The drawing ceremony was over.
Some were happy, some were sad.
"Let’s not even talk about Italy; we can’t expect to finish first in the group. The main concern is Croatia and Ecuador. Croatia is by no means weak," Contiguglia said, analyzing the situation.
Ecuador was one thing—they were a minnow team and wouldn’t affect the United States Team.
The main issue was Croatia.
They were the third-place finishers in the ’98 World Cup, after all!
Although Boban had already confirmed he would be withdrawing from the National Team this time, Suker, the top scorer from the last World Cup, was still there.
And the team had gotten younger, with a stronger offensive punch.
In terms of strength, they were clearly stronger than the United States Team.
It wouldn’t be easy for the United States to advance from the group stage.
Alina continued his analysis, "Let’s say we get lucky and advance. We’ll most likely be the second-place team in our group. In that case, we’ll face the first-place team from Group D in the knockout stage, which would be Portugal."
Alina grimaced.
The seeded team in Group D was South Korea, but that was purely because they were the host nation.
The real seeded team should have been Portugal, led by Figo and their ’Golden Generation’.
They wouldn’t be easy to deal with either.
"In other words, the best we can hope for is probably getting knocked out in the Round of 16," Alina said, scratching his head.
They had talked about striving for a good result in this World Cup, about giving the American people some good news.
But this group draw was really not a good outcome.
The atmosphere grew a little heavy.
And Chen Yu was just a team doctor. All he could do was ensure all the players stayed healthy.
’That’s the easy part. I’ve got the system, so it’s not a big problem.’
’What about the training effect?’
Chen Yu thought of his system’s training effect.
Whether the team could achieve good results depended on player talent, but training was also very important. ’Maybe I can help the National Team in this area.’
If the team performed well, it would be beneficial for Chen Yu too.
Soon, there was also the men’s basketball World Championship.
The group returned to the United States.
For the time being, the World Cup matter was settled.
The National Team had nothing major coming up. Although there would be friendly matches, they were mainly concentrated in May of next year. There would also be a National Team training camp then, so if he wanted to use the training effect, it wouldn’t be too late to focus his efforts at that time.
Next, Chen Yu could shift the focus of his work to the Suns.
That was the plan, but he couldn’t find a moment’s rest.
The new season had been underway for a month, and many teams were starting to see injuries.
「Washington.」
Carrying his bag, Chen Yu hurried through the light snow to a local hospital in Washington.
After waiting for more than half an hour, Jordan finally sauntered in.
"Traffic was bad." Seeing Chen Yu’s unfriendly expression, Jordan, feeling guilty, immediately explained.
Chen Yu waved his hand, too lazy to complain, and asked what the problem was while looking at his knee.
The day before yesterday, the Wizards had contacted Chen Yu, saying Jordan had a problem with his knee and asking if Chen Yu could come over to help with a diagnosis.
They wouldn’t say what the specific problem was, only that Chen Yu had to come in person.
This must have been Jordan’s idea.
"Chen, I can’t help it. I only trust you, no one else," Jordan said as he sat down.
Chen Yu was silent.
’He doesn’t trust anyone else, so for a simple case of fluid in the knee, he just had to drag me all the way to Washington, right?’
"I was supposed to go to Los Angeles."
Originally, Chen Yu was scheduled to go to Los Angeles. O’Neal was having some problems with his toe, and the Lakers, treating it like a major crisis, had asked Chen Yu to go and perform a diagnosis.
But because of Jordan, he had come to Washington instead.
Putting down the medical chart, Chen Yu asked, "Michael, have you banged your knee on anything?"
There was fluid in his right knee.
In this situation, it was either due to an impact injury or overuse.
Jordan shook his head.
"Then it’s an overuse issue," Chen Yu said with a sigh. "At your age, to come back after being retired for two years... it’s really difficult."
He wasn’t like Olajuwon or Ewing, who had constantly been playing and training with their teams, maintaining their physical condition.
He, on the other hand, had spent two years living a life of debauchery before suddenly making a comeback. His body definitely couldn’t handle it.
Jordan sighed helplessly as well. "Chen, don’t bring that up again. I’ve already come back. It’s too late for regrets."
When he first came out of retirement, Jordan had thought he would lead the Wizards to a good record and show everyone that even after returning, he was still the God of Basketball.
But when the season actually started, Jordan realized that with a trash team like the Wizards, even the God of Basketball would be useless.
A 38-year-old geezer had somehow become the team’s leading scorer.
Their record was a complete mess, last place in the East. And watching his teammates’ terrible performances, Jordan was beyond frustrated.
The key was, he was on a sinking ship and couldn’t get off.
"Come on, let’s drain the fluid."
Chen Yu didn’t say any more and motioned for Jordan to begin the treatment.
In his current condition, the fluid buildup wasn’t very severe. A simple procedure would suffice.
That meant draining the fluid from his knee and then taking medication for the inflammation.
The main issue was the inflammation causing the fluid buildup.
When prescribing the medication, Chen Yu used a Silver Level treatment effect for drugs, watching him take the medicine to ensure the effect took hold.
But Chen Yu felt the effect was limited.
Inflammation severe enough to cause fluid buildup wasn’t something that could be eliminated in a day or two. A single treatment would have a limited effect; it would take multiple sessions at least.
But he wasn’t in Washington and couldn’t monitor him constantly.
"You should rest for a few more days," Chen Yu finally suggested.
It really wasn’t easy for an old guy like him to make a comeback at this age.
