Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 61: Even the God of Basketball Is Vulnerable
Star and player. It’s only a one-word difference, but the gap between them is enormous.
Hill’s appearance immediately made him the center of attention.
Even the notoriously demanding New York fans were cheering for him.
Dressed in a gray suit, Jordan, who had been retired for two years, immediately stood up, walked over, and embraced Hill with a wide smile.
The head referee for the game and Nicks owner James Dolan also came over one after another to speak with Hill.
In contrast, Tracy McGrady, hailed as a rising star and already on a max contract, had become practically invisible.
"Chen, I know who you are."
Jordan suddenly extended his hand to Chen Yu.
Chen Yu had just been wondering when he could ask Jordan for an autograph. Seeing the hand extended to him, he froze for a second before quickly reaching out to shake it.
He wasn’t overly excited.
If he had to pick an idol in the sports world, influenced by his football-playing father, Chen Yu would have named legendary NFL running back Jim Brown.
The Nicks’ star player, Alan Houston, also walked over to embrace and chat with Hill, his former partner from their "twin star" days in Detroit.
Jordan asked, "Chen, can Grant really play in a game?"
He happened to be in New York to discuss the details of acquiring shares in the Wizards with Stern. It was only after seeing media reports that he learned of Hill’s comeback and that he had traveled with the team to New York today, which was why he made a special trip to watch the game.
He looked fine, but the crucial thing was that he had only officially returned to practice with the team yesterday.
Chen Yu nodded. "Of course. His body is ready, but..."
Chen Yu trailed off. Jordan raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was wrong.
An idea suddenly struck Chen Yu. Maybe he could get this veteran player, Jordan, to talk to Hill and help him through this. For instance, he could talk about how he managed to score 38 points and win a game while suffering from food poisoning.
After hearing Chen Yu’s explanation, Jordan pursed his lips and said bluntly, "It’s because he’s never really been seriously injured before."
What pro athlete doesn’t get injured?
"Take me. I had a major injury in my second year. Once it healed, I went right back to playing how I always played. He’s already got it much better than I did. He even met a great doctor like you. The Magic’s medical staff is just awful. Like you said, they’re just a bunch of vets." Jordan’s face was full of disdain.
For a while there, thanks to Chen Yu, the "Magic Vets" nickname had become infamous throughout the entire basketball world.
Chen Yu glanced at Jordan.
’Was it really as easy as you make it sound?’
’If I remember correctly, the media reported that after you were diagnosed with a navicular fracture in your left foot, you went home and cried for days.’
’So even the God of Basketball can be fragile when faced with an injury.’
"So?" Chen Yu gave him a questioning look.
Chen Yu still felt that the veteran Jordan was the best person to persuade Hill.
Jordan grinned and clapped Chen Yu on the shoulder. "So, you should be the one to solve this problem. After all, you’re his doctor."
Chen Yu rolled his eyes at Jordan. ’This old rogue.’
But Jordan seemed to be joking, as he then added seriously, "Chen, trust me, you should be the one to talk to him about this. He trusts you enough that he’ll listen to what you have to say."
Watching Hill chat and laugh with Alan Houston, Chen Yu fell into deep thought.
’Maybe I should be more proactive.’
’If Hill won’t bring it up, then I will.’
"By the way, can you give me an autograph?" Chen Yu took out a water bottle he had just bought from the souvenir shop.
’You might not be up for persuading Hill, but an autograph should be fine, right?’
Jordan chuckled, saying smugly, "Chen, I didn’t realize I was your idol. An autograph? No problem."
Chen Yu handed him the water bottle and a pen, retorting drily, "Don’t be so narcissistic. It’s for my girlfriend."
"Chen, you’ve wounded me." Jordan clutched his heart.
Then, as Chen Yu requested, he wrote in a flamboyant script, "For Lexi Jones."
At 7:30 PM, the game officially began.
「In the NBC studio.」
The camera frequently cut to Grant Hill sitting on the sidelines.
Kevin Johnson said, "Although Hill looks perfectly fine, he probably won’t be playing tonight."
He was probably just there to soak in the game atmosphere ahead of time and get a feel for things.
