Chapter 10: 35 Points in 20 Minutes — The King of the Combine
The moment the backboard shattered, the entire training gym went silent.
Complete silence.
Then—
BUZZZZZ!!!
A deafening roar exploded through the arena like a tidal wave.
Players on the bench jumped to their feet.
TerryRozier from the Red Team even climbed onto the scorer's table, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"OH MY GOD! He shattered the backboard! He actually broke the backboard!"
Across the court, TreyLyles stood frozen, mouth hanging open.
His jaw nearly hit the floor.
In the stands, spectators covered their heads while others banged excitedly on their seats. Phones were pulled out everywhere as people scrambled to record what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Karl-AnthonyTowns stood motionless.
His legs felt weak.
Looking at AdrianCross, one image kept flashing through his mind—
A young ShaquilleO'Neal destroying rims.
The same raw power.
The same brutal dominance.
Even the violent dunk felt eerily similar.
Larry Nance Jr. sprinted over like a man possessed.
"Man! That was insane!"
He grabbed Adrian's arm and shook it excitedly.
"You actually broke the backboard!"
Adrian gently pushed him away.
"Relax, it's just a dunk."
Despite the calm response, Adrian couldn't help smiling slightly.
Nance clearly did his homework. A few days earlier, Adrian had accidentally broken an old practice backboard during a workout.
Apparently the video had already made its way around scouting circles.
"Wait… you've broken one before?"
Towns' voice suddenly came from behind them.
His hands trembled slightly.
If today's shattered backboard could be blamed on weak equipment…
Then the word again destroyed that excuse.
Towns looked at Adrian's calm expression and felt a chill run down his spine.
This didn't feel like facing another basketball player.
It felt like standing in front of a walkingnaturaldisaster.
On the sidelines, executives were already in full panic mode.
SamHinkie waved urgently to a scout.
"Get every piece of film on Adrian Cross. Every game. Every workout. I want everything."
Nearby, BradStevens pushed up his glasses and wrote one line in his notebook:
Destructive Power: S+
"This level of physical talent is beyond normal evaluation," he murmured.
Meanwhile, MitchKupchak from the LosAngelesLakers spoke quietly to head coach ByronScott.
"After tonight, we're holding a front office meeting."
"He just became our top draft target."
Kupchak turned to look at Scott—
Only to find the coach already kneeling courtside, studying Adrian with full focus.
Kupchak sighed.
"…Well, that answers that."
It took nearly twenty minutes to replace the shattered backboard.
During that time, Towns sat quietly on the bench, staring at the floor.
Deep down, he already knew.
This game was over.
And when the scrimmage restarted…
It became a complete blowout.
Towns and WillieCauley-Stein tried double-teaming Adrian in the paint.
It didn't matter.
They couldn't move him even an inch.
On defense it was even worse.
Every time D'AngeloRussell missed a shot, Adrian was already flying in for another put-back dunk.
The score gap exploded.
Ten minutes in, the lead was already 20points.
When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read.
Red Team — 55
Blue Team — 25
A 30-pointblowout in a 20-minute scrimmage.
Then the stat sheet appeared on the arena screen.
Everyone stared.
AdrianCross
20 minutes played
17 / 17 field goals
1 / 3 free throws
35 Points
16 Rebounds
5 Blocks
Perfect shooting.
Complete domination.
Someone in the crowd shouted:
"That's the best performance in Combine scrimmage history!"
"Remember—this was only 20 minutes!"
"He basically scored every minute!"
"And he completely shut down Karl-Anthony Towns!"
Then the next stat line appeared.
Karl-Anthony Towns:
20 minutes
0 / 8 shooting
1 Point
1 Rebound
The arena fell quiet again.
It felt like a public execution.
Executives who had favored Towns earlier slowly shook their heads.
Kupchak sighed.
"Scoring one point on a basketball court is harder than it looks."
Across the arena, a MinnesotaTimberwolves scout looked pale.
Their franchise had planned to draft Towns firstoverall.
But after tonight…
Everything had changed.
Meanwhile, Adrian was surrounded by teammates.
Russell wrapped an arm around his shoulders, grinning.
"Your stats are ridiculous. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten eight assists tonight!"
Adrian shoved him away.
"Maybe if you took fewer bad shots, you'd have ten assists already."
Russell blinked.
"Wait… you're saying you could've scored more?"
Adrian shrugged.
"Probably around forty."
Russell nearly choked.
"Forty points in twenty minutes?! That's insane!"
Larry Nance Jr. ran over holding his phone.
"Dude, look!"
"Social media is exploding!"
Trending topics were already everywhere:
#AdrianCrossDominatesCombine
#35Points16Rebounds5Blocks
#BackboardShattered
#HistoricCombineGame
#Towns1Point
News was spreading like wildfire.
Clips from the scrimmage were already going viral.
Adrian glanced at the screen.
Then casually locked the phone and handed it back.
For him…
This game was only the beginning.
The real stage was still ahead.
The NBADraft.
Would teams move him to the top of their boards after this performance?
Adrian Cross narrowed his eyes.
Now things were getting interesting.