Su Xi sat in a VIP seat at the American Airlines Center Arena. Although Pat Riley had said on TV that Wade was better than Su Xi, when Wade mentioned getting Su Xi a ticket, Riley immediately arranged for the best seat: front row, near the home team’s bench.

Pat Riley greeted Su Xi warmly. He asked if Su Xi’s concussion was better and also highly praised Su Xi’s performance at the Auburn Hills Palace.

Pat Riley was handsome, his hair always slick and immaculate, his bearing elegant, and his aura exceptional.

Standing together, he and Su Xi truly made for a pleasing sight.

Su Xi exchanged some polite and friendly words with him.

Then, he took his seat to watch the game.

The Heat’s roster was quite good this season. They were currently ranked fifth in the East, with the potential to challenge for the upper half of the conference.

The Heat’s president, Pat Riley, held a very high status in the NBA. His resume was practically perfect.

His legendary journey began in 1981 when he took over the Los Angeles Lakers. He led the Lakers to create the "SHOWTIME" era in the ’80s, claiming the championship throne four times in ’82, ’85, ’87, and ’88. The Lakers of this period played a flashy, advanced style of basketball that their fans still reminisce about today.

Then, after a falling out with Magic Johnson, Pat Riley went to New York. In New York, this offensive-minded coach who had ushered in the Showtime era adapted his approach, quickly building the league’s most terrifying defensive unit at the time: the iron-willed Knicks! Under his leadership, the Knicks became a powerhouse in the East. If it weren’t for Jordan, the Knicks definitely would have won a championship. If Ewing had played a little better in the Finals, if Starks hadn’t lost his cool and shot so poorly from beyond the three-point line, the Knicks would have certainly had a title.

But even so, no one ever questioned Pat Riley’s coaching ability. Because after leaving New York, he once again built Miami into an Eastern powerhouse.

The Heat had experienced a brief downturn since the start of the 21st century.

But now, look at their roster. A group of exceptionally talented young players was rapidly developing.

The Heat had already become one of the league’s most talked-about young teams.

Their starting lineup tonight was: Dwyane Wade, Eddie Jones, Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant.

The Orlando Magic’s starting lineup paled in comparison: Tyronn Lue, Giricek, Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, and De Clerk.

The Magic were at the bottom of the East this season, their intention to tank for a rebuild written all over their faces.

The only thing worth watching for the Magic Team now was whether Tracy McGrady could win the scoring title for a second consecutive year.

Generally speaking, it wouldn’t be too difficult, as this was the entire Magic Team’s sole pursuit.

After the game started, Su Xi and Wang Zhizhi began to chat.

Wang Zhizhi was currently playing for the Heat Team, but he received almost no media coverage back in China. He was a second-round pick in 1999 and entered the league in ’00. Compared to Su Xi and Yao Ming, who had become dazzling, high-potential rising stars, Wang Zhizhi’s situation was more of a struggle.

He was drafted by the Mavericks and worked his way up from the Summer League and the development league to a spot on the bench. After playing for the Mavericks for a year, the Clippers signed him to a three-year, $6 million contract. He played two seasons with the Clippers before they bought out his contract last week. The Heat, in need of an inside player, quickly offered him a minimum salary contract.

Wang Zhizhi was quite happy to meet a fellow countryman who spoke Chinese in a foreign land. He chatted with Su Xi for a while, not about basketball, but about Chinese food.

Su Xi said that when he was a child, he often ate a type of noodle dish from a steamer and asked Wang Zhizhi if he knew what it was. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He described it for a long time before Wang Zhizhi slapped his forehead. "You’re from Guangdong. You couldn’t possibly be talking about changfen, could you?"

Then Wang Zhizhi started telling Su Xi about northern snacks, things like douzhi’er, jianbing guozi, and youtiao.

The more he spoke, the sadder he became, as waves of homesickness washed over him.

This wasn’t a conversation about food; it was clearly a conversation about homesickness.

The game on the court was pretty boring. Miami was blowing out the Magic, who were relying solely on Tracy McGrady for points.

Tracy McGrady probably saw Su Xi. He started shooting like crazy, wanting to set a scoring record in this game.

However, his touch wasn’t very good.

With less than two minutes left in the first quarter, Stan Van Gundy subbed in Wang Zhizhi.

This was Wang Zhizhi’s first chance to play in Miami.

Su Xi didn’t know how good Wang Zhizhi was at basketball, but he stood up to cheer for him.

Wade did Su Xi a favor, passing the ball to Wang Zhizhi on the first play and letting him go one-on-one.

The player defending Wang Zhizhi was the newly subbed-in Drew Gooden.

Wang Zhizhi caught the ball, hesitating slightly. Su Xi stood up by the court and shouted in Chinese, "Wang, attack his left! His lateral movement is terrible."

The moment Su Xi’s voice faded,

Wang Zhizhi suddenly drove to the right... which took Su Xi completely by surprise.

But after just one step, Wang Zhizhi spun back quickly, instantly shaking off Gooden’s defense. He took another step forward and laid the ball into the basket with his right hand.

The play earned a wave of cheers from the American Airlines Center Arena.

’Not bad, Wang.’

Su Xi gave a thumbs-up.

This was the first time he had seen Wang Zhizhi play.

Wang Zhizhi’s coordination was excellent. He could use both hands and his footwork was nimble.

’He’s got some offensive skills.’

A player who could get a second contract in the NBA had to have some real skills.

Afterward, Su Xi noticed Wang Zhizhi’s defensive shortcomings. He really wasn’t great at defense, and his positioning was imprecise.

On one hand, it was because he grew up in the FIBA system; on the other hand, he probably hadn’t put much energy into his defense.

But in the NBA, at least in the 2003 NBA, for an inside player, being strong on offense but weak on defense was a cardinal sin. Defense was the foundation of an inside player’s career. That’s why a guy like Dampier could get a multi-million dollar salary... If you could box out, hold your position, protect the rim, and had a seven-foot frame... you were worth a fortune.