Billings was baffled. ’No, have these dia people lost their minds? Why would they listen to so nobody spouting nonsense?’
And Chen Yu... ’What gives a minor doctor like him the guts to jump out and give an interview at a ti like this?’
After hastily finishing the paper, Billings forgot all about his coffee and ran out of his office to find Gabriel.
anwhile, in a local Orlando coffee shop.
A baseball-cap-wearing Monty Williams sat down furtively in front of Chen Yu. He was even wearing large sunglasses.
"Chen, if you wanted to see , we could have picked a quieter place, like your clinic." ’At the height of this storm, if I get photographed sitting with Chen Yu, who knows how the team managent will deal with ?’
At the ntion of the clinic, Chen Yu asked Monty how his knee was doing.
Monty sighed. "It is what it is."
He hadn’t gotten any rest, and he felt the problem was getting worse.
Chen Yu didn’t press the issue and instead asked, "Monty, you were teammates with Ewing, weren’t you? Are you close with him?"
Monty had entered the NBA in the ’94 draft, picked by the Knicks.
"Patrick?" Monty was taken aback. "I’m on decent terms with him, but why are you asking about that?" he asked, puzzled.
Chen Yu smiled. "No reason. I just want to have a chat with him."
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