"Who's beating whom? Let's hear it!"
"I'll go first. Right now, in the East, the Bulls are up 2-0 on the Hawks, and the Heat are up 2-0 on the Celtics. In the West, the Suns are up 2-0 on the Lakers, and the Mavericks are up 2-0 on the Spurs.
"The Bulls, Heat, Suns, and Mavericks haven't lost a single game. They all hold complete control of their series.
"And the key is.
"The teams leading the series have all looked very strong. Almost every game has been one-sided. When that happens two games in a row, it basically shows the gap in strength.
"In my opinion.
"These are the four teams that will advance, which means the Eastern Conference Finals will be Bulls vs. Heat, and the Western Conference Finals will be Suns vs. Mavericks."
"Yeah."
"The situation is already pretty clear."
"..."
The series leads made the outlook of the Eastern and Western Conference semifinals gradually clearer.
Of course.
For now, nothing had been decided yet. This was the playoff stage, a stage where everyone fought for victory and for the championship.
Until a series was officially over, miracles could still happen.
...
A best-of-seven series was still ongoing. The teams with big leads only had the advantage. They had not yet secured victory.
Even the Suns.
Even Blake Su, who had dropped 49 points in the last game, put up back-to-back 40-plus performances, and powerfully led his team to victory, still had to keep playing, game after game, and keep winning.
Only then could they advance.
However, as a rookie, in his very first playoff run, he had already delivered stunning performances that stood above the entire league.
Combined with his status as the youngest and first unanimous MVP.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
His popularity was soaring like crazy.
Even though he had not gone to Adidas for photo shoots, commercials, or anything like that for several days, he still caused Adidas's daily sales to rise significantly.
That was the effect of Blake Su's rapidly growing popularity.
It was also why Manager Wagner was frantically increasing production of the "Blake Su Generation" sneakers. He knew that no matter how many pairs they made.
They would definitely sell.
Of course.
Aside from Manager Wagner, who dared to fight, dared to gamble, and knew how to seize business opportunities, the league and every corner of society had also begun to take notice.
They had noticed Blake Su, the rising basketball star from China with incredible popularity.
First and foremost.
Teams such as the Magic, Celtics, Hornets, and Rockets had all set their sights on Blake Su, thinking of every possible way to land him next season.
For the Magic.
With "Superman" Howard inside and "Monster Rookie" Blake Su on the perimeter, two centers, one inside and one outside, would be more than enough to dominate the league.
For the Celtics.
Looking at the 0-2 deficit and watching the "Celtics Big Four" get beaten down by the "Heat Big Three," the front office knew that these former team leaders had truly gotten old.
However.
If they could bring in Blake Su, the strongest finishing piece, and form a "Big Five," then next season, they might be able to make one final push for the championship.
For the Hornets.
Chris Paul, a top-five, or even top-three, point guard in the league, had elite control of the game that was no worse than "Son of the Wind" Nash.
Unfortunately, he had nowhere to put it to use.
If they could get Blake Su, then with the Blake Su and Paul duo, never mind anything else, raising Blake Su's scoring average by 5 points should be a piece of cake.
As for the Rockets, this team with ordinary strength also had its own plans. Although the odds were not great, they still hoped to rely on Yao Ming's connection.
They would do everything they could to bring Blake Su over.
Besides those four teams, many other teams in the league also had front offices thinking about how to snatch Blake Su next season.
To snatch away this super center who had become a legend in his rookie season.
There were reasons for that.
First, Blake Su had only signed a one-year contract with the Suns. In other words, once this season ended, he would be a free agent.
That meant.
As long as the price was good enough, as long as the offer was high enough, once they moved Blake Su, they might be able to bring him to their side.
Second.
And of course, the most critical and important point, whether in the regular season or the playoffs, up to this point in the season.
Blake Su's performance had simply been too outstanding.
So outstanding that before the season had even ended, the entire league had already set its sights on him early, thinking about how to snatch him away. And that desire was incredibly fierce.
All of this... came from strength.
In the world of basketball, just like in the world of fantasy novels, the strong were respected. Only those with absolute strength could receive the very best treatment.
Right now.
Blake Su was using his undeniable performances to step toward that level of powerhouse, one step at a time. Or rather... he was racing toward it!
In addition.
Beyond the basketball league, companies such as Adidas and Lexus, which already had partnerships with Blake Su, hoped to continue working with him next year.
There were also.
Car brands such as Chevrolet and Ferrari that were interested in Blake Su. Some popular anime series hoped to use Blake Su as a model and draw him into their shows.
Many famous singers also hoped Blake Su could appear in their music videos and concerts.
On top of that.
Some major directors hoped to have the chance to work with Blake Su and let him make cameo appearances in their films as a special guest.
Naturally, major variety shows also hoped to invite Blake Su on to have some fun.
And so on.
Because of the popularity Blake Su had built up, every part of the league and every corner of society had begun paying attention to him.
Some had already made their move. Others were still waiting for the right opportunity, waiting for Blake Su to become even better, or for an even better time to cooperate.
...
There was no end to the topics surrounding Blake Su, and they would only keep growing.
So.
For now, set that aside.
Over in Asia.
The fans' love for Blake Su had become even more intense. However... putting basketball aside, three fresh waves of excitement had also recently swept across the region.
First.
The competitive online game League of Legends had taken Asia by storm in less than a year, becoming one of the favorite games among players across the region.
It was even starting to look like it might become the favorite, with no "one of" needed.
And it was precisely because of League of Legends.
That many once-popular games that had dominated the local gaming scene saw their popularity fall sharply.
League of Legends had exploded among the public.
Second.
The livestreaming industry was becoming more and more popular!
As major livestreaming platforms became more standardized and began offering higher-quality content, the real-time livestreaming industry entered the public eye at an extremely fast pace.
There were many types of livestreams, and the variety was only increasing.
That meant there would be more and more viewers, and the popularity naturally kept rising!
Among the categories, League of Legends in the gaming section was undoubtedly the biggest draw in gaming, and one of the biggest draws in the entire livestreaming industry.
League of Legends was popular, livestreaming was popular, and from that came the industry of livestreaming League of Legends. The two benefited each other, causing both the livestreaming industry and the gaming industry to explode in popularity at the same time.
Third.
Because of Blake Su, basketball livestreaming in Asia was also growing increasingly popular, and the related basketball merchandise around it was gradually increasing as well.