Almighty Coach

It was 10:00 A.M. at Dai Li’s training center.

“Everyone take a break!” Dai Li clapped his hands, signaling for the players to pause their training.

“We’ve been training for two hours. Finally, we’re getting a break.”

“The morning training actually wasn’t as intense as I’d imagine it to be. It was similar to our training back in China.”

“Perhaps this is because we’re just beginning. Coach Li did not want to increase our workload too much. Maybe in a few days, our workload will increase drastically.”

Players walked to the side of the court in twos and threes, consciously forming a line in front of Dai Li.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Get ready to eat,” Dai Li said as he waved his arms. After his wave, some staff appeared and walked towards them with dining carts.

The players were dumbfounded. They were wondering if they had heard him wrong.

“Eat? Did Coach Li just say eat? I didn’t mishear him, did I?”

“I also heard it.”

“It’s only ten in the morning. Isn’t it a bit early to be eating?”

“Why are they pushing dining pushcarts over here when the Clippers’ training center must have specialized dining halls? Do they actually want us to eat here at the court?”

Everyone seemed lost. The staff with the pushcarts had moved in front of them. Everyone looked over the carts. The first one had milk cartons; the second one had sliced apples placed on small plates; the third one had plates of sticky stuff.

“Everyone will have one carton of skimmed milk, a plate of apples, and a plate of this nutritional meal,” Dai Li said as he pointed to the pushcarts.

“So we’re getting a snack!”

“We get snacks in the middle of training? The NBA sure is exquisite.”

The players moved to claim their food one-by-one. They did not pay much attention to the milk and the apple, but they were very interested in the pasty “nutritional meal.”

“What is this plate of paste?”

“This must be a snack that the nutritionist of the NBA specifically prepared, right?”

“I know this stuff; I think it’s used to build muscle. Trainers have their thinner players eat this stuff to help them bulk up.”

“There must be some protein powder in this, right?”

“There are also other kinds of vitamins and minerals. I’m not sure what the difference is between the standard nutritional meal here in the U.S. and the one back in China. I’ll test the taste first.”

“It tastes pretty decent. I think it’s vanilla flavored.”

The players each had their nutritional meals in their hands. They talked as they ate, some of them actually enoying the food.

Wood looked agonizingly at the snack in front of him. He gritted his teeth and, as if he had finally mustered enough courage, grabbed the spoon and put it into his mouth.

It’s been years since I last ate this stuff. It still tastes the same. If I have to eat this every day, this will be true torture, Wood thought. He looked at the Chinese players and found that they were actually enjoying the stuff.

“Wait ’til you’ve eaten this for an entire week. I bet you won’t be enjoying it anymore!” Wood mumbled to himself.

…

At dinner, the players gathered in the dining hall and talked amongst themselves as they ate.

“I thought that we would be having steak for every meal in the United States. There are so many vegetables in front of us: cucumber, broccoli, and lettuce.”

“This is chicken breast, isn’t it? There’s also freshly squeezed orange juice. There’s not even sugar in it so it tastes a little sour.”

“Why are you looking for steak? Didn’t we already eat grilled beef in the afternoon?”

“That grilled beef had a layer of cheese on it, so I couldn’t get used to eating it. It doesn’t compare to the boiled beef back at home!”

“That’s enough. This is the United States. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

“Now that I think about it, this’ll be our fifth meal of the day, right?”

“You’re right. We also ate at ten in the morning and three in the afternoon. Moreover, we also drank one liter of that glutamic acid drink. Back in China, the meals were not as detailed and specific.”

“Isn’t that right? Back in China, we could go out at night and order skewered meat or something. There’s nothing here. I asked around just now, and we’re 12 miles away from the city. There are no buses here. If we don’t have a car, we have to stay in this training center. We can’t go anywhere.”

“The United States, huh. Everything is so good, but it’s so boring…”

…

Wood had predicted that if the players would get sick of their nutritional meals after a week of eating them. In reality, the players began getting disgusted after only three days.

