He had a terrible reputation in the league; almost no one liked him. When he won the regular season MVP in 1997, even Hakeem Olajuwon, a superstar who never made enemies, came out and said it was "all thanks to his superb acting and flopping." The famously humble David Robinson also offered up a curse word starting with "B." Barkley, on the other hand, said, "When Malone faces someone weaker than him, he throws an elbow. When he faces someone stronger, he flops."

In 1988, Jordan took an elbow to the face from Malone, curling up in pain on the floor for two or three minutes before the team doctor helped him off the court. After Isaiah Thomas was left off the Dream Team, he took on Stockton one-on-one in a game and dropped 44 points. The next time their teams met, Karl Malone gave the Smiling Assassin an elbow to the face, resulting in 47 stitches. In 1998, because David Robinson cursed at him for winning MVP, he swung his elbow straight across Robinson’s neck. The Admiral nearly died on the spot, going into shock for a full three minutes before he could breathe again. In the second round of the 1999 playoffs, Brian Grant of the Trail Blazers was hit by one of Malone’s cheap-shot elbows, suffering severe damage to his nose and right eye before being carried out of the arena.

It wasn’t just the big names; he didn’t spare the lesser-known players either. In fact, he was even more reckless when roughing up the little guys.

In reality, besides elbows, he also used dirty kicks. In the ’98 playoffs, he landed a flying kick right in Duncan’s face. Marbury and Green also suffered at his hands. When he was in the paint and you drove in for a layup, you were very likely to get a flying kick. There were also knee jabs. Marshall’s ribs were broken by a direct knee from him.

If you were to talk about the enforcers at power forward in the ’80s and ’90s, Oakley was fierce, Mason was tough, and Rodman was clever... but Karl Malone was just plain dirty. The absolute dirtiest. Not only was his playstyle dirty, but he was also a petty man, holding a grudge over the smallest offense. In ’92, when Magic was voted in as an All-Star starter, Malone immediately protested, saying Magic couldn’t return to the court with the virus. Every time Magic tried to make a comeback, Malone was the one who stood up to block it. He even threatened to take the league and the players’ union to court.

So, when Karl Malone was backing Su Xi down with all his might...

Gary Payton couldn’t help but worry for Su Xi. He didn’t know why Malone was suddenly targeting Su Xi like this.

But Su Xi was actually enjoying it.

As Karl Malone shoved backward with force, Su Xi couldn’t stop himself from taking half a step back. He then deliberately provoked Karl Malone, "Did the Mailman not eat today? You weak little piece of trash."

This made Karl Malone even more furious and humiliated. Seething with anger, he abruptly used ninety percent of his strength to shove backward... THUD!

Su Xi truly couldn’t withstand this ferocious impact. He stumbled back a step and a half, his hands even going a little numb. But what made him happy was that his Super Strength talent jumped from 93 directly to 94, just one step away from true Super Strength.

So, just as Karl Malone was about to turn, Su Xi pushed back hard again. "Is that all the strength you’ve got, Miss Mailman?"

Su Xi’s trash talk was like a sharp bayonet, constantly slicing at Malone’s fraying nerves.

Malone’s anger reached its peak. In an instant, he put his entire body’s strength into a vicious slam... THUD!

Su Xi was knocked off his feet, stumbling back a step... But at the same time, his Super Strength instantly rose to 95, officially entering the realm of Super Strength.

Simultaneously, Malone spun viciously, swinging his iron elbow around.

He put everything he had into this swing. If it connected, the victim would be on the floor, unable to move for at least five minutes.

But just as the vicious swing came around, Su Xi suddenly ducked down... his incredibly flexible body wrapped around him... SMACK!

His upper body went around Malone’s powerful frame, and his left hand shot up, punching the basketball out of Malone’s grasp.

At the same time, his lower body also spun rapidly around Malone’s body. Malone had already put his all into the elbow swing.

He never expected Su Xi’s sudden attack and steal.

Pulled along by Su Xi’s rotation, he instantly lost his balance!

His balance had been declining rapidly in his old age, and combined with putting everything he had into that elbow strike, his body couldn’t help but topple. His massive frame, like a demolished building, came crashing down, and... BANG!

His iron elbow hit the floor first!

The hard tip of his iron elbow collided with the floor.

AH!

The moment he landed, the old Malone let out a blood-curdling scream.

Su Xi grabbed the basketball and sprinted down the court. With Kobe chasing him, he passed the ball to a trailing Davis, who finished with a stylish layup.

The head referee stopped the game because of Karl Malone’s agonized screams.

The four-sided jumbotron overhead replayed the entire sequence of Malone’s injury.

It started from the moment Malone began backing down Su Xi.

The first bump, the second bump, the third bump, followed by a thunderous elbow strike... Barkley shouted on TV, "Karl Malone isn’t playing basketball at all! He’s just venting, he’s out there trying to hurt someone. If Little Jack had been hit by that elbow, his career could have been over."

Su Xi’s quick wrap-around move made him scream: "That’s practically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu! That’s a ground-fighting technique! Using softness to overcome hardness!"

"That was brilliant, Little Sheep Su Xi! That’s how you do it!"

Su Xi’s flexibility allowed him to escape disaster.

Meanwhile, Karl Malone reaped what he sowed. All the malicious intent from his swing, all that bad karma, was focused back onto his own malevolent iron elbow.

Karl Malone was helped up by the team doctors. His arm was being held up, unable to hang down naturally. His elbow was severely injured, and the prognosis was not optimistic.

But he couldn’t blame anyone but himself.

Even the Lakers fans in the Staples Center thought so. No one felt Su Xi was responsible. In fact, many were relieved that Su Xi had escaped harm.

"Isaiah Thomas, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Olajuwon, Yao Ming... they’re all going to be sending Su Xi congratulatory messages," Charles Barkley said gleefully on TV. "A villain destroying his own iron elbow with his own two hands—is there a better story than this?!"

He made no secret of the fact he was kicking a man while he was down, because his relationship with Malone was far from close. He and Moses Malone had always referred to each other as father and son, but as for this Karl Malone, he just....

"I’ll remember you."

Before leaving the court, Karl Malone shot Su Xi a venomous glare.

Su Xi was dismissive. "Hope you get back to your post soon, Mailman."

’This was a sincere wish, because Malone could help him increase his strength.’

’See? It’s already at 95.’

’Straight into the Super Strength realm.’

Su Xi’s strength advantage in the backcourt had epically widened. When he went into the paint, even if he lacked the tonnage, he could still carve out a space for himself with pure strength alone.

"Jack, you’ve made an enemy of Karl Malone."

Just then, Gary Payton, who was standing next to Su Xi, suddenly said to him, "He’s not a good guy." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Su Xi just smiled and said, "It doesn’t matter. I’ll use his strength to soar!"

Su Xi was nonchalant, a look of anticipation even glinting in his eyes.

Gary Payton looked at Su Xi, a little caught off guard. He hadn’t expected Su Xi to be so confident. That damn charisma, that heroic aura... he couldn’t help but be reminded of Jordan.

Jordan was the same way when faced with provocation.

’But there’s clearly no comparison between the two of them.’

...