The longest river

Chapter 118 Reebok's Top Rank
When Yang Shuai landed with a furious dunk, a huge commotion erupted in the arena.

Yang Shuai turned around and saw O'Neal, who had gotten up from the ground, rushing towards him.

Being dunked on by Yang Shuai was just a matter of losing face for O'Neal, but experiencing the humiliation of being dunked on was enough to drive him crazy.

Just as Yang Shuai was preparing to react, a familiar figure appeared in front of him like a flying wall.

Although Jermaine O'Neal is also an inside player, he is still a size smaller than Shaquille O'Neal.

However, he showed no sign of backing down and immediately hugged O'Neal.

And what happened next was astonishing.

The originally imposing and larger O'Neal was actually brought down by the younger O'Neal!

O'Neal's massive frame was pinned down by O'Neal's younger body, lying face up in the air...

Yang Shuai, who was rushing forward to help, couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

Shaquille O'Neal's fighting skills are... a bit too weak, aren't they?

The referee, who had initially intended to join the fight but was instead forced to intervene, stepped forward and separated the two.

After being helped to the side, O'Neal looked gloomy, like a defeated rooster.

Jermaine O'Neal, on the other hand, was in high spirits. Defeating "The Big Shaq" was something he could brag about for a lifetime, even though he didn't expect it to be so easy.

After the timeout, Jermaine O'Neal was ejected from the game, but he only received a technical foul.

This move perfectly illustrates what a business alliance is.

Yang Shuai and O'Neal are the two main characters tonight. If they are ejected, not only will the fans at the stadium not be happy, but the viewers in front of the TV will be even less happy.

The game continued, and O'Neal was substituted off the court to rest, making the game a one-man show for Yang Shuai.

When he was substituted back into the game later, O'Neal was noticeably more low-key.

O'Neal's change also allowed Yang Shuai to see through his opponent.

Shaquille O'Neal is a coward at heart; he mostly just uses his physique to put on airs.

This might explain why, despite being a dominant center, he is also the superstar who has been swept the most times in NBA history.

In crucial moments, he needs those superstar guards to save him, whether it's Hardaway, Kobe, or Wade.

After realizing this, Yang Shuai intensified his military training of O'Neal.

Kobe had already been substituted off the court. He looked at Shaq, who was being toyed with like a toy by Yang Shuai, speechless but also eager to try his hand at it.

He clearly understood that this Lakers team would be his sooner or later.

Ultimately, the Pacers defeated the Lakers 106-96, achieving their seventh consecutive win to start the season.

Yang Shuai delivered his career-defining regular season night.

他全场比赛出场36分钟，21投12中，三分球10投6中，罚球4罚全中，得到34分6板2助攻2抢断。

今晚的另外一个主角，奥尼尔出场了30分钟，16投8中，得到16分12板3盖帽，罚球8罚0中。

In addition, Kobe also had a brilliant performance tonight. Coming off the bench, he scored 21 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, not only achieving his first 20+ point game in his career, but also having a spectacular reverse dunk after a baseline cut in the final quarter.

With O'Neal underperforming, he was key to the Lakers' ability to push the Pacers into the fourth quarter.

For the fans at the stadium, seeing Kobe fulfill his potential in such a game was their only consolation.

Yang Shuai and Bird attended the post-game press conference together.

Bird originally intended to continue protecting Yang Shuai by not allowing him to attend the post-game press conference.

However, Yang Shuai's attitude was firm; he had to make his position clear.

So after reminding Yang Shuai once again not to use racist language in his responses at the press conference, Bird finally allowed him to participate.

Yang Shuai had a career-defining night, but the reporters' focus wasn't on that.

After asking a few questions briefly, they turned the conversation to Shaquille O'Neal.

"Shaq apologized before the game, claiming it was a misunderstanding. Do you accept his apology?"

"No, I will never accept an apology from a racist."

Yang Shuai's unwavering answer stunned the reporters.

Even the other reporters looked at Yang Shuai with considerable confusion.

This was hard for them to understand, after all, O'Neal had said it was a slip of the tongue, and Yang Shuai had already humiliated O'Neal enough tonight, so Yang Shuai's words made him seem very narrow-minded.

However, what Yang Shuai said next truly shocked them.

"If I accidentally slept with Shaq's wife, could I just say it was a misunderstanding and apologize?"

Bird, who was standing nearby, was choked and coughed for a while.

Yang Shuai's response wasn't exactly racist, but it wasn't far off.

"During the Lakers' press conference earlier, Shaq mentioned that you used racist slurs against him during the game," the reporter continued.

"Really? Why didn't I know?"

“He said you said… ‘nigger’.” The reporter said this very cautiously.

"He's clearly slandering me. If I had said that, would the referee have not called a foul on me?"

