"Su, can you tell us what that 'dribbling trick' that you and Kobe used on the court today was?"
As the saying goes, the one who eats first is the strongest, the one who eats later is the tad more delicious. Mills handed the recording device to Su Feng and asked curiously.
Looking at the two middle-aged white men on his left and right who looked wretched, short in stature, and had cameras hanging around their necks, Su Feng initially thought that he had met the legendary "pervert".
However, after Mills asked the question, Su Feng reacted quickly.
I'm being interviewed right now?
It looks like it.
So Su Feng subconsciously straightened his back, "Are you talking about the move of first turning right like this, then turning left like this?"
Mills and Maxon beside him nodded.
"This move, Kobe and I learned it from a friend in New York. We call it 'Sam Gold'." Su Feng replied.
"'Sam Gold'? That sounds like a person's name?" Mills asked.
"Yes, because the friend who created this trick is named Samuel "Samuel" Wales, and he is the captain of the Lhasa Academy basketball team." Su Feng replied.
"By the way, Su, the new season is about to begin. What is your school's goal this year?" Maxson, who had not had the chance to ask questions, saw Mills busy making notes in a small notebook, so he hurriedly spoke.
"Our goal this year is to win the state championship. As you know, we have a very talented player like Kobe. He is simply the 'Michael Jordan' of high school basketball." Su Feng, who wanted to brag about himself, glanced at Kobe passing by and said seriