Chen Yu, enjoying the sun and sea while cruising on a yacht in the Mediterranean Sea, received a call from Ernest.
"So you’re saying they’ve made up?" Chen Yu asked in surprise.
Somehow, the trio had miraculously reconciled.
Ernest said, "I really didn’t expect Harden to be the one to solve this problem for us. Chen, you were right. In a situation like this, Durant needed redemption from his teammates."
Harden was a year younger than both Durant and Little Jordan.
Combined with his more shy and quiet nature, plus the ridiculous incident where he invited a woman over, Ernest had assumed Harden would be more immature.
But now he realized that when it came to what really mattered, Harden was actually the more mature one.
Chen Yu laughed. "I noticed that too. He likes to keep things to himself, but he’s very smart and has his own way of thinking. Over the past few days, he’s actually done a lot behind the scenes to try and balance their relationship. And when the team needs him, he steps up and takes responsibility to try and win the game."
When Presti shifted focus and asked Harden to take on the offensive load, he didn’t refuse. He just worked hard to score.
"Well, that’s good. Let’s leave it at that."
It was great that it could be resolved this way. Chen Yu had come up with a plan, but it seemed it was no longer necessary.
Besides, in terms of dramatic effect and material for this episode, they had more than enough.
"By the way, you got all of Harden’s outburst in the locker room on camera, right?" Chen Yu asked quickly.
That scene could definitely be used as the climax of the episode.
"Of course."
There were cameras installed in the locker room, so everything that happened was recorded.
"Good." Chen Yu nodded, then added, "Then let’s make the theme of the next episode ’The Comeback.’ Focus the perspective on Durant and Curry."
Due to the string of forced forfeits, Durant’s team had slipped to the bottom of the East. Once things returned to normal, it would be their time to stage a comeback.
It was the same for Curry in the East. As the regular season progressed, his team’s major problems were also exposed.
There was his own height disadvantage, Mackie’s raw technique, and Green’s was even more unrefined—he couldn’t even hit a wide-open shot.
They were also on a losing streak and had already hit the bottom of the East standings.
So next, they needed to find a way to win, which meant relying on Curry’s three-pointers.
He had adjusted his shooting form after the open tryouts and had been practicing for a long time, with some good results. Plus, they had been constantly drilling pick-and-roll plays to get him open. He should be able to become a shooting machine like his old man and bring victory to his team.
Ernest jotted it down, then curiously asked where Chen Yu was, hearing the sound of waves and seagulls.
When Chen Yu said he was out on a yacht for fun, Ernest couldn’t help but complain that he’d been busy as hell lately.
「Safford. The trio’s suite.」
"Hey, Kevin! Are you a woman or something? What’s taking you so long to change? Hurry up, we’ve gotta go practice!" Little Jordan balled up his fist and started POUNDING on Durant’s door. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
But the door remained shut.
"He’s not... you know?" Little Jordan made a suggestive hand gesture and said slyly to Harden, who was beside him.
Harden just smiled without saying a word, then whispered, "How about this? I’ll go outside and check on him through the window."
With that, he turned and ran off.
Little Jordan went back to banging on the door.
Just then, the doorknob suddenly turned.
"Kevin, I’m coming in! If you’re doing *that thing*, you better pull up your pants! I don’t want to burn my eyes out!" Little Jordan shouted as he pushed the door open.
Then he froze.
The room was pitch black.
The next moment, with a loud POP, multicolored streamers rained down all over Little Jordan’s head.
"Surprise!"
As colorful lights flickered on inside, Durant stood in the middle of the room, grinning and shouting.
At the same time, Harden popped out from behind him.
He yelled "Surprise!" too, holding a cake with lit candles.
Little Jordan was completely dumbfounded.
"You guys... did this for me?"
Durant nodded emphatically, then pulled a gift box from behind his back and handed it over. "DeAndre, we’re sorry we missed your birthday. We hope this gift can make up for it."