Jordan gave a wry smile. He wanted to rest for a few more days, but the team couldn’t manage without him.
Seeing his wry smile, Chen Yu understood. He thought for a moment and said, "Well, just think about it this way: once you get your shares and become the owner of the Wizards, all this effort will be worth it."
At the mention of shares, a smile finally appeared on Jordan’s face.
Patting Chen Yu on the shoulder, Jordan said, "Chen, when I become the owner, I’ll offer you one million US dollars a year to be the Wizards’ team doctor."
"Sure, I’ll be waiting for you to become the owner," Chen Yu replied casually, not taking it to heart at all.
’My clinic is already built in Phoenix. I’m probably not moving.’
After leaving Washington, Chen Yu immediately set off for Los Angeles.
The person who received Chen Yu was Kupchek again.
"The right big toe?" On the way to the hospital, Chen Yu frowned after hearing Kupchek’s description.
Last season, before the All-Star Game, Chen Yu had come to Los Angeles at Stern’s request to diagnose O’Neal.
At that time, O’Neal’s problem was inflammation in his left big toe.
Chen Yu had used a medicinal effect to help reduce the inflammation, allowing him to play in the All-Star Game without issue.
He didn’t expect that a year later, a similar problem would appear, this time in his right big toe.
"Chen, during the offseason, we already arranged for him to have a minor surgery to remove a bone spur from his left big toe. We didn’t expect his toe to have problems again after the season started," Kupchek said, his face full of distress.
It was starting this year that O’Neal’s feet began to have frequent problems.
Chen Yu was taken aback for a moment. ’He had surgery during the summer?’
Summer was the offseason. When a player has surgery, the team doesn’t need to report it to him, so Chen Yu didn’t know.
Kupchek continued, "Chen, why do you think Shaq is having these kinds of problems? What’s the root cause?"
There’s always a reason for recurring problems.
Chen Yu didn’t answer right away, but after seeing O’Neal, he felt the answer was obvious.
The biggest reason was definitely that he was fat!
The guy was a whole size bigger than the last time Chen Yu saw him.
Especially when he came up and gave Chen Yu a cheerful hug, Chen Yu felt his weight even more distinctly.
"Shaq, how much do you actually weigh right now?" Chen Yu asked.
O’Neal scratched his head and changed the subject, asking if Chen Yu had a smooth trip.
Beside them, Jackson pushed up his glasses and said, quite speechlessly, "He should be around 400 pounds right now, maybe even more."
"How much?"
Chen Yu’s eyes widened.
Of course, Chen Yu knew O’Neal’s weight was immense and was a major reason for his dominance in the paint.
But from what he remembered, his weight was only around 350 pounds.
"In other words, you gained 50 pounds in one summer?" This was just too ridiculous.
O’Neal hurriedly said, "Chen, it’s not as bad as you make it sound. I only gained about 20 pounds. At the end of last season, I was only 380 pounds."
Ha. Chen Yu wanted to laugh.
’Listen to what you’re saying. What do you mean, "only" 380 pounds?’
pounds is 172 kilograms!
"Shaq, you need to lose weight. Seriously, I’m not kidding," Chen Yu said with a solemn expression.
With that much weight, he had to run and jump.
Especially this season, with the introduction of the defensive 3-second rule, O’Neal couldn’t just mindlessly camp under the basket. His movement on the court had clearly increased compared to last season.
With all that extra running, the pressure on his feet was imaginable.
This was likely the root cause of the frequent problems in both his left and right foot.
Jackson immediately said, "Did you hear that, Shaq? Even Chen says you need to lose weight."
Ever since coming to the Lakers from the Magic, O’Neal’s weight had been steadily climbing.
When they won their first championship, his weight had reached 350 pounds.
When they won the championship last season, his weight had climbed to 380 pounds.
At the end of the season, Jackson had specifically told O’Neal to watch his diet and maintain his weight.
But as soon as he returned from the offseason and stepped on the scale, Jackson almost fainted.
He had gained another damn 20 pounds.
He had told him many times, but O’Neal simply wouldn’t listen.
O’Neal pouted and said with a careless expression, "I feel fine. It’s not like there’s any problem."
He even felt he had room to get even fatter.
Jackson shot Chen Yu a look that said, ’I knew you’d say that,’ signaling for Chen Yu to try and persuade O’Neal.
Chen Yu used the Eye of All-Seeing to scan O’Neal’s body.
He focused on the left and right feet.
The joint capsule of the right big toe was damaged, inflamed, and had bone spurs.
At the same time, his left foot was in the same condition.
His toes were too twisted and deformed, especially at the big toe joints, which were squeezed together. This increased wear and tear, making inflammation and injury highly likely.
Other than that, there were no other problems.
It had to be said, the guy’s body was truly robust.
With such a massive weight, constantly jumping around, it was amazing his knees could still take it without any major issues.
But to solve his toe problem once and for all, treatment alone wasn’t enough. If he didn’t lose weight, it would inevitably recur.
The key was that O’Neal clearly didn’t understand the seriousness of being overweight.
After a moment’s thought, Chen Yu said, "Shaq, have you been snoring lately?"
"Snoring?"
Shaq was taken aback for a second, then said, "I’ve always snored."
Chen Yu’s eye twitched. He continued, "What about your heart? Have you ever occasionally felt anything abnormal, like a rapid heartbeat?"
"Nope. My heart is perfectly fine," O’Neal said, patting his chest.
Chen Yu was speechless. ’This guy’s body is just too tough.’

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