Basketball miracles

Chapter 27 [I am a Saint]

Before going to sleep, Xiao Tu lay in bed and began to fantasize about what would happen in 2003.

He focused on a few points: the date he left last time, Harvard University, small forward physique, and Heat rookies.

He had learned to control his time travel; whenever he particularly wanted to reach a certain point in time, he could do so. He could vaguely sense the small forward's body—it was very mysterious, like sensing the treasure chests and items drawn from those spaces.

He fell asleep and then woke up, and sure enough, he left the bedroom of the 80s apartment and returned to a student apartment at Harvard University.

Xiao Tu was very familiar with the apartment; it had been less than a month since he last left.

Only one night has passed here; yesterday was NBA draft day. After being selected, he had a celebratory dinner with Harvard basketball coach Tim and his teammates.

Xiao Tu rolled out of bed, stretched, and felt incredibly happy.

I really did go back to 2003; that ability is incredible.

If I could freely travel through time, then I would be immortal. When I grow old, I could simply go to another world, get a younger body, and continue living a carefree life.

How dare that mere executive vice president, who likes to stick together, fight me? Just wait to be tortured by me for the rest of his life.

Xiao Tu got up, washed up, and skipped breakfast. He put on his sportswear and went to practice basketball. He was too curious; he had to try playing basketball with the body of a 201cm small forward to see what the difference was.

The school has an outdoor basketball court, which is very convenient, so Xiao Tu won't be leaving school for the time being. He and the Heat will discuss his rookie contract after the Summer League; he's not in a hurry to go to Miami.

It's worth mentioning that he had to negotiate the contract himself, and the small forward didn't have an agent. The agents who contacted him were all ordinary, none of them well-known, and he felt it was better not to have one.

Xiao Tu gets excited whenever he practices basketball, and sure enough, basketball skills are universal.

The small forward can also do the Euro step now, but he's not quite skilled enough at it and needs more practice, like five times the experience.

His physical attributes were also slightly better than his "yesterday" self. The original owner was a floor-based player, slow and not very high-jumping. He had a feeling that if he waited until the Lakers won the championship before coming over, the physical attributes of a small forward would at least not be a weakness.

Xiao Tu regained his shooting touch after just half an hour of casual practice. Changing bodies didn't matter; his muscle memory was still there. He had extensive training experience, and even with a new body, he was confident he could quickly improve his shooting.

He knows exactly how much force to use and what shooting rhythm is most comfortable for him.

Xiao Tu's biggest weakness right now is his passing awareness; he can't combine drives, passes, and shots effectively, even when given the ball. He can improve his teamwork with his teammates by playing more games, but his court vision seems to be innate and difficult to improve through training.

Xiao Tu thought a lot on the way. He put the basketball back in the apartment, took a quick shower, and went to eat.

He planned to have breakfast and lunch in one meal, so he ate hamburgers and fried chicken at a nearby fast food restaurant.

One advantage of being an NBA player is that you don't need to excessively control your diet. Xiao Tu, for example, can eat whatever he wants without gaining weight; high-calorie foods provide enough energy to complete high-intensity training.

In many movies and TV shows, to portray a person's self-discipline, they are shown drinking vegetable juice. In the 21st century, after eating salads became a symbol of healthy living for urban dwellers, "drinking grass" has also become a new trend.

In reality, athletes going vegetarian is suicidal; they'd definitely be ruined.

For ordinary people, drinking only fruit and vegetable juices is also extremely low in energy, which can lead to physical weakness and hypoglycemia; long-term consumption of grass may induce serious consequences such as malnutrition and fainting.

Xiao Tu stopped practicing; he just wanted a day off. He came back to go online, as a day of hard practice was pointless.

Back in the 80s, he didn't even have internet access... Games, software, VCDs! It was all high-tech!
Xiao Tu went to a nearby internet cafe and skillfully searched for information online. He had lived there for a period of time in 2003 and was already used to browsing English websites.

Xiao Tu first checked NBA data, looking at the Lakers' information. Without him, the Lakers still achieved the best regular season record, but their winning percentage wasn't particularly high.

