Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 600: Chapter 526: Durant’s Test

Chen Yu had just left Old Kolangelo’s house when he received a call from Ernest.

"So, what you’re saying is, DeAndre has decided to give up and wants to quit the show. And he’s already contacted his mother to have her come pick him up."

As he finished, Chen Yu let out a soft laugh.

Ernest, on the other end of the line, heard the laugh and his tone grew anxious. "Chen, this is no small matter! If he quits, what’s going to happen to Durant’s team? My idea is to announce publicly that Little Jordan was forced to withdraw due to feeling unwell or for personal family reasons."

"We’ll declare the California Boys the winners—they were going to win anyway—and then we just won’t edit this game into the final show. We’ll try to downplay it as much as possible. What do you think?"

Chen Yu waved a hand at Lexi, who was beside him, to signal that everything was fine. Then he said, "Steven, don’t get me wrong. I was just thinking that it took two weeks of competition for a situation like this to happen. These kids are pretty impressive."

Ernest was stunned for a moment. He hesitated before saying, "Chen, you mean you predicted something like this would happen?"

"Of course."

They’re a group of fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds, and basically every one of them is a star player from their respective schools and states. Back in school, they were the sports celebrities everyone admired, the undisputed core of their teams. Their teammates, coaches, schools... everyone catered to them.

Not to mention they’re at that age where they think they’re the center of the universe.

Now they’ve come to our show, made it through the open tryouts, and finally gotten onto a team. And what have they become?

The captain’s lackeys, just supporting players. ’I’m supposed to do all the dirty work while you get to score big and hog the spotlight.’ It’s safe to say most of them would have the same first thought: ’Why should I?’

’Am I really worse than you?’

’Even if I’m not as good as you now, does that mean I’ll still be worse than you in the future?’

Add in the team’s general manager showing favoritism, and it all just intensifies these conflicts.

For the first outburst of discontent to only happen after two weeks... Chen Yu already felt these kids were pretty level-headed.

"Then before..." Ernest was completely baffled. ’If Chen Yu had already predicted this would happen, then why did he deliberately leave loopholes to guide the teams into acting this way?’

Chen Yu said, "Steven, this is actually a lesson for them. Some things you have to experience firsthand to truly remember them and understand what to do."

"You might not know this, but in the NBA, there are a lot of rookies who come in with the ’prodigy’ label—all sorts of ’Mr. Basketball’ state awards, All-American First Team selections, countless honors. And then what do they do? They warm the bench and run errands for the team’s star player, carrying his bags."

"While the stars are enjoying the fans’ adoration, these guys can only sit on the bench and wave towels."

"This huge psychological gap can cause some of them to have a mental breakdown, slack off in training, give up on themselves, and eventually get ruthlessly cut from the team."

Chen Yu paused for a moment before asking another question.

"Steven, do you remember any of the second-round picks from the last couple of years?"

Ernest was stumped. Forget second-round picks, he could only remember a few of the top first-round picks who played well.

Chen Yu said, "Exactly. The situation I described is especially common among second-round picks. Are they bad players? No, they’re among the sixty best players in the world in their draft year."

"The top sixty. They’ve already become part of the most elite group. But after entering the NBA, they’re still at the bottom of the totem pole. A lot of them can’t handle that psychological drop. They don’t know how to wait for their opportunity; they just complain and slack off, and then they’re quickly cut and out of the NBA."

"We’re making this show hoping to teach them how to properly improve themselves before entering the NBA. But at the same time, I also hope they can mentally prepare for the NBA. I want them to understand that they might not be the protagonist of this world, but when faced with adversity, they can become the protagonist through diligence and hard work."

"Take DeAndre, for example. If he really has a shot at making it to the NBA in the future, he’ll probably start out warming the bench too. On the court, he’ll have to pass to the core players and support their offense. Even if he’s in the most logical position to score, the coach will tell him to pass the ball."

"They need to learn to endure all of that, adjust their mindset, and seize every opportunity, instead of complaining and just giving up."

"I don’t believe he didn’t get a single chance to shoot. And what’s more, if he had defended for his life and shut down his opponent, the coach isn’t blind. He would have seen his effort and performance. Maybe he would’ve gotten more opportunities. He might have even staged a comeback and become the captain, however small that chance might be."

"But just giving up? That’s the easy way out. But in doing so, he also gives up his own opportunities."

"Steven, you struggled in Hollywood for so many years. You didn’t become a television producer until you were almost forty, and then you worked your way up to become the star producer you are today. Only you know how much you went through. If you had just complained about it being unfair and given up back then, would the you of today even exist?"

