It was really a bit awkward.

First, he was a background board for Tang Tian's three-pointer at the start, then he was called for an offensive foul by Tang Tian, and now he was stolen!

If it hadn't happened before their eyes, no one would have believed it!

But it happened.

After Tang Tian's steal, he passed the ball to Walker, who dribbled past Cole and went to the frontcourt, throwing down a one-handed dunk.

Tang Tian's steal was beautiful, and he couldn't lose momentum with his finish.

Stealing from James and then dunking, that's a play that could make it onto NBA Top 5!

The reporters and fans at the sidelines all recorded this scene!

James finally got serious. Although his dribbling and shooting were relatively weak, he was still supremely talented. He directly bulldozed through Tang Tian, and Thompson's help defense from the weak side couldn't stop him.

The white team couldn't defend against a serious James. Back on the other end, the black team couldn't completely limit the white team's offense either. Tang Tian and Thompson stood on the outside with their three-pointers, stretching the space wide, and Walker played quite impressively with his passes and drives.

In the end, the black team led by James won 81 to 71. James exploded for 35 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, dominating the streetball court like he dominated the NBA.

For the white team, Walker had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists, while Thompson and Tang Tian each hit 5 three-pointers.

However, after the game, the fans on the sidelines were talking more about Tang Tian's steal from James in the first quarter than the game's outcome or James's performance.

James's performance was taken for granted in their eyes, but Tang Tian's steal, even the charge he drew and his three-pointers, were what surprised them.

After finishing the streetball game and getting paid six thousand dollars, his Charm value also increased from 23,000 to 29,000. This wave was worth it.

"Hey, Tang, you're hot, you know?" The next day, before training even started, Walker ran up to Tang Tian excitedly with his phone.

"Hot?" Tang Tian looked curious.

"Look at this, a short video of you stealing from James on Instagram." Walker handed the phone to Tang Tian as he spoke.

Tang Tian took it and looked at it. The video was taken by a spectator, and their position was perfect for clearly capturing the entire process. Moreover, the person taking the picture was a bit professional, the camera wasn't shaky and kept up well, James's serious face, the continuous crossover starts, and then the steal were all clearly captured.

The video had already broken 3 million likes, and the comments were over 100,000.

Generally, a million likes on Instagram is considered a minor hit, so the 3 million figure was a bit high.

It seemed that with the NBA lockout, fans had become even more active on social media.

He opened the comments and took a look.

"Wow! He's Asian! He stole from James!"

"He's Tang! The 31st pick this year! My Spurs rookie! (￣︶￣);"

"Tch, it's just a steal, right? These likes must be from a team of bots, right?"

"Upstairs, get lost. LeBron was obviously serious in this play. Tang's steal almost seized the only opportunity. He was a top defender in the NCAA!"

"Speaking of which, did my Spurs draft two defensive forwards this year? Is this preparation for LeBron in the Finals?"

"The Finals? Wake up, bro, it's 2011, and my Spurs haven't been to the Finals in 3 years!"

"How come I remember that Tang only worked out for the Heat before the draft? Is this revenge?"

"Rejected by the Heat after a workout, then drafted by the Spurs, Game 7 of the Finals, Tang steals from LeBron on the last possession, the Spurs win the championship, I've already written the script for the new NBA season! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o"

"Hello upstairs, I'm NBA Commissioner David Stern, come to the league office to report tomorrow!"

"Speaking of which, is there any news about the lockout? When will the new season start?"

"+1, I want to see the opening game of the new season before I die."

……

Tang Tian shook his head speechlessly after reading it.

The comments started by discussing the video, but the topic drifted further and further away. The lockout was really making fans restless.

But no matter the reason, the likes were real.

Walker then showed Tang Tian other videos taken by the same person, including him hitting a three-pointer in front of James and drawing an offensive foul, which, while not as many as the first video, had still broken a million likes.

It seemed that he really had become a minor celebrity.

The identity of an Asian, a rookie on the Spurs, and the workout incident, all these factors combined made it hard for the video not to go viral.

Becoming a bit famous definitely wasn't a bad thing, at least it would help his popularity.

Now that the NBA wasn't playing, the only way to quickly build up popularity was through these amateur games.

After Tang Tian finished watching, he returned the phone to Walker and then called Thompson over as well.

"How about we take a few days to play in the Drew League?" Tang Tian suggested.

"The Drew League?" Walker and Thompson both looked puzzled.

They knew about the Drew League, an amateur league in Los Angeles, and some NBA players would occasionally go there, but overall it wasn't very well-known.

"We can't just train, the things we train need to be tested in real combat." Tang Tian added.

Walker and Thompson both nodded, there was some truth to what he said.

After the three of them discussed it, they decided to go to Los Angeles tomorrow at Tang Tian's suggestion.

Tang Tian said that going to play was only one aspect, and what he didn't say was that James playing in the streetball game reminded him of how popular the Drew League was during the lockout period in his previous life. It was during the lockout offseason that NBA superstars like James, Kobe, and Harden all appeared, and the Drew League instantly exploded in popularity.

If he could happen to appear at the league venue with James, it would definitely boost their popularity even more.

That night, Tang Tian tried to contact the fan who filmed the steal video and arranged to meet him.

He was a 17-year-old high school student named Jeff Carl, a basketball enthusiast.

Tang Tian directly hired him, had him join his team, and tasked him with filming his highlights in the Drew League later on.

The previous video had gone viral, and if he could add some more later, this Instagram account could be used as a marketing account, specifically to accumulate fans for himself.

Now that there were no games to play due to the lockout, he had to use other methods to build up his popularity if he wanted to find better endorsements.

The news of James joining the Drew League sparked a new wave of enthusiasm on Twitter, and Tang Tian also had Fegan follow up in a timely manner, placing their hard-training trio on the opposing team that James would be playing against.

This instantly exploded Twitter with excitement.

The heat from Tang Tian's steal from James in the streetball game hadn't subsided yet, and now they were going to stage a second season?

The Drew League's official website was also very perceptive, and put Tang Tian in a head-to-head position with James. Although the league was not for profit and tickets were free, it needed popularity to continue to exist, and it couldn't miss out on this opportunity for publicity.

This completely excited the fans, and they all put down their phones and prepared to go to the game to watch this explosive second season showdown.