Little Jordan’s birthday was July 21st.
On that day, he had just been kicked out of the house by his mother and was crashing miserably at a friend’s place.
And on the day after his birthday, Durant had chosen Beasley in front of everyone.
That’s why Little Jordan had been so furious.
"Hurry up and open it," Harden urged from behind him.
Little Jordan’s eyes were already starting to turn red as he tore open the gift wrapping.
It was a green No. 6 Celtics jersey, with a large signature on the front.
"Fuck, is this real or fake?" Little Jordan exclaimed.
Bill Russell, his idol!
Durant said, "Of course it’s real. It’s an authentic jersey, and Russell signed it himself. I asked Sam to help me get it."
"Fuck!"
Little Jordan clutched the jersey, jumping up and down on the spot with excitement. Then he suddenly spun around, grabbed Durant in a hug, and planted a kiss right on him.
"Kevin, I fucking love you!"
Durant couldn’t dodge in time, his face turning pale with shock.
One kiss wasn’t enough. Little Jordan then set his sights on Harden. It was obvious Harden was in on the surprise too. He opened his arms, determined to give Harden a kiss as well.
"Blow out the candles!"
Harden shrieked and dodged, but when he saw he couldn’t get away, he grabbed a piece of cake and smeared it on Little Jordan’s face.
In an instant, the three teenagers dissolved into a playful mess.
「The next day, the team had a home game against the New Jersey Goldfinch Team, led by Derek Kerycott.」
"We have to win this one."
Presti said with a serious expression before the game.
He felt very hopeful.
Just like when they played the Lopez Brothers, Derek Kerycott had chosen Cole Aldrich, and they were also running a twin-towers lineup.
The slow-moving Cole Aldrich would absolutely get destroyed by Durant’s speed.
Little Jordan glanced at the opposing team, gritted his teeth, and said, "I’ll take Derek. I hear he’s even better than Oden. Watch me light him up."
Harden had to resist the urge to remind him who it was that got lit up by Oden last time, letting Oden drop a monster line of 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks.
Presti looked at Durant and said in a low, serious voice, "Kevin, we’ve been losing for a long, long time."
Ever since the conflict started, Devil’s Mountain hadn’t won a single game.
Durant didn’t say anything, just nodded forcefully.
These past few days, they had been losing, and he had been refusing to shoot on the court. But in private, he hadn’t missed a single practice. In fact, he was training even harder.
He was practicing his shot like his life depended on it. Even Jim said his progress was incredibly fast.
’Today, I’m going to get my old self back,’ he thought.
The game began. Little Jordan soared into the air, tapping the tip-off away with his incredible leaping ability.
The moment he landed, he sprinted to set a screen.
Durant immediately cut the other way, dashing straight for the basket.
Harden, who had the ball, lobbed it toward the rim.
SLAM! Durant finished the alley-oop, opening the game’s scoring in spectacular fashion.
A conflict and a reconciliation had finally taught the three quiet teenagers how to get along, and they now had some coordination.
It was Durant again. He caught the ball on the wing, hit a crossover, took a lateral hop, and pulled up for the shot.
Aldrich was no ordinary player. In Minnesota, he was a super-prodigy, standing out from a crowd of Black centers and hailed by the media as the hope for white centers.
But he was too slow. Expecting him to keep up with the quick and agile Durant was just a dream.
And his height gave him no advantage over Durant either.
Durant was living proof of Chen Yu’s initial assessment of him: the players taller than him weren’t as fast or agile, and the players faster than him weren’t as tall. He was a mismatch against everyone.
Then there was his shot. His adjusted shooting form was more sound, and combined with the soft touch that had earned Jim’s high praise, the only thing affecting his shot was himself.
And after experiencing this conflict, Durant was no longer just single-mindedly trying to rack up points.
He was also working hard to create opportunities for his teammates.
