The show’s "Dream Battle" officially began on August 16th.
「Safford.」
Harden was sprawled on the sofa, chewing on a pen. He held the "dream card" handed out by the production team, staring blankly into space.
Across from him, Durant was also in a daze.
Only Little Jordan was scribbling furiously. One card wasn’t enough, so he grabbed another.
A camera was set up nearby, and the cameraman expressionlessly recorded the trio’s every move.
After a moment, Harden scratched his head in frustration and asked Little Jordan what he was writing for his dream.
Durant, who had been in a daze, also turned his head, trying to sneak a peek at Little Jordan’s dream card out of the corner of his eye.
"I’m not telling you guys!"
Little Jordan hurriedly covered his dream card, watching them warily.
Durant scoffed and said to Harden, "Don’t even bother asking. He definitely wants to buy a video game console and a big TV."
"Pfft!"
Little Jordan waved his hand dismissively. "Kevin, do you think I’m like you? So tacky."
As he spoke, he quickly jotted down one last sentence on the dream card. Then he neatened the stack, raised his hand first, and handed it to the follow-up director.
"Johnson, how’s it look? Can they be done? Ten thousand US dollars should be enough, right?" Little Jordan asked.
This "Dream Battle," despite its name, was actually a perk for being part of the show.
The show was so popular it was raking in cash. Chen Yu and the production company had discussed it many times before finally deciding to give the kids a bonus.
It was essentially an All-Star type of event, and All-Star Weekend is a perk for NBA players.
The rules were simple: each person could fill out a dream card with the dream they wanted to achieve.
Then, by completing challenge tasks, they would receive a ten-thousand-US-dollar dream fund.
With 90 players, that was nine hundred thousand US dollars.
For the show as a whole, this wasn’t a particularly large expense.
But for these fifteen- and sixteen-year-old kids, ten thousand US dollars was an astronomical sum.
Furthermore, by completing higher-difficulty challenges, the dream fund could grow. There would even be a grand prize of one hundred thousand US dollars.
Of course, the dreams couldn’t be just anything. The production team had to evaluate them and deem them achievable with ten thousand US dollars.
The follow-up director took the dream cards. There were three of them, all filled to the brim with writing.
He was a bit taken aback, then began to read the contents seriously.
There were quite a few items, one after another.
But after only a quick glance, he was visibly moved. He looked up at the grinning Little Jordan.
That earlier incident had been a setback and a learning experience for Durant, but it had also been one for Little Jordan.
"I need to buy a dishwasher, a Colin. My mother has been nagging me about it for years."
"I also want an oven, one big enough to fit a large turkey. I don’t want to buy a pre-cooked, cold turkey for Thanksgiving anymore. We need to roast it ourselves. My mother is a master at roasting turkey."
"I want a new dining table."
"We need a new toilet."
"I want to fix the air conditioner in my mother’s pickup. It’s been broken for over half a year. Of course, if I have enough from the dream fund, I’d rather just get her another truck. A used one would be fine."
The list went on and on, with more than a dozen items in total.
There were things for his family, his mother, and even gifts for his siblings.
Only on the very last line did Little Jordan write that if there was any money left over, he wanted it converted to cash.
The follow-up director silently marveled at how frugal the boy was. "You’ve got a lot of dreams here," he told Little Jordan. "I don’t think this will be enough."
A used car alone would cost several thousand US dollars.
Little Jordan said hurriedly, "That’s okay! I can complete the challenges to get more money. Just tell me if my dreams are possible."
The follow-up director put away the dream cards and nodded. "Of course. That’s the easy part. But are you sure these are the only dreams you want to achieve? As I said before, with the show’s help, we can make dreams come true that you couldn’t manage on your own."
They were given a ten-thousand-dollar dream fund, but some dreams couldn’t be measured in money.
For example, "I want to play a game of one-on-one with Kobe."
Never mind ten thousand US dollars; even a million might not make that happen.
But the production team could.
So, the follow-up director was reminding Little Jordan not to waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"This is good enough. My other dreams are too big; you guys wouldn’t be able to make them happen."
Hearing this, the follow-up director’s interest was piqued.
That was a bold statement.
"You can try me."
Little Jordan quickly glanced behind him at Durant and Harden, who were straining to listen. His face flushed slightly as he said, "I want to meet Meryl Streep. And it’d be best if we could go on a dinner date. Can you guys make that happen?"
"Who?"
The follow-up director’s eyes widened. After confirming he hadn’t misheard the name, he awkwardly shook the dream cards in his hand. "That’s a... great dream. I hope you can achieve it."
With that, he quickly put the dream cards away and turned to Durant and Harden, asking if they were finished.
Harden scratched his head in frustration, then clenched his jaw and wrote down his dream.
