Sports Medicine Master System

"Chen, thank you. We’re heading out now. We’ll be back again on the 17th of next month."

Just after noon, Popovich hurried all his players onto the bus to catch their flight, smiling as he said goodbye to Chen Yu.

He even set a date for next month.

On the 15th of next month, they would finish a three-game road trip and wouldn’t have another game until the 18th. That left a perfect three-day window to come to Phoenix for physical maintenance.

Chen Yu could only nod, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Popovich ignored Brian’s murderous glare, gave a final wave, and coolly boarded the bus.

’He really lives up to his reputation as the league’s top miracle doctor. The results are incredible.’

’This morning, they were all frighteningly lethargic, but now they’re all full of life.’

’No wonder the Suns’ bunch of veterans didn’t get injured for the past two seasons and were able to maintain their form for the entire year.’

’With a team doctor like this, it would be a crime against Chen Yu’s efforts if the Suns didn’t win a championship.’

Popovich was in an excellent mood. If this worked during the regular season, why couldn’t it work in the playoffs?

"Shameless!"

Watching the bus disappear into the distance, Brian couldn’t hold it in any longer and cursed aloud.

Even though Chen Yu had left the Suns, in Brian’s heart, Chen Yu was still a Suns man—forever their exclusive team doctor.

Now, he had become a shared resource.

"Chen, this can’t go on. Believe me, every team in the league is going to follow suit. You’ll be swamped. We’re friends, and I can’t just stand by and watch you work yourself to death."

With Popovich setting the precedent, Brian feared that every visiting team that came to Phoenix would now schedule physical maintenance for their players.

So whose team doctor was Chen Yu then?

"They even mooched a meal from your clinic!" Brian added, fuming.

The Spurs had eaten lunch at the clinic.

"Alright, that’s enough. You got nothing better to do? Go do whatever you need to do and stop distracting me from my work."

Chen Yu couldn’t be bothered with him.

’They mooched a meal, so what? It’s not like I don’t feed you guys.’

Brian’s face was taut. He stomped his foot hard. ’Build it. We’ll start building the training facility tomorrow.’

His words proved to be a prophecy.

「On the 30th, the Suns faced the Cavaliers.」

The day after the game, just as predicted, the Cavaliers didn’t return to Cleveland. Instead, they showed up right on time at Chen Yu’s clinic.

"Chen, we’ll be troubling you."

Paul Silas said with a broad smile.

What could Chen Yu say to a veteran coach who was nearly sixty years old?

"Paul, I just want to know, was it Greg who told you to do this?" Chen Yu asked.

Reporters have their sources, but the thing with the Spurs had happened just the day before yesterday and hadn’t been in any papers. How could Paul Silas have known?

There was only one explanation: Popovich had leaked it on purpose.

Paul Silas blinked. "Chen, could I say it wasn’t him?"

Chen Yu cursed inwardly, ’That old fox.’

But they were already here, so what could Chen Yu complain about?

Besides, providing corresponding medical services was part of his consulting firm’s original plan.

Chen Yu had long considered the league’s many teams his private reserve, and he had planned to connect with them one by one eventually.

This was, at most, just moving up the timeline.

’But the workload has clearly increased. I’ll have to raise my prices when it’s time to bill them.’

「In the treatment room.」

James was the first to come forward, humbly greeting Chen Yu.

"You’ve been playing outstandingly."

Chen Yu patted James on the shoulder in praise.

It was no empty compliment.

The young man’s career debut hadn’t disappointed the league’s expectations, as he exploded for 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists.

That debut stat line already put him in the top ten on the all-time list for points in an NBA debut.

Among active players, he ranked fourth, tied with Hill at 25 points, behind Iverson and Odom, who both scored 30.

And it wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

In yesterday’s game against the Suns, he put up a near triple-double with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Without a doubt, the young man had a limitless future ahead of him.

"Thank you. I’ll keep working hard."

James thanked him with a grin, the picture of humility.

But Chen Yu noticed Ricky Davis, not far away, let out an audible snort, a look of undisguised disdain on his face.

Chen Yu saw it all but wasn’t surprised.

Ricky Davis was the current top dog on the Cavaliers. With James playing so well and being groomed by the team as its new core, his position was clearly threatened.

In comparison, the locker room atmosphere on the Suns was actually pretty good.

Hardaway and O’Neal’s personalities were quite compatible. As long as those two didn’t have problems, the locker room wouldn’t have any major issues.

The Cavaliers definitely wouldn’t be the last team to follow suit.

Chen Yu also discovered another downside to all this: every team that came to play in Phoenix now started shamelessly cranking up their defensive intensity and running their starters into the ground.

「In their third game of the regular season, the Suns hosted the Lakers.」

Kobe played the entire game, and even Yao Ming, whose stamina had always been a major issue, played for 44 minutes.

It got to the point where Yang Jian, the host for the China Sports Channel’s live broadcast, couldn’t help but complain that Jackson was overusing Yao Ming.

Even if he was young, you couldn’t wear him out like that.

At least O’Neal got to come off the court and rest, playing just over thirty minutes.

But Yao Ming? He barely rested the entire game, battling O’Neal, then Sabonis, and even having to deal with Ma Long on the side.

Su Jun, however, smiled knowingly and said, "I think Phil Jackson is doing this because he’s planning on getting some physical therapy from Chen Yu after the game."