Food in the form of a paste did not taste great. If one were to eat it occasionally, one would probably be able to accept it. When one had to eat it every day more than once, it was agony. Furthermore, the team was used to Chinese delicacies. This made it even harder to put it the pasty substance into their mouths.

The intensity of the training had gradually increased and a lot of players felt the pressure. They had finally realized that NBA training was not something simple or easy.

…

In the morning, the players arrived early at the dining hall to eat.

“I can’t take it anymore. The training is difficult every day and they want us to eat this garbage!” A player pointed at the pasty snack on the plate and threw a spoon at it.

“That’s right! Training is the same everywhere. We didn’t have to come to the United States! There was no need for us to look for Dai Li at the Clippers! The training is tiring every day. He even controls what we drink and what we eat!”

“We’re eating boiled meat and vegetables every day. They aren’t even flavorful. Also, how am I supposed to eat this bullsh*t nutritional meal?”

“There’s nothing here apart from this training center, not even a supermarket! We’ve finally come to the U.S., but we can have to stay here. We’re not in prison, so what right does he have to keep us stuck here?”

“Coach Li isn’t even a professional basketball coach. He’s never played the game a day in his life! Why should we listen to him?”

“Yeah, he’s an outsider! What gives him the right to train us? He was only great at track and field coaching. Basketball isn’t track and field! What does he know!?”

“No more training. We’re not training today. Let’s go find Coach Li and talk it out with him! We’re not his slaves! We want to go out and have a good meal!”

A few players grumbled. Emotion had sparked as if a bunch of dried firewood had caugh aflame, burning and growing ever stronger in intensity.

The gradually increasing training intensity, as well as the disgusting nutritional meal every day, kindled a rebellious spirit in the players. They started to feel conflicted about Dai Li.

It was actually a normal phenomenon. The players who joined the national basketball team were the best in the CBA. They were the core players on their respective teams. A lot of them enjoyed special privileges. Now that they were at the Clippers’, things were not going their way. They were suffering. It was natural for them to be mentally offput by this change in their circumstances.

They would not dare to oppose the coaches of their respective teams or Chenggong Sun so agressively. After all, their coach had the authority to punish them. Of course, players did not dare to cause problems. If they challenged an order from him they could kicked off the team and branded as disobedient. That would kill their chances of ever palying for the national team again.

Dai Li was not their head coach and he did not have the authority to punish them. To these players, Dai Li was only a temporary coach. When they were dissatisfied, they did not dare to complain to Chenggong Sun. However, they were brave enough to vent their dissatisfaction to Dai Li.

A few brave players started planning how to pressure Dai Li. At that moment, three pictures appeared on the TV screen in the dining hall.

“I know those guys. The first is the head coach of the Rockets and the second is the head coach of the Raptors!” Someone said.

“The Rockets are in first place of the entire league. The Raptors are first in the Eastern Conference. It would be normal for these two head coaches to appear together, but why is Coach Li with them? Little Ding, your English is good. Hurry up and translate for us.”

Little Ding nodded and said, “The NBA just announced the nominees for the best coach award for the season. Those three are the nominees.”

“What? You’re saying that Coach Li is a nominee for the best coach of the season in the NBA? Is it possible for him to be the best coach in the league?”

The dining hall suddenly went into an uproar.

Everyone there was a professional player. They knew how impressive the best coach in the NBA must be. Even to make it onto the nominee list was impressive.

The players who were plotting to confront Dai Li looked spiritless and the ones who said that Dai Li was an outsider lowered their heads. They did not dare to look into the eyes of the other players.

At that moment, they could only bottle their feelings up.

Dai Li was nominated as one of the best coaches in the NBA. That meant that the NBA recognized Dai Li’s professionalism and standard in basketball. Dai Li was no longer an outsider when it came to basketball. These CBA players would be stupid to confront Dai Li about his coaching now!