NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 335 Having a Dinner with My Idol

Fine, whatever, I've already accepted it, what's the big deal?

The task is called "Invite your idol Allen Iverson to dinner." If he were still the unknown player he once was, inviting the league MVP Allen Iverson to dinner might have been a pipe dream. But now, as the league's newly crowned double MVP, inviting Iverson to dinner should be a viable option.

Thinking of this, Jia Fei breathed a sigh of relief. Now he just had to see what kind of reward he would get after completing this task.

Thinking about it was a no-brainer, but the problem was that Jia Fei and Iverson had never crossed paths. Indeed, despite being considered by many league stars and coaches to be the young man whose skills most resembled Iverson's, he had never even spoken to him. He vaguely remembered meeting him only twice.

Once in Philadelphia, and another time in Las Vegas.

If you have no connection with Iverson and want to invite him to dinner, you need to find someone who does have a connection with him.

Iverson has already left the league, so Jia Fei couldn't guess who those still in the league and who had contact with him were. Logically, he might know Iguodala, who was his teammate, but the problem is, he and Iguodala don't have any real connection!

Jia Fei suddenly remembered that the old captain seemed to have been teammates with Iverson when they were with the 76ers. He immediately called to ask, but the old captain said that he hadn't been in contact with Iverson for a long time.

Jia Fei was somewhat disappointed, and as he flipped through his contacts, he suddenly saw a name—Coach Cheeks.

Jia Fei remembered that Coach Cheeks had coached Iverson with the 76ers back in the day, and thought he might be able to help make a connection, so he tried making a phone call.

To his surprise, Coach Cheeks and Iverson were still in contact, which excited him greatly, and he immediately asked to be introduced to each other.

Coach Cheeks made a phone call for Jia Fei and gave him Iverson's contact information.

Jia Fei nervously held Iverson's phone number, dialed it, and after two rings, a clear male voice came from the other end: "Is this Jia Fei?"

"Yes...yes...it's me!" Jia Fei stammered. He hadn't expected Coach Cheeks to be so reliable, giving Iverson his contact information as well.

"Haha, what's wrong with you? Why are you stammering?" Iverson joked.

Iverson made a joke, which immediately eased Jia Fei's tension. He took a deep breath and said, "Hi Allen, I'm Jia Fei, a fan of yours, and I'd love to get to know you!" He blurted it all out, getting straight to the point without holding back.

"Really? That's great! I also really enjoy your games. We already know each other!" Iverson said frankly and without any affectation. He was a legendary figure, a true江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of honor and loyalty). As a friend, he would go to great lengths for you, but as a husband and father, he was inadequate because he spent money too extravagantly, had too many brothers, and many bad habits, which made his finances a mess.

Jia Fei remembered that it was about two years ago when Iverson's wife divorced him. Now Iverson has retired, and he has squandered all the money he earned from playing basketball. If it weren't for the fact that he was a lifetime endorser of Reebok and received an endorsement fee every year, he would really be living worse than the Mexican guy washing cars at the car wash.

"Um... Allen, can I treat you to a meal? I'd really like to ask you some questions about basketball techniques in person!" Jia Fei asked tentatively.

"Of course!" Iverson agreed with surprising ease. "It would be an honor to receive an invitation from the newly crowned MVP!"

Jia Fei was surprised that the invitation went so smoothly, which he found somewhat unbelievable.

After agreeing on the time and place, Jia Fei immediately shared the good news with his best friend, Art Mayor.

"You mean you're going to invite Allen Iverson to dinner?" Art Mayork was still quite surprised.

"Yes, that's right!" Jia Fei readily admitted.

"Why did you suddenly decide to invite him to dinner?" Art Mayork found it hard to understand Jia Fei's purpose. Why now of all times?

“I’m a fan, Art! AI is my idol, you know that!” Of course, Jia Fei couldn’t say that he was doing this to complete the system’s task, so he attributed his purpose to “fangirling”, which was perfectly reasonable.

“Alright, I’ll go with you!” Art Mayor didn’t ask any more questions. Jia Fei always had his reasons for doing things, and he just needed to be a companion.

"Of course, we'll go together!" Jia Fei laughed.

Jia Fei and Iverson arranged to meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Iverson was in Philadelphia at the time attending a Reebok event as a lifetime spokesperson for Reebok.

Although Allen Iverson was not born and raised in Philadelphia, his professional career was mainly spent here. He entered the league here and retired here. He has become a totem figure of the Philadelphia 76ers in the hearts of many fans, even though he never led the 76ers to a championship.

On a spiritual level, Iverson is far superior to the Running Man member. If the Running Man member had stayed in Cleveland, he might have had the opportunity to become a team icon.

On June 30, Jia Fei and Art Mayork traveled from Atlanta to Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, also known as the "City of Brotherhood," is the largest city in Pennsylvania, separated from New Jersey by only a river. It is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in the United States, having served as the capital before the founding of Washington, D.C., thus holding a very important place in American history.

The Declaration of Independence was born here, the Constitutional Convention was held here, and the Federal Constitution was born here. This is a special city.

Philadelphia's NBA team is the 76ers. Although it's not a powerhouse like the Lakers or Celtics, it's still a traditionally strong team in the NBA, having won championships and boasting superstars in its history.

Over the past 20 years, the 76ers' most famous star has been Allen Iverson, known as "The Answer".

Allen Iverson was a star with such a distinctive personality and a unique playing style. His height was less than 1.8 meters, and his rebellious nature, hip-hop style, cornrows, arm sleeves, and headband all deeply influenced a generation.

In his previous life, Jia Fei was one of the generation influenced by him. Back then, in order to practice Iverson's famous Crossover, he sprained his left ankle and almost missed the rest of the season.

Back then, he wore Reebok shoes, bought a 76ers jersey, had Allen Iverson as his QQ profile picture, and his desk and books were covered with Iverson stickers.

With the added boost of Iverson's mentality, I won't be afraid of those big men on the court. So what if I get blocked when I drive in? Iverson could go toe-to-toe with Shaq, so why would I be afraid to drive in against a big man?

Suffering minor injuries, he would tighten his shoelaces and keep playing. Facing formidable opponents, he never chose to run away or give up. This was probably the greatest encouragement Iverson gave to young people in China who loved basketball.