Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 44: Too Much Exercise
By the time Chen Yu and Hardaway walked out of Orlando International Airport, the NBA had already announced its punishment for the Magic.
An investigation confirmed that the Magic’s game against the Hawks was a fixed match.
The Magic received a 500,000 US dollar fine.
Spurred by Hill’s heartfelt words—especially his use of the word "disappointed"—Devos didn’t hesitate, firing Gabriel with lightning speed.
The Vice President of Operations, John Weisbrod, took his place.
His first act in office was to fire Doug Rivers. In his own words, it was to "reverse the fans’ terrible impression of the Magic’s front office," stating that "behavior like match-fixing will not be tolerated," even if Rivers was a former Coach of the Year with three years left on his contract.
Following Rivers’s dismissal, the team’s defensive coach, Paul Plessey, was named interim head coach.
As a player, Plessey had been a defensive stalwart, twice named to the All-Defensive First Team. After retiring, he became an assistant coach, spending a full six years with the Spurs and winning a championship with them just last year.
Unlike Rivers, he had at least touched the O’Brien Trophy and had NBA Finals experience.
Furthermore, the fact that the Magic had nearly made the playoffs last year with a roster of undrafted players was largely due to Plessey’s defensive coaching.
"Devos finally did something smart for once," Boston remarked from inside the car.
He had dealt with Devos before.
Devos, the founder of Amway, was a shrewd businessman, but he was also a penny-pincher. Gabriel might have been a fool, but he excelled at saving money, which was the main reason Devos had been so reluctant to replace him.
But with the market value of NBA teams skyrocketing over the past two years, what else could he do? Otherwise, would he really have been willing to spend a combined 186 million US dollars on two max contracts for Hill and Tracy McGrady?
Devos himself was something of a basketball fan. Now that he had more cash on hand, he was starting to demand results, so it was only natural for Gabriel to get the boot.
Sitting beside him, Hardaway pursed his lips but said nothing. He simply stared out the window, his gaze distant and complex. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Once, he was Orlando’s one and only #1.
But now, all he could do was scoff at the Magic’s cold-bloodedness.
He turned his head to Chen Yu in the back seat. "Chen, I remember the news saying you’re from Miami and don’t have a place in Orlando, that you’re staying with Hill. Why don’t you move into my house? It’d be more convenient for your treatments."
Chen Yu looked up. ’I’m not from Miami, though. I grew up in Chicago.’
"You left Orlando a while ago," Chen Yu said. "Do you still have a house here?"
"Of course," Hardaway said casually. "I was going to sell it last year, but then I figured I might want to visit sometime, so I kept it."
Chen Yu was left speechless.
’Some people are just loaded.’
’Not like me, still saddled with a six-hundred-thousand-dollar loan.’
’If I’d known he was this rich, I wouldn’t have asked for just a thousand US dollars a day when we negotiated my fee. I should have at least asked for double!’
"All right," Chen Yu nodded.
Tamia and her daughter had come to Orlando, and things were heating up between her and Hill. Chen Yu had no desire to be a third wheel.
Besides, staying at Hardaway’s place would save him money on a hotel.
As they spoke, the car pulled up to a lavish villa shrouded in lush greenery.
It was located in Melton, one of Orlando’s affluent neighborhoods. Hardaway’s villa had to be worth at least three million US dollars.
’Such an expensive house, just sitting here empty.’
And even more incredibly, two Ferraris were parked in the villa’s garage.
Hardaway grabbed a set of keys from a nearby cabinet and tossed them to Chen Yu. "Feel free to drive it. Someone comes by for regular maintenance, so it’s ready to go."
Chen Yu sighed. What could he say? The man was just plain loaded.
He’d read stories about it before—how these NBA players, after getting rich and famous, spent money recklessly. They’d support a whole entourage of old friends and random relatives, throwing cash around like it was nothing.
The villa was tidy and well-stocked. Hardaway clapped his hands together and asked, "Alright, Chen, what’s next?"
Chen Yu glanced at his watch, then grabbed a throw pillow and tossed it to him. "Sleep. Take a nap."
