Take Him Down Take Him Down!

On February 28th, at ten in the morning, the Stanford men's basketball team arrived at the USC basketball arena for warm-up training.

Scott was extremely excited about the upcoming game. He had been relentlessly practicing his dunks, as he had mentioned, eager to showcase his talent. He hoped that through this game, he would catch the attention of scouts and get on the radar for the NBA.

As basketball players, who wouldn't want to enter the highest hall representing the world of basketball?

In contrast to Stanford's enthusiastic warm-up for the game, there was no response from USC. Their half of the court remained empty. Even though the game was scheduled for three-thirty in the afternoon, they didn't seem to have any intention of warming up.

"Arrogant USC, they really don't seem to take us seriously," Thompson complained indignantly.

Li Zhen patted his shoulder, offering a reassuring smile.

He couldn't say much, given that the current situation at Stanford wasn't exactly commanding attention. After all, Stanford was originally not strong, and with two key players injured and the head coach gone, how could anyone take notice?

After lunch, the team had a brief practice session. As everyone prepared to rest and conserve energy for the upcoming game, Li Zhen found himself hungry again... his appetite had surged dramatically in these past two days.

When he walked into the restaurant next to the gym, he quickly ordered five hamburgers.

While he was eating, he clearly felt a man sitting across from him observing him. The man, around thirty years old, appeared polite and well-mannered.

Li Zhen thought he might be surprised by his appetite, so he quickly smiled and nodded at him, then whispered, "I don't eat this much every day, don't be surprised."

With this explanation, the man across from him actually chuckled.

He asked, "Are you a player from Stanford?"

Li Zhen was genuinely surprised by how he knew, and the man pointed to Li Zhen's team jacket.

Li Zhen quickly caught on, and then confidently introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Bruce Li, the point guard for the Stanford Cardinals team."

"Hello, I'm Kevin George! I'm a full-time scout for the San Antonio Spurs." The white man also reached out to shake Li Zhen's hand.

This left Li Zhen stunned. He hadn't expected that he would meet the NBA scout that Scott had been eagerly anticipating, and from the San Antonio Spurs, no less! He looked so young.

However, despite his surprise, Li Zhen didn't take the opportunity to boast about himself in order to garner attention. He knew that professional matters should be left to the professionals. Meeting by chance, being overly enthusiastic might not be a good thing.

Kevin George was a bit surprised by Li Zhen's calm demeanor. In many cases, as soon as he revealed his identity as an NBA scout, the other party would often immediately change their demeanor, treating him with enthusiasm or even obsequiousness, and then go on endlessly about their background and basketball experiences.

But this kid in front of him gave him a completely different feeling.

His curiosity couldn't help but rise.

The reason Kevin George was at this fast-food joint was that he had arranged to meet USC's starting point guard, Gabe Pruitt. He was very interested in this player, believing that with his physical attributes, there was a chance for him to make it to the NBA. If, through further understanding, he found that this player's character and temperament aligned with the culture of the San Antonio locker room, he would recommend him to the management and coaching staff.

However, now it seemed that Pruitt might not quite meet the standards of the Spurs. They had agreed to meet at ten-thirty, but it was already close to one.

Being unpunctual and disrespectful of appointments was a serious challenge to Gregg Popovich's patience.

"So, are the hamburgers here really that delicious?" Kevin George, a little bored, struck up a conversation with Li Zhen.

Li Zhen had just swallowed his second hamburger. As he picked up the third one, he replied, "To be honest, I can't really tell if they're delicious. I'm just trying to suppress my stomach's protests with all this stuff because of my sudden surge in appetite these past few days!"

It was an amusing way to put it, and Kevin George chuckled, then said, "You eat so much, yet you're so slim. I envy your metabolism!"

Li Zhen had already stuffed the third hamburger into his mouth, leaving him with no time to respond to the man.

"Wishing you an outstanding performance this afternoon. I hope these hamburgers serve as your spinach, making you incredibly strong," Kevin George stood up and bid farewell to this intriguing Stanford player.

He decided not to wait for Pruitt any longer.

However, just at that moment, a tall, African-American player strode in from outside. He was wearing USC's training uniform, standing at about six feet 4 inches tall, and was notably muscular for an NCAA player.

But, from the look on his face, he appeared very tired, with even a hint of sleepiness in his eyes.

"Hey, man. You're here!"

He hurried over and warmly embraced Kevin George, then said with a tone of apology, "I'm really sorry. Our coach has been giving a pre-game briefing, explaining a lot about today's match. I couldn't make it to your appointment in time. I'm really sorry!"

He spoke quickly, but not at all sincerely.

Furthermore, the smell of alcohol on his breath was unmistakable—he was lying. He was probably struggling with a hangover.

Most importantly, Li Zhen hadn't seen any USC players training in the gym.

This was a rather low-level lie.

However, neither Kevin George nor Li Zhen had any intention of exposing him.

By this time, Li Zhen had reached his fifth hamburger. He planned to speed up and finish this... and then leave.

He wasn't in the habit of intervening in other people's conversations.

But just as he was about to finish the burger and leave, Pruitt, in a strange tone, said, "Kevin, did you also make an appointment with a Stanford player?"

His tone was filled with doubt and displeasure, but more than anything, it was disdain.

Just as Li Zhen was about to respond with something like 'we just happened to sit together', Kevin George calmly said, "Yes, we just had a pleasant conversation."

Kevin expressed his dissatisfaction with Pruitt in his own way. In reality, he had no intention of continuing the conversation with Pruitt.

And Pruitt felt the same way.

When he saw Li Zhen, he had serious doubts about Kevin George's professional abilities and was angry. He felt that Kevin George's decision to put him together with this unknown Stanford backup guard was a great insult.

Just as Pruitt was about to explode...

A voice suddenly echoed in Li Zhen's mind: "Take him down! Take him down!"

Huh???

Li Zhen, who was in the middle of swallowing his hamburger, choked. Take him down? How?

"I think we don't need to continue talking, Mr. George. I don't trust your professional judgment. You can't just randomly pick a player and sit him at the same table. I'm the starting point guard for USC, and I'm a First Team player in the Pacific Division! Goodbye!"

Pruitt left abruptly, leaving Kevin George behind.

Kevin didn't try to stop him, nor did he put on a pretense of politeness. He was certain that the Spurs absolutely did not need a player like him.

He just looked apologetically at Li Zhen, who was clearly struggling with his hamburger. "I'm really sorry for getting you involved."

Li Zhen took a gulp of water, forcefully swallowing the burger in his mouth.

Then, he looked up at Kevin George and said very seriously, "Next, it's war between me and him."

This statement made Kevin George even more remorseful. He felt that his earlier casual words about bringing Bruce in were too irresponsible. He wondered how he could compensate for this poor Stanford guard.

But what he didn't know was that inside the mind of this Stanford guard was a "Positive Energy Baby" teaching him how to take down Pruitt!