I'm No Worse Than Anyone Else

NAA teams usually draw their exhibition opponents from other conferences, since that helps raise a team's strength of schedule and its RPI① ranking. But that wasn't an absolute rule. The A League itself was strong, and teams of similar caliber would invite one another too. Wake Forest had finished dead last in the A League last season, while Virginia Tech had finished third from the bottom. Still, compared with the Demon Deacons, the Virginia Tech Hokies were a far more mature roster. Their starting lineup included three seniors — among them Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell, hailed as "the best backcourt duo in the A League." Dowdell especially. The 1.90-meter combo guard had not only made the A League All-Star team last season but also the A League All-Defensive Team — he could do it on both ends of the floor. On game night, Virginia Tech's home floor, Cassell Coliseum, was packed, with not an empty seat in the house. Though the Hokies had struggled last season, they had crushed the Coppin State Eagles 94–43 in their season opener, and that had Virginia Tech fans brimming with hope for the new season. That wasn't the only reason they'd come to the arena, though. When the cameras cut to Curry on the sideline, jeers rippled through the building. Never underestimate the reach of The Associated Press. As the most influential wire service in the country, it was practically the NAA's own EPN. Sitting in the stands, Yang Shuai could feel at that moment just how heavy the pressure on Curry really was. "I'm not sure what you did for Curry was a good thing." Seeing the crowd's reaction, Cole couldn't help turning to Yang Shuai. Coming off the bench would mean fewer chances to show what he could do — but far less outside attention, and much lighter defensive pressure from opponents. "You know what Virginia Tech means to Stephen." One of the main reasons Yang Shuai had talked Curry into this in the first place was that at Wake Forest he'd have the chance to beat the teams that looked down on him. "Stephen might not be able to carry that kind of pressure." As he spoke, Cole glanced toward the front rows of the stands. Curry's father, Dell Curry, had come to the game tonight too. "David, I'll be honest with you — Stephen is going to be an NBA superstar." Yang Shuai turned and looked at Cole with a smile. "Whoa." Cole's jaw dropped. It seemed that "Curry has a chance to make it in the NBA," from Yang Shuai's scouting report, had been a conservative assessment all along. While they talked, the opening ceremony began. When Curry was introduced as a starter, the jeering rose from every corner of the arena. Cole reached up and rubbed his chin. Yang Shuai's claim sounded exaggerated, but a game like this really did separate ordinary players from stars. Visser won the tip for the Demon Deacons, and the game was underway. Wake Forest's opening offense ran through Westbrook, but against Dowdell's defense, one drive into the paint for a hop-step layup got disrupted, and one pull-up midrange jumper missed — nothing to show for either. Westbrook's strong debut had earned him a place in the offense. It had also made him a priority target for opposing defenses. While the Demon Deacons stumbled out of the gate, the Hokies scored in succession through Dowdell and fourth-year center Coleman Collins, building a lead in a hurry. Seeing it, Prosser flashed a new play with a hand signal, and the team began running its offense through Curry. Westbrook drove and kicked to Curry in the deep corner. Curry faked the recovering Gordon off his feet — but his first three-point attempt clanged off the rim. Drum read where the ball would come down, grabbed the offensive board, and swung it back out to Curry, who had drifted to the wing. Curry rose over Gordon's closeout and let it fly from three... a straight-up air ball! For one instant, the arena fell silent. Any Demon Deacons fans who had made the trip would have felt their hearts stop right about then, screaming for someone to save them. The hotter-headed ones would already be letting loose: "Why did we start this guy? Get him off the floor!" Even Prosser couldn't help rubbing his forehead. Even Yang Shuai, in that instant, clenched both hands, seized by the thought that maybe he had gotten this wrong. After all, he had pulled Curry away from Davidson College, where he was supposed to go, and brought him to Wake Forest. The competitive environment around Curry had completely changed. Would he still become that NBA superstar Curry? After the instant of silence, boos came pouring down through the arena. So it was true, then — the big-name schools, The Associated Press, the fans in the stands, none of them had misjudged Curry. He simply couldn't play at the NAA level. The boos rolled over Curry like waves, and he was a little boat on the verge of being swallowed whole. Jogging back on defense, Curry lowered his head and sank as if into an abyss. Every sound around him seemed to vanish in an instant. The air-balled shot had already rolled out of bounds, and his confidence had rolled farther than the ball. Everything around him blurred. Only the sneakers on his feet stayed in view — the one thing he could still see clearly. And right then, he saw them: the AJ4s on his feet, and the words written on the upper. "I'm no worse than anyone else." Dowdell took