Christmas is almost the most important holiday of the year for Americans, and in a business league like the NBA, some unlucky professional players will have to fight Christmas battles on this day to reunite with their families.

But for student players who play in the NCAA, Christmas is a rare holiday in their season. The school will have a Christmas break, and it is not possible for the teams that are naturally affiliated with the school to ask the students to practice or play.

The day before Christmas Eve, the last training session of the pit bulls before the Christmas holidays. The players had all changed their gear, but Stevens had not been seen for a long time.

From the time Stevens was an assistant coach at Butler University to the present, the young coach has never been late. On the contrary, he is often the first to get to the dressing room.

Therefore, in the face of this rare situation, the players are you look at me, I look at you, and they are at a loss.

Training can still be carried out under the leadership of assistant coaches and other specialized coaches. But without Stevens calling the shots, no one dared to act rashly.

Just as the locker room was getting commotion, the door to the home team's dressing room at the Schinkel Arena was slammed open.

That's right, it was knocked out of the way. Because Stevens, who still had some snowflakes on his head, couldn't even free his hands to open the door.

"Merry Christmas! Guys! Call...... I'm choking on this pile! Stevens appeared in front of everyone with a grin, and in his arms was a large number of beautifully packaged Christmas gifts!

"Coach, you're ......" Shervin. Mark hasn't figured out what the hell is going on.

"What are you doing in a daze!? Come and get your gifts, it's not a light thing to hold on your body! Stevens smiled kindly, and in the next second, everyone flocked to it!

Receiving a gift at Christmas is undoubtedly one of the most exciting things to do. The Bulldogs have been performing very well this season, so Stevens has also bought a lot of small gifts out of his own pocket to treat his players.

Everyone excitedly opened the gifts, and they got different things. Each one was carefully selected by Stevens for different people.

Only Yiyang, who sat in front of his locker in a daze, seemed to be out of place with this joyful atmosphere.

What's it like to receive a Christmas present? Yiyang has never experienced it before. In the past, he and his mother were able to spend a warm day at Christmas, and they were already thankful. Yiyang still remembers when he was 11 years old, due to the power outage in the dilapidated apartment, all heating facilities were unusable, and Yiyang and his mother were stunned and froze in that cramped house all night.

So suddenly faced with such a scene, Yiyang was really in a trance.

"It's yours, too." It wasn't until Stevens handed the gift to Yiyang that the expressionless Asian defender came to his senses.

"Thank you...... Thanks, Coach. Yiyang slowly took the gift and carefully opened it.

Inside the package, is a white Lakers authentic baseball cap. Stevens knows that Yiyang, who grew up on the streets of Wood District, is deeply influenced by hip-hop culture, this yellow-skinned guy is unusually obsessed with rap music. Yiyang's usual clothes are also in a big street hip-hop style.

Baseball caps, on the other hand, are an integral part of hip-hop culture. It just so happened that Yiyang was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers again, so Stevens chose this hat as Yiyang's Christmas present.

"Do you like it?"

"Hmph...... This gift is great. Yiyang looked up, and Stevens saw a rare smile on the boy's face......

With such a gift-giving episode, the players naturally trained very actively in the afternoon.

The youngsters weren't any bit impetuous because the holidays were approaching, and they took training seriously, knowing that that's why the Bulldogs are now ranked first in the Big Ten League.

"Merry Christmas!" Finally, under the chorus of shouts from everyone. Today's training session is officially over, and the Christmas break for the players has officially begun.

Yiyang's mother had already come to Indianapolis to spend Christmas with her son. As the head coach, Stevens also invited Yiyang and his mother to have dinner at his home a few days ago.

After all, the other players can go home to reunite with their families, but Yiyang and Wen Xue, who have no relatives in Indianapolis, can't let them spend Christmas in the cold of the hotel.

Originally, Yiyang wanted to refuse, because he was really not used to eating at other people's homes. But Yiyang's mother was going to go anyway after learning the news, she said that she wanted to take the opportunity of Christmas to thank Stevens who let Yiyang take a different path.

In this way, Yiyang wore the white baseball cap and sat side by side with Stevens in the car, preparing to go to the train station to pick up Yiyang's mother.