Yang Shuai, however, seemed completely unfazed. After all, there were no recording devices back then, and although he did say "nigger," he added a Chinese phrase afterward to imply it was nothing.

After all, before he transmigrated, Teacher Da was still alive and well.

The reporter was left speechless by the rebuttal.

Bird couldn't help but laugh.

When the referee came to the bench to communicate, he, as the head coach, naturally knew what had happened on the field, and he even went to the technical table with the referee.

He didn't expect Yang Shuai to actually find a "little trick" that could be used in public without being punished by the referee. Of course, he was also impressed by the profoundness of the Chinese language.

Why did you step over Shaq?

A reporter from Fox News asked Yang Shuai a question.

Upon seeing that it was a Fox News reporter, Yang Shuai immediately frowned.

Shaquille O'Neal previously appeared on this media outlet's program; they were the ones who manipulated him, and they weren't much better than O'Neal.

"You mean I should step over O'Neal? Okay, I accept your suggestion, I'll do it next time I have the chance."

It's not that it's impossible, actually. He saw Draymond Green step on Domantas Sabonis like that during a live stream.

Yang Shuai's retort made the Fox reporter break out in a cold sweat, and he quickly waved his hand to indicate that he did not mean that.

"So what do you mean? Do you expect me to kick O'Neal aside before I walk over there?"

Well, now the Fox News reporter was really sweating bullets.

When they came out after the press conference, Bird couldn't help but give Yang a thumbs up.

In terms of showing off, Yang Shuai has a lot to learn from him.

But when it comes to arguing, he has to admit defeat.

After returning to the locker room, Yang Shuai made a phone call to Jermaine O'Neal, and then took him shopping on Shaw Street.

He took O'Neal to the mall and found a Rolex counter to give him a gold Rolex watch.

After the game, he told Jermaine O'Neal that if he was fined afterward, he would pay the fine for him.

The fight that Jermaine O'Neal did for him tonight made him consider the other guy one of his own.

The game between the Lakers and the Pacers has ended, but the conflict between O'Neal and Young has not.

Yang Shuai's comment, "Sleep with Shaq's wife and then apologize," became a memorable quote after the game and was used by many fans to make fun of him.

Compared to racial discrimination, such humorous remarks are obviously more acceptable to casual fans.

Some white people even started learning Chinese like crazy, trying to figure out in what situations they could use that special word like Yang Shuai.

However, compared to being ridiculed by fans, O'Neal's real loss does not lie here.

Shortly after returning to Indianapolis from the game against the Lakers, Yang met with Vaccaro.

Yang Shuai was initially somewhat dissatisfied because Reebok hadn't spoken out on the matter, but his dissatisfaction vanished instantly after Vaccaro told him the purpose of his visit.

After heated debate, Reebok's board of directors ultimately chose between Yang Shuai and O'Neal, deciding to terminate O'Neal's contract.

This move seems incredible at first glance, because it's equivalent to Nike terminating its contract with Jordan.

But upon closer examination, the differences are quite significant.

Because O'Neal's importance to Reebok is on a completely different level than Jordan's.

Although Shaquille O'Neal was the first player to launch a signature shoe for Reebok, and thanks to his playful personality, the shoe actually sold quite well.

But that's only compared to other Reebok spokespeople; compared to Jordan, he's still far behind.

Of course, if Vaccaro hadn't taken a hard line and forced Reebok to choose between the two brands, Reebok certainly wouldn't have given up on O'Neal, since the "Shaq Attaq" and "Shaqnosis" lines are Reebok's current flagship brands.

But there are no ifs, and that's what Vaccaro did.

In fact, the final vote by the Reebok board of directors was very close, but Yang Shuai's phenomenal sales of the Pacers-themed sneakers last year became the decisive factor.

Reebok has no reason to give up a spokesperson who sells better sneakers, especially since this spokesperson is about to mass-produce a revolutionary signature sneaker that is highly sought after according to market research.

Businessmen always pursue maximum profit.

"So I'm Reebok's top model now?"

Yang Shuai found it somewhat unbelievable.

He became Reebok's top star in less than two years, a speed that is hard to believe.

Of course, in the end, we really have to thank O'Neal.

It's hard to say that those on the board didn't consider the events themselves when they voted.

Because the incident escalated so much, O'Neal was labeled as a racist. If Reebok chooses to keep O'Neal, it will definitely have a negative impact on the brand.

"Yes, but only temporarily. You and AI will likely have a period of competition later on."

Although Yang Shuai's contract was one dollar more than Iverson's, Reebok's decision to offer Iverson the same contract as Yang Shuai as a rookie is enough to demonstrate how much the management values ​​Iverson.

Is this a bad thing?
It's not an issue.

Yang Shuai was never a fan of Iverson, and now that the two are competing, he doesn't have to put on an act like he did during the previous draft, which is perfect.

(End of this chapter)