After a long flight and an exhausting trip, the most important thing for Hardaway was to rest.
Chen Yu himself wasn’t in the habit of taking afternoon naps; in fact, it wasn’t really a custom in the United States.
But Chen Yu had seen the data from his system. He knew that napping helped reduce myocardial oxygen consumption and arterial pressure, which was beneficial for both the heart and the brain.
And right now, what Hardaway needed most was proper rest.
The effect might be limited, but every little bit helps. Quick recovery was all about making these small, incremental changes.
"Huh?" Hardaway yelped.
"Kevin, you make sure he sleeps until one," Chen Yu said, pointing at Boston.
Hardaway was nowhere near as self-disciplined as Hill. If he wanted to make a full recovery within the next year, he had to develop more disciplined habits.
Boston had known Hardaway since ’92 and they were close. Hardaway would listen to him.
He drove out, heading to Hill’s place first to check on him.
His cartilage was recovering, but not quickly enough.
At this rate, he might not be ready for his comeback by the end of the month.
The effects of the glucosamine treatment were limited.
And PRP therapy required a six-month interval between treatments.
The only remaining option was the system’s treatment effects.
’I have to find a way to grind for more treatment effects.’
When Hill heard that Hardaway was in Orlando, he was surprised, but he also couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared experience.
As fellow "heirs to Jordan," Hardaway had been messed around by the Magic’s front office far worse than he had.
Tamia snorted. "See?" she chided. "If you hadn’t stood up and said something this time, you could have ended up just like Hardaway."
Hill gave a wry smile, not daring to argue.
After grabbing his luggage, Chen Yu thought for a moment before heading to his clinic.
’I still have to make use of this clinic.’
He also contacted Wash and Matthew, telling them to let him know if any knee ligament repairs, meniscus repairs, or cartilage reconstruction surgeries came up that needed a freelance surgeon.
Chen Yu knew how to perform these surgeries, of course, but it would be best if he could "grind" for the corresponding skills from the system first.
Beyond that, his main goal was to grind for experience in rehabilitation.
He parked the car and opened the clinic door.
Everything was just as he’d left it. The only thing missing was a nurse.
Thinking of nurses brought Julian to mind. That woman was an ’Emperor of Europe’ when it came to luck. Unfortunately, she was married with a child, and her family ties made things inconvenient. Otherwise, Chen Yu would have poached her in a heartbeat.
He had just started tidying up when the doorbell rang.
He looked up to see Anthony Quinn entering the clinic on a crutch, supported by a young man.
Chen Yu gave the young man a second look. He had a meticulously groomed beard, wore a shirt that was clearly expensive, and a gold Rolex on his wrist was particularly flashy.
"Kid, you finally show your face! Quick, my back!"
He pointed to his lower back, his voice trembling.
One glance was all it took for Chen Yu to understand. The lumbar vertebra he had reset last time had slipped out of place again.
"Follow me." Chen Yu wasn’t about to turn away experience points that came knocking on his door.
Once inside the treatment room, Quinn obediently lay face down on the table.
As he disinfected his hands, Chen Yu asked, "Anthony, have you been doing anything... overly strenuous?"
The muscle support in his lower back was imbalanced, so even after the last adjustment, there was still a chance of a relapse.
But it had only been two weeks since the adjustment. A relapse shouldn’t have happened this quickly.
"Overly strenuous?" A flicker of embarrassment crossed Quinn’s face. "Well, I wasn’t feeling any pain for a couple of days, so I..."
He shot Chen Yu a look that said it all.
Chen Yu was completely dumbfounded.
’The man has to be in his eighties!’
’Truly young at heart!’
"Impressive," Chen Yu said, giving him a thumbs-up. He thought for a moment, then added, "If you really feel the need in the future, try to stay on the bottom."
With that, he slammed both hands down on Quinn’s back.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the room.
CRASH! The door to the treatment room was kicked open. The young man who had come with Quinn burst in, clutching a gleaming silver... Desert Eagle?