"I want cash!"
He honestly couldn’t think of any other dream at the moment, and for him and his family, ten thousand US dollars was a huge sum of money.
Meanwhile, Durant, after a moment of thought, also wrote down his dream.
Later, during a solo interview in his room, Durant explained why he had written that particular dream.
His dream was similar to Harden’s, but more specific.
He wanted to win the grand prize of one hundred thousand US dollars and use it to buy a small house for his parents.
"We have a big family. There are over a dozen kids!"
"When I was little, my cousins, my uncle, my grandmother, and my aunt all squeezed into the house at the end of that dead-end on Quar Avenue."
"It was a really small house. During Thanksgiving dinner, the little walnut dining table would be completely full, and I wouldn’t even have a seat. I had to eat sitting on the floor."
"We moved into our own apartment later, but as you probably know, we were always moving. Life has only gotten a little better these past couple of years."
When Durant was 13, his father, who had abandoned them, finally returned to the family.
But life was still a struggle.
"We really want to own our own house. That way, I could have my own room instead of sharing a bunk bed with Levin. You know how small those beds are? I have to stick my calves out the window, just dangling there, to be able to lie down."
"One hundred thousand US dollars... I think that should be enough. It’s enough for a down payment."
On camera, Durant’s face was filled with longing for a better life, making the follow-up director behind the camera sigh to himself.
As far as he knew, at least sixty percent of the kids on the show were opting for cash. Another twenty percent chose to buy furniture for their family or prepare a surprise for their parents.
So he wasn’t surprised by Durant’s choice.
"Kevin, winning that one hundred thousand dollars won’t be so easy, you know," the follow-up director reminded him.
Only one person could receive the one-hundred-thousand-dollar dream fund, and it required completing the most difficult challenge.
Durant didn’t make any bold proclamations, but the look in his eyes proved he was ready to face any challenge that came his way.
After all, this was a basketball show. All the previous challenges had revolved around basketball, training, and head-to-head competition.
In that regard, Durant feared no one.
Nearly two months of intense training had made him stronger and more skilled.
He had even broken into the top ten on the scoring leaderboard.
It wasn’t until the third day, after they had won an away game and returned to Safford, that the trio received a notice from the production team. They were moving on to the next phase of the "Dream Battle."
Tomorrow was Friday, and they would be pausing their games for three days to film the "Dream Battle" segment.
In the training gym, Durant’s group of three, along with DeRozan’s group, gathered to listen as the follow-up director explained the rules.
"First up is the Basic Challenge."
The follow-up director waved the six envelopes in his hand. "You’ve been competing and training for almost two months, so we’re going to conduct a progress assessment."
"The difficulty will be high, but as long as you’ve strictly followed your training plans up to now, passing it should be easy."
"You have to complete the Basic Challenge to receive your dream fund."
The difficulty was limited, of course. Otherwise, how could it be considered a perk?
The six kids exchanged glances and nodded.
Durant, in particular, was full of confidence. He always completed the training tasks assigned by the team’s Trainer at 150 percent effort.
The follow-up director continued, "Next are the Weighted Challenges, which are divided into three types."
He waved the yellow, green, and blue envelopes in his hand.
"They represent one thousand, three thousand, and five thousand US dollars, respectively."
"You can complete up to three challenges of each color. This means that, in theory, you could earn a dream fund of up to thirty-seven thousand US dollars in three days."
"Of course, I can tell you now, that’s going to be very hard to do. Because these challenges don’t just test your basketball skills."
The follow-up director gave a sly smile.
Since this was an entertainment segment, like an All-Star event, it couldn’t be all basketball. So these Weighted Challenges included a lot of special games.
For example, a challenge to see how many hot dogs one could eat in a minute, an underwater breath-holding contest, and so on.
"And finally, the Special Challenge."
He pulled out a golden envelope and gave the group a mysterious smile. "This one will be extremely difficult. If you complete it, you’ll get a chance to win the final prize of one hundred thousand US dollars."
"But if you fail, not only will you miss out on the hundred thousand dollars, you’ll also lose your initial ten-thousand-dollar fund."
"And most importantly, only one person can get the hundred thousand dollars. So think very carefully before you accept this challenge."
Harden shot a quick glance at DeRozan and Holidays.
His two good friends stood perfectly still, showing no intention of accepting the Special Challenge.
But Durant stood up without a moment’s hesitation.
Ten thousand US dollars was a lot of money, but only one hundred thousand could make his dream a reality.
Durant walked forward and took the golden envelope from the follow-up director.
He tore it open on the spot. When he saw the contents, he visibly froze.
"Pass the Dream Forward?"
Durant murmured, his brow immediately furrowing in confusion.

Comments

Loading...