Aiming for the First Team

The three panelists preparing for the post-game show wore completely different expressions.

Shaquille O’Neal sat with his mouth clamped shut like a stubborn bulldog. Charles Barkley squeezed his eyes shut and kept shaking his head. Kenny Smith looked exactly as he always did.

Host Ernie Johnson watched the trio with clear amusement before beginning the segment.

Shaq jumped in immediately.

O’Neal tore into Toronto, saying it was one of the most embarrassing games a team could play.

Kenny Smith cut in.

“Didn’t you say last season that DeRozan deserved to be an All-Star and make the Third Team?”

“Don’t remember. After watching tonight, I don’t think he does.”

“Everything you’re saying is wrong…. Wrong, I tell you.”

“Oh, God! What exactly have I been wrong about this whole time?”

Barkley finally opened his eyes.

O’Neal roared with laughter. Smith shook his head, clearly used to it.

Ernie Johnson steered the conversation back.

“So Charles, what exactly did you think was wrong about Lee Seo-jun?”

“Everything. He was wrong.”

The studio stirred at the next statement.

Shaq exploded.

“What the hell are you talking about? First Team? Over LeBron and Durant? Ha! If that kid makes First Team next season, I’ll retire from broadcasting.”

“You said it. We’re holding you to that. Anyway, Lee Seo-jun is an outstanding player. After watching tonight’s game, I’m convinced. The kid has special talent.”

Barkley had completely flipped his stance.

“Because he plays like you? Please.”

Barkley pointed at the replay on the screen, breaking down the plays where Seo-jun had excelled.

The off-ball specialist. That was how Barkley described him.

The studio buzzed again.

Even Kenny Smith nodded at this part.

“I get what you’re saying. He’s an immediate contributor no matter where he goes?”

“Exactly. He could walk into San Antonio right now, push Danny Green to the bench, and start at shooting guard.”

The foundation of the argument was that he wasn’t a ball-dominant player.

A role player who wasn’t a primary handler producing this kind of two-way efficiency? That was pure profit for any team.

Shaq, however, saw it differently.

All-NBA was as much about star power as it was about production.

“Becoming an NBA-level ball handler is easy now?” Shaq scoffed. “I wanted to shoot free throws at eighty percent too, in my head.”

“You couldn’t because your touch was trash. This kid, on the other hand, shows great touch around the rim and solid court vision. It’s very possible. If I were the Hawks’ coach, I’d start ball-handling drills tomorrow morning.”

The two legends bickered back and forth.

Seo-jun, watching on his phone, let out a quiet whistle of admiration.

He saw right through my off-ball psychology.

Connecting the big man and ball handler with an imaginary line and creating triangles with his movement—it was the off-ball philosophy he had mastered in the Mega Visualizer. After constantly syncing with Micic and Jokic, the movement had become second nature.

“Funny, right? These guys ripped you apart during the pregame show.”

Millshap chuckled as he spoke.

“Want to keep watching?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll send it back to your phone.”

Seo-jun looked at the screen again. An OX poll was underway.

Barkley immediately flipped his board to O and shook it wildly.

Shaq held his board vertically—neither O nor X. Kenny Smith thought for a long time before choosing O.

Barkley voted O. Both Shaq and Smith voted X. Exactly as expected.

But the final question produced a surprising result.

All three panelists voted X.

Every eye turned to Barkley. After all that praise, he was suddenly pessimistic?

Barkley nodded and continued.

Barkley grew serious, saying that was the wrong move.

Shaq nodded in agreement.

They all agreed that the intense target on his back would cause his numbers to drop.

For Seo-jun, however, it was something to look forward to.

Difficult competition? Bring it on.

Top players coming at him one after another.

I’ll just treat it like breaking their seals.

His ultimate goal was to repay LeBron James, the man who had given him a brutal “Welcome to the NBA.” Every other star was simply an obstacle he had to clear on the way. He had zero intention of fearing or avoiding those fights.

Seo-jun’s debut left behind a mountain of talking points.

Seo-jun’s explosive debut, the fiery post-game interview that followed, and the ensuing Inside the NBA post-game show—every single piece became a massive topic.

Back home in Korea, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

Seo-jun was enjoying unprecedented popularity back home. While the Asian Games had produced even more dramatic highlights, the stage was the NBA—the difference in weight was on another level. It was like scoring a hat trick against Saudi Arabia versus scoring one against Brazil. His mere presence had elevated Korean basketball’s status to the same stratosphere as soccer and baseball.

Fans were split on whether Seo-jun’s “dojo-breaking” tour was a good idea. Some thought he could handle it comfortably, others worried it would be difficult.

In that atmosphere, Atlanta returned home to face Indiana. Paul George—the player many believed would still be too much for Seo-jun—was out for the season with a major injury suffered before the campaign began.

Without their ace, Indiana became the perfect sacrifice for Atlanta’s home opener.

With Korver back, Atlanta cruised to an easy victory. Demarre Carroll, who had accepted a sixth-man role in exchange for a promised mid-season trade, led the second unit in scoring. The team displayed perfect balance.

The winning streak showed no signs of slowing.

In the eighth game, Atlanta demolished the Detroit Pistons by 29 points to run their record to 8-0. Seo-jun played roughly thirty-four minutes per game across the streak, shooting 67% from the field while averaging 22.6 points. His play sent a chill down the spine of Shaquille O’Neal, who had publicly declared he would retire from broadcasting if Seo-jun made an All-NBA First Team within two seasons.

Of course, it helped that none of the six opponents had featured the kind of star swingman Barkley and O’Neal said would humble him. Carmelo Anthony had been sidelined by injury, and Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were neither positional matches nor on particularly good teams.

The biggest reason, however, was Atlanta’s own dominance. The Hawks were clearly playing at a top-tier level. Even if opponents wanted to teach the rookie a lesson, they simply couldn’t.

As Atlanta continued their rampage, Korean fans’ chests swelled with pride.

The ninth game of the season was a road trip to San Antonio. On the road to a 9-0 start, Seo-jun was about to meet the first true gatekeeper of his “dojo-breaking” journey.

Kawhi Leonard.

The undisputed top-tier swingman in the league.