For professional athletes, surgery is always the last resort.
The incision creates a wound, and the long recovery and rehabilitation periods mean that even after the body has fully healed, it takes a great deal of time to slowly regain athletic form.
For an NBA player like Hill, undergoing surgery would almost certainly mean his season was over.
So, while massage might not sound very high-tech, it’s actually the most suitable form of conservative treatment for maintaining a high level of athletic performance.
Not to mention, Chen Yu also had the Eye of All-Seeing. It was like having a third eye, allowing him to target every damaged muscle and ligament with his massage and observe their recovery.
Finally, there was the added effect from the system. After testing this thing on hospital patients, Chen Yu always felt there was some unknown, mysterious power at play.
Of course, the existence of the system itself was mysterious enough.
Hill’s attitude made it clear he wasn’t going to give Chen Yu a chance to work on him directly.
Fortunately, his problem wasn’t too serious. As long as he followed the medical advice and got proper rest, he would be fine.
"Thank you, Chen."
Hill smiled, shook Chen Yu’s hand, and turned back to the locker room.
After returning to the locker room, the first thing he did was find the team’s traveling physical therapist, Paul Houston.
They were playing an away game, so the Magic’s team doctor, Joe Biling, hadn’t traveled with the team.
"Paul, my left foot is still a bit sore. Can you check it again for me?" Hill said.
Paul Houston was in his thirties. He had worked under Joe Biling back when Biling was at the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Unfortunately, the brutal residency training system wasn’t something everyone could endure.
Houston had been weeded out. On Joe Biling’s advice, he switched to studying physical therapy and rehabilitation. Later, when Joe Biling became the full-time team doctor for the Magic, he brought Houston along with him.
"Sit down."
Houston immediately had Hill sit down.
Hill was the biggest star on the entire Magic roster; his health was of the utmost importance.
Placing his hands on the foot, Houston meticulously examined each bone. "Is it worse or better than this morning?" he asked.
He had examined Hill this morning before they flew from Washington to Miami.
At the time, Hill had also said his left ankle felt a bit sore after getting out of bed.
Hill thought for a moment and said, "It feels about the same as this morning. Not noticeably worse, but not noticeably better either."
After a moment’s hesitation, Hill asked tentatively, "Is my ligament strained?"
Chen Yu had just said he had a strained talonavicular ligament.
"A strained ligament?" Houston was surprised at first, then immediately shook his head in denial. "How could that be? If you really had a strained ligament, you wouldn’t be able to walk properly right now. By the way, what makes you think that?"
He looked up at Hill, confused.
Hill hesitated for a moment. "It was just a guess!"
He didn’t mention Chen Yu, as he still had his own doubts about him.
"So, did you find anything?" Hill asked nervously once Houston finished the examination.
Just as Houston was about to answer, Doug Rivers, who must have just finished the pre-game press conference, returned to the locker room.
Seeing Hill sitting on the bench with his left shoe off, getting an examination, he was startled and immediately walked over to ask what was wrong.
"Grant, what’s wrong with your left foot?" Rivers asked, his expression tense.
He had every reason to be nervous. The Magic had traded away Da Ben and Atkins and given Hill a massive seven-year contract. They were betting on Hill to lead the Magic, alongside Tracy McGrady, to a new era of glory.
Thus, Hill’s importance was self-evident.
Especially since it was his left foot, the one he’d had surgery on, that was being examined.
Houston looked up and said, "Coach, Grant says his left ankle is a bit sore. But after examining it, I didn’t find any obvious damage. It’s probably just fatigue. My personal recommendation is that he should sit this one out."
As for what Hill had said about a strained ligament, Houston hadn’t found any evidence of it.
However, since Hill said his left foot was sore, it had to be taken seriously. The best solution was to rest him for a game.
Hearing Houston say there was no obvious damage, Rivers let out a visible sigh of relief. But when he heard the recommendation to rest him for a game, he frowned.
Last season, as a rookie coach, he had taken over from Chuck Daly and begun his head coaching career with the Magic.
He did quite well in his rookie season, achieving a 41-41 record. Although they had regrettably missed the playoffs, one had to consider the roster the Magic had at the time.
Four of the five starters were undrafted players. At the beginning of the season, the media had predicted the Magic would finish last in the East.
Instead, he led them to that impressive record, which directly earned him the Coach of the Year award.
And this year, the Magic had signed both Tracy McGrady and Hill. The management’s intentions were clear: they wanted results, they wanted to return to the playoffs.
Therefore, Rivers was taking this game against the Heat, a strong contender in the East, very seriously. He wanted to test out his new lineup and really go head-to-head with them.
If Hill didn’t play now, this game would be tough.
Even with the Heat also missing Moning.
"Are you sure he can’t play?" Rivers asked, not ready to give up.
Houston glanced at Hill, nodded, and said, "I think one game of rest will be enough. He should be fine for the game against the Digital People the day after tomorrow."
"Alright, then."
Rivers definitely had to listen to the medical staff’s advice.
At 6:00 PM, the American Airlines Arena, with a capacity of over nineteen thousand, was already packed to the rafters.
It was the season opener. After a long offseason, the Miami fans’ passion was reignited. With numerous live events, the atmosphere was scorching hot.
And when the cheerleaders took the court to perform, the fiery atmosphere reached its peak.
The Heat’s cheerleading squad, much like the vibe of Miami itself, was always the hottest in the United States.
Chen Yu sat behind the Heat’s bench, right next to the aisle. A parade of long-legged, well-built cheerleaders ran past him, giving him quite an eyeful.
Before the game started, Moning also made a surprise appearance at the arena and gave an encouraging speech.
Towards the end, he spoke about his kidney disease.
"I will be back!"
Amidst the pleading cries of the entire arena, the eyes of this tough guy, Moning, couldn’t help but moisten as he repeated, "I will be back."
The arena erupted in thunderous applause.
Chen Yu also stood up and clapped along with everyone else. Having lived in Miami for five years, he had seen his fair share of Moning’s games.
Unexpectedly, after his speech, Moning ended up sitting right in front of Chen Yu.
Chen Yu’s seat was already quite close to the court.
Chen Yu didn’t take the opportunity to ask for an autograph. Instead, an idea struck him, and he activated his Eye of All-Seeing, looking towards Moning’s kidneys.
His vision pierced through skin, muscle, and then into the kidneys themselves.
Chen Yu discovered that Moning’s kidney disease, to be more precise, was actually Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.
Looking into his kidneys, he could see at a glance that many glomerular segments had hardened.
Chen Yu sighed and retracted his gaze.
’Moning will probably have to retire.’
This hardening was irreversible.
Moreover, Chen Yu had read related papers. This disease was caused by a genetic mutation, and its prevalence among African Americans in the United States was not low.
For an ordinary person with this disease, just surviving was difficult, let alone for a professional athlete like Moning who had to compete at a high intensity.
There was nothing Chen Yu could do for this disease; the only option was a kidney transplant.
After a moment of reflection, Chen Yu looked across the court, his gaze falling on Hill.
Hill, dressed in his warm-ups, wasn’t doing any final warm-up drills and was just sitting obediently on the sidelines.
Chen Yu felt a bit relieved. It seemed Hill had taken some of his words to heart. He would probably rest this game.
’That’s the right thing to do.’
Playing through an injury when you know you have one is extremely irresponsible, no matter who you are.

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