Because it's a different timeline, the strongest players in this world during the 80s are still Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, while Jordan won six championships in the 90s and just retired this year with the Wizards.

Xiao Tu looked up major NBA events from the 1984-85 season, and almost all of them were news praising Jordan. After reading a few of them, he felt a little annoyed; something just felt off.

If I had created a butterfly effect, Jordan wouldn't have been so popular in the 80s. Was he targeted by the league? That's nonsense.
In this world, I'll never have the chance to compete with Jordan. Or... could I try starting a new account in the 90s and competing against Jordan after his three-peat with the Bulls?
No rush, let's take our time. Xiao Tu started researching Jennifer Connelly again; she's very popular right now, and there's a ton of information about her online.

Her acting career can hardly be called successful; in fact, it could be described as a "failure," except for a smooth start.

Dario Argento's crime horror film "Myth" was a terrible movie, but after its release on January 31, 1985, it brought Jennifer Lawrence a lot of attention.

She went on to star in films such as "Seven Minutes in Heaven" and "The Labyrinth of Magic." Although they were all bad movies, for her age, being able to play the lead role was better than 99% of actresses in the world.

She starred in a series of films with a pure and innocent image, and her future looked bright.

However, at the height of her career, she made a bold decision. She decided to temporarily leave the public eye, give up her comfortable path to stardom, and go back to school.

Seeing Jennifer's experience, Xiao Tu thought she was amazing, truly an extraordinary academic achiever. She had previously studied English at Yale University and Drama at Stanford University.

She is fluent in English, Italian, and French—and she is fluent, not just knows a little.

She wanted to prove with her actions that "I'm not just a pretty face; appearance is far less important than inner qualities," but what she did next was breathtaking.

She dropped out of school halfway through her studies, and after making a comeback in the entertainment industry, she took an unconventional path by filming some films with explicit content.

The continuous stream of films featuring fan service shocked her fans, who went from initial shock to numbness, and eventually took it for granted.

Faced with a barrage of speculation and accusations, Jennifer remained unmoved. She simply responded, "Never mind the pretty girls, I'm just doing this for art."

Xiao Tu thought she had something wrong with her brain.

What kind of art is this? All you act in are terrible movies! They get no box office success and won't win any awards. The only thing your movies get attention from is netizens constantly posting questions about when the nude scenes are.

Jennifer finally picked the right script in the early 21st century, starring in "A Beautiful Mind." Then she decided to make a big-budget commercial film, starring in Ang Lee's "Hulk."

This movie is too uncommercial; let's not even talk about the dialogue scenes. The Hulk looks like he might deflate at any moment.

Jennifer is very serious about relationships. Once she falls in love with someone, she becomes hopelessly infatuated, a phenomenon commonly known as "love-obsessed."

Her love life was not smooth. In 1991, she fell in love with Bill Campbell, the male lead of "The Rocket Specialist," but they broke up a few years later.

In 1997, she began a relationship with photographer David Dugan and had a son, but they broke up soon after they did not get married.

After reading this news, Xiao Tu felt his internal energy was out of control and really wanted to give Du Gen an Adu Gen.

In 2002, she met and fell in love with British actor Paul Bettany, got engaged that same year, and quietly married him at Christmas. This time, things have settled down.

Xiao Tu also had an impression of Jennifer's more distant future; after 2005, her looks declined significantly, and she never played a particularly successful role again. Her husband, on the other hand, had incredible luck, getting into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and becoming Vision.

After winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Jennifer said in an interview, "Everyone's growth is like a unique book, and my first chapter is filled with anxiety and confusion."

As someone with the ability to travel through time, Xiao Tu could easily change Jennifer's fate. He could never be confused, because he knew the future.

What a pity, you took so many detours. At your peak, you were clearly a contender for the title of "ball flower".

If you are willing to listen to my suggestions, there will definitely be a brighter future for us.

For example, you don't need to study properly from now on. Anyway, even if you get into university, you won't be interested in finishing it and won't get your diploma; it'll just be a waste of time.

I can also recommend some promising movies to you. I won't make bad movies, and I certainly won't make those awful movies where all the filming is pointless.

You don't need to thank me, because I am a saint.

(End of this chapter)