NBA: Basketball Legend.

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Crazy Media Coverage Attracts Attention Back Home

Chapter 12: Crazy Media Coverage Attracts Attention Back Home

”Ding! Congratulations to the host for advancing to the NCAA Championship Top 32. You’ve earned 2 Honor Points!”

”Ding! Congratulations to the host for tying the single-game scoring record for a freshman in the NCAA Championship. You’ve earned 1 Honor Point!”

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow.

Tying a record gets you points? So what happens if I break one? Double that?

Back in his dorm room, Chen Yan flopped down on his bed and opened the system interface.

He quickly converted two Honor Points into one Attribute Point and dropped it straight into his mid-range shot. The stat ticked up from [77] to [78].

Mid-range was his bread and butter—most of his buckets came from slashing and pull-ups, not threes. The NCAA wasn’t the NBA; you didn’t need to rain from deep to dominate. Solid fundamentals could still run the game.

Plus, his three-point stat was still trash. Boosting that was gonna take more points, more time, and—let’s be real—more cash. That was a future problem.

Just as he was closing the system window, a loud shout came from the living room.

”Chen! You’re famous!” KD burst in, practically bouncing with excitement, his laptop clutched in his hands.

He sprinted over to Chen Yan’s bed and flipped the screen toward him.

”Check this out!”

”A Supernova is Born! 33 Points to Tie Carmelo Anthony’s Record!”

”A Player Made for the Highlight Reel? Nah, That’s Just His Normal Game.”

”Breaking Ankles Like It’s Nothing! He Danced Through March Madness!”

”X-Factor? He’s Already the New Hero of the Texas Longhorns!”

Chen Yan stared at the headlines flooding the screen. They were wild, even a little ridiculous.

Are these guys writing about a player or pitching a superhero movie?

Still, he couldn’t help the grin forming on his face.

Outrageous? Sure. But damn, it’s fun to read.

He finally got it—why Durant loved scrolling through his own news. Watching the media go wild and fans hype you up? That feeling was addictive. But, of course, you had to back it up on the court. If you didn’t, it wasn’t just one guy dragging you—it’d be the entire internet.

And this kind of coverage wasn’t just an ego boost. It was real exposure. Legit value.

After just two tournament games, Chen Yan’s name was starting to buzz across the U.S. Not just in fan forums either—NBA scouts were now watching. His name had officially appeared in the latest mock drafts by ESPN and Draft Express.

ESPN had him as the 10th pick in the second round.

Draft Express was even more generous—he was at the very start of the second round!

The rankings weren’t high yet, but it didn’t matter. Chen Yan was thrilled just to see his name on that list.

That’s the NBA door right there, he thought, his chest tightening a little.

Getting drafted was a dream in his past life. Now? It was actually within reach.

The weight of March Madness hit him hard—this tournament really could change a man’s fate.

As long as he kept ballin’ out, there was no doubt his ranking would rise.

Everything felt fast, like it came outta nowhere. But credit where credit’s due—NBA scouts knew their stuff. Two games were all it took for them to spot talent and potential.

And of course, it didn’t hurt that there was a massive market behind him.

The Chinese fanbase was a monster. Yao Ming had already paved the way, and now every NBA team had their eye out for the next Chinese star. It wasn’t just about basketball—it was business. No team was gonna turn down that kind of money.

And sure enough, the hype wasn’t just stateside.

Back in China, Chen Yan’s name was blowing up.

Sports Weekly ran a full-column feature on him, breaking down his performances in the two NCAA games, complete with all the stats.

Slam Dunk, Basketball Pioneer, NBA Time & Space—basically every big basketball mag in the country—had started doing deep dives on Chen Yan’s journey.

Even during the midday NBA recap segment on Sports Express, they squeezed in a quick highlight reel of Chen Yan between game reports, tossing in a brief intro of his March Madness run.

The media machine was rolling.

Soon after, a diehard fan climbed the firewall and uploaded Chen Yan’s game highlights to one of China’s biggest basketball forums.

”Is this Chen Yan? Man, I’d believe it if you told me that was Iverson out there!”

”Chen Yan’s finally broken out after a year!”

”Broken out? This dude’s straight-up cheating!”

”Goddamn! When did we ever have a guard this good in China?”

”If he keeps this up, he’s got a legit shot at the NBA—and maybe even the Olympics next year!”

The comment section was lit.

New fans jumped aboard the hype train, while old haters sheepishly returned to apologize.

Fans are simple creatures—ball out and they’ll praise you like a king. Mess up, and they’ll roast you alive. No in-between. No filter.

Although the reports had already made some noise, most Chinese fans still didn’t know much about the NCAA. They just knew it was where NBA stars were born—intense, competitive, and a breeding ground for the league’s best.

Su Qun, editor-in-chief of Basketball Pioneer, posted a detailed blog to fill in the gaps.

In it, he broke down the Texas Longhorns’ history, NCAA rules, the hype around ”March Madness,” and Chen Yan’s explosive performance in the tournament’s first two rounds.

The blog blew up the moment it went live.

It also earned Su Qun a new group of followers. He was hyped. Said he’d keep tracking Chen Yan’s progress—and if he got the chance, he’d even fly to the U.S. for a face-to-face interview.

He figured it out fast: ”Chen Yan” was now the keyword for traffic.

But while his fame was exploding both at home and abroad, Chen Yan had no time to soak in the spotlight. The Sweet 16 tipped off in just four days.

And next up? The University of Kansas—a traditional NCAA powerhouse.

Back in the regular season, Kansas had edged out Texas in overtime. So yeah, there was some beef between the two squads.

The media had already dubbed this one the ”Texas Revenge Game.”

——

March 27, Houston Toyota Center

The big game day arrived. The arena was packed once again—sold out and louder than ever.

But this time, the atmosphere felt different. Unlike the previous games, a huge chunk of the crowd tonight had come just to see one guy—Chen Yan.

People love an underdog story. A nobody fighting his way to the top? That’s the stuff fans eat up.

Before tip-off, ESPN reporters were out interviewing fans in the stands.

”I drove here all the way from San Antonio just to watch Chen play!”

”I’ve seen his highlights—this kid is unreal!”

”I know it’s hard for Asians to break into this sport. I just hope he keeps ballin’ out. I’ll always support him,” said an Asian fan proudly.

And it wasn’t just hardcore hoopheads. Chen Yan had also attracted a small group of fans for... different reasons.

”He’s the hottest topic at our school right now. And come on, he’s super handsome, right?”

”If he didn’t play basketball, he could totally be a model or something...”

Suddenly, the noise level in the arena spiked.

Texas players were entering for warm-ups!

Chen Yan and Durant came strolling out of the tunnel, each munching on a bag of instant noodles.

Yup—same entrance, same iconic moment.

Except this time, they switched flavors.

”Yo, Martin—why the hell you look like you just walked off a shampoo commercial?” Chen Yan chuckled, glancing at Martin Hill beside him.

Martin had barely played 1 minute and 7 seconds combined in the tournament so far. He was more like a lucky mascot than a player.

”What’s the problem, bro? It’s a nationwide broadcast tonight! If the cameras catch me, I gotta look fresh!”

Chen Yan was speechless.

He almost forgot—tonight’s game was being broadcast live all across the U.S.

While warming up, Chen casually glanced around the arena. Reporters were posted at every corner. Cameras pointed from all angles. A ridiculous number of national and local stations were present.

Compared to the earlier rounds, this one felt huge.

His first nationally televised game as a starter.

Chen Yan knew—tonight, he had to show out.

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