"To be honest, he’s a good kid."
Chen Yu recalled what the Wizards’ team psychologist, Isaiah, had said to him before.
"Chen, my eldest son is about the sa age as Brown. Look at , I graduated from Stanford and you could say I poured everything I had into his education. But him? He was rebellious, dropped out of school, and got mixed up in all that bad stuff early on. I’m a psychologist sought after by clients, yet I can’t solve my own son’s problems."
"But Brown? He really is a good kid. He told he didn’t even know he was the number one high school player in the country until the sumr of his senior year. He also told he’s grateful for basketball. If it wasn’t for this wonderful sport, he might have ended up running with thugs in the slums."
"So, being born into that kind of environnt, he actually knew it was a bad situation and wanted to change his fate. As a freshman, he only weighed 90 kilograms. By the ti he was a senior, he had built up a ton of muscle and weighed 110 kilograms."
"He also willingly taught himself a jump shot. His exact words were, ’Because in the NBA, you can’t just anchor the paint, you also have to learn to shoot jumpers.’ He also wants to be a star and believes that a star has to be nitpicky, always looking for their own flaws and striving for perfection."
"So you see, he’s actually very driven!"
"But he’s too young, and he’s aloof and sensitive. He doesn’t have many friends in the locker room. He told he feels like everyone is hostile towards him, and he has no idea what he’s doing wrong."
"At first, he thought it must be because he wasn’t good enough, but no one told him what he should be doing. He tried hard on defense, tried to help the team. Just when he thought the next season would be better, the team drafted Haywood, and he even lost his starting spot."
"When we talked, I could tell he was very lost. He felt like he was working so hard but getting nothing in return. That sense of defeat constantly surrounds him. Chen, I feel like he’s beco depressed and has lost all his confidence."
Chen Yu trusted Isaiah’s judgnt, which was why he decided to have a word with Jordan.
"Encouragent?"
Jordan frowned, glancing at Brown on the court.
He was fighting Haywood for a rebound. He leaped into the air, his excellent vertical allowing him to grab the board, but as he landed and tried to secure the ball, it nearly slipped from his hands.
Jordan scoffed. "The guy’s a hopeless idiot. We must have been blind to pick him with the first pick."
His tone was dripping with sarcasm.
Of course, talking trash and mocking people was basically Jordan’s signature move.
"That’s all the more reason you need to develop him. Just like the Lakers do. Give him a little more ti and opportunity, a little more encouragent. Doing that should be good for your team, right?" ’You went to all the trouble to get the first pick; you can’t just let him turn into a bust.’
Look at how the Lakers are developing Yao Ming. They’re really pouring everything they have into it.
"Forget it." Jordan waved his hand impatiently. "Chen, you have to understand sothing. The dia, the fans, they’re always calling this guy or that guy a genius. But in my eyes, if a genius needs other people to encourage and develop him, then he’s not worthy of being called a genius at all."
"As for him," Jordan pursed his lips. "Last season, after we lost a ga, he was hiding in the bathroom crying. That’s when I knew he was a scrub. There’s no point wasting any ti on him. The second I beco the team owner, he’s the first one I’m trading."
Chen Yu rolled his eyes helplessly. ’Well, I should have known talking to Jordan about this was a complete waste of ti.’
’The guy’s too arrogant. Almost no one is good enough for him or can earn his approval.’
’The crucial thing is, he doesn’t even think about it. There’s only been one of him in the entire history of the NBA. If everyone was judged by his standards, then yeah, there wouldn’t be any geniuses.’
"Alright, let’s drop it." Since that was the case, Chen Yu didn’t want to waste any more breath.
’If Jordan wants to trade him, that might actually be a good thing. A change of scenery could make a difference.’
This trip to see the Wizards was partly to talk about Brown, but Chen Yu had another small matter to attend to: inviting Jordan to see if he would make a guest appearance on his show.
"’Big Shark O’Neal’s 100-Day Crash Weight Loss Plan’? Chen, are you planning on investing in a movie?" Jordan said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
’Or rather, have things really gotten to this point just to get O’Neal to lose weight?’
He’d seen the news and knew the Phoenix Suns had been wanting O’Neal to lose weight.
Chen Yu said, "Don’t worry about that. I’m just asking if you’re willing to make a guest appearance."
Jordan smiled and said, "An invitation from you? Of course, no problem. Just tell what you need to do, and I’ll cooperate."
Jordan certainly wasn’t going to turn Chen Yu down.
The two stood there chatting and eventually brought up the upcoming All-Star Ga.
"Seriously, I have no idea where all my fans went," Jordan complained.
In this year’s All-Star voting, his vote count was getting lower and lower—so low he couldn’t stand to look at it.
"Have they all forgotten about ?"
Looking at the results, Jordan briefly felt like a hero in his twilight years, his glory days fading.
Chen Yu retorted, "Didn’t you say you don’t care about this stuff anymore?"
’If he really cared, would he have accepted coming off the bench this season?’
Jordan snorted lightly. He didn’t hide his true feelings from Chen Yu. "I can choose not to care, but they *have* to show enough respect."
’Which ans you still care,’ Chen Yu thought.
"By the way."
Chen Yu, just for fun, brought up how the upcoming All-Star Ga was turning into a battle of the successors, and he also ntioned the custom trophy.
