NBA: Basketball Legend.

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Fame Soars, and the Lottery Calls

Inside the Texas Longhorns’ locker room, it was chaos—loud cheers, hollering, and even a few over-the-top cries for mercy.

”Bro! Not the shampoo again, that’s the third time today!”

”Get his ass! Bubble war champ right here!”

Outside the door, Toyota Center staff passing by just chuckled and shook their heads. Typical college kids. Wild after a win, and always finding new ways to blow off steam. For the Longhorns, bubble wars had become tradition. After every high-stakes victory, it was their sacred way to unwind.

Amid the madness, Chen Yan sat down, grabbed a towel, and wiped the sweat off his face. Then, like muscle memory, he summoned his system.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host for winning the game. Reward: 2 Honor Points.

Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host for breaking the NCAA tournament rookie scoring record. Reward: 2 Honor Points.]

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host for breaking the NCAA tournament single-game scoring record. Reward: 3 Honor Points.]

”Damn,” Chen Yan muttered with a grin. ”Today was wild.”

Eight points in total. Not bad at all. He’d figured it out now—winning games wasn’t enough. If he wanted more Honor Points, he had to shatter records, make noise, leave a mark.

He spent the points immediately—no hesitation. Seven points from tonight, plus the one he had saved, gave him eight. He poured them into his shooting stats: +2 to mid-range and +2 to three-point shooting.

> [Name]: Chen Yan

Height: 198cm

Weight: 88kg

Wingspan: 218cm

Standing Vertical: 98cm

Max Vertical: 105cm

Ball Control: 90

Speed: 92

Stamina: 90

Court Vision: 84

Driving: 90

Layup: 85

Mid-Range Shot: 80

Three-Point Shot: 75

Free Throw: 80

Passing: 85

Positioning: 90

Steal: 88

Strength: 65

Rebound: 58

Defense: 65

Block: 68

Spirit: 95

Skills: God-Level Steal, Answer Crossover, Phantom Step, Hot Start (Passive)

Honor Points: 0

Overall Rating: A

His eyes lit up. A new passive skill—Hot Start—had just been unlocked. That why’s he’d come out blazing in the first half. And with mid-range up to 80 now? He was getting there. Slowly but surely, he could feel it—the grind, the growth. It was addicting.

Just as he stepped out of the locker room, he took two steps and—bam!—he was mobbed.

Flashbulbs. Shouting. A tsunami of reporters with mics shoved inches from his face.

”Chen! You just broke the NCAA championship scoring record! How does it feel to make history?”

Chen Yan blinked, barely dodging a mic poking toward his chin. ”It’s... surreal. It feels incredible. We fought hard out there, and I gave it everything I had. To walk away with a record like that... it’s just wild.”

”Chen! Walk us through that ankle-breaker on Sasha Cowan. What was going through your mind?”

He smiled, a little sheepishly. ”To be honest, it was just a basic shake. Nothing fancy. Sasha’s a solid defender—really locked in. Only players that locked in that hard are the ones who end up stumbling like that.”

Laughter erupted from the crowd of journalists, but more questions came flying in.

”Chen, do you have a girlfriend? One? Two?”

”Earlier, we saw you and Kevin Durant eating instant noodles before the game. Is that a ritual or something?”

”Are you declaring for the draft this year?”

”If China’s national team calls you, will you suit up for the 2008 Olympics?”

The questions were relentless—like cafeteria kids during free lunch. The crowd of media was easily five times bigger than after any of his previous games. This wasn’t a few campus journos anymore. National reporters were here. Even a few international ones with Chinese media tags.

Chen Yan couldn’t answer them all. Hell, he barely heard half of them. He picked a few he liked, dodged the weird ones, and gave tight, focused responses. This wasn’t the time to mess up with something too personal or political.

He flashed a grin, nodded to the cameras, and eased his way out of the scrum.

Tonight wasn’t just a win.

It was the night he arrived.

