———— toot! Honk! Honk!

The final whistle became clearer, and the huge numbers on the electronic scoreboard were frozen.

Serbia 105: Dragon Kingdom 64

A huge difference of 41 points, this is the semi-final battle of the U19 Men's Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany in 2027.

"Hahaha, this warm-up, you must work hard to kill Spain!"

"Long live Serbia!"

The scene was bustling.

But the cheers seemed far away from him, so far that even though the sound shook the floor of the arena, he could still clearly hear his heavy breathing and even his heartbeat.

Call...... Call...... Call......

28 points, 1 assist, 8 turnovers, in the face of Serbia's regional defense and high pressing, the basketball skills that he has always relied on have completely lost their due level.

The bold words he made when he encouraged his teammates last night, and the confident assurances he made in front of the coach, all seemed to turn into a joke at this moment.

Heads-up, he doesn't scare anyone in this Serbian team.

But when the five Serbian players stood together, he felt like the five finger mountains of the Buddha, no matter how desperately he hit the monkey jumping up and down, he couldn't escape at all.

Everyone in the stands had a rightful expression.

yes, what's so strange about Dragons losing to Serbia by 40 points?

U19 is different from U17 youth basketball, which emphasizes individual ability, and it is already group luck for Longguo to break into the top 8 in this U19 World Cup, which truly represents the international standard.

His so-called future Jordan of the Dragon Kingdom is nothing more than the 'level of the Dragon Kingdom' after all.

What kind of genius aura, here is just a background worth mentioning, no one cares at all.

Go down in flames.

That's it, I have always fantasized about being able to easily enter the highest basketball hall of the Blue Star, and leave my name in the NBA Hall of Fame like the legendary superstar of the Dragon Country?

It's really arrogant and stupid!

Lin Dong's eyes finally dimmed.

He saw that the four main players who played with him from U17 to U19 were all depressed at this time, and stood in the middle of the field with their heads down.

The substitutes on the sidelines stood there with towels and looked a little dazed, and the head coach, who had led himself for two years and had always been the backbone of the team, was also gloomy at this time.

It turns out that he is not omnipotent.

It turns out that there will be times when I feel hopeless and powerless.

The basketball dream and NBA dream of the Dragon Country, which were buried deep in my heart, were shattered like a mirror at this moment.

He suddenly felt a little dazed and frightened, as if he was falling into a bottomless abyss, not knowing how to face it.

Until a voice rang in his ears.

"Hey, Dragon Boy, is this desperate?" It was a tall old German man, with curly blond hair and thick cheeks like a lion, but he smiled very gently.

He walked over and smiled and grabbed Lin Dong's hand and pulled him up from the ground.

Lin Dong was stunned.

This man is ......

The man was a special guest at the game and sat on the sidelines to watch the whole game.

The eyes that gradually became desperate and empty after being blocked by Serbia made this man seem to feel some empathy at that moment.

So the man came up and pulled him up on the ground.

"I have experienced your abyss and despair a thousand times on the court, and I have experienced your hatred and questioning of your own incompetence ten thousand times."

"Either give up or persevere, I chose the latter, so I achieved the best version of myself."

The man smiled and patted Lin Dong's shoulder: "I think you can do it too." ”

Lin Dong's rapid heartbeat slowly became calm.

…… He knows the man's past, or rather, everyone who really likes basketball should know!

Lin Dong's heavy breathing began to become steady, and the buzzing in his ears seemed to gradually disappear.

…… This man is not exaggerating, compared to the predicament he has encountered, his own defeat, this little hopelessness is less than a thousandth of what he has experienced!

The deafening cheers in the stadium finally poured into Lin Dong's ears again, and his hearing seemed to have recovered, but the drum noise was no longer so harsh.

"Thank you!" He said to the man, and finally straightened his back again.

No one's path to pursuing their dreams will be easy.

So from that day on, he began to train himself even more frantically.

He hung posters of the man from his youth on the walls of his bedroom, and whenever he was in pain, whenever he was tired, whenever he felt hopeless again, he would look at those posters and recall what the man had said to him.

It wasn't until half a year later that he finally regained his confidence and stood up, leading the team to defeat the NCAA's Florida Pumas in the United States and getting an invitation from Lao K......

And the man's name.

His name is Dirk. Nowitzki!

……………………

"Brother Gaoren? Brother Gaoren? ”

“…… I know you're saying that for my own good...... Okay, okay, I didn't say anything about you, we're still friends......" Sakuragi Hanamichi said in an apologetic voice.

"I'll take back what I just said, okay, don't act like we can't afford to lose......" Miyagi Ryota pouted.

"Ahem...... Okay, it's really just a competition, and it's my own reason that I can't get into college. ”

"Brother Gaoren? Isn't it stunned? Mito Yohei seemed to walk in front of him, stretched out his hand and shook it carefully in front of Lin Dong's eyes.

The gossip voice woke Lin Dong up from his memories.

His vision became clear again, and the mist in the hot spring seemed to have dispersed considerably.

The anger on the faces of the guys opposite, Miyagi Ryota and Mitsui Shou, seemed to have dissipated, while the Sakuragi Legion had a concerned expression.

"I'm fine." He smiled and said to Mito Yohei, "It's just that I remembered some of the past and got distracted." ”

As he spoke, Lin Dong climbed into the bath with his arms and pulled over the bath towel placed on the edge of the pool.

“…… I have experienced a thousand times your abyss and despair on the court, and I have experienced ten thousand times your hatred and questioning of your own incompetence. ”

While he was methodically doing his thing, he spoke calmly, as if he were talking to himself.

"Either give up or persevere, I chose the latter, so I achieved a better version of myself."

This sentence that encouraged him to come out of the shadows and affect his life was finally changed by him.

After all, no matter in his previous life or in this life, he is still far from reaching the height of that man, and he is still desperately catching up, and he is not qualified to call himself the 'most' word.

When you learn, you have to teach.

This is a spiritual inheritance from that man, regardless of borders.

"That's what a senior on the pitch told me, and now, I'm giving it to you."

Lin Dong turned his head and smiled at Sakuragi Hanamichi: "Because I think you can do it too." ”

“…… Brother Gaoren. Sakuragi Hanamichi's expression looked a little dumbfounded.

"See you at the Winter Tryouts."

Lin Dong waved his hand, turned around and walked out of the bath.

"If I'm still in Japan."