"A trophy made especially for ?" Jordan’s lips curved up slightly.
Chen Yu saw it clearly. ’This guy has a foul temper and an arrogant personality, yet he acts like it’s all perfectly natural, and that everyone should just worship him.’
As for his successor, Jordan thought for a mont, then asked, "Chen, who do you think can beco my successor?"
"?"
Chen Yu subconsciously started to answer, but he swallowed the words before they ca out.
After thinking it over seriously, Chen Yu said, "Emotionally, I’m obviously partial to Anfernee. But logically, I think Kobe has a better chance."
"Oh? Why is that?"
Jordan really thought Chen Yu was going to say Hardaway.
Chen Yu said, "Let put it this way. If Anfernee is striving to match your achievents, then Kobe is striving to surpass your achievents."
Having known Jordan for so long and spent a lot of ti with him, Chen Yu knew exactly what kind of beast he was behind the scenes.
The reason he beca synonymous with basketball wasn’t just because he was talented enough.
In terms of raw physical talent, he might not even be on O’Neal’s level.
O’Neal was the one with truly historic physical gifts.
Jordan’s ntality was the most crucial factor that made him the God of Basketball.
In that respect, Chen Yu felt that both Hill and Hardaway were lacking.
They were both skilled players with great physical talent—good generals who could conquer territory—but they couldn’t beco kings.
Kobe, on the other hand, was a lot like Jordan. He had that "if not , then who?" attitude deep down, that refusal to bow to anyone, that drive to be the absolute best.
Of course, Iverson also had that unyielding spirit.
However, his physical condition limited his ceiling.
"Surpass ?" Jordan scoffed, his competitive spirit suddenly flaring up. He said, "Chen, you have to help . I want to teach these young guns one last lesson at the All-Star Ga."
"A lesson?"
Jordan nodded forcefully. "That’s right, a lesson. To make them understand that I am God, and no one will ever surpass !"
His gaze was fierce. His "I am God" was overflowing with sheer dominance.
’If he wants to teach these young guns a lesson... he can’t make the playoffs, he can’t win the regular season MVP, and he’s retiring in the sumr. It seems like the only chance left is this All-Star Ga.’
But in his current physical condition, if he wanted to teach a lesson to these young wolves and tigers, he had to get help from Chen Yu.
"Are you serious?" Chen Yu understood what he was getting at.
"Of course I am."
Jordan said with murderous intent, "The All-Star Ga is on February 9th. Today is January 16th. That’s less than a month. I need you to help get my body into peak condition. Then I’m going to play that ga like it’s my last, and I’ll make them understand that a God is not soone they can surpass."
This season, after he announced he would retire in the sumr, the team held so kind of tribute event at every away ga.
At first, Jordan quite enjoyed it.
But later, he grew tired of it.
Those tributes made it seem like he was already an old man on his last legs, about to retire and live off his past glory. ’But I’m not!’ Even coming off the bench, he could still average 20 points a ga. Even at 40, he could still beat anyone in the league.
So he wanted to use this All-Star Ga to tell everyone that he was still the God of Basketball.
Seeing Jordan staring at him intently, waiting for his answer, Chen Yu said with a hint of helplessness, "This feels a bit like child’s play, don’t you think?"
’You suddenly run off to Phoenix... will the team agree to that? What about their record?’
’Even if you are special, this is a little too willful, isn’t it?’
Jordan pursed his lips. "So what? I’m already injured anyway."
For almost a month now, he had been playing through an injury.
"Whatever you want," Chen Yu sighed, not bothering to argue anymore.
’When this guy makes up his mind, there’s hardly anyone who can talk him out of it.’
So, he had gone to Washington alone, but he ca back with soone else.
The news that Jordan would be resting for four weeks due to injury didn’t cause much of a stir. Everyone knew he was a 40-year-old veteran; it was normal for him to miss gas because of an injury.
And that made Jordan even more annoyed.
Back in his days with the Bulls, even catching a cold would make national headlines in the United States.
Jordan checked into the clinic.
His ailnt was the sa old story: his advanced age and the high intensity of the gas put too much pressure on his knees, leading to aseptic inflammation. Without proper rest, fluid had built up.
It was still easy to treat.
Combined with a targeted training plan, it should be possible to get his body back to peak condition before the All-Star Ga.
At the very least, playing one ga would be a piece of cake.
During this period, besides his work at the team clinic, Chen Yu had another important task: preparing for his weight-loss reality show.
Chen Yu had already found a producer.
When Chen Yu tried contacting the major television networks, telling them he wanted to produce a celebrity weight-loss reality show, almost all of them extended an olive branch.
The producer he ultimately chose was Mark Burnett from CBS.
There had been another option: David Kelly, who had his own production company.
This was because Lexi was a die-hard fan of *Ally McBeal*, a TV series he had produced.
But after thinking it over carefully, Chen Yu still chose Burnett.
David Kelly mainly produced scripted television series. When it ca to reality TV, Burnett was the man.
The reality show he single-handedly created, *Survivor*, was the hottest reality show in the United States at the mont.
You could say he pioneered the Arican reality show genre.
His experience was definitely more extensive.
Chen Yu had already arranged for soone to connect with him and discuss how to produce the show.
But at the sa ti, Chen Yu was also pondering a very important question: what if he took this opportunity to launch a weight-loss drug?
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