Chapter 27 I want them to regret it!
With his performances in two high school games as a foundation, at least in terms of athletic talent and shooting talent, he had a decent draft stock. Most of the doubts and negative comments were due to the fact that he skipped college. Zhang Hao's mentality tended to be stable.
In China, the media reported that a high school student studying in the United States skipped college to participate in the NBA draft, and that many teams were interested in him. The media also reported Zhang Hao's previous performance in the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest and the Adidas training camp, which caused an uproar in the domestic sports circle!
Previously, Xinhua News Agency reported that Zhang Hao won the slam dunk contest championship, but the headline was McDonald's High School Slam Dunk Contest Champion, and not many people paid attention to it. In the perception of domestic fans in this era, how good can high school players be?
The same thing happened with the Adidas camp afterwards, but with the second-round situation in the NBA draft, it was very different!
In 1992, the Dream Team's Big Three of Magic, Bird and Johnson brought the NBA to the world, sparking a basketball craze in China. It was at a time when China was in the golden age of outside shooting. Basketball star and Asia's No. 1 player Song Tao was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the third round of the draft in 1986. Unfortunately, Song Tao retired from the basketball world in 1988 due to injuries. Domestic fans were looking forward to a Chinese player entering the NBA.
But over the years, some Chinese players went to the NBA for tryouts, but the feedback they received was not very good. In the end, no one tried to participate in the draft. The national team dominated Asia, but when it came to playing against strong teams in Europe and the United States, the gap was very large. Over the years, domestic fans have been doubting whether Chinese players can enter the NBA.
Therefore, when Wang Zhizhi is "sanctioned" by the Basketball Association in the future, although there will be constant criticism, there will also be many people who will speak out against it; therefore, there was the sensation caused by Yao Ming becoming the No. 1 pick and the real basketball fever that was set off.
No one expected that 8 years later, a Chinese player would suddenly appear to participate in the NBA draft. Not only did he have good prospects, he was actually an 18-year-old high school student!
When it comes to foreign affairs, Chinese people actually have very limited channels to obtain information, which is why it gives the so-called public intellectuals the opportunity to publicize some fantastic things.
This time, some public intellectuals also started to come out and make some strange arguments.
In short, Zhang Hao became an instant hit in the domestic sports circle!
Many people want to know what happened and want to know Zhang Hao's information. However, let alone ordinary people, even few professionals in the domestic sports industry know Zhang Hao's information, so they have to check it out now.
At this time, the NBA took the initiative to provide Zhang Hao's information to domestic media...
Does the domestic media not want to get Zhang Hao’s detailed information as soon as possible?
Of course not. It’s just that in the domestic sports world, Zhang Hao seemed to have popped out of a stone and was about to enter the world’s highest level basketball league in the United States. So it’s really hard to get much information about him.
Although the Blue Association does not know why, there is a group of people wandering around, trying overtly and covertly to get the media not to report on Zhang Hao. Some people bought it, but there are still some who don't. Since one party doesn't buy it, the matter cannot be suppressed.
Many young media people don’t know what the Blue Association is thinking and why they want to “suppress the news”, but older media people can immediately guess the magical thought processes of domestic officials.
It's just that they really don't have anything to report right now.
Moreover, there are not many domestic media outlets that have overseas news channels . Most overseas news is forwarded, and the number of media outlets with permanent overseas offices can be counted on one hand.
Among these media that don’t care about the Blues Association, there is a super boss - the Sports News Department of Xinhua News Agency.
Do they care about the Blue Association? In addition to being the country's official media organization, they are also a statutory news regulatory agency.
However, they couldn't contact Zhang Hao again!
Originally, after the dunk contest, some young people in the Xinhua News Agency's Sports News Department wanted to use Zhang Hao's breakthrough as an opportunity to do a long report on the basic analysis of the American basketball industry and explore American basketball. However, a group of young people in their 30s did not have much say, so the matter was shelved.
But who would have thought that Zhang Hao was constantly causing trouble. He caused trouble when he participated in the Adidas training camp, and when he was preparing to choose a university, he started causing trouble again... The senior officials at Xinhua News Agency also began to pay attention to Zhang Hao, and were finally ready to report on him, but it was just like when Xu Jicheng went to look for Zhang Hao and couldn't find him.
As a result, the NBA sent the information to their headquarters...
After repeatedly confirming that the information was authentic and there would be no blunders, Xinhua News Agency held a special event for Zhang Hao! The cover of Global Weekly, a subsidiary of Xinhua News Agency, was a picture of Zhang Hao in a dunk contest!
Big Brother began reporting on Zhang Hao's affairs, and the Imperial Sports Channel also followed suit.
There was not much video footage available for TV news reports, so domestic sports fans learned that in the United States, a talented Chinese high school basketball player whose hobbies include singing, dancing, rap, and basketball and who had trained for two and a half years was going to enter the NBA...