On the way to the road, Yiyang and Stevens did not communicate much. Yiyang just kept looking around through the car window, and Indianapolis today was really different from the past.

Christmas trees are decorated at the doors of every house, and smiling people rush to the market to shop. Some houses have colorful lights on the walls and people have slogans like "Merry Christmas" spray-painted on their windows.

Compared with the "garbage heap" in Wood District, Indianapolis obviously made Yiyang feel a strong holiday atmosphere.

In a few moments, the two arrived at their destination. Stevens saw Wen Xue in the crowd at a glance, because this woman was so special compared to everything around her.

For this Christmas trip, Wen Xue specially changed into her best-looking winter clothes, and she also wore light makeup on her face. Since Yiyang was on the right path, Stevens could clearly feel that this young mother seemed to be rejuvenated.

Yiyang and his mother stepped forward to hug, and Yiyang, who was stronger than before, gave Wen Xue a sense of security. Yes, my son has grown up, and now, he can give himself a sense of security.

"Hello! Mr. Stevens! After that, Wen Xue respectfully shook hands with Stevens.

"Hello Madam! Hopefully, the crowded journey doesn't tire you down. Let's go, my wife is already preparing dinner at home. Stevens said, opening the car door for Yiyang's mother.

Stevens pulled out the key and opened the door, and a child who looked to be only two or three years old came running over.

"Is Daddy back? Brad? Deep in the house, a woman asked aloud.

"It's Dad, and two strangers!" The little boy happily threw himself into Stevens' arms, who was only three years old.

"Oh, do you need my help?" Wen Xue saw that the host was still preparing dinner, so she rolled up her sleeves.

"Nope! Wife! Just rest, you're almost done! A woman with short blond hair and a very energetic look walked out of the kitchen with an apron on. Tracy. Stevens, Brad's wife. A woman on the side of the basketball court, fascinated by Stevens.

Tracy shook hands with Wen Xue and Yiyang cordially, and this hostess seemed to have an inexplicable affinity, allowing you to like her in an instant.

Yiyang was a little embarrassed to say hello, compared to the cold place in Wood District, the warmth and warmth of Stevens's house really made Yiyang a little unaccustomed.

Although Tracy said that dinner would be almost over, it was not until eight o'clock that the five of them finally gathered around the table and ate this sumptuous Christmas dinner.

In the corner of Stevens' living room, there is a small fake Christmas tree full of colorful lights and greeting cards. Ribbons are also drawn diagonally on the ceiling, and an old-fashioned candlestick is placed in the center of the dining table, on which white candles are lit and inserted. Although they are not a family, such a night still makes Wen Xue and Yiyang feel at home.

At the dinner table, Wen Xue gave the three gifts she had prepared to the Stevens family. And Wen Xue also got a scarf carefully selected by the Stevens.

The five of them seemed to be happy, eating and chatting at the dinner table, even though they had different skin colors and different births. But that doesn't stop these five from being true friends.

"Also, it looks like your shooting drills are going very well. In recent days, you've been shooting more and more three-point shots. Next, I'm going to train your body in special so that you can better adapt to high-intensity confrontations, how about it? Naturally, Stevens' conversation eventually returned to basketball.

"Good." Yiyang's tone still didn't have any ups and downs, this kid didn't know what to do, but his personality was like this.

Stevens nodded, he had long been accustomed to Yiyang's way of speaking. "By the way, about the NBA...... Have you decided? If you play an extra year at Butler, I can make you better! But if you want to play professional basketball right now, I think you can't do it either. ”

Speaking of this topic, Yiyang put down his knife and fork and looked at his mother.

"It's your decision, son." Wen Xue held Yiyang's hand, in this kind of matter, Wen Xue couldn't help Yiyang refer too much.

"I ...... I want to participate in the draft this year! Because, our family does need the income from a professional contract. Yiyang bluntly said that money is a consideration that his family can't avoid no matter what.

Stevens nodded and raised his glass. "Your son is going to be a real professional footballer in no time! Madam! ”

"Bang!" Everyone's wine glasses collided, and a decision that might change the pattern of the NBA league was quietly born on this warm Christmas Eve.