a pass from Gordon and buried another three from outside. The lead stretched to 7–0! The boos turned to cheers almost instantly. Compared with the Demon Deacons, it was the more mature, better-synced Hokies who looked like the team about to make some noise this season. The Demon Deacons came down again. With Westbrook and Curry both coming up empty, they began looking inside to Visser. Visser had a size edge over Collins, but the Hokies' defense collapsed fast, and he was quickly swarmed into a double team, forced to throw the ball back out to Curry on the perimeter. The Hokies' defense was like a flower, opening and closing with equal speed — by the time the ball finally found Curry's hands, there was hardly anything left on the shot clock. There was no time for another set, and Gordon, matched up on him, hadn't given up an inch. Curry dipped the ball low with a drive fake, and the moment his head came up, he rose straight into a three. Gordon reacted fast, flying at him to contest. The home crowd, seeing his choice, was already winding up to boo again — after all, just one possession ago, Curry had air-balled one right over Gordon. But on a nearly identical play, this shot's arc was nothing like the last one. It looked pure from the moment it left his hand. Swish! With a crisp snap of the net, Curry's third three-point attempt finally went down! The Demon Deacons' bench exploded. "Nice one, Chef!" Even Harvey Hale — the man who'd technically lost his starting spot to Curry — leapt up and did the stirring-the-pot celebration for him. With his humble, low-key nature and that baby face of his, Curry was well liked around the team. Yang Shuai loosened his clenched hands at last. "That one had some luck in it," Cole said. "It did." Yang Shuai didn't deny it. Then he added, "But that doesn't matter." Cole looked at him, not quite following. Curry had broken the Demon Deacons' scoring drought and given the whole team a lift, and they managed to stop the Hokies on a halfcourt possession. But the Hokies retreated fast on defense, denying the Demon Deacons the transition chances off their own defense that they'd found in earlier games, and the two sides settled back into the halfcourt. Wake Forest kept running its offense through Curry. Swinton set a beautiful screen, and Curry came off it into an open three. But Dowdell showed why he'd made the A League All-Defensive Team, sprinting to close out and getting a hand in as Curry shot. The three rattled off the rim, and another round of boos rose at once. Curry had answered those jeers with a three — the most direct reply there was — and that had stung like a slap across the face. Now it seemed Cole had been right: nothing but a lucky shot! The ball smacked the back rim and bounded high into the air. Visser used his size advantage, tipping it out in the teeth of the double team. The ball hit the floor of the paint and bounced right into Curry's hands. Only then did everyone on the floor notice that Curry had drifted in from the three-point line, all the way to a step inside the free-throw line. Before anyone could react, he finished with a little standing floater for two. And after scoring, he did nothing at all — he simply turned and ran back on defense. Watching this, Cole fell deep in thought. This stretch from Curry reminded him of the scrimmage on the official visit. Curry had been calm as a block of ice. The Hokies' possession came up empty. And coming back the other way — Curry again. Standing out at the three-point line, he suddenly back-cut Gordon and flashed to the rim, took Drum's pass, and finished a heavily contested double-clutch layup — scoring, and drawing a hand foul from Gordon as he chased! Curry walked to the free-throw line, face as blank as ever, while the arena buzzed and seethed. No one had expected it. No one could quite believe it. Curry had single-handedly dragged his team back level! Before that three went in, he had looked exactly like the judgment of those big-name schools, of The Associated Press — a kid who simply couldn't play NAA basketball! The whiplash of that contrast was more than they could stomach. Only now did Cole finally understand what Yang Shuai had meant by "doesn't matter." More than the three going in, what mattered was that Curry had found his confidence again. And it wasn't just a hot hand — Curry was playing smarter. He rarely dribbled, attacking almost the moment he caught the ball, and he was no longer fixated on threes from deep. Cole thought of the past few days, how every evening when he got off work he'd kept seeing Curry sitting in Yang Shuai's office. He'd wondered at the time, figuring the kid had gotten hooked on the internet like some grade-schooler. But clearly, Curry's explosion was no accident. Curry sank the free throw — eight straight points on his own — and pushed the Demon Deacons in front. Cole turned to Yang Shuai once more. "Looks like you were right." Yang Shuai smiled, eyes never leaving the court. "The game isn't over yet." Hearing those familiar words, Cole froze for a beat — then couldn't help laughing too. Yes. The night that belonged to Curry was only just beginning. ①: Rating Percentage Index — a metric that weighs not only a team's own winning percentage but also the winning percentages of its opponents and its opponents' opponents. It is a key reference for invitations to the NAA Tournament.