Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 598: Chapter 525: Little Jordan Quits

The show’s regular season began on July 1st. The broadcast was paused on Saturday, July 3rd, and would resume the following week on July 10th, airing footage from the previous week’s games.

By July 15th, the regular season had been underway for half a month.

At seven o’clock that evening in Safford, Durant led his team in a home game against the California Boys Team, captained by Kevin Love.

Just like in the NBA, Durant and his two teammates arrived at the arena three hours early to warm up and acclimate to the court.

At first, Durant and his teammates weren’t used to it.

Back in high school, even on game days, arriving at the gym an hour early to warm up was considered more than enough.

But now, they had to be there at least three hours ahead of time.

The entire warm-up process was also drawn out, interspersed with physical therapy, massages, and various fundamental drills.

The goal was to warm up thoroughly and gradually get into the zone.

This was especially true for NBA veterans. Sometimes, they were like aging engines, needing two to three hours of low-power operation to gradually get their bodies into game-ready condition.

This also served as an indirect testament to the intensity and physical toll of a Professional Level game.

After changing into his jersey, Durant immediately headed to the court to find his shooting Trainer, Jim Carlos.

Each team was awarded a dedicated Trainer after securing their first victory.

By completing specific challenges, they could earn even more Trainers.

Last week, Durant had completed a challenge by making fifty consecutive shots, earning him a shooting Trainer—Jim.

He was in his thirties, a former star college point guard. Unfortunately, his limited height had prevented him from making it to the NBA.

He became a full-time Trainer only after retiring from playing.

Of course, his skill level wasn’t exactly top-tier—at least, not NBA-level.

Still, he wasn’t the kind of Trainer a player like Durant could normally access. He typically charged five hundred US Dollars for a single session.

That was more than Durant’s living expenses for an entire month.

When Jim saw Durant, he greeted him with an enthusiastic hug and then got him started on his warm-up.

The warm-up process was long and meticulous, covering everything from the whole body down to specific parts. Wrists, ankles, and even individual muscle groups were warmed up with specialized exercises.

Furthermore, the warm-up routines were tailored to each player’s technical skills, playstyle, and position on the court.

Jim and another Trainer, Connor Stewart, were in charge of the process.

The entire routine lasted forty minutes.

The team’s physical therapist was on site to give the three players muscle massages, helping them fully relax and loosen up.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Next came the warm-ups for their technical skills.

This meant drills like shooting, designed to help them find their touch and get a feel for their bodies.

"Kevin, is there some kind of conflict between you and DeAndre?" Jim asked in a low voice, pulling Durant to the corner. He had him doing deep squats into high-arcing shots to get a feel for his power generation.

He’d noticed during the warm-up that Little Jordan and Durant had barely said a word to each other.

Moreover, while they were running laps, they had brushed past each other. When they made contact, Little Jordan had conspicuously flung his arm away, an impatient look on his face.

"Not that I know of," Durant said, shaking his head.

’He’d never paid attention to that kind of thing.’

Jim sighed softly. "Kevin," he said quietly, "you’re the captain. You have to take on more responsibility. It’ll be the same when you go to college, and even when you get into the NBA. As the captain, you need to unite your teammates, because you’re a team. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Jim and Durant had grown close over the past few days. Or rather, Jim had developed a soft spot for the young player.

He genuinely believed the kid was a genius—a genius at shooting.

Otherwise, he never would have said any of this to him.

Durant thought for a moment, glanced at Little Jordan under the basket, and nodded.

Jim sighed again, sensing that Durant still hadn’t taken it to heart.

"Alright, let’s put that aside for now." Jim picked up the stat sheet. "Kevin," he said, "after observing you for the last few days, I’ve noticed a few issues."

He signaled for Durant to stop, then pointed to the data. "The stats show that your field goal percentage when you drive right is only four percentage points different from when you drive left and shoot."

Durant paused, taken aback. "Jim, isn’t that a good thing?"

’A four-point difference is tiny.’

’Besides,’ he thought, ’shouldn’t having the same field goal percentage whether I drive left or right be a good thing?’

"No," Jim said, shaking his head. "You’re right-handed. Driving right is your dominant direction. Logically, your percentage on drives to the right should be higher than on drives to the left—and by a significant margin."

"Did you know that in the NBA, many players have a huge discrepancy between their left and right sides? For example, some big men under the basket will only turn in one specific direction before shooting, precisely because they’re so unbalanced."

"Players who are truly balanced and can score consistently from either side are extremely rare."

"And during a game, your opponents can exploit that by creating a targeted defensive scheme against you."

"Have you noticed that in the last few games, when you drive to the basket for a shot, you almost always go to your right?"

Durant thought for a moment, a blank look on his face. "I guess you’re right."

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