However, just as Pruitt was about to step forward and attack, Bruce made a move that baffled everyone.
He actually engaged him head-on.
Anyone with normal eyesight could see the vast difference in their physiques.
Jamie Lin, standing on the sidelines, slapped his forehead with his right hand, genuinely worried; Bruce’s competitive spirit alarmed him.
He was terrified that Bruce would be sent flying by the burly Pruitt, and even more worried that he might get hurt.
Why did he have to fight like an egg against a rock?
He was baffled.
Meanwhile, Kevin George, sitting in the stands, held a different view.
He admired Bruce’s defensive stance: whether he was capable of pulling it off was one thing, but whether he was a coward was another.
Pruitt certainly hadn’t expected the skinny guy to dare play close-range defense against him.
It disrupted his dribbling rhythm, and he nearly lost the ball.
But he quickly regained his balance by leveraging his physical advantage.
Then, turning sideways and deliberately dropping his left shoulder slightly, he slammed into Bruce with all his might…
*Bang!* He had expected Bruce to dodge, but Bruce took the impact head-on.
His body was instantly thrown backward, and he hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Laughter erupted throughout the arena; the home crowd found it ridiculous that Snoopy had gotten so close to Pruitt.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Lin quickly ran to the sideline, shouting: “That’s a foul!
That’s a foul—an offensive foul!” However, the referee made no call.
After a moment of stunned silence, Pruitt stepped back and launched a three-pointer!
*Whoosh!* The basketball soared through the air and flew wide of the court.
Airball!
It didn’t even touch the net.
This instantly silenced the fans’ laughter: logically, shouldn’t he have knocked his opponent down, easily drained a powerful three-pointer, and then raised his arms to engage with the crowd?
They had been fully prepared—everyone ready to cheer—yet he had delivered such a weak effort?
Pruitt waved his hand in frustration.
Could it be that he’d had too much fun the night before and was now weak and exhausted?
But when he collided with this guy, he felt a portion of his strength vanish into the void, never to return.
For a moment, he even felt a lingering sense of emptiness.
Meanwhile, Bruce stood amidst Jeremy Lin’s anxious thoughts.
He looked fine—even smiling.
He took the basketball from Scott and immediately sprinted forward.
The ‘Talent Baby’ was right; whenever he exerted force during physical contact, he could extract strength talent from his opponent.
Now, he could feel that his limbs were indeed stronger than before.
“You just extracted 4 points of strength talent from him.
He had a total of 46 points—now only 42 remain—while you now have 16.” The Talent Baby’s voice echoed in his head.
This left Bruce puzzled: So, I only had 12 points of strength talent before??
Even though the Talent Baby didn’t speak, Bruce could clearly sense someone subconsciously rolling their eyes, as if to say: *What were you thinking?* That thought flashed through his mind.
Bruce quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt.
Without hesitation, as Pruitt pressured him, he immediately used a screen from Frank Benson to cut inside the three-point line.
His attack was lightning-fast and decisive, as if the driving route had been rehearsed countless times in his mind.
This greatly pleased Kevin George, the Spurs scout watching from the stands.
San Antonio had been searching for a backup for Tony Parker for years.
Judging by Bruce’s pick-and-roll breakthrough, he indeed bore a resemblance to Tony Parker; he should be capable of filling Parker’s role during rotations and ensuring tactical continuity.
Just as the coach was pleased with Bruce’s pick-and-roll execution, Bruce delivered a surprise.
As he rapidly drove toward the free-throw line, USC’s Nick Young rushed over to help on defense.
The moment Young stepped in to assist, Bruce passed the ball—delivering a perfect pass to Thompson.
For a split second, Thompson was caught off guard.
But being a shooter, he instinctively released the ball quickly.
With no defender in front of him…
*swish!* He easily sank a long-range two-pointer.
In fact, had he been more prepared, he could have stepped back for a three-pointer right after receiving the pass.
“Fantastic!!!” Jamie Lin applauded enthusiastically from the sidelines.
Two consecutive assists showcased Bruce’s talent as a point guard.
His increased speed gave him a clear advantage in controlling the game.
Previously, while his ball-handling and passing skills were excellent, limited playing time, tactical roles, and a set offensive tempo had made his game seem rather ordinary and unremarkable.
Now, with his dramatic increase in speed—combined with an improved tactical role and a faster offensive and defensive rhythm—his talent was truly exploding.
Sitting in the Time Warner TV broadcast booth, Lakers legend Magic Johnson bluntly declared, “The Lakers should pick this guy.
I’m sick of the poor performances from Jordan Farmar, Smush Parker, and the rest.
They aren’t even as decisive as this Stanford guard.” Of course, he was just joking.
Everyone knew the NBA draft wasn’t a game.
Although Magic Johnson was a minority owner of the Lakers, he didn’t have the power to dictate draft picks.
Furthermore, the NCAA and the NBA are completely different leagues; excelling in the NCAA doesn’t guarantee success in the NBA.
Take Jordan Farmar—the very player Johnson criticized—as an example.
At UCLA, he was practically Michael Jordan—unstoppable, single-handedly leading his team to the NCAA Final Four.
Yet in the NBA, he became a laughingstock.
“He’s too skinny.
He needs to put on some weight,” said Jonny Wallson, the host sitting opposite him.
“Statistically, he weighs only 68 kilograms.
Put him in the NBA, and I’m afraid he’d end up in the ER before his first game was even over.
Look at the last play—that USC player knocked him down with just a simple bump.
Eighty percent of NBA players are stronger than Pruitt…
Wow!” “Wow!” Jonny Wallson shouted again.
“Look at that!
Bumped again!
The Stanford kid goes down again—what is he doing?” …