The Best Point Guard

Anyone with eyes who watched the Knicks’ game against the Miami Heat could see it clearly: Randolph’s skill was not an issue, and his attitude was even less of one.

He had clearly put on an act for Portland, and for the entire league as well.

LeBron James watched Randolph’s performance against the Heat and fell silent.

He was speechless for a long, long time, a heavy feeling weighing on his chest.

Finally, he called his General Manager. "Why didn’t we trade for Randolph? Don’t you know how well his style of play complements mine? He’s practically a partner tailor-made for me by God. When his trade value was so low, we could have easily snagged a bargain, but you missed it."

"I want to win! I desperately want to win. But you know as well as I do, if the King is always leading the charge alone with no reliable help, how is this kingdom supposed to surge to the top?"

James’s accusation was so intense.

And so full of resentment.

It was a tale to break the listener’s heart, to make them shed a tear.

Our poor Little King is working so hard, being both a mother and a father to the team. Cleveland, get your act together! Don’t waste our Little King’s youth.

But the Cavaliers’ General Manager had it tough, too. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered taking a gamble on Randolph.

But Mike Brown said he wasn’t optimistic about Randolph. James gave no answer, but the people in his circle told the GM that James didn’t want to play with Randolph.

That was the real reason the Cavaliers withdrew their offer.

So it turns out the people around you were the villains, and you were just kept in the dark.

Then Randolph has his breakout with the Knicks, and suddenly you’re piping up.

Why is that?

Isn’t that a little unfair to us?

But he couldn’t complain. He could only continue to promise that he would definitely seek a trade to find James the teammates he wanted.

...

The Knicks returned to their home court, Madison Square Garden Arena, which was packed to the rafters with spectators.

They cheered for Randolph’s arrival. Randolph received a special welcoming ceremony; at the start of the game, over twenty thousand people chanted his name in unison: "Zach! Zach! Zach!"

This made Randolph ecstatic. He said emotionally, "Truly worthy of being called the Mecca of Basketball."

The big fella was surprisingly easy to move.

He said he was like a girl who’d been toyed with for years and had suddenly found true love.

His voice choked up as he spoke.

Su Xi, however, was thinking of something else. ’Isn’t this just like what my grandpa used to tell me about? A reformed prostitute taking advantage of an honest man.’

Nevertheless, Randolph’s performance in this game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was absolutely spectacular.

He went head-to-head with Kevin Garnett, known as the toughest player in the NBA, and the battle was nothing short of ferocious.

Even Garnett didn’t expect Randolph to be so formidable. Randolph got right up on him from the start, his body BANGING into him, forcing him to keep backing up. He couldn’t help but retreat. Garnett was known for his strong help defense, but against a beast like this who just went all-out in his face, he was powerless.

Randolph squeezed past him to get his shot off. The guy wasn’t particularly tall, but his arms were incredibly long. He played in a way that left Garnett with little ability to defend.

On the offensive end, at least, Garnett completely collapsed.

What made things worse for Garnett was that Randolph’s defense also clicked in the second half.

Randolph didn’t fall for his fakes at all. He just stuck to him, pressing against his base, like a newborn piglet, eyes still shut, instinctively rooting for its mother’s teat.

Garnett was squeezed by this big mountain boar until he had no room to breathe, clanking one shot after another.

The main issue was that the Timberwolves had completely fallen off. Last season, they could still go toe-to-toe with Su Xi for a bit. The season before that, they were even first in the West.

But now, it was another case of the monkeys scattering when the tree falls, leaving Garnett all alone to defend a deserted city.

Garnett’s fans could once again boast about him carrying the team on his broad shoulders, his unparalleled loyalty, being both a father and a mother to the team.

But on second thought, hadn’t the Timberwolves ended up in this situation precisely because of his two massive, nine-figure contracts?

Marbury left because they couldn’t agree on a contract.

The up-and-coming young Timberwolves squad was gone, and he was branded with the "Lone Wolf" moniker.

