9: A sensation across America, the goddess is calling.
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He turned off his phone, not thinking much of it. He just felt that the shot was incredible and wanted to share it with netizens.
He hadn't anticipated at all that this unintentional act of his would set off a storm that swept across the entire United States.
The first hour after the video was uploaded.
Views: 312.
Comments: 15.
“Clickbait? Since when did the Lakers have someone like this?”
“The image quality is too blurry, but... holy crap?! From that distance?!”
“Fake, right? Is the video photoshopped?”
“Didn't the guy above see clearly? This is a scrimmage. The buzzer at the end is real; this is a buzzer-beating game-winner!”
“Wait, this number 1... seems to be that Chinese player who was reported to be waived?”
The second hour.
A moderator with a small reputation on the famous basketball forum "RealGM" accidentally clicked on the video.
He watched it once, then watched it again.
Then, he forwarded the video link to the Lakers section of the forum.
The title was: "Can you guys believe this? A player about to be waived ended the scrimmage like this!"
The moment the post was made, it was buried under various trade rumors and team news.
But a few minutes later, the first reply appeared.
“FUCK! Is this for real?!”
The second reply followed immediately.
“That's not a shot, that's a missile!”
The third.
“I know this player, his name is Lin Feng! He played like shit in the Summer League, is... is this a different person?”
The post began to heat up.
More and more people clicked the link to watch the video.
The forum's server even experienced a momentary lag.
“Oh my God, I slowed the video down to 0.25x. His shooting form is very standard; this wasn't a fluke!”
“What about the 11 three-pointers before that? Why didn't the poster say anything? I want to see it all!”
“Requesting the full video! I'm willing to trade my girlfriend's signed photo for it!”
A storm was forming.
The third hour.
A certain columnist for ESPN was worrying about his draft for the next day.
His assistant knocked and came in, handing over a tablet with a strange expression.
“Sir, you'd better take a look at this.”
The writer took it impatiently, and the video played automatically.
A dim training hall, a blurry figure, and then a basketball that pierced the sky.
“Swish!”
The coffee cup in the writer's hand shook, and hot coffee spilled onto his pants.
Yet he was completely unaware.
He stood up abruptly and grabbed the phone on his desk.
“Get me through to the Lakers' PR department! Right now! Immediately!”
At the same time.
In the TNT studio, Charles Barkley, who had just finished recording a show, was preparing to leave.
“Charles, wait!”
His partner Kenny Smith rushed over holding his phone.
“Look at this! A god has appeared in the Lakers!”
Barkley glanced at it dismissively.
“What kind of god can save this sinking ship now?”
But when he saw the images on the phone screen, his iconic big mouth fell open and couldn't close for a long time.
“This... this... Kenny, pinch me, I must be dreaming.”
Major sports media outlets across America, like sharks sensing blood, all went crazy.
On the Twitter trending list.
#Lakers' Mystery Shooter#
#The Full-Court Buzzer Beater#
#Who is Lin Feng?#
The three topics rushed into the top ten trends with unstoppable momentum.
Fans went completely wild.
They gave Lin Feng all sorts of nicknames.
“eastern magician!”
“Midcourt Assassin!”
“Cruise Missile on the Court!”
The Lakers' General Manager's office.
The phone had been ringing non-stop since half an hour ago.
Kupchak's hands were getting tired from answering calls, but the smile on his face grew brighter and brighter.
“Yes, that's right, his name is Lin Feng.”
“We just signed him to a fully guaranteed official contract.”
“No, no, no, he's not untouchable, but unless you're trading LeBron James for him.”
He hung up one phone smugly, and another immediately rang.
D'Antoni was also in the office.
He watched Kupchak bragging there, a complex expression on his face.
“Mitch, are we... playing this too big?”
D'Antoni was somewhat worried.
“That kid's shooting is indeed... miraculous, but that was just one scrimmage.”
Kupchak put down the phone, walked to the liquor cabinet, and poured two glasses of whiskey.
He handed one to D'Antoni.
“Mike, have you ever seen anyone make 12 consecutive three-pointers in a scrimmage, with the last one being a full-court buzzer-beater?”
D'Antoni fell silent.
He hadn't.
Let alone seeing it, he wouldn't even dare to imagine it.
“Whether he's a god or a ghost, after today, he's the most watched rookie in America. No, he's more watched than all the rookies combined!”
Kupchak took a sip of his drink, the shrewdness of a businessman flashing in his eyes.
“His commercial value, from the moment that ball went in, has already become immeasurable!”
“With a veteran minimum, we've signed a player who can make the whole world go crazy!”
“Mike, we've hit the jackpot!”
D'Antoni looked at the excited General Manager and thought back to Lin Feng's face, which had been incredibly calm from beginning to end.
He always felt that things weren't that simple.
This young man hid deeper secrets than that game-winner.
And at this moment, at the center of the storm.
Lin Feng was lying on the bed in the new apartment the team had arranged for him.
He had just finished showering and was holding his phone, looking at his social media account.
After he signed the contract, the team's PR helped him regain access to his account.
When he logged on, the follower count was: 3,214.
Most of them were inactive followers he had accumulated while playing domestically.
And now.
He refreshed the page.
Follower count: 1,254,890.
And the number was still jumping frantically at a rate of thousands per second.
The direct message inbox had exploded, showing a red "99+" badge.
The comment section was even more flooded with various languages.
“God! Please take my knees!”
“Lin! I love you! I want to have your babies!”
“From today on, I'm a Lakers fan! No, I'm a Lin Feng fan!”
Lin Feng looked at these fanatical comments, the curve of his lips becoming more pronounced.
This was what he wanted.
Fame, attention, influence.
He enjoyed this feeling of being the center of attention.
Just then, the phone screen suddenly lit up.
An unknown incoming call appeared on the screen.
The number's origin was South Korea.
Lin Feng's movements paused for a moment.
A face as exquisite as an angel's, yet with a hint of stubbornness, surfaced in his mind.
He pressed the answer button.
On the other end of the phone came a slight, seemingly nervous sound of breathing.
After a few seconds of silence, a gentle and slightly shy female voice spoke up cautiously.
“Excuse me... is this Mr. Lin Feng?”
The voice was very light and soft, like a feather brushing against the heart.
“It's me.”
Lin Feng's voice was very calm.
The breathing on the other end seemed to become a bit more rapid.
“I... it's me, Yoona.”
In the girl's voice, there was a hint of joy after confirmation and an imperceptible shyness.
“I saw the news... congratulations on officially joining the Lakers.”
“Mm.”
Lin Feng gave a response, waiting for the other party to continue.
“I've safely returned to Korea. I... I wanted to say thank you to you again.”
Yoona's voice was very sincere.
“That night, really... thank you so much.”
She seemed to recall that chaotic night again, a hint of lingering fear in her voice.
The moment her words fell.
It seemed his performance today had also reached her ears through the news, increasing the weight of this "proactive contact."
On the other end of the phone, Yoona seemed to be hesitating about something.
She was silent for a few seconds before speaking again in a volume that was almost a whisper.
Her voice was full of uncertainty and anticipation.
“Um... Mr. Lin Feng...”
“When... when are you free?”
“I want to... thank you in person.”
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