…
Austin, Texas.
Lin Ying was sitting on the bed in the dormitory, resting, with his back against the wall and looking out the window.
He is currently at the University of Texas at Austin.
The University of Texas at Austin, also known as the University of Texas, is the most famous school in the University of Texas system and one of the original eight institutions of the most prestigious "Public Ivy League" in the United States.
The reason why he is here is not because of his academic performance, but because he is 2.01 meters tall with a wingspan of 2.20 meters, and is a member of the school's Longhorn Bulls basketball team.
The number one sport in the United States is football, and campus football is the most popular sport among the people.
However, in Texas, basketball's influence is no less than that of football.
Because Texas has the "Big Three": the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.
These three teams have won multiple championships combined and have been playoff-level or even championship-contending teams in the NBA for many years.
Austin, as the capital of Texas, does not have an NBA team, but the basketball atmosphere is just as strong.
The reason is the Longhorns.
As one of the only two NCAA Division I teams in Texas, it is very popular locally.
"Ying, I knew you were here. Come on, let me show you something."
Just then, the dormitory door was pushed open.
Lin Ying turned around when he heard the voice.
He has a handsome face and the temperament of a migrant worker.
The person who came in was his roommate, or more precisely, his high school teammate Kevin Durant.
The two were teammates for a year at Christian College and then joined the University of Texas together.
Today is their first day at the University of Texas.
"What?"
Lin Ying looked confused.
Because he found that Durant turned around and locked the door after he finished speaking!
American university dormitories are basically contracted out to outside companies for commercial operation. Except for a small number of schools that have bunk beds, most dormitories have two beds for two people and two sets of tables and chairs, similar to a budget hotel.
The University of Texas has the same configuration.
After Durant locked the door, he walked over to Lin Ying and sat down, then turned on his phone and placed it in front of them.
It was a website, and when you clicked on it, you would see some content that would make your adrenaline rush.
Durant adjusted the volume on his phone and clicked on one of them.
“I found this today, the plot is great!”
Durant came over and lowered his voice.
In the mobile phone screen, a stewardess in professional attire dragged a suitcase and walked twisting and turning on the road...
Lin Ying was speechless for a while.
In broad daylight, Durant came in with a mysterious look on his face, and I showed him this thing?
"Kevin, stop watching this kind of stuff."
Lin Ying said while staring at the phone screen.
"I know, but this is really great, look at this figure."
As Durant spoke, he rubbed his nose with his hand and swallowed.
"stop looking."
"knew."
"I'm serious, don't watch it."
"Yeah, it's huge."
…
Half an hour later, both of them were flushed and breathing rapidly.
"Tsk, tsk!"
Just then there was a knock on the door and Durant was so scared that he almost dropped the phone in his hand.
He quickly hid his cell phone under Lin Ying's quilt, moved his crotch, took a deep breath, then stood up to open the door.
"Kevin, Coach Springman wants you to come over."
The one knocking on the door was their teammate, freshman guard DJ Augustine.
The two chatted for a few words, then Durant turned around, said hello to Lin Ying, closed the door and left.
…
Half an hour later, Durant returned to the dormitory and found the door was locked.
He knocked on the door for a while, and Lin Ying opened the door with a flushed face.
"Why did you lock the door again?"
Durant looked confused.
"I just took a nap."
Lin Ying explained casually and handed the phone to Durant.
"Don't watch it anymore."
After Durant came in and closed the door, he reminded again.
Durant nodded, then realized that he hadn't taken his cell phone with him.
And why does this phone feel... a little wet?
"Why is my phone..."
"What did Coach Springman say?"
Lin Ying asked first.
"Oh, I almost forgot! He told us to prepare because we will have to play a full-court match against the seniors in the first training session."
Durant put his phone back in his pocket and slapped his head.
Lin Ying nodded after listening to this. It seemed that the coaching staff was preparing to give the freshmen a warning.
"This is Coach Barnes' arrangement. Ross informed me in advance."
Durant continued.
The NCAA has a complete coaching staff just like the NBA.
Like the Longhorns, the head coach is Rick Barnes, the assistant coach is Ross Springman, and there is also a physical training coach Maggie Wright.
Before coming to the University of Texas, Durant was already the third best high school student in the United States. It took Springman more than two years of hard work to recruit him.
So relationship-wise, Springman and Durant are very close.
"We must win this game!"
Durant spoke to himself in a firm tone.
