Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 1 A Member of the Little Green House
"Jace, where do you think I'll be selected?"
Half an hour ago, when Anthony arrived at Madison Square Garden for an interview and was asked about the No. 1 pick, he acted nonchalant.
Now, sitting at the draft site, facing the camera, Anthony's expression is still that of the extremely arrogant NCAA freshman MOP, with a calm and uninhibited expression, and he seems to be very casual about the upcoming draft.
Confident, arrogant, and open-minded.
but……
Liu Xiu heard anticipation in Anthony's tone.
Decisive, Liu Xiu comforted: "Don't worry, the people of Cleveland will never choose you."
Anthony tried hard to maintain his bossy expression, gritted his teeth and whispered angrily: "I should have let you sit at a table by yourself!"
The senior student next to him, who is also his schoolmate and friend, really deserves a beating! Anthony really wants to grab this friend's handsome face.
Anthony has always been jealous. He is already so handsome, but the guy next to him is actually said by people in the school to be the most handsome guy on their Syracuse University Orange team.
Seeing that Anthony was about to explode, Liu Xiu was very satisfied, but he did not continue to tease Anthony. He had to give face to this junior who had been his teammate for a year. After all, Anthony was following the legendary cool and elegant style.
It was a little after 7:00 p.m. on June 26, 2003, with a few minutes left before the start of the 2003 NBA Draft. At the draft site, the members of the green room, that is, the "lottery candidates" voted by the NBA officials and the managers of the 29 teams, and their relatives and friends had all arrived at the scene.
As the core of the outside line of the NCAA basketball championship team in the 02-03 season, Liu Xiu also performed well overall this season and got the opportunity to enter the green room.
But entering the green room does not mean that you will be selected into the lottery. Every year there are members of the green room who fail to enter the lottery, and it is not uncommon for them to fall out of the first round.
Every year the league will deliberately select one or two rookies who have a high probability of not being selected in the lottery or even in the first round but are still topical to enter the green room.
"I am probably the one who is used as a gimmick, the core of the defense line of the championship team, and a Chinese player."
Although he was used by the government, Liu Xiu did not feel that he was at a disadvantage.
The live broadcast of the draft has begun on the American cable TV sports channel.
The agents of the rookies who entered the green room had already told them to pay attention to their appearance after entering the venue. As the protagonists of the draft, the camera will always be on them.
As the favorite for the top pick, Anthony naturally got a lot of shots. By the way, Liu Xiu next to him also got a lot of shots.
Anthony was very concerned about his appearance and paid attention to his expression every time he spoke, while Liu Xiu was much more relaxed.
Liu Xiu looked around at the other rookies present, then turned around and saw that Anthony still seemed to be in an unbalanced state of mind...
This is understandable. Who made Anthony so unlucky?
As a freshman and under the age of 19, he led the team to win the NCAA basketball championship as the star player, averaging 22.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game, and won the MOP in the semi-finals.
With his age, ability and college achievements, he would definitely be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
But unfortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the first pick.
Anthony didn't care at first. In his opinion, does it matter who gets the No. 1 pick?
Facts have proved that there is a difference. During the tryout stage, the Cavaliers almost said that they would only choose James and other talents were not needed.
More than a month has passed since Anthony signed up for the draft, and he has accepted this reality. However, when he arrived at the draft, he inevitably felt a little unbalanced. He knew there was no chance, but he still held on to his expectations.
When Liu Xiu discovered that his friend had a mental problem, he naturally wanted to comfort him!
"Carmelo, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but if you participate in the draft next year, who can take your first pick?"
It hurts! Anthony wanted to run away on the spot, but his emotional excitement also made him break free from that unbalanced mentality, and the feeling of guilt came back.
"It was me who caused trouble for Jace, but I still need him to enlighten me..."
Although the way of counseling is a little special, Anthony has gotten used to it after knowing each other for so long.
When Anthony heard the words "I'm not saying anything bad about you" for the first time, his head was full of question marks.
Looking at Liu Xiu who was lazily leaning on the back of the chair, Anthony said, "Jace, you may have a higher chance of being selected in the first round of the draft next year, but if I'm not here, you will definitely not get enough training if you continue to stay in college. You might as well take a chance by participating in the draft. For you, a higher level of competition is more important."
Hearing this apologetic tone, Liu Xiu sat up straight all of a sudden. After blinking, he leaned forward again: "You're right, otherwise I wouldn't have signed up for the draft with you, but..."
Anthony finally said what he wanted to say, and he was still a little nervous. When he heard Liu Xiu's answer, he was a little touched.
Although I have only known this friend for a few months and his words often make people angry, he always shows a hint of gentleness inadvertently...
But the "bat" that Liu Xiu stretched out the last sound of made Anthony curious and he wanted to hear the next sentence.
Liu Xiu only said after a while, "...Your current appearance does not match your cool personality at all. Sit up straight. You are participating in a talent show. Don't embarrass yourself in front of other rookies. Don't be so arrogant and frivolous..."
If his mother, coach and teammates were not on the other side of the table, Anthony would have wanted to flip the table over!
At first, Anthony felt sorry for Liu Xiu because most of his relatives were in China, and his relatives in the United States were on business trips and didn't have time to come. Now Anthony felt sorry for himself...
Take a deep breath, don't be angry... Anthony imitated Liu Xiu and leaned back in his chair to look at the other rookies participating in the draft. What a cool bullshit, what a proud bullshit, just sit however you are comfortable.
However, this made Anthony no longer worry about dragging Liu Xiu to participate in the draft.
…
People are born with different temperaments.
When Liu Xiu sat like that, he gave people a casual feeling.
Anthony sat like this, still giving people the feeling of pride and confidence, but also a little bit of unruly.