Although the domestic media focused on reporting Zhang Hao's participation in the NBA draft, with this little information, they only knew that Zhang Hao participated in the draft, and basic things like his age, the school he attended, etc., and they didn't know anything else.
However, compared with the previous lack of channels for in-depth understanding, the country's top media now have a window for in-depth understanding - the NBA.
Originally, the domestic media paid little attention to the NBA draft tryouts. Now they took the initiative to contact the NBA, but they refused to give Zhang Hao their contact information, saying that it might lead to legal disputes. They chose to wait until Zhang Hao had tryouts to interview him.
The domestic media are not stupid and of course they know what the NBA headquarters means.
Many young media people in China lament that things have changed. They think back to the time when David Stern waited for several hours in the cold wind before he got the chance to meet with the official. Then he gave the broadcasting rights for free and allowed the imperial TV station to broadcast NBA videos. At that time, they were like the masters and people begged them to come and report. Now the situation is reversed.
But what can we do? This world is so cruel.
It is said that after receiving a reply from the Chinese court sports station, hearty laughter was heard from the bathroom of the president's office at the NBA headquarters...
…
The domestic sports media is of course excited about the emergence of a Chinese player who has the potential to enter the NBA and a high probability of doing so, but the Chinese people's views on this matter are polarized.
As the saying goes, if the bird is big, there will be any forest... No, it's that if the forest is big, there will be all kinds of birds...
Many sports fans were excited about this, but there were also sarcastic voices, and even arguments such as "Why should he go to the United States to study?"
But this has nothing to do with Zhang Hao for now. His attention is not on the media at all. He can't see domestic news at all, let alone pay attention to those things.
His attention is focused on the upcoming draft tryouts.
By May 29, the team he was going to try out with was basically determined.
There are a few teams that must be visited, most of which are teams with mid-to-late first-round draft picks.
His goal was not just the second round. Although he did not pay much attention to the media's evaluation, he also knew that his draft stock was not bad. The second round was a guaranteed option. He definitely wanted the first round, at least to get a guaranteed contract. Even though there were no strict regulations on rookie contracts these days, the only rule was that all contracts were guaranteed and could be signed for ten years...
Also, if he is selected in the first round, he will get a silver gift package from Gold Finger!
On the Spurs side, Popovich is the general manager. There is a management staff member who loves overseas players. Zhang Hao thought he could give it a try.
The Pistons, Suns, SuperSonics and Mavericks, who all have multiple draft picks, are also Zhang Hao's target teams.
These five teams are the teams that Zhang Hao wants to join the most. Coincidentally, the Suns, Supersonics, and Pistons were also interested in him and invited him to join. As for the Spurs and Mavericks, Zhang Hao took the initiative to call to apply for tryouts, and the other party agreed.
However, the Suns, Supersonics, and Pistons teams not only provide accommodation and food during the tryout, but also air tickets. For the two teams in Texas, they only provide accommodation and food, and the air tickets are paid by themselves...
In addition to these five teams, Zhang Hao also accepted tryout invitations from the Lakers, Clippers and 76ers.
Two local teams, one that had been following Kobe Bryant but noticed someone punched Kobe in the game.
There are 8 teams and the schedule is full. From May 30th to June 22nd, Zhang Hao is either on trial or on his way to the city where the next trial team is located.
…
"Remaining lifespan 392 days, available lifespan 391 days."
Zhang Hao took another look at the time he had left to live. It was decreasing day by day... But this was not the most annoying thing for him.
"I'm going to try out, why are you two following me?"
Zhang Hao looked at the two guardians beside him. The key point was that the guardians were a fat guy and a beautiful Latin American girl...
At 7:30 in the morning on May 30, Zhang Hao set out from his apartment and headed for the Great Western Forum. Pierce and April Clark got up earlier than him and went out even faster to wait at his door.
“Hehehe…”
The two of them smiled foolishly at the same time, and the meaning was very clear: they wanted to visit the Great Western Forum again.
Zhang Hao rubbed his forehead - forget it, just go if he wants to. Anyway, the Lakers' 37th pick is not his target. The same goes for the Clippers. The Clippers' second pick seems unlikely to choose him. Even if taking people on a tour will affect the Lakers' impression of him, he doesn't really care.
Moreover, the Lakers have three quasi-All-Star level outside players in Van Exel, Eddie Jones, and Cedric Ceballos, and George Lynch, Anthony Peeler, and Lloyd Daniels as substitutes. These six people almost occupy all the playing time of the outside players. It would be quite miserable if he was selected by the Lakers in the second round.
However, Zhang Hao was well prepared for the tryout. In addition to collecting information in the past few days, he also did not neglect training. April Clark and Pierce were both working hard to help so that he could have more time to prepare for training.
The Lakers and Clippers are Zhang Hao's first two tryout teams. He regards this as an opportunity to accumulate experience so that he can perform better during the tryouts with the next six teams.
