Hardaway turned and ran, the lights overhead shining brightly, his ears filled with the cheers from the stands.

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ear: "Do you think you guys have a shot at the championship this season?"

Hardaway whipped his head around to look.

No one.

He was surprised to find that he seemed to be all alone. His teammates were gone, the fans were gone. He was the only person on the empty court.

Thinking back to the question, it seemed like a reporter had asked him that before.

Just then, the sound of a basketball dribbling on the floor, THUMP, THUMP, came from ahead.

Hardaway followed the sound and saw a child under the backboard ahead, his back to him, dribbling a basketball and then struggling to take a shot.

Hardaway froze, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with the child.

He subconsciously wanted to go forward and see who the child was when another voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"How would I know." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He whipped his head around. It was Chen Yu, standing beside him with his hands in his pockets, gazing ahead. "But if I had to compare him to you, I feel like you’re missing a bit of that competitive fire, that edge. I remember when you first entered the league, your name was all over the papers—how many points you scored, that you won Rookie of the Month, how amazing you were."

"You were full of youthful vigor back then, but these past few years, worn down by injuries, it seems like that edge has been ground away. I remember when you were about to have surgery last year, you were actually scared. It’s incredible to think about now."

"But he’s different. He’s 39 years old. It’s hard to imagine how he has the guts to make a comeback at this age. Just that confidence alone is something I think very few people possess."

As he spoke, Chen Yu turned his head. "I’m just spitballing, don’t take it to heart. By the way, why the sudden question? Didn’t you play pretty well in the game the day before yesterday?"

Hardaway stared blankly at Chen Yu. He remembered now. This must have been at the beginning of last season. Jordan was doing his recovery training at Chen Yu’s clinic, and after the first preseason game, Hardaway had come to the clinic for a check-up. When he found Chen Yu, he was watching Jordan train.

He had watched from the sidelines for a while, and then, for some reason, he had suddenly asked Chen Yu a question: what was the difference between him and Jordan.

’After all, I was the one Jordan designated as his successor.’

That was how Chen Yu had answered him back then.

’An edge?’

After a long season, Hardaway had almost forgotten about it.

When he looked up again, Hardaway found that Chen Yu had vanished.

Around him, massive cheers had erupted again at some point.

Many voices were calling out his nickname.

Penny, Penny...

Someone was also shouting his name from behind. Hardaway whipped his head around. It was Jordan, holding the All-Star Game MVP trophy out to him.

Hardaway instinctively took the trophy and was then embraced by Jordan.

"Stop always trying to be me. You are you." Jordan’s voice sounded in his ear.

Hardaway frowned. He subconsciously looked up, wanting to ask Jordan why he said that, when a loud shout suddenly erupted in his ear.

"Guard him!"

Hardaway jolted, and the thunderous, tsunami-like cheers roared in his ears once more.

In front of him, Finley drove with the ball, bumped into him, and tried to slip past.

Almost as a reflex, Hardaway reached out and poked at the ball.

He got it!

The basketball rolled away. Hardaway didn’t have time to think about what had just happened; his whole body was already lunging forward.

He scooped up the basketball. There was nothing but open court in front of him.

He could hear rapid panting from behind him.

But Hardaway ran faster and faster. To his left, Nash was already closing in.

He gathered the ball, took a sharp step to the left to shake Nash, and leaped into the air, slamming the ball into the hoop with his left hand.

The entire arena erupted in an instant, the massive cheers threatening to blow the roof off.

Hardaway landed, still a bit dazed.

He blankly raised his head and scanned the crowd. On the bench, everyone was cheering excitedly.

Amidst the sea of moving heads, Hardaway locked onto a single figure.

It was Chen Yu, who was on his feet, applauding for him.

’An edge?’

Hardaway’s furrowed brow relaxed, and he ran off quickly.

「On the sidelines.」

Chen Yu sat back down. Beside him, Nelson said, "Anfernee’s in the zone."

In that one sequence, he scored 5 straight points plus a steal, single-handedly helping the Phoenix Suns catch up.

Chen Yu just smiled and didn’t reply.

But in Chen Yu’s opinion, this was exactly how Hardaway should be playing. He needed to score more.

The Phoenix Suns had J Kidd now, so Hardaway didn’t really need to worry about playmaking. His responsibility was to score.

Having scored 5 straight points, Hardaway showed no signs of letting up. In fact, he became even more aggressive.

As soon as he crossed half-court, he actively called for the ball.

He wanted to attack with the ball in his hands.

He dribbled the ball with a high-frequency, rhythmic bounce, then suddenly accelerated. With a simple crossover, he blew past Finley and drove straight to the basket.

The paint was a bit crowded.

In this game, the Mavericks’ defensive strategy was similar to the last one: collapse the defense to stop the Phoenix Suns’ penetration.

Lafrentz was already waiting, ready to send Hardaway’s shot packing with a huge block.

Nowitzki also moved closer to the key, boxing out Olajuwon to prevent Hardaway from dishing it to him at the last second.

But Hardaway had no intention of passing. As he neared the rim, he actually sped up.

Lafrentz’s eyes widened. ’This guy is going for a dunk.’

’Is he crazy?!’

’The paint is packed with people.’

