Bruce is Next

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As Pruitt sank his weight again, Li Zhen indeed met him head-on.

He showed no fear.

On the sidelines, Jamie shook his head in anger, muttering, "This jerk. He won't allow Li Zhen to get away with it."

At this moment, the atmosphere among the home crowd shifted unnaturally as they saw the slender Bruce fiercely defending once more. Previously, they had laughed, thinking that the Stanford player, number 10, was overestimating his abilities, finding it quite amusing.

But now, inexplicably, there was... some respect and pity. Especially from those fangirls who were drawn in by Bruce's handsome appearance.

Humans were always like this, just as Haruki Murakami said, "Between a high, unyielding wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."

This sentence carries a meaning of sympathizing with the weak.

But Li Zhen never needed sympathy, let alone pity.

When Pruitt came at him again, he fearlessly met him head-on... Thud!

The heavy impact caused him to stagger back two steps.

As the main referee hesitated on whether to call an offensive foul, the female spectators on the sidelines gasped in surprise. Li Zhen, standing firm, unexpectedly moved forward again, roaring, "Come on then!"

He steadfastly blocked Pruitt, his expression resolute and decisive.

Pruitt was somewhat taken aback.

At this moment, Li Zhen aggressively pressed forward. His defensive stance was highly assertive, causing Pruitt to feel flustered. He quickly passed the basketball.

"Soft!"

Kevin George scoffed disdainfully from the sidelines.

The home fans also erupted into boos at Pruitt's choice to pass: "That slender defender, even after being knocked back, could still come back strong. You're much stronger than him, yet you got scared off and passed?"

The comparison was clear. Mental weakness is far more terrifying than physical frailty.

As Kevin George jotted down words of praise like "strong style, tenacious defense, indomitable spirit..." on his notepad, Magic Johnson praised on TV, "Pruitt got cold feet. This shows he completely lacks the qualities of a superstar player. On the contrary, this slender Stanford player, he has the fighting spirit only superstars possess! I admire him, just like I admired Kobe Bryant."

His evaluation was very high.

Johnny Watson pursed his lips; he still believed that one play wasn't enough to judge anything.

Bang!

At this moment, Nick Young's quick stop and jump shot missed the basket.

Frank Benson once again grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to Li Zhen who was sprinting down the court.

Li Zhen caught the basketball and immediately surged towards the frontcourt like a shooting star. Pruitt chased after him, just a step behind.

When Li Zhen jumped and went for a left-handed layup, even though Pruitt had lost the chance to block, he still forcefully jumped up, trying to interfere.

In the instant Li Zhen released the ball from his hand... Thud!

Pruitt came crashing from behind.

Li Zhen immediately felt a force disrupting his balance.

If it were him before this game, he would have lost control and fallen to the ground. However, now, he could make slight adjustments in the air using his strength.

Whoosh!

At the moment the basketball swished through the net, Li Zhen landed smoothly. Though he stumbled a bit, he managed to steady himself after taking two steps forward and grabbing onto the hoop, dissipating all the force.

On the other hand, Pruitt, after exerting a sudden burst of power, found himself unable to continue. The instant he landed, his left foot twisted slightly. Even though he fell to the ground in one fluid motion, a groan of pain still escaped his lips.

The head referee quickly halted the game and called over the USC team doctor.

Pruitt was soon escorted to the sideline.

This outcome surprised many.

Bruce was perfectly fine, but Pruitt was the one injured? Was this some kind of miracle?

Jamie clasped his hands together, still startled by what had just happened.

Fortunately... nothing more serious occurred.

He quickly called Li Zhen over to the sideline and warned him again, "No more body collisions, understand? With your weight, you're like fragile porcelain on the court. If you continue this rough defense, I'll definitely bench you!"

Jamie Lin wore a stern expression.

Li Zhen, however, smiled and joked, "Don't bench me, I still need to help you achieve your first coaching victory."

Presently, Li Zhen had gained 10 points of strength from Pruitt. Now, he was someone with 22 points of strength. Though he still had a noticeable gap compared to the stronger players, he could easily hold his own against ordinary-level players, thanks to his advantage in speed and his innate ball-handling talent.

Moreover, even if Pruitt hadn't gotten injured, Li Zhen was confident he wouldn't be at a disadvantage. Because the 'Talent Baby' had told him before absorbing all the talents in his sleep: While Pruitt still had 36 points of strength talent, he partied recklessly last night, so today he'd be at most using 30 points.

Meanwhile, USC's head coach was angrily questioning Pruitt, "What's going on with you? How can't you handle that skinny Chinese player? And now you've gotten yourself injured."

Pruitt looked sullen and a bit aggrieved as he mumbled, "I don't know either. Every time I collide with him, I feel like my strength is draining away, like I'm being emptied."

The coach grew even angrier upon hearing this. "Who told you to go partying last night?"

Hearing the coach expose his actions, Pruitt's heart sank.

He knew he was in trouble. If they lost this game, they would definitely push all the blame onto him.

Then... not only would he face criticism from the school, but if this information went public, it would be a significant blow to his draft prospects. Right now, he was at best a second-round projection for the NBA draft. If negative news like this got out, he might even risk going undrafted.

Sigh!

He shouldn't have gone out partying last night. Otherwise, how could he have been outperformed by this infuriating kid?

Pruitt was extremely frustrated.

...

USC replaced Pruitt with a white guard named Courtney.

This female-sounding point guard was also slender, although he seemed a bit sturdier than Li Zhen.

However, in his first confrontation after coming on the court... Crack!

Bruce surprisingly gained the upper hand and directly stole the ball from him.

Subsequently, he drove down the court with the ball and once again made a layup.

At this point, not only was Kevin George diligently jotting down notes, but the scouts scattered throughout the arena were also furiously scribbling. Because what this play demonstrated was that... Li Zhen wasn't as frail as he appeared. He might be slightly inferior to Pruitt, but he was stronger than the other guards!

And that was more than enough.

After all, his speed and playmaking talent were visibly top-notch.

"Every March in the NCAA, many unknown players emerge. Bruce Lee could be the next one." Magic Johnson commented in the broadcast booth.