The Best Point Guard

Chapter 400: Chapter 129: Here Come the Spurs

The excitement for a repeat championship was running high in Indiana.

Local television stations discussed it daily. Ever since the Pacers won their two home games, they no longer considered Miami a threat.

Their display of superiority and confidence initially infuriated Miami fans.

But the final result brought a sense of acceptance to Miami.

The Heat accepted their defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals faster than expected. Both head coach Stan Van Gundy and Dwyane Wade stated after the game that it had been a successful season. Though they lost to the Pacers, they wouldn’t lose in the future.

As a second-year player, Wade’s performance this season had been outstanding; the sky was the limit for him. While he couldn’t be compared to a monster like Su Xi, everyone could see the aura of a superstar around him. In due time, he would become a top-10, or even top-5, player in the league.

Shaquille O’Neal was also in excellent form this season, continuing his dominant play. He helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in his very first season with them, proving his powerful energy hadn’t faded.

Besides, the only reason they lost to the Pacers this season was their lack of roster depth. Surely, once the offseason arrived, players who saw the Heat’s immense potential would flock to join them.

However, with the Miami Heat’s elimination, the fans’ focus shifted entirely to the upcoming Finals.

The media didn’t spend much time discussing the Heat’s season performance; they instead dove into the game of predicting the champion.

The San Antonio Spurs swept the regular-season champion Phoenix Suns four to zero.

The Pacers executed a gentleman’s sweep of the Shaquille O’Neal-led Miami Heat, 4-1.

Both teams displayed formidable dominance in their respective conference finals.

From roster depth to tactical proficiency, the two teams seemed evenly matched. The consensus was that this would be a hard-fought Finals series.

Either team had a chance to win.

But Magic Johnson said, "If the Pacers defeat the San Antonio Spurs, it will signify the league’s return to an era of perimeter players. Su Xi will have ended the era of interior dominance by players like O’Neal and Duncan."

"Since Jordan’s retirement, many superstar perimeter players have emerged, and their market appeal is huge. However, the championship has still been decided by dominant big men. But now, if Su Xi and the Pacers follow up last year’s Finals victory over O’Neal by defeating Duncan’s Spurs, then we can say that the NBA has truly entered a golden age for perimeter players!"

"Little Sheep Su Xi is the pioneer."

Magic Johnson was giving Su Xi some incredibly high praise.

Magic Johnson’s voice could be heard across all major media outlets. It was obvious that Nike was behind this push.

Nike was currently paying Su Xi tens of millions of USD per season. If they didn’t promote him heavily, they would just be working for Su Xi for free.

Sometimes, they really wanted to just give Su Xi some equity so he would stop siphoning away so much cash.

Even for a massive corporation like Nike, it was hard to sustain such a drain.

The endorsement money Su Xi had taken from Nike this season was already a historically astronomical figure. If he added a Finals MVP and then a back-to-back Finals MVP to that, Nike would have a breakdown.

Therefore, they wanted to renegotiate a contract with Su Xi.

Su Xi’s message to Mike O’Connor and Huang Xiaoman was: Trade it for equity.

Nike also wanted to tie itself more deeply to Su Xi, but equity was something they had only ever given to Jordan. And even Jordan’s shares were later swapped for profit-sharing rights in his Jordan sub-brand.

Nike needed to convince itself.

Su Xi needed to as well, because he wasn’t sure which would yield a greater return: taking Nike stock or investing the money himself.

He was already the owner of a highly respected venture capital firm in Silicon Valley.

Many startups wanted to get angel funding from Su Xi, but he wasn’t a fool with his money; he wouldn’t invest recklessly.

...

After arriving in Indiana, the San Antonio Spurs immediately began a busy training regimen.

They were the champions from two seasons ago. This season, their roster was stronger than ever, and their tactical execution had reached a peak not seen in years. They were filled with confidence.

But they didn’t show it. Popovich even praised Little Sheep Su Xi to the media: "He’s... a phenomenal rookie. I think he already has the potential to be a top-five player of all time. After all, Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—none of them were as successful as him in their first two seasons..."

Popovich’s praise reached Su Xi’s ears, but Su Xi paid it no mind.

He knew Popovich liked to play mind games.

But Su Xi was immune to such things.

The first game of the Finals tipped off at Conseco Fieldhouse, with excited Indiana fans packing every corner of the arena.

Even before the game began, they were chanting "MVP!" in unison.

When Su Xi was introduced, the roar reached its peak.

Reggie Miller stood at the back as a substitute player. The assistant coach beside him teased, "You probably never dreamed that your spot as the franchise’s greatest player would be stolen by Jack, huh?"

"I just hope his jersey only gets retired at Conseco Fieldhouse," Reggie Miller muttered under his breath.

A couple of days ago, he had discussed a contract extension with Larry Bird. Bird was of course thrilled that Reggie Miller was willing to continue playing for the team, but when he heard Miller wanted to go for a four-peat or five-peat, he honestly told him, "We haven’t finalized a new contract with Jack yet."

Moreover, Su Xi was now an unrestricted free agent.

To not have re-signed by this point could only mean one thing: Jack might not want to stay in Indiana any longer.