Although the University of Texas is not as famous as Duke and North Carolina, it has produced many NBA players in its history.
The most recent is the Texas trident who graduated just last year: Daniel Gibson, PJ Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Last year they led the team to the NCAA Elite Eight, and all three of them entered the NBA.
But this is also where Durant's confidence lies.
Although they are all newcomers, now that the three core players of the team have left, the chances of winning are very high.
Especially since he and Lin Ying have been teammates since their senior year of high school, they have a great understanding of each other.
Lin Ying nodded. This was a great opportunity for them to demonstrate their abilities and gain the coach's trust.
But he didn't say anything else.
He has a very introverted personality and is only more relaxed when he is with Durant.
There were no classes this afternoon, so they changed their equipment and prepared to go to the gym.
It was at this time that Lin Ying noticed that Durant took out the pair of long basketball socks from the 1970s again.
He noticed that Durant wore these socks in almost every game when he was in high school. He didn't expect him to still wear them in college. He finally couldn't help but be curious:
"Why do you always wear this?"
However, he didn't expect that his question would silence Durant.
Durant is a particularly extroverted person, so this silence is obviously a bit abnormal.
“This is the only gift Coach Craig has ever given me.”
Durant's next words had a heavy tone.
After hearing this, Lin Ying stared at Durant for a while, and sadness instantly appeared in her eyes.
Charles Craig, an unknown amateur basketball coach who died unexpectedly.
To others, it is a minor role that will go unnoticed in the past, present and future.
But for Durant, Craig is the most important person in his life.
Because it was he who taught Durant the most basic basketball knowledge and led Durant onto the path of basketball.
Even because Durant's father abandoned him and his mother when he was young, Craig can be regarded as his second father.
And this is also the reason why Lin Ying and Durant can become good friends.
It all started a year ago.
Because of their excellent physical talents, Lin Ying and Durant are both members of the National Christian College High School team.
However, Lin Ying was a loner and the two of them had little in common.
Until one time when there was a team dinner, Lin Ying was late because of something.
He rushed to the agreed location and thought everyone had left, but he didn't expect that everyone was still waiting for him.
Later he found out that Durant insisted on waiting until he arrived before leaving.
Does Durant have a special preference for Lin Ying?
Not really.
The real reason is that Durant is a person with a very strong team perspective.
He didn't want to leave anyone behind in this kind of team activity.
People with introverted personalities like to isolate themselves. They rarely or even never communicate with others, and others rarely pay attention to or care about them.
But if someone gives such a person a little love, it may mean the world to him.
After that incident, Lin Ying developed a very good impression of Durant.
Then came the biggest blow Durant suffered in high school.
Craig, his mentor and godfather, was accidentally killed while trying to persuade someone to stop an argument.
Plus, his performance on the court was terrible during that period.
Under the double blow, he became extremely depressed and even ready to give up basketball.
In his words at the time, every time he picked up a basketball, he would think of Craig and the fact that Craig was no longer there, which made him feel heartbroken and grief-stricken.
No one dared to talk to Durant during that period.
But Lin Ying took the initiative to find Durant, whom he considered his only friend.
"Basketball is your only connection with Coach Craig. If you choose to give up, he and you will never meet again, and you will even forget him in the future."
This sentence broke my defense directly.
Since then, Durant has never given up and is determined to become the best basketball player.
Because he knew that Coach Greg was watching him from the sky, and the higher he stood, the clearer Craig could see.
"let's start."
Lin Ying also put on his equipment, stood up, walked over, patted Durant on the shoulder, and spoke.
…
The stadium is about 13 meters high. In addition to the two basketball hoops on the front and back courts, there are several basketball hoops hanging on the wall on one side, and some equipment for injury recovery on the other side.
Compared with Christian College, the training hall of the University of Texas is much taller and more spacious, and its facilities are more complete.
But there's just something missing.
To be precise, it is a lack of honor.
Most NCAA training halls will have some honors from the school's history hung on the walls.
Universities like Duke, North Carolina, and even Connecticut have walls covered with all kinds of honors, including division titles, championships, MOP, etc. A full wall looks very impressive.
But the walls of the University of Texas look somewhat clean.
The University of Texas has produced many NBA players, but so far only one person is truly famous, and he is also the only retired jersey hanging on the stadium's wall of honor.
No. 11, TJ Ford.
Ford's achievements in the NBA are not high in history, and most fans' impression of him is still stuck on Iverson's words "He may be the only man in the league who is faster than me."