But it was as if Hardaway didn’t see them. At the last moment, he adjusted his trajectory, found an opening, and jumped without hesitation. He soared over the leaping Lafrentz and, with a roar, slammed the ball into the hoop.

The entire US Airways Center went silent for a split second.

Chen Yu’s eyes widened, watching in disbelief as Hardaway fell to the floor with Lafrentz.

’That was way too reckless. Isn’t he afraid of getting hurt?’

’The key is, he actually made the dunk!’

The next moment, the stands exploded. The arena DJ dragged out his words, exclaiming that it was a spectacular poster dunk.

Olajuwon went up and pulled Hardaway to his feet, excitedly slapping his back. He had a strong feeling that the kid was on another level today. It was like something had set him off and he was on a rampage.

He wasn’t wrong. Hardaway was on a rampage.

In the first quarter, Hardaway did it all—driving, shooting, drawing fouls. He went 5-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, single-handedly racking up a whopping 15 points.

The entire Phoenix Suns team only scored 26 points in the first quarter.

"Take it easy," Chen Yu said, walking up to Hardaway during a timeout. He quickly scanned his body with the Eye of All-Seeing.

No problems.

But he was playing so aggressively, driving into a packed paint without hesitation. It was a surefire way to get injured.

Hardaway grinned. "Don’t worry, I’m fine."

Chen Yu nodded, turned to go back to his seat, but then stopped and glanced at Hardaway again.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Chen Yu felt that Hardaway’s eyes were a little different today.

There was a hint of a killer instinct in them.

After a quick two-minute rest, Hardaway went back on the court.

The Phoenix Suns had many veterans, so logically, they should use a deep rotation to distribute the workload and give the main starters more rest.

But this was the playoffs. If you relaxed, if you didn’t fight, your opponent wouldn’t let you off the hook.

In the last game, Nowitzki played 43 minutes and Finley played 44, nearly the entire game. The Mavericks were down by more than ten points in the third quarter. If it had been the regular season, they might have given up, but this was the playoffs, and the Mavericks showed no signs of quitting.

So for the Phoenix Suns, it was also a seven-man, or at most an eight-man, rotation.

In the last game, J Kidd led the perimeter defense and only rested for 3 minutes. Now, with Hardaway on fire, there was no way Skiles would waste his hot streak.

As soon as Hardaway was on the court, he was met with tight, suffocating defense.

The Mavericks started double-teaming Hardaway.

However, Hardaway showed no signs of backing down. He kept attacking.

He played smart, with a lot of flair, always able to come up with unexpected ways to attack.

As soon as he caught the ball and saw Nahula lunging at him, Hardaway raised his hands in a motion as if preparing to pass to Marion.

Nahula turned reflexively.

But after turning, he realized Hardaway hadn’t passed. He’d been faked out.

And Hardaway had already used the momentum to make his move, rising for a mid-range jumper over Finley’s defense.

His touch was scarily hot today. Finley leaped with all his might, his fingers nearly poking Hardaway in the eye, but the basketball still swished precisely through the net.

"It’s so similar."

Off the court, Nelson murmured softly.

Chen Yu asked curiously, "Similar to what?"

Nelson pointed to the court. "I mean, look at Anfernee play. Doesn’t he look just like Jordan?"

Back in the day, Jordan was just like this. The moment he caught the ball, he’d be double-teamed. When he drove to the basket, he’d be swarmed from the front and back; three or four guys would converge on him.

But Jordan would still attack, still score. It was just unreasonable.

And today, Hardaway was somehow exuding that same aura.

He was even more fluid than Jordan, because Hardaway had so many deceptive little moves. He could always fool the defenders and get a chance to shoot.

Chen Yu looked up.

Hardaway was double-teamed again. He faked a shot, passed the ball to Olajuwon, and then quickly slipped between the two defenders, cutting to the basket.

Olajuwon’s return pass was perfect. Hardaway leaped into the air and finished with a one-handed slam dunk.

"I don’t know if he looks like him or not, but I have a feeling he’s going for a high score today. By the way, what’s his personal scoring record?" ’15 points in the first quarter, and now it looks like he’s heading for another ten-plus in the second.’

’Twenty, almost thirty points by halftime. It feels like forty for the whole game would be selling him short.’

Nelson thought for a moment and said, "I remember it’s 42 points. I think that’s also his playoff high, from that series in the ’96-’97 season where he averaged 31 points per game."

Chen Yu didn’t ask any more questions. Watching Hardaway run on the court, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion.

’Who would have thought that just a year ago, this guy was at his wit’s end and thinking about retiring?’

In the second quarter, despite the Mavericks’ suffocating defense, Hardaway still contributed 12 points.

points at the half.

Old Nelson was not feeling good at all.

Before the game, because of Ewing’s suspension, Old Nelson really thought this game was in the bag.

Of course, Old Nelson had considered Hardaway.

But Hardaway had never been a player with explosive scoring ability like Iverson. He came up as a point guard and preferred to pass.

An average of 25 points per game was probably his limit.

But who would have thought that Hardaway would explode for 27 points in just one half?

Old Nelson glanced up at the scoreboard.

to 50.

The Mavericks were trailing by 7 points again.

’We should be the ones in the lead.’