Hanna nodded in agreement. "But fans watching at home shouldn’t be too disappointed. Given Hill’s current recovery progress, you’ll all be seeing that man who runs like the wind back on the court very soon."
Johnson was suddenly reminded of the fear he felt back when he matched up against the Pistons. He recalled Hill approaching with the ball at the high post, then blowing past him with a single change of direction for a thunderous dunk.
"Hill has returned to the team healthy thanks to Chen’s treatment. While we don’t know what kind of shape he’s in, it’s enough to prove Chen’s medical skills are superb. Anfernee is also being treated by Chen and has been for nearly a month now. The Phoenix Suns management previously stated they would re-evaluate Anfernee’s knee injury after a month, so hopefully, there will be good news."
Having come from the Suns, Johnson was still very concerned about their situation. He knew that if the Phoenix Suns wanted to go far in the playoffs, they couldn’t do it without Hardaway.
As the two commentators chatted, the game took a strange turn and became completely one-sided.
The Nicks’ basket seemed to have a lid on it. No matter who was shooting, even the textbook shooter Alan Houston, they were all just clanking iron.
Halfway through the first quarter, the Magic had shockingly gone on a 15-0 run against the Nicks.
Kevin Johnson was stunned. "I know the Magic’s defense has been tough lately, but I didn’t think they were *this* good."
It was no secret that after Pleasance took over as coach, he had been running the team through insane conditioning drills.
Many in the media had even mocked Pleasance, saying he wasn’t head coach material and only knew how to run his players into the ground. Who in their right mind runs intense conditioning drills mid-season? Did he not care if his players got injured?
And more importantly, the Nicks were second in the East, while the Magic were still struggling in the lottery zone.
Hanna frowned. "The Nicks are on the second night of a back-to-back, but their performance is still way too poor."
It was understandable for the Nicks to be sluggish after playing the Celtics on the road yesterday, but to go scoreless for half a quarter was still mind-boggling.
The New York fans weren’t about to tolerate that, and a roar of boos filled the arena.
Jeff Van Gundy wiped his bald head, his forehead covered in sweat, and quickly called a timeout.
After the timeout, the cornrowed "Madman," Latrell Sprewell, finally found his touch and hit a mid-range jumper.
But afterward, the Nicks still couldn’t find their rhythm.
At the end of the first quarter, they had only scored 11 points and were trailing the Magic by a full 15 points.
Tracy McGrady was on fire, scoring 12 points by himself—more than the entire Nicks team combined.
In the second quarter, however, Little Van Gundy, the coach who had once led his team to an eighth-seed upset, finally figured out the Magic’s weak spot. He started putting pressure on McGrady, having Sprewell roam the wing to immediately bring help defense and crowd McGrady’s shooting space the moment he got the ball.
This strategy made things very difficult for McGrady, whose offensive arsenal was still limited, and he only managed to score 7 points in the second quarter.
And that was only because the illegal defense rule was still in effect; otherwise, McGrady’s performance would have been even worse.
For the Magic, McGrady was their barometer. If he had a bad game, there was no one else who could step up and score.
Just like the Nicks in the first quarter, the Magic completely collapsed.
For the entire quarter, the Magic scored only 15 points.
Meanwhile, the Nicks not only shut down the Magic but also found their familiar pass-and-cut offense. Alan Houston went off, hitting all three of his three-point attempts and exploding for 15 points in the quarter.
Just like McGrady in the first quarter, he single-handedly matched the Magic’s entire team score.
Scoring 35 points in the quarter, the Nicks completed the comeback in just one period of play.
The entire Madison Square Garden Arena erupted.
In stark contrast were the members of the Magic, who looked utterly devastated.
Hill clenched his fists tightly, his brows furrowed in a deep frown.
Just then, Chen Yu, who was sitting behind him, suddenly leaned forward. "What’s wrong? Does it hurt to watch? Then get on the court. Go fight like a warrior and win this for your team."
For some reason, Chen Yu’s thoughts drifted to McCardel, that guy who didn’t care about his knee injury and was desperate to get back on the field and fight.