The roar of the crowd still echoed in his ears. The spotlight was hotter now. His name wasn’t just trending on campus anymore—it was climbing the charts nationally. And if the scouts hadn’t noticed him before tonight?

They sure as hell had now.

———

After leaving the Toyota Center, Chen Yan didn’t head back to the team hotel. Instead, he was invited over to Yao’s place.

Yao Ming was absolutely fired up after watching Chen Yan’s game. The kid’s skillset and physical tools were on another level—especially compared to the guards on the Chinese national team. Honestly, Yao even had a wild thought: If this guy could make it to the NBA, develop for a year, and then suit up for Team China... maybe—just maybe—we’d actually have a shot at the 2008 Olympics!

But even with basketball on their minds, the two didn’t bring it up at all once they were home. Just like how normal folks don’t wanna talk shop after clocking out, pro hoopers like to switch off when they’re off the court.

Yao, behind that towering frame and stoic court presence, was a total chill homebody. His guilty pleasure? Gaming.

Lately, he’d been completely hooked on World of Warcraft. And it just so happened that Chen Yan had played a ton of WoW in his past life, so once the topic came up, it was game over.

”Man, I logged in yesterday and got hunted down by some high-level Tauren warrior. Dude was like a ghost—no level tag, just one-shot my hunter and killed my bird on purpose. Tell me that’s not sick,” Yao said, his voice rising in dramatic frustration.

Chen nearly spit out his drink. ”Yo, that’s straight-up abuse! I got a Tauren warrior too, but I don’t go around griefing people. I just camp the body for like... three hours max.”

”Hahaha! Well, if I run into you next time, go easy, alright?” Yao said, cracking up.

The two were laughing like teenagers when Yao’s mom came over, beaming. ”Boys, midnight snack is ready.”

”Thanks, Auntie!” Chen said with a grin as he followed the smell of deliciousness.

Authentic Chinese home-cooked food—especially in a foreign country—hit different. Chen dug in, heart full and stomach happier.

——

Meanwhile, back in the sports world, Chen Yan’s 62-point explosion had completely set the U.S. media on fire!

”The Madman of March Madness! Took Down Title Favorites Kansas All By Himself!”

”62 Points! A New NCAA Championship Record Is Born!”

”Answer Plus? Meet the New Gen Ankle Terminator!”

”Wade With 5 Extra Centimeters! Chen Danced a Solo Waltz Out There!”

”Jordan’s College Numbers? This Kid Just Blew ’Em Out the Water!”

American sports media didn’t hold back. If it could draw clicks and eyeballs, they were gonna print it in bold.

And man, did the exposure work. Chen Yan’s name was now echoing coast to coast. If you’d watched even one game of March Madness, you knew who Chen Yan was.

With the spotlight fully on him, Chen’s draft stock started skyrocketing.

ESPN Draft Express bumped him up to the 18th pick—mid-first round.

Another major site? 15th overall. That’s lottery territory.

In just three games, Chen went from ”Who?” to ”Lottery Pick.” That had never happened in NCAA history.

But the hype wasn’t just in the States. Back home in China, Chen’s name was starting to circulate more and more. News sites, forums, blogs—everyone was talking about him.

That said, not all Chinese fans were convinced. A lot of them didn’t understand what NCAA ball was really about.

”Isn’t that just college basketball?”

”Not pro-level, so scoring 60+ probably isn’t even that hard, right?”

To shut that talk down fast, Su Junyang—the editor-in-chief of Basketball Pioneer—decided to drop some facts. He didn’t lecture. He didn’t explain.

He just posted numbers:

Chris Paul’s NCAA high? 30 points.

Carmelo Anthony? 33.

Dwyane Wade? 35.

Even His Airness, Michael Jordan? 39.

Kobe? ...Well, Kobe just said: ”I’m out, not my convo.”

Once the raw stats hit, the doubters couldn’t say a damn thing. The lightbulbs clicked on.

It wasn’t that the NCAA was easy.

It was that Chen Yan was just that damn good.