Now, "Madman" Spreeville was also gone, and his famous "got a family to feed" quote had become a joke. But the question was: Spreeville helped the Timberwolves reach first in the West. Was asking for a retirement contract averaging ten million a year really that high?

It wasn’t!

So why couldn’t the Timberwolves afford it?

Because of Garnett.

No wonder Garnett would later tell James: "Loyalty is gonna hurt you."

Their modus operandi wasn’t all that different.

If you’re really that good, you do what Su Xi did: take a garbage team and drag it to a winning record by sheer force of will.

Garnett was playing both mom and dad, and in the fourth quarter, he even took a nasty elbow from Randolph that left his mouth full of blood.

He didn’t even go looking for trouble with Randolph, because Randolph was standing nearby, pounding the fat on his own body and roaring.

Given Randolph’s fearsome reputation, the Wolf King just swallowed the mouthful of blood and moved on.

The Timberwolves declared garbage time.

Randolph padded his stats on the court, getting up to 41 points before Isaiah Thomas finally subbed him out.

This game was another moment of vindication for Randolph. He said excitedly from the sidelines, "My people! Who understands this feeling? I’ve played basketball my whole life, and I’ve finally found what it feels like to be home here in New York."

"I love the Knicks so much, I love New York so much, I love everything here. I’m willing to give all my energy to the Knicks. I’m willing to follow in the footsteps of Goat Su Xi forever. I’m willing to follow him and win one championship after another for the Knicks."

He held the microphone and roared emotionally to the twenty thousand fans in the arena.

He was genuinely moved.

This guy had always been seen as a villain. Now that everyone liked him and encouraged him so much, he had truly changed from the inside out.

Madison Garden gave him a long, thunderous ovation.

Zach! Zach! Zach!

The sound was loud enough to tear the roof off.

"The NBA really does love a good ’prodigal son returns’ story, huh?"

Eddie Curry said to Su Xi in the players’ tunnel, a little jealous.

"Jack, what if I beat up Isaiah Thomas a couple of times, then you guys pretend you’re going to trade me, and then I have a sudden epiphany, the prodigal son returns, and I get a standing ovation like Zach... What do you think?"

Eddie Curry looked at Su Xi sincerely.

Su Xi waved him over. "Hey, Isaiah. Eddie has some fists for you."

Thomas walked over, and Eddie Curry immediately chickened out.

This was the goddamn leader of the Bad Boys Legion.

He waved his hands dismissively. ’Forget it. I’ll just stick to my current rhythm.’

HAHAHAHA.

Laughter erupted from those around them.

The atmosphere on the Knicks was getting better and better.

Everyone was finding their sense of belonging and purpose. This was why, even though the Golden State Warriors offered Nate Robinson a 1.2 million USD contract, he ran back to accept a 900,000 USD contract with the Knicks.

After taxes, the difference wasn’t that much anyway. Plus, there were more opportunities for commercials and business activities with the Knicks. Most importantly, the Knicks had love!

"I freaking love the Knicks, this is my home!"

Randolph was basically "Family Man" now; he said the same thing at the post-game press conference.

It got to the point where "the family" would feel bad if they didn’t vote for him.

Before the weekend even arrived, his All-Star vote count had surpassed Little O’Neal’s. At this rate, making the All-Star starting lineup was a sure thing.

The story sounded almost legendary when it got out. A problem player who everyone wanted to run out of town just a week ago ends up with the Knicks, plays two games, and lands himself a starting spot in the All-Star game.

The Knicks really were a great place for reforming people.

...

After entering 2006, the Knicks’ record didn’t dip at all. Randolph’s addition was like adding wings to a tiger. Their offense and defense began to develop chemistry, and certain tactical plays were also forming efficiently.

With every little change in the team, the predictions for the Knicks’ record also got higher and higher.

Because people discovered that after a 5-game winning streak and a 6-game winning streak, the Knicks’ number one spot in the league was already unshakable.

This meant that Su Xi had made history once again.

He would become the first player in NBA history to lead his team to the best record in the league for three consecutive seasons, and with two completely different teams at that.

...