Chen Yu’s rhetorical question made Ernest’s breathing on the other end of the line grow heavy.

Hollywood, that world of fame and fortune, was every bit as ruthless as the NBA, if not more so.

"Chen, I understand. So what’s the plan now?" Ernest asked.

With Little Jordan gone, Durant’s team was down a player. They were pretty much done for.

Since he had anticipated this situation, Chen Yu naturally had a plan. He said, "Let DeAndre’s mother come get him. And until DeAndre rejoins the team, Durant’s team will automatically forfeit every game."

"At the same time, tell Durant that he and Harden now have to complete a challenge mission. If they complete it, they’ll earn a ’revival,’ which they can use to bring DeAndre back to the team."

"Of course, how they persuade DeAndre to return is their business. DeAndre is their teammate, and they also need to learn how to get along with their teammates and how to encourage them to work hard alongside them."

"Oh, and if they complete the challenge and get the revival, you can also tell Durant that it can be used not just on DeAndre, but on anyone. That means anyone who was eliminated in the tryouts, even someone who didn’t make it past the initial selection."

When Ernest heard that last part, he froze. A name suddenly popped into his head.

Durant’s good friend, Michael Beasley!

"Chen, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?" Ernest couldn’t help but gasp. ’Chen Yu is ruthless,’ he thought.

This was basically forcing Durant to make a choice in front of millions of viewers across America.

Would he choose his current teammate, the weaker DeAndre, or his good friend, the astonishingly talented and exceptionally skilled Beasley?

Beasley’s elimination during the earlier tryouts had already sparked some debate, with people arguing that Chen Yu and the other judges had made the wrong call, that Beasley’s talent far surpassed that of many who had stayed.

"Chen, he’s just a kid. You can’t test him like this."

Abandon his current teammate for a stronger good friend, or betray his good friend and stick with his original choice? Even for an adult like Ernest, it felt like an incredibly difficult decision.

And Durant was just a sixteen-year-old kid.

Chen Yu chuckled. "Let’s just see what happens. Like you said, he’s just a kid. So no matter what decision he ultimately makes, I don’t think it’s a problem. He’s allowed to make mistakes and then pay the price for them. And as adults, we should forgive him for whatever he decides."

"This way, if he ever truly faces a choice like this in the future, he’ll at least have some experience and know what to do."

Ernest was breathing heavily, speechless for a long moment.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but sympathize with Durant. He suspected Chen Yu had planned this all along and would have handled anyone this way; Durant was just unlucky that his team was the first to have this happen.

"Chen, I’m suddenly getting the feeling that you psychology types are a little scary," Ernest remarked.

He even suspected that when Chen Yu eliminated Beasley, he had already calculated that this exact situation would occur.

Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "You’re exaggerating. Besides, I’m not a professional psychologist."

Ernest fell silent. ’If this is what a non-professional is like, how terrifying would a professional be?’

He had been so stressed and tense from work lately that he’d been thinking about finding a therapist to talk to. Now, he figured he’d better forget about it.

"Alright, we’ll do it your way," Ernest agreed with a long sigh.

Setting aside the psychology and the tests, from a purely production standpoint, this was the best move. It would maximize the show’s dramatic effect.

Soon, audiences all across America would likely be worrying and wondering what choice Durant would make.

And the show’s ratings would undoubtedly explode.

Just as they were about to hang up, Ernest suddenly asked again, "Chen, what choice do you *hope* Durant makes?"

’How would I know?’ Chen Yu thought.

After all, he’s just a sixteen-year-old kid. His character isn’t fully mature. Any choice he makes is possible, and perfectly normal.

"How about this: I’ll mail you a letter with my answer inside. You can open it after Durant makes his choice and see if I guessed right."

"Deal."

Ernest nodded in agreement. He wanted to see if Chen Yu was truly infallible.

But after hanging up, Ernest suddenly had a thought. By doing this, wasn’t Chen Yu also giving *him* a test? A test to see if he could resist the temptation of curiosity and open the envelope early.

He sucked in a sharp breath. Alarmed, he secretly swore to himself that he would resist the temptation and not open the envelope ahead of time.

「The next day, Little Jordan left.」

His mother didn’t come to pick him up. When he contacted her and explained the situation, she chewed him out and told him she wasn’t coming. "If you’ve got the guts, you can walk back to Texas yourself."

His anger still simmering, Little Jordan threw a huge tantrum, forcing the production team to put him on a plane back to Houston.

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