NBA's history of magnesium powder tossing dates back a long ti.
Jordan used to like tossing magnesium powder at the scorer's table, covering the comntators and the statisticians in the dust.
Back then, comntators would wear masks and gas masks to counteract his teasing, which was an amusing pre-ga episode.
After Jordan, Kevin Garnett also enjoyed coating his hands with magnesium powder and clapping forcefully, playing tricks on the technicians in front of him, and sotis even raising his arms high. LeBron saw it once, thought nobody wanted it, and "picked" it up, turning it into his unique signature move.
Since high school, LeBron Jas had the habit of tossing magnesium powder before gas.
However, during his rookie season, to maintain a low-profile and humble image off the court, he didn't toss magnesium powder very often. Even when he did, he would say "shyly", "It's all to respond to the fans' love for ."
With the new season starting, he intended to perform the magnesium powder tossing ritual before every ho ga.
For this, he specifically spent three hours studying the amount to toss, as well as the movents and angles of tossing.
As the ga approached and the audience nearly filled the venue, he was about to show off, when Su Wan unexpectedly made the magnesium powder tossing gesture first, and he did it by jumping onto the scorer's table.
If his powder toss was the most domineering before, Su Wan's toss was not just domineering, but also brash and youthful!
Just look at the reaction of the crowd to know:
The cheers were thunderous!
The Cavaliers fans coated with magnesium powder in the front row were like the most devout believers, their faces showing manic love. They responded to Su Wan's "high platform dive" with the most energetic dancing and cheering.
"Today's young people are really bold!" Reggie Miller, sitting on the Pacers bench, noticed this scene as well. He thought he had been audacious enough as a rookie trash-talking Jordan, but looking at Su Wan, he felt he was actually quite modest back then.
"Don't fight with for him, leave that rookie to !" a guy with a face full of tough-looking flesh, looking "unhappy", with muscles bulging everywhere, said blankly, looking like a beast about to explode at any mont.
Soone next to him disagreed, "Ron, that rookie is clearly playing the two, you better think about how to deal with LeBron, that's what you should be doing as this season's best player."
"Stephen, don't be so stingy, I'll just match up against him for a few rounds to make him behave. Then I'll hand him back to you!"
"No way, I find his antics annoying too, I can handle him myself!"
The two competing for the chance to guard Su Wan were "Martial Saint" Stephen Jackson and "Beast" Ron Artest, who were the Pacers' defensive strongholds on the periter.
Especially Ron Artest, who had just won his first "Best Defensive Player Award" last season, snatching it from Ben Wallace, who was a two-ti "Best Defensive Player Award" winner, which made it highly prestigious.
Currently in the league, speaking purely about defensive ability, he was the best on the periter.
Even the brilliant periter "scorers" would struggle against him.
He had never t Su Wan before and had no personal grudges; his reason for wanting to guard Su Wan was simple:
He wouldn't allow a rookie to be so audacious in front of the Pacers. Right now, those rookies should feel nervous about facing Ron Artest.
Instead of being nervous, they were utterly arrogant; no doubt about it, he would deal with him!
Su Wan was unaware that his plan had already succeeded, but he clearly understood that he was exceptionally high-profile now. If this didn't work, then it was ti to play so daring "truth or dare." If he got egg on his face, so be it. When you're in the "world", how can you not get a few cuts!
Contentedly descending from the scorer's table, he saw LeBron Jas next to him, cradling magnesium powder in his hands like an ant.
"Are you going to toss it too? Then co on, show it!"
Su Wan stepped aside.
LeBron looked down at the magnesium powder in his hands and, in the end, just clapped haphazardly a few tis, hastily ending it.
He gave up on tossing the magnesium powder.
Not to ntion his 100 tis practice before the ga, even if he practiced it a thousand or ten thousand tis, the effect might still not be a tenth of Su Wan's gesture on the scorer's table.
Unless he also stood on the scorer's table, otherwise, the fans would only feel it lackluster.
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But if he also stood on the scorer's table, wouldn't that just be naked plagiarism?
One should know that Su Wan's magnesium powder toss was copied from him, but at least there was innovation. Moreover, standing on the scorer's table and shouting "This is my horse" was a classic scene from Su Wan's sumr league. His combination didn't feel out of place at all.
LeBron, however, was different. He had never done such a conspicuous thing before. Being domineering on the court and low-profile off the court was his "persona".