But he is a legend in the NCAA, especially at the University of Texas.
When Ford entered the University of Texas, he was diagnosed with "congenital spinal stenosis", a disease somewhat similar to Chris Bosh's thrombosis. It is a high-risk disease that may cause paralysis or even death once subjected to a huge external force.
This disease prevented Ford from participating in strenuous contact sports, but it did not stop him from playing.
He continued to play for the University of Texas, and in his freshman year he averaged 8.7 assists per game, which ranked first in the country in the NCAA Division I league at the time.
By the second year, his assists per game dropped to 7.7, second in the country, but he also became the team's leading scorer and steals leader.
These are not the most important things. The most important thing is that he led the University of Texas to the final four of the "Crazy Three" again after 56 years!
With a height of 1.8 meters, he has a passing vision comparable to that of Magic Johnson and the same court judgment as Larry Bird. Even with such injuries, he was still selected with the 8th pick in the 2003 Platinum Generation Draft.
These are legends in the NCAA.
Before Barnes arrived, Springman was already giving these freshmen some scientific knowledge.
Springman was only in his early thirties, remarkably young.
Perhaps it is because of his youth that he can easily get along with the freshmen.
Springman had said almost the same thing, and Barnes also came.
Barnes is 51 years old, in the prime of his life as a coach.
However, a lot of a person's personality is tied to his appearance, and that serious face shows that he is not an easy person to talk to.
"Rose, call someone over here."
As expected, the first words he spoke after coming in were cold.
After everyone gathered together, Springman asked the team members to introduce themselves.
DJ Augustin, the freshman who was called Durant earlier, is a 1.83-meter-tall point guard.
Damian James, a 6-foot-2 forward, is also a freshman who came in with them.
Dexter Pittman is also a freshman, but he is a heavyweight player, a 6-foot-tall center who weighs 388 pounds...which is 176 kilograms, heavier than O'Neal's peak weight.
Randy Williams, a 1.9-meter-tall point guard and a junior, spoke in a gentle tone and seemed to have a good temper.
AJ Abrams: A sophomore, a 1.91-meter-tall shooting guard, who looks a little silly and a little cute.
Chris Wendle: A junior, 6'10" center who looks as serious as Barnes .
…
The NCAA does not have a mandatory quota limit like the NBA, but it is usually around 10 to 15 people.
In addition to the selected trio, four players on the team graduated or transferred last year, leaving only seven people on the roster.
So this time the team added 7 new players at once.
Just right, half and half.
After the team members introduced themselves, the content of today's training was announced.
Some basic drills, including shuttle runs, shooting, and finally a full-court competition between veterans and freshmen.
These were what Springman and Durant had said before, and Lin Ying also knew them.
But there are still some things they don't know.
"After the match is over, I will choose someone from the winning team as captain."
Barnes' words caused a commotion among the players.
The word captain is a key figure in any sport.
Especially in team sports, it is either the team with the strongest strength or the one with the highest mental attributes.
All in all, this thing has no real power, but it can build a lot of prestige for oneself in the team.
Lin Ying didn't think much about this, as his personality was destined not to be suitable for such a role.
But Durant is eager to try.
Ever since he was persuaded by Lin Ying that time, his goal has been to become the best basketball player.
To do that, he must first lead a team to success.
The captain's words would bring him one step closer to this goal.
Of course, he is not the only one who has this idea. DJ Augustine, a freshman, was also a star player in his region during high school. Randy Williams, a junior, also wants to have a chance to lead the team.
All in all, the emergence of this position will make the upcoming confrontation full of competitiveness.
The basic training ended quickly, and the full-court confrontation began immediately. Barnes looked in the direction of Durant.
“He’s improved a lot from where he was two years ago.”
Springman on the side spoke back.
Although no one mentioned Durant directly, it was obvious that they were discussing Durant.
As the third-best high school student in the United States, Durant should theoretically go to a top team like Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky.
This is indeed the case. North Carolina was once very close to getting Durant.
But Durant is a very sentimental person, and Springman established a very good relationship with him and his family two years ago.
When it came time to finally choose a school, he chose the University of Texas between North Carolina and the latter.
So this competition, while seemingly intended to give the freshmen a warning, was actually more about the coaching staff wanting to see Durant’s progress over the past two years.
After all, the one who determines the ceiling of the team in the new season will not be the old birds who can't enter the NBA, nor will it be other rookies with mediocre qualifications. That person can only be Durant.