Chapter 86

When Mills arrived at Su Feng's training base in Philadelphia, the future Bolt coach was eager to use his Jamaican national curse.

"You, you, you…" Mills began, his voice tinged with frustration as he observed Su Feng's form.

After meeting Su Feng in person, Mills was on the verge of losing his mind, especially after watching Su Feng sprint through a series of short bursts, his hip, thighs, and calves taut with effort. It was maddening.

"You are wasting your talent!" Mills shouted, his words nearly reverberating through the gym. "You're throwing gold into the rubble without realizing it! You're spoiling and degrading yourself!"

Of course, Mills didn't speak Jamaican English as fluidly as he'd like, but the translation made the meaning clear enough.

Mills was beside himself. In his eyes, with just four years of proper training, Su Feng could be ready for the Olympic stage. If Su Feng committed to eight years, he could be a medal contender.

Now, Mills might have exaggerated a bit. There was no denying he was trying to convince Su Feng to practice sprinting, even if it bordered on the absurd. But Mills, with his sharp, almost prophetic eye, could see Su Feng's raw sprinting potential.

At the time, Chinese sprinters hadn't yet cracked the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, but Mills was adamant—Su Feng had a gift. He was convinced that Su Feng was a sign from the heavens, proof that Asians could defy the limits of speed.

Despite Mills' fervor, Su Feng was unwavering.

"No," he said flatly, shaking his head. "I'm not going to practice sprinting."

Mills, who wasn't particularly tall, nearly collapsed in frustration. He turned to Mancias, Fraser, Alan Stan, and Big Ben Wallace, who was in the middle of a sandwich. "You all have to judge! He's wasting his potential!"

The three of them exchanged a look, almost in unison, then turned their gaze skyward.

"What's sprinting?" they seemed to be thinking. "If Su Feng doesn't play basketball, who will look after us? Basketball is king!"

Big Ben, not entirely sure of what was going on, noticed Mills' pleading stare and tried to offer some support.

"Sue, Sue is right," he said, his tone uncertain.

Mills, exasperated, threw his hands up. "Why, why does this talented sprinter want to play basketball?!"

For Mills, who had spent decades working with sprinters, his lifelong dream had been to mold a runner who could break the human speed limit.

But... it was hard. It was so hard.

"Alright," Su Feng said, cutting through Mills' lamentations, "let's get down to business. I do want to improve my sprint speed, though. Especially on the 34 courts."

Mills blinked, his frustration momentarily forgotten. "What? You're talented enough to sprint... and you only want to work on short sprints?"

Su Feng shrugged. "I play basketball, not sprint. What's the point of a 100-meter or 200-meter race? Not interested."

Every word Su Feng spoke hit Mills like a sharp knife to the chest, but Su Feng's calm demeanor made it clear that there was no convincing him to change his career path.

Still, the prospect of improving Su Feng's sprinting was too tempting for Mills to ignore.

"Fine," Mills finally relented, "I'll train you for those short sprints... But just wait until I show you what you could become."

Under Mills' guidance, Su Feng embarked on his "sprint" training.

A week later, as the 76ers Summer League team prepared to start, Su Feng was thrilled with the results of his sprint training. His speed attribute had soared.

"A sprinter with terrifying potential who's never formally trained for sprinting... unbelievable," Su Feng thought with satisfaction. And with the help of the system's nutrient solution, his body was transforming even faster.

The system's updated stats reflected the improvement:

"Current speed attribute: 80 [120], broken down as follows:

No-ball running speed: 82 Ball-handling acceleration: 75 Ultimate sprint speed: 83."

Su Feng was not surprised by the boost. He knew that with the large gap between his current ability and his potential, rapid improvements were expected. After all, the foundation for his physical abilities had been solidified by Mancias' training, and now, the system was working its magic.

While the boost in his sprinting and no-ball speed was remarkable, his ball-handling acceleration had yet to break the 80 mark. This was primarily due to his dribbling skills, but Su Feng planned to work on that after returning from Long Beach.

His long-term goal was to push his sprinting speed to 90, a threshold that would make him a force to be reckoned with in the NBA.

For now, Su Feng knew that his speed attributes would allow him to remain an excellent player among NBA guards, though not yet at the top of the charts.

As for the future, if he continued improving, there was no doubt Su Feng could become a lightning-fast player in the NBA, perhaps even pushing his speed attribute close to 100. But that would take time, as his weight would gradually increase to around 100 kg, and the system would need to balance that with his speed growth.

When Su Feng finally left the training base, Mills was visibly sad to see him go. Su Feng understood Mills' disappointment, but just like the coaches who couldn't convince Iverson and Big Ben to switch to football, there was no changing Su Feng's path. He was dedicated to basketball, and nothing would sway him from that.

Meanwhile, the 76ers' Summer League team was shaping up to be a luxury squad. Aside from Su Feng, Iverson, and Big Ben Wallace, there was another notable player: Kobe Bryant, wearing the number 32 that Magic Johnson had once made famous.

Xu Jicheng, who was following the team's progress, couldn't help but express his frustration. He wondered why the Chinese Basketball Association hadn't recruited Su Feng into the national team. After all, if they couldn't even defend against Kobe, how could they compete with someone like Su Feng?

Zhang Weiping, aware of the situation, could only sigh in silence.

As the team prepped for the Summer League games, Coach Gong Luming of the Chinese men's national team decided to stay and watch the upcoming 76ers vs. Lakers match. He was curious to see what kind of player could make such an impression on Kobe Bryant.

After the game, Hu Weidong, who had picked up a few words of English, approached Kobe.

"Hi, hi, Kobe," Hu greeted, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the young star.

"Hello," Kobe responded politely, recognizing Hu from his connection with Su Feng.

"You're really great, Kobe," Hu said with a thumbs-up.

Kobe smiled, recalling Su Feng, and said, "You're great too. Those somersaults were cool."

Hu then asked, "I heard Su Feng once beat you one-on-one?"

Kobe's mood shifted slightly. It was a reminder of past losses, and of the public embarrassment he'd suffered when Su Feng "hurt" him in front of the cameras.

Despite the uncomfortable memories, Kobe, after a pause, said, "Yeah... he always beats me."

Hu Weidong's eyes widened. "Always?"

He hadn't realized just how much Su Feng had dominated Kobe. Given Kobe's age and the fact that it was just a Summer League team, it made Hu's realization all the more astounding.

Determined to stay and watch the game, Hu turned to Coach Gong Luming. "I also want to stay."

Coach Gong, knowing of Hu's interest in the NBA, hesitated but ultimately agreed. "Okay, you can stay. Just watch and learn."

Hu nodded eagerly, excitement written all over his face as he looked forward to witnessing the next battle between the 76ers and the Lakers.