The pre-ga spotlight was stolen, and LeBron Jas sat back on the bench gloomily. Su Wan had already entered the court to warm up, and catching a glimpse of this scene on the bench, he thought of sothing quite interesting:
"In the future, the 'Chosen One' will make his most difficult decision, bringing his talents to the South Coast. When the walls ca tumbling down and everyone turned against him, the dia said LeBron skipped pre-ga warmups altogether in favor of his powder-toss ritual. Was he seeing the 'material' now?"
Clearly, LeBron didn't know that his current self-indulgence would, at so future point, beco evidence in the accounting of his history.
At that mont, the big screen in the arena presented the starting lineups for both teams:
"Cavaliers: Point Guard LeBron Jas, Shooting Guard Su Wan, Small Forward Ira Newell, Power Forward Drew Gooden, Center Big Z;
Pacers: Point Guard Jamal Tinsley, Shooting Guard Stephen Jackson, Small Forward Ron Artest, Power Forward Jermaine O'Neal, Center Jeff Foster;"
Then, with the referee's whistle, the starters for both teams entered the court, and "Voice of the Knight" Joe Tate at the comntary table imdiately adjusted his microphone:
"Ladies and gentlen, you are witnessing a historic mont. Su Wan, the NBA's first Chinese periter player, is about to have his first NBA career ga. This is also the first ga in NBA history where a Chinese player starts as a part of the main lineup. The professional career of number 99 on the Cavaliers, from this mont, officially begins!"
LeBron felt stifled once again.
Pre-ga had already been overshadowed by Su Wan, and now the entrance segnt beca Su Wan's historic mont.
He took a deep breath, determined to establish his presence from the outset.
The greatest exposure in Cleveland had to focus on him.
However, the Pacers were in one of the strongest phases of their team history. Last season, they had achieved the highest number of wins in the league with 61, and despite the disappointnt of being halted at the Eastern Conference Finals, they retained their entire roster over the sumr, aiming for the team's first Championship Trophy in the new season.
Their goal was the championship, while the Cavaliers aid for the playoffs.
The gap between the two teams' levels was palpable.
In the first possession of the ga, LeBron Jas, holding the ball, drove in for a breakthrough but was intercepted head-on. His pass to the right was slapped away by the following Artest, and the Pacers easily completed the counterattack.
A turnover to start off with.
LeBron gritted his teeth and called for a pick and roll with Big Z. He had just rounded Big Z when Artest was already waiting for him on the other side.
At his peak, Artest had two deadly weapons: his strong body and his quick lateral movent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the league's most dreaded "periter iron gate" during this period.
But to lock down LeBron, the Pacers had another "killer move":
That was the "block passing" strategy planned by sideline coach Rick Carlisle.
LeBron had several "natural enemy coaches" in the league, from Popovich, who shaved LeBron's 'bald' in the Finals for the first ti, to Zhuge Malone with his various 'fla extinguishing' tactics, and in between, Coach S who was especially familiar with LeBron due to his coaching.
And then...
The often overlooked Rick Carlisle!
The 2011 Finals were a classic representation of his conquest over LeBron.
Indeed, coaches of the Academic School very well understood that soone like LeBron Jas, a typical "non-traditional point guard," did not have substantial organizational abilities. His passing relied on his "breakthrough pass."
As long as one could stifle his drive, one could predict when he would pass, and hence roughly determine the path of his pass.
"Snap!"
LeBron Jas's second pass was nearly stolen again, but luckily Newell managed to capture the ball. Su Wan smartly circled behind to receive the pass, and then directly drove the ball in for a breakthrough.
The space under the basket had been opened early due to LeBron's pick and roll call.
As he drove directly in, Stephen Jackson who had been following him was forced to switch to Newell, leaving Su Wan matched up against the Pacers' weakest periter defender, Jamal Tinsley, who was only 1.90 ters tall.
Tinsley's defensive advantage lay in his physical confrontations; in 1v1 situations, he was rarely outplayed.
The downside was that he lacked a sense of team defense—aning he had no awareness for help defense.
So by the ti he realized Stephen Jackson was about to switch with him, Su Wan had already leveled with him at the shoulder. Having established his position and with an advantage in both size and strength, Su Wan executed a "reverse dunk" over Tinsley, scoring.
As the dunk was completed, Su Wan roared loudly, and upon landing, he fiercely pounded his chest toward the spectator stands, preemptively employing LeBron Jas's future favorite "King's Step."
Frequent passing errors had cooled the atmosphere inside the venue, but that mont brought it back to a boil.
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