He was playing smarter. When he scored on consecutive possessions and drew the attention of Derek Kerycott, who was ready to provide help defense, he started distributing the ball.
Whether it was an explosive dunk by Little Jordan or a driving layup from Harden, the trio seemed to have found their rhythm in an instant, establishing good chemistry.
25-19. Devil’s Mountain took the lead at halftime.
"Very good."
"Absolutely fantastic!"
Presti hugged each of the three players as they came off the court, offered a word of encouragement, and then immediately pulled them aside to analyze the problems exposed in the first half.
Before, he had only focused on Durant, his mind consumed with how to get Durant to score big.
But now he realized that Little Jordan and Harden had incredible talent as well.
Little Jordan was tall and solidly built, yet possessed unbelievable athleticism.
Whether it was on-ball defense or help defense, when he got serious, his execution was flawless.
And then there was Harden.
The kid wasn’t physically gifted, but he played smart, using changes of pace to run his opponents in circles.
His court vision and passing were also excellent; he always managed to get the ball where it needed to go.
In the first half alone, thanks to Durant’s high shooting percentage, he had quietly added 6 assists to his stat line.
He had the potential to become a top-tier playmaker.
’Thinking about it now, Chen Yu and the others have a really sharp eye for talent,’ he thought. ’Every one of these kids who made it through the initial selection is gifted.’
Take Harden, for instance. He had passed the initial tryouts because George Gervin hit the golden buzzer for him. That had to mean he had some truly outstanding qualities.
"Keep it up! Play just like this, and I feel like we can win the championship!"
Presti offered one last word of encouragement and shooed the trio back onto the court.
In the second half, Durant, who was already 6-for-8 with 12 points, absolutely went on a tear.
During those frustrating and depressing days, it was as if he had returned to his childhood, back to Devil’s Mountain, late at night in the empty gym with only the basketball for company.
And every drop of sweat had not been in vain; it had forged his now-steady pull-up jumper.
Swish. And another one!
Durant was playing as if he had a cheat code activated. He’d pull up and shoot, and every shot would go in.
50-33. Thanks to Durant’s 19-point explosion in the second half, Devil’s Mountain crushed the Goldfinches by 17 points.
The Goldfinches’ coach, a scout from the Mavericks named Stanley and a good friend of Presti’s, couldn’t help but ask during the post-game handshake, "Did those guys make up?"
In the distance, the trio of Durant, Harden, and Little Jordan were in a huddle, celebrating with their arms around each other’s shoulders, spinning in a circle.
Presti’s mood was like the sun breaking through the clouds. He chuckled and said, "They’re just kids. What kind of grudges could they possibly hold?"
Stanley nodded, then said suddenly, "By the way, you interested in a trade? I don’t want Durant. I want that Harden kid."
His gaze fell on Harden.
Sure, Durant was on fire today.
But in his view, a big reason Durant was able to get such comfortable shots was because Harden’s passes were so timely.
Among a group of teenagers desperately trying to rack up high scores, there were very few who were willing to be a supporting player, run the offense, and make good passes.
"Sorry, not interested."
Presti laughed and flatly rejected Stanley’s offer.
If Stanley had asked him a couple of days ago, he might have actually considered it.
But now? Not only had the three reconciled, but he’d also discovered that his current lineup was actually pretty perfect.
He even felt that if they spent the next two months honing their chemistry, they could take this roster straight to the playoffs.
Returning to the trio’s side, Presti smiled. "Let’s go. I booked a restaurant to celebrate with you guys."
He’d had a feeling before the game that they would win today.
"No need, Coach. Let’s just order a pizza and eat back at the dorm," Little Jordan said with a grin. "I want to see just how torn Kevin was when he picked Beasley."
Presti paused for a moment before remembering that today was the 7th, a Saturday, which was the day the show aired.
He couldn’t help but glance at Durant.
’After tonight,’ he thought, ’viewers all across the United States are probably going to be tearing into Durant for betraying his teammate.’

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