"Physical therapy? What do you mean?" Zhang Weiping, who was next to him, asked, stunned.

Su Jun laughed and explained, "I just got the latest news from the United States last night. A reporter broke a story that after their away games, both the Spurs and the Cavaliers went to Chen Yu’s clinic the next day for physical therapy and massage to recover from the game’s exertion."

"You guys should know, Chen Yu’s physical therapy and massages are incredible. The media over in the United States reported a while back that the reason Chen Yu is no longer the Suns’ team doctor is because the NBA officially considered his methods of keeping the Suns’ players in game-ready condition a form of cheating."

"Think about it. Didn’t the Spurs do the same thing as the Lakers, playing Duncan for the whole game? It’s because they knew they could get treatment from Chen Yu afterward to recover from the high-intensity play. That’s why the Lakers dared to play their starters for so long."

"After all, out of all the teams in the league, the Suns have the best bench. No one can beat the Suns when it comes to a battle of the benches."

"If it weren’t for that, the Suns wouldn’t have won by only 6 points."

The current skill gap between the Lakers and the Suns was still quite large; it was only by running their starters into the ground that they managed to lose by just 6 points.

The other two understood, their faces filled with disbelief.

"You can do that? Then from now on, any team playing an away game against the Suns can go all out without worrying about the consequences. That can’t be a good thing for the Suns," Zhang Weiping said in surprise.

Su Jun nodded. "That’s exactly right. That’s why it’s probably going to be difficult for the Suns to get a three-peat this season."

Opponents were treating every game like it was the playoffs. The wear and tear would be significant.

After a pause, he added with emotion, "But then again, the Spurs fought that hard and still lost to the Suns. The Suns’ strength is truly absurd."

In the season opener, the Spurs played like it was the Finals. Duncan gave it his all, and they still lost. It just goes to show how strong the Suns really are.

Yang Jian understood as well, but after thinking about the schedule, he said, "But the Lakers are on a back-to-back. They have to go back home to play the Warriors tomorrow. Don’t they have to fly back overnight? How would they find time to get treatment from Chen Yu?"

Su Jun shook his head. "Who knows? But they must have arranged something, or the Lakers wouldn’t have played like that."

Both teams were in the Pacific Division, and with only a few matchups during the season, this game could very well affect the final standings. For the Lakers, it was really necessary to go all out.

Chen Yu didn’t even go to the game; he watched it on TV at home.

As soon as the game ended, his phone rang. It was Jackson.

"Phil, I was about to go to sleep. No, I was already asleep," Chen Yu grumbled, exasperated.

Jackson had tactfully suggested that he either come to the clinic or go to their hotel to help with treatments.

The key thing was, the game started at eight and didn’t end until eleven.

"Then tomorrow, Chen, can you get to the clinic a little earlier? That way, we can still catch the noon flight back to Los Angeles," Jackson said hurriedly.

It was a one-and-a-half-hour flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles. They could go straight from the airport to the game; there was enough time.

"Fine."

Chen Yu hung up, feeling helpless.

What could he do? He was still under contract as a consultant for the Lakers.

Chen Yu couldn’t stop himself from wanting to curse out Popovich again. ’You just had to be the smart one, didn’t you?’

’Half the away games in the league...’

The next day, Chen Yu suddenly received a call from Doug Rivers.

He was calling specifically to thank Chen Yu.

The Trail Blazers’ rebuild had already begun, and compared to replacing players, changing coaches was a bit easier.

When the Trail Blazers made him an offer, Rivers didn’t hesitate to resign from his assistant coach position with the Mavericks and head to Portland.

He wasn’t content with just being a minor assistant coach.

After learning that it was Chen Yu who had recommended him, a conflicted Rivers made the call to express both his gratitude and his apologies.

He also said he regretted not fully trusting Chen Yu back when he was with the Magic.

Chen Yu hadn’t started out as the Suns’ team doctor; he had originally gotten his start in Orlando.

If he had kept Chen Yu in Orlando back then, he might have become a championship-winning coach long ago.

The Suns’ "setting sun" team-building strategy was entirely dependent on Chen Yu. Whoever had Chen Yu could pull off the same thing.

Chen Yu exchanged a few pleasantries and then hung up the phone.

’Looks like I need to start preparing for business with the Trail Blazers, too.’

Conveniently, the preliminary work with the Lakers was finished, so he could move his team over to Portland.

Recruiting Rivers was only the first step of the rebuild.

「Soon, on November 10th, the Trail Blazers completed their first trade with the Cavaliers.」

They sent away the locker room cancer Jeff McInnis, packaging him with a 2001 second-round pick, Nigerian center Ruben Boumtje, to get 2000’s third overall pick, Darius Miles, from the Cavaliers.

Tall and athletic, he was known as "KG II."

However, the Trail Blazers still got the short end of the stick in this trade.

If you ignored all the locker room drama, Jeff McInnis had averaged 15 points and 6 assists two seasons ago with the Clippers, giving him considerable trade value.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

「Soon after, on November 22nd, a trade occurred that the media dubbed a potential game-changer for the Eastern Conference.」

The Trail Blazers sent Rashid Wallace to the Pistons.

To match salaries, the Pistons sent over four players in one go—Milicic, O’Ku, Bob Sura, and Serk Rebrasha—and also threw in their ’04 and ’06 first-round picks.

A one-for-six trade.