Seeing Su Xi walk in, he acted friendly. "Finally teammates, Jack."

Su Xi extended a hand to welcome him to the Pacers family.

After winning the championship, Su Xi’s status on the Pacers was even more secure.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries.

Then, Artest clapped his hands and called out to everyone, "Today is the sixtieth day since my new album was released, and it’s also the first day of our new season. Tonight, I’m treating everyone to a good time."

Artest said generously.

Everyone cheered in response.

Su Xi glanced around at his burly teammates in the locker room, then exchanged a look with Rick Carlisle.

’The new season might not be so easy.’

No wonder they say winning a championship is easy, but defending it is hard.

When going for a championship, everyone charges forward in one concerted effort.

The mentality for defending a title is completely different. Many people’s dreams don’t extend that far. Once they’ve won a championship and fulfilled their wish, their mindset relaxes.

Just look at Reggie Miller’s overindulged state. The dark circles under his eyes nearly reached the bridge of his nose.

He definitely let loose a lot this offseason.

Jermaine O’Neal had gotten a size bigger. Foster even had a double chin. Tony Battie didn’t have any fat on him, but he had bulked up by two sizes—pure muscle. It was like he’d made bodybuilding his main job during the offseason.

And then there was Kenny Anderson. His current mentality was just to coast through the last year of his contract and then retire.

So, that afternoon, Su Xi went to find Larry Bird. "You’ve got to step up! You need to get the guys tense."

Bird threw up his hands. He didn’t have any solution either; it was just human nature. He comforted Su Xi, "The offseason just ended. It’s normal for everyone to be a little relaxed. You can’t expect them to have the same mentality as they did in the Finals. Didn’t you want to work on your skills? This is the perfect time!"

...

Seven straight losses.

The defending champions had lost seven straight games in the preseason.

This was fucking jaw-dropping.

"The NBA champions have lost all shame. After losing to the Bucks, they lost to the Grizzlies. After the Grizzlies, the Hawks. After the Hawks, the Hornets. After the Hornets, they lost to the Bobcats. They’re running out of teams to lose to..."

The Pacers had the distinction of being one of two teams with a seven-game preseason losing streak.

It was worth mentioning that the other team, with an eight-game preseason losing streak, was none other than the Lakers, who had just faced the Pacers in the Finals.

Without O’Neal, the Lakers had lost their soul.

Kobe Bryant played with great aggression, averaging 29 minutes, 25 shots, and 32.5 points per game. But he still couldn’t save the Lakers.

As the Lakers’ top dog, he was doing his best.

The Pacers’ top dog, Su Xi, was also "doing his best" in the same way.

Su Xi averaged 27 minutes, 22.6 shots, and 25.3 points per game.

His offensive efficiency was very low.

Moreover, Su Xi was forcing things. He was the type to pass up a good open look and instead drive headfirst into a crowded defense.

If there was a challenge, he’d take it on. If there wasn’t one, he’d create one and take that on too.

On top of that, he was playing incredibly selfishly. This made a lot of people feel like Su Xi had become a different person.

The famous commentator Charles Barkley shouted on TV, "Wake up, Jack! We’re back in the NBA now, not the FIBA system. The Pacers aren’t the Chinese Team; they don’t need you to take a crazy number of shots. The NBA already has one Kobe, it doesn’t need a second."

Su Xi didn’t respond to this statement, but Kobe gritted his teeth.

Kobe had been gritting his teeth a lot lately. The whole world was targeting him, especially after he lost. All the blame was being pinned on him.

Furthermore, everyone believed the Lakers would sooner or later regret driving away the Shark for Kobe, just like the Cavaliers trading away Su Xi. They were considered the two stupidest moves of the new century.

The difference with Su Xi was that people felt he would eventually get back on the right track; he couldn’t possibly keep shooting so crazily and selfishly forever. The Pacers couldn’t possibly keep sinking and losing like this either.

But as for the Lakers and Kobe, everyone felt that a leopard can’t change its spots, and he would only become more and more selfish. The Lakers shouldn’t even dream of having their day in the sun for the next few years.

Kobe had practically become Su Xi’s cautionary tale.

How could Kobe not grit his teeth?

"Barkley doesn’t understand modern basketball at all."

Kobe shot back at Barkley.

Barkley then started getting passive-aggressive. He was as gentle with Su Xi as he was ’subtly’ critical of other players.

Besides, his relationship with Kobe had always been rather lukewarm.

He had taken plenty of passive-aggressive shots at him.

At this time, Kobe Bryant also led the brand-new Lakers to Indiana.

They were about to play in this year’s season opener.

Although the schedule was set in advance, Stern really had a twisted sense of humor; it was a pretty cruel move.

The Lakers were already miserable after losing to the Pacers in last season’s Finals, and now you’re going to drag them over to witness the Pacers’ championship ring ceremony?

How cruel, how tactless.

However, this could certainly stimulate the Lakers’ fighting spirit, motivating them to go all out to defeat the Pacers and ruin their award ceremony.

To turn their championship milestone into a tragic one.

But the Lakers had undergone a complete roster overhaul. What reason did the new players have to hate the Pacers?

The only one who might have a bit of a grudge with the Pacers was probably Lamar Odom, who had been ignored by Su Xi during the Olympics.

But what level was Odom on? He wasn’t even qualified to eat at the same table as Su Xi now. Su Xi sat at the superstar table. Odom didn’t even qualify for the star player table; he had to go to the elite player table, and he’d probably have to bring a fruit basket just to get in.

...

Reggie Miller was incredibly excited, his drooping, dark-circled eyes shimmering with tears. Before the game started, he was getting ready, pacing back and forth in the locker room.

He was finally getting his championship ring.

He kept emphasizing, "This year’s championship ring has my design in it! I was involved in the design, did you know? Jack! Ron, Jermaine..."

Su Xi couldn’t help but offer his congratulations. "Yes, Reggie. Although achieving your career dream is worth celebrating, you have to take it easy tonight. Don’t get hurt."

Miller had been living it up more and more. At that nightclub party organized by Artest, he was photographed by reporters going to a hotel room with three women: a Latina beauty, a Black beauty, and a blonde with blue eyes.

He was quite the equal-opportunity lover.

He was basically the mayor of the global village.

Pushing his old body to such limits... Talk about having the balls to be bold.

Reggie Miller waved his hand dismissively, saying he knew what he was doing.

Then, less than three minutes into the game, he got into a fight with Caron Butler.

He had fallen twice at the start of the game and insisted that Butler was disrespecting him by tripping him.

In reality, it was just a normal physical contest. Butler’s hands and feet were a little dirty, but still within the normal range. Miller’s own legs were weak, yet he insisted on trying to run and jump around.

If he wasn’t going to fall, who would?

He tackled Butler, and they rolled on the floor in a heap.

It was a good thing Butler took pity on the old man. Otherwise, if he’d thrown a couple of punches, Miller would have been carried off the court.

Both players were ejected from the game.

Reggie Miller, however, got his wish. He could finally change into his suit and receive his championship ring during halftime...

Miller and Butler were ejected.

The game didn’t get any better because of it.

The silky-smooth offense from last season was gone, replaced by all sorts of bricks.

The Lakers were bricking shots, and the Pacers were bricking shots.

Truly a pair of evenly matched opponents.

It was like a throwback to last season’s Finals.