The draft was about to begin, and Anthony really didn't know what to talk about, so he stopped talking and looked at the other members of the green room around him like Liu Xiu.
Although his heart knot has been untied and his unbalanced mentality has been freed, Anthony is still looking forward to it.
This kind of expectation is different from the unbalanced mentality just now. It cannot be considered a negative emotion, but rather an expectation that one should have as a favorite for the No. 1 draft pick. What if the Cavaliers change their minds in the end?
Even if your expectations are not met in the end, it will be the right emotion, just like the lottery in the Big Penguin Game Empire, where you know you will never get the prize you want, but you will still curse and say you are a jerk if you don't get it.
But it won’t be as explosive as before.
Looking around, Anthony's gaze unconsciously fell on the table in front of him on the right, looking at the man who did not even participate in the draft joint tryout and only participated in the Cavaliers tryout during the draft tryout - LeBron James.
Anthony is aloof and a bit straightforward, but in the future he may still be won over by James' social skills and become friends with him.
But now, Anthony is unhappy with James.
He is so handsome, why is he not the top pick? This guy looks so... Why is he the top pick?
After Liu Xiu adjusted Anthony's mentality, he opened the system panel.
"Healing value +67, from Carmelo Anthony."
"Healing value +99, from Carmelo Anthony."
"Healing value +51, from Carmelo Anthony."
"Available healing value: 3451 points."
Liu Xiu was very happy that he once again gave Anthony heartwarming healing.
"Little Dongdong is still awesome, I gave it a full score easily, but the one who looked anxious only gave 5 points..."
Thinking of this, Liu Xiu couldn't help but look at the person Anthony was staring at.
"Is this guy really 18 years old? With such cunning and such a personality, no wonder he is growing up so fast, it turns out that he wants to match his cunning and personality."
…
"LeBron...LeBron..."
"Sorry, I was distracted. Looking at these talented rookies of the same class, I couldn't help but imagine the games I would play in the NBA."
Rich Paul listened to James' words, feeling happy both physically and mentally. The genius in front of him, who had secured the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft, was gifted, capable, and spoke well. The retro jersey he had received was not given in vain!
Rich Paul is a local celebrity in Akron. He runs several retro jersey stores in Summit County and also sells sporting goods. Three years ago, when James was still a freshman in high school, he stood in front of the store run by Rich Paul, staring at a jersey and didn't leave.
As a fellow slum dweller, he knew that this anxious-looking boy, whose clothes looked obviously poor, definitely could not afford it. But Rich Paul was in a good mood that day, so he gave the boy a jersey, thus establishing a good relationship. Later, he learned that the boy was a local high school genius, and he took the initiative to make friends with him.
When James decided to skip college and directly participate in the NBA draft, Rich Paul was the first financier to provide financial help.
James felt like a thorn in his back, as the two people behind him on the left were staring at him!
Like everyone else, he was watching others while chatting with his friends and old acquaintances around him.
Don't ask, the answer is talent. James can make his friends around him feel happy while still having the energy to observe other people.
His friends include two high school teammates and two friends who have taken care of him since he was a child; his friends regardless of age difference include several local celebrities .
James' mother feels very proud now. Those hometown celebrities who were once high and mighty have now become her son's friends!
James was happy to see his mother happy. He invited the celebrities in Akron to save face and make his mother happy.
Of course, it is also for the purpose of exercising one's social skills, and it is most appropriate to start with community celebrities from small places.
It’s just that this ability to multitask is sometimes not so good.
For example, there are two sharp gazes behind him now, making James feel very uncomfortable.
Anthony...this James doesn't care.
The top picks now dislike him.
This is a temporary problem. Once this stage is over, this emotion will fade away, and then there will be an opportunity to make friends.
But the other person...James can't understand it!
James recalled meeting Liu Xiu and Anthony at the hotel arranged by the league yesterday morning. He took the initiative to say hello and wanted to get to know them, but Anthony glanced at him and left.
This is expected.
As for Liu Xiu, this guy, with his good-looking face and ordinary body shape, looks harmless, like Anthony's little brother.
But Anthony had already left, but this guy looked him up and down with a look that made him at a loss for words. After looking him up, this guy looked up and smiled at him, and said, "It's really inspiring that you're still participating in the NBA draft at such an old age," and then left.
It wasn't the first time he was teased for looking old, but James almost got really angry at that time.
If there weren't cameras around, James would definitely go and argue... He is much smaller than that guy!
He is only 18 years old!
Not only Liu Xiu, Anthony and James were looking at other members of the small green room, but other members of the small green room were also paying attention to their competitors.
However, not everyone focuses on James, of course, but more attention is focused on direct competitors.
The attention is focused on James, and the other top picks include Anthony, Milicic, Bosh, and Kaman...Liu Xiu is an exception.
Like Hinrich and TJ Ford, the two would glare at each other from time to time.
The draft is a very important means for the league to create competitors after perfecting the draft system.
Hinrich and T.J. Ford, the former is known as Little Stockton and the latter is known as Little Iverson. Both are players of the Big 12 Conference. In the past two years, the two have been competing constantly. Now they appear in the same draft . No matter who has a higher ranking, the hostility between the two will deepen.
This is what the league wants. Although not all high-draft rookies can perform well, if a pair or several competitors perform well, it is possible to create a pair of "lifelong enemies."
The alliance did not realize this at first, but after discovering it, they naturally chose to add fuel to the fire.
This year, the members of the green room, the rookies waiting in the candidate hall, and the rookies who may not have the opportunity to come to Madison Square Garden for some reason, probably all have a figure they most want to defeat appearing in their minds when the draft is about to begin.