After taking a taxi to the Great Western Forum, Zhang Hao was led by the staff to the head coach's office.
He is not the only one who is going to try out today. The Lakers are holding a draft tryout today. Although they only have one second-round pick, they have invited dozens of players for the tryout. The team's general manager Jerry West, assistant general manager Mitch Kupchak, and Jesse Buss, the young master of the Buss family who is in charge of the scouting department, are also in the head coach's office.
The head coach of the Lakers is the veteran coach Del Harris, nicknamed the Silver Fox. He is 58 years old, the best coach of this season, has outstanding abilities, and has led an NBA team to the finals.
In addition to Jeanie Buss who is in charge of business operations and Lakers owner Jerry Buss, people from several powerful departments of the Lakers have arrived!
On the one hand, Zhang Hao felt a little regretful that he couldn't see the hot and unrestrained mature female vice president, but at the same time he became nervous. Even though he had never thought that the Lakers would choose him, he was still nervous when he saw so many executives of a team.
The old man with white hair looked kind, no matter what the actual situation was. Del Harris smiled and said to the somewhat nervous Zhang Hao: "Hello, Aix, don't be nervous, introduce yourself."
A tryout is actually just an interview, just like looking for a job... you can see a person's personality through language communication, and his/her ability through physical and technical tests.
Zhang Hao quickly adjusted himself and responded, "My name is Zhang Hao, my English name is Aix, I'm from China, I'm currently studying at Inglewood High School, I'm 18 years old, I'm good at playing without the ball, mainly catching and shooting, and I can also cut in to catch the ball and attack the basket..."
Zhang Hao introduced himself briefly. He didn't brag about himself, but he also didn't hesitate to say anything because of his limited skills. He just spoke honestly and simply about what he was good at.
Starting yesterday, rookie candidates have reported to Los Angeles. Although the Lakers only have one draft pick at 37th overall, there are so many candidates. For most of the candidates whose draft stock is not very good, 37th overall is already a dream pick.
For NBA teams, every new player is important, so except for those overseas players who reach the age of 22 and automatically participate in the draft, NBA teams can directly select them. Most of the players participating in the draft in the United States need to be understood through tryouts. As for the Lakers, they will interview every player who participates in the tryouts.
The four management staff of the Lakers who were responsible for the interview were all very satisfied with Zhang Hao's self-introduction.
Simple, direct, and without the self-promotion that so many players tend to do.
What Zhang Hao talked about are the abilities he has demonstrated himself. As the champion of the high school slam dunk contest, he must have good athletic ability. He was the MVP of the Adidas training camp and made 10 mid-range shots in a single game in the elite competition with a very high hit rate, which shows that Zhang Hao's mid-range shooting ability is extremely outstanding and can be brought into play in actual combat.
After listening to Zhang Hao's self-introduction, Logo asked before Silver Fox: "You are currently the object of competition among various universities. Why do you want to take the risk and skip college and directly participate in the NBA draft?"
Zhang Hao had expected that all teams would ask this question, so he answered, "My specialty is shooting after getting a chance to shoot. My technique is very simple. I think my style is more suitable for the NBA, and I don't have much room for growth in the NCAA."
This answer is one that Zhang Hao thought about and tried out. He tried it out with the Lakers and the Clippers to see how the other party would react when they heard it. Anyway, the Lakers only have a second-round pick, and the Clippers have a first-round pick but at second overall, neither of which is his target pick, so he can use it as an experiment.
The original purpose of participating in the tryouts of these two local teams was to understand what to pay attention to during the tryouts.
Jerry West nodded after hearing this and continued, "It seems that you have a clear plan for your career. I also think that your shooting no longer needs to be improved through the NCAA. Playing in the NBA is more suitable for you to continue to strengthen your mid-range shooting technique. However, you are still young and have a lot of time to improve your technique..."
When Logo Man said these words, not only Zhang Hao looked at him in surprise, the Lakers head coach and two other management staff members did not expect that Logo Man would give Zhang Hao such a high evaluation.
No need to go through the NCAA to improve mid-range shooting...this is a really high evaluation.
Realizing that he had said too much, Logo quickly ended the segment and asked, "OK, we have no more questions about the tryout. Now I just have a personal question. Can you answer it?"
Although he didn't understand why, Zhang Hao still nodded and said, "Of course, go ahead."
The Logo guy showed a look of spectator at this time and asked, "I remember when you participated in the dunk contest, you said that you wanted to get into an NCAA Division I school through such a competition. What made you change your mind so quickly?"
Zhang Hao hesitated for a moment, but still answered: "Before I decided to participate in the NBA draft, I did try to get those NCAA Division I schools to recognize my abilities, and I did it.
But I worked hard to get them to accept me, not to join them, I just wanted them to regret why they rejected my scholarship application. "
