"It's hard for me to describe Kai Chen in words!"
As on of Kai Chen's best friends, Grayson Allen continued to praise him as always: "As long as he is here, we will not fear any team!"
Today, Grayson Allen still performed steadily, coming off the bench for 16 minutes, hitting three three-pointers and scoring 12 points.
Although he didn't play much, Allen was able to inject endless vitality into the Clippers on both offense and defense.
Carmelo Anthony also answered questions about his feelings for his teamate Kai Chen after the game.
"Kai, he might be the best teammate I've ever had in my career."
Facing interviews from multiple reporters, Carmelo said seriously: "I will act as his mentor on his growth path in the NBA and solve all his troubles!"
Today, Carmelo played 34 minutes, scoring 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
In addition, Carmelo also gave his all on the defensive end, recording 2 steals and 1 block.
Since coming to the Clippers, Carmelo has greatly improved his defensive performance.
So far, Kai has scored 38 points and 44 points in the two games at the beginning of the season!
Forty-four points is also the highest single-game score by a 2018 rookie so far!
It is also the first 40+ performance by a 2018 rookie this season!
Even more shocking, this was only Kai Chen's second game of his career!
"I said before that if the team needs me to score 40 points to win, then I will score 40 points!"
Facing the swarm of reporters after the game, Kai Chen's first sentence made them collectively ecstatic: "I always keep my word!"
"Kai, the team changed its defensive strategy at the beginning of the second half and arranged for you to guard LeBron."
The ESPN reporter continued: "This was also your first time playing against him in your career. What do you have to say about that?"
"And LeBron highly praised you after the game, saying you're the strongest player in this draft class."
"Haha, I can only say he has great vision!"
Kai said jokingly: "LeBron James is an extremely excellent player. He can score by himself and also drive his teammates to score."
"It's a great honor for me to receive his praise."
"Today you scored your first 40+ of your career and broke many records."
The TNT reporter asked: "Will you try to challenge 50+ or even 60+ in the future?"
"As I said before, I will do whatever the team needs me to do!"
Kai Chen wasn't obsessed with statistics: "If the team needs me to score 60+, then I'll do it!"
Kai Chen's remarks once again became a hot topic among fans after the game.
After winning the Sacramento Kings in the season opener, Kai once said he would score as many points as the team needed him to win.
Those words were questioned by many experts and fans.
But today, Kai directly delivered his first 40+ performance of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers—his cross-town rivals—while being defended by the league's top star, LeBron James!
This was exactly as Kai said: if he talked big, he had to back it up!
"I apologize for my previous remarks about Kai Chen. He is indeed a super scorer!"
Soon, on social media platforms, many fans began lining up to apologize:
"Kai Chen is one of the strongest rookies in recent years!"
"As long as Kai wants to score, he can easily crush any defense."
"Not only offensively—his defensive performance was also good. I have a feeling Kai Chen will become the strongest perimeter defender in the league in the future."
...
As Kai Chen's performance continued to rise, many major brands also began planning intensively.
"According to unofficial sources, Kai Chen rejected an Adidas contract just a few days ago!"
In the Nike headquarters conference room,
The discussion around Kai Chen's signing grew increasingly heated among executives.
"Do we really have to sign Kai Chen?"
Nike's chief designer, Robin, was the first to voice his opinion: "Although Kai Chen's performance is strong right now, in my opinion, he may just be a flash in the pan."
"Compared to him, I prefer Marvin Bagley of the Sacramento Kings and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks."
"They're both local stars with tremendous potential."
"That's right. The sneaker sales of local players will definitely be strong. Signing Bagley and Trae Young won't be a loss."
Many executives supported signing local players and pouring resources into building their market value.
"You're completely wrong about this!"
Another group of executives, led by the CEO, immediately pushed back.
"Before saying that, did you seriously look at Kai Chen's performance in these two games?"
"Even if you don't look at the stats, you should at least be paying attention to social media."
"Take out your phones and see who the hottest player on the internet is right now."
On Facebook and Instagram, the top three most-searched NBA players were:
LeBron James, who joined the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
And rookie Kai Chen of the Los Angeles Clippers, selected third overall.
Players ranked below Kai included superstars like Durant and Westbrook.
Through this, the Nike CEO made it clear that Kai Chen's influence in the basketball world far exceeded their expectations.
"We already missed Stephen Curry. We cannot miss Kai Chen again!"
The head of Nike's news department frowned: "As far as I know, Kai Chen previously rejected a ten-year, eighty-million-dollar contract from Adidas—and that was after tax."
As soon as those words were spoken, the entire conference room fell silent.
If Nike wanted to sign Kai Chen, their offer would definitely have to exceed Adidas's.
"Isn't this price a little too high?"
Some executives hesitated.
After all, no rookie had ever signed such a long-term sneaker endorsement in his first year.
Kai Chen's current performance was outstanding, and his popularity was exploding.
But could his sneaker sales and market appeal really match his on-court dominance?
If Kai Chen truly turned out to be a flash in the pan, Nike could be making a massive mistake.
"We'll offer Kai Chen twenty million dollars more than Adidas."
After a brief discussion, the Nike CEO made the final call without hesitation: "It's settled. If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility!"
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