"Shaq played very well. He had 32 points and 13 rebounds. He was unstoppable under the basket—"

Jackson, who had been answering the question instinctively, suddenly caught himself and shut his mouth. After a slight pause, he continued, "Of course, Kobe’s performance was just as outstanding. His offense was still excellent, scoring 21 points. He’s also our core perimeter defender and a huge help to the team."

After speaking, Jackson nodded to himself. ’Right, I can’t just praise O’Neal. At such a sensitive time, things will only get more difficult if I don’t say something good about Kobe.’

He couldn’t help but think back to the post-game locker room.

After losing the game, Kobe, his face taut, headed straight back to the locker room.

He even ignored the young fans on both sides of the players’ tunnel who were reaching out for his autograph. Normally, especially with young fans like that, Kobe would have definitely stopped to grant their wish.

This just went to show how angry Kobe was.

And when everyone had returned to the locker room, Jackson discovered that the atmosphere inside was as silent as a tomb. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

No one spoke, each person quietly busying themselves with their own things.

What alarmed Jackson even more was that even O’Neal—who was usually so carefree that he could laugh and discuss where to party after a loss—was sitting there with a dark expression, not saying a word.

Jackson’s head was starting to ache. ’Kobe being angry is understandable, but what in the world are *you* so mad about?’

’You usually don’t seem to care this much about winning or losing.’

Jackson could guess with his big toe why O’Neal was angry. He was surely mad that Kobe was mindlessly playing one-on-one and not passing him the ball, believing that if Kobe had just fed him the ball, they wouldn’t have lost this game.

Of course, O’Neal’s focus wasn’t on this one loss, but on the fact that Kobe was no longer willing to dutifully pass him the ball.

Jackson had always felt that this was the core issue behind the growing rift between O’Neal and Kobe.

O’Neal, who saw himself as the team’s number one and its core, couldn’t tolerate Kobe challenging his position.

At that moment, Jackson felt his world crumbling. ’Using a few tricks to win is normal, but you can’t just go and deliberately stir up internal conflict and tear a team apart.’

All he could say was that the Phoenix Suns’ move was a dirty trick of the highest order—a real low blow.

A stir went through the reporters below the stage.

’Offense still excellent? Core perimeter defender? Are you sure you’re not just spouting nonsense with your eyes wide open?’

’Scoring 21 points is true, but could you please look at his shooting percentage? With a field goal percentage under thirty percent, how can you have the nerve to praise his offense as excellent?’

’If Kobe had just taken a few fewer shots, O’Neal definitely would have scored more than 32 points. The Phoenix Suns eased up on the double-team this game; if he had gotten the ball, O’Neal would have scored 40 points, minimum.’

’And what’s this about being the core perimeter defender? If Kobe is the core perimeter defender, then what about Hardaway’s 13 points in a single quarter and 35 for the game? I guess that had nothing to do with you, Kobe, right?’

Jackson snapped back to reality and couldn’t help but blush when he saw the looks of utter disbelief on the reporters’ faces.

’So what if I praised him? What are you going to do about it?’

’Just tell me, how many players in the league can still put up 20-plus points when they’re shooting this badly?’

Meanwhile, Chen Yu, having finished his post-game duties, was saying his goodbyes.

"Alright, you don’t have to be like this. Who knows, I might even be back in time to see you guys win the championship," Chen Yu said, trying to console them when he saw how reluctant they were to see him go.

According to the schedule, the United States Team’s last group stage match was against Italy on June 13th.

At this rate, if the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals went on for a few more games, the Finals might not even be over by then.

As for the subsequent knockout stage, that wasn’t even on Chen Yu’s radar. ’With the United States Team’s current level of play, they can actually make it out of the group stage?’

The others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

"That’s true. Our National Team is pretty terrible," Nelson chimed in with a nod.

The others remained silent. ’It’s not just that they’re terrible; they’re so terrible we don’t even know *how* terrible they are.’

"I’m off," Chen Yu said with a final wave, signaling that they could all leave.

Chen Yu didn’t mention the outcome of the upcoming games, nor was there any need to. He knew that making it to the Western Conference Finals this year was already a great achievement. After all, at the beginning of the season, Brian’s only hope was to make the playoffs, not to fight all the way to the conference finals.

The next day, Chen Yu and Lexi, looking like a couple on vacation, boarded a plane to Washington with their luggage.

Long before the playoffs began, the United States Team had been scheduled to head to Japan on the 24th.

Chen Yu had waited for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, which made him a day late. So, the plan had been for him to fly directly to Japan and meet up with the United States Team there.

But now the plan had been changed at the last minute. He was to fly to Washington first and join the United States Team before they left.

This was because the President, for some unknown reason, had suddenly decided to take time to meet with the National Team before their departure.

This caused a two-day delay.

Chen Yu didn’t know what Contiguglia thought about this, but Chen Yu himself really wanted to complain.

’If you wanted a meeting, you should have said so earlier.’

And it was incredibly rushed. Chen Yu was arriving in Washington at 11:40 AM and wouldn’t have time to rest. He had to head straight to the White House because the meeting was scheduled for 1:00 PM.

’See? They’re not even providing lunch.’

What’s more, Lexi wasn’t on the list for the meeting and had to wait at the airport, because everyone had to depart immediately after it was over.

The whole process could only be described as a major hassle.

Still, this was Chen Yu’s first time inside the White House.

After a tedious security check, Chen Yu was led by a staff member into a reception room.

In the spacious reception room, Contiguglia and the entire National Team had already arrived.

Everyone was dressed formally in suits and leather shoes.

However, it looked like they had been waiting for a while. Many of the players were lounging about, lacking energy.

Chen Yu greeted everyone one by one. It had been a while since he’d seen them. Because of the playoffs, Chen Yu hadn’t been with the team for the final phase of exhibition games.

And once he sat down, Contiguglia and Head Coach Alina ended up talking most about the Western Conference Finals.

"Chen, honestly, I feel like you guys can win the championship this year," said team leader August Martin, pursing his lips with a serious expression.

Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively. ’Yeah, right,’ he thought. ’Go ask Skiles and see if he’s that confident.’

Even though they won Game 3, just listen to what Skiles said at the post-game press conference. He was still worried sick, constantly talking about how powerful the Lakers were.

Just then, Alina spoke up again. "Chen, you’re an NBA insider. Have you heard anything from the league? Who do they want to win?"

Chen Yu understood. He knew what Alina was getting at.

Controlling the game.

After all, the NBA is a commercial league where making money is the top priority.

Los Angeles is a huge market, not to mention the Lakers have a shot at a three-peat this year, the hope of cementing a glorious dynasty.

"I don’t think so," Chen Yu said, shaking his head.

"When it comes to controlling a game, the most direct indicator is the free throws. But through the first three games, the refereeing has felt pretty normal. There were occasional bad calls, but they were the kind that would be balanced out on the spot. Anyway, watching the three games, I haven’t felt any obvious bias in the officiating."

"Besides, like you said, if the league wanted to create a narrative and give the Lakers a three-peat, they could do the same for us. We have Ewing. Letting the ’uncrowned king’ win a championship at the end of his career would be a pretty good storyline too."

Not to mention, they could also promote Hardaway.

He was, after all, widely considered Jordan’s successor. His career was derailed by injuries, and he’s always lacked major accolades. Now that he’s back and healthy, it would be perfectly normal for Stern to give him a push.

You could tell just by looking at jersey and shoe sales.

This season, Hardaway’s jersey sales were still in the top three in the league.

And that’s not even mentioning his shoes.

For some reason, Hill had signed with Fila, but Hardaway signed with Nike. His shoes had always sold well, and after his comeback this year, sales had really surged.

From that perspective, Hardaway also had enormous commercial value.

Alina nodded and added, "Chen, I hope the Phoenix Suns win the championship. Because of you, I’m a Suns fan now."

Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he thanked him.

They chatted for a while longer. Nearly twenty minutes later than scheduled, the President finally sauntered in.

Chen Yu stood up, positioned himself at the back of the crowd, and politely kept a smile on his face.

"Chen, I know you."

Unexpectedly, as the President made his way down the line shaking hands, his eyes lit up when he saw Chen Yu. He walked over, grasped Chen Yu’s hand, and said with some surprise, "You’re the famous Miracle Doctor, known across the United States. And you’ve healed so many superstars! You know, I’m a huge sports fan, and it truly pains me to see those stars tormented by injuries."

Chen Yu looked at the President awkwardly, not at all expecting such enthusiasm. He also felt a strange sense of guilt. ’When it came time to vote, I definitely didn’t vote for him.’

"By the way, you’re the top orthopedic surgeon in the United States, and a medical consultant for NASA. I wanted to ask you, I’ve been having problems with my knee. Can you do anything about it?" the President asked, patting his right leg with a frown.

Apparently, he had looked into Chen Yu and even knew he was a medical consultant for NASA.

Chen Yu instinctively glanced at his right knee.

’Logically, the President has an entire medical team, and a top-tier one at that. There shouldn’t be any issues, right?’

But one look was all it took for Chen Yu to understand.

’It’s just runner’s knee.’

Chen Yu then recalled that this man’s biggest hobby was running.

And the articular cartilage of the patella was quite worn down.

Running causes excessive flexion and extension of the knee joint, which in turn leads to excessive movement of the patella. Combined with chronic inflammation, the constant friction easily causes cartilage wear.

Once the cartilage is worn away, it’s bone grinding against bone, causing constant pain.

"Mr. President, your knee pain is caused by runner’s knee, isn’t it," Chen Yu stated.

The President was taken aback and asked in surprise how Chen Yu knew.

Chen Yu had already prepared his explanation. He claimed that he could tell from the President’s gait when he walked in, and knowing his hobby was running, it was natural to guess that he had runner’s knee.

"You can diagnose a problem just from someone’s gait? Incredible," the President said, his face a mask of shock. ’No wonder so many world-class athletes seek treatment from you.’

"Can it be completely cured? I mean, to the point where my knee is perfectly healthy and I can run again without worry." Not being able to run was practically killing him.

Chen Yu nodded. "Of course."

For runner’s knee, if the goal was simply to relieve the pain, that would be easy. The slew of medical experts at the White House could surely do that.

But what was difficult was what he asked for: a complete recovery, to the point where he could resume running. That was hard.

Cartilage wear is almost irreversible.

Even with cartilage reconstruction, it’s very difficult under normal circumstances to return to a completely healthy state.

As long as there was still a problem with the cartilage, running with abandon would be impossible.

However, for Chen Yu, these weren’t problems at all.

Compared to Batty’s, this cartilage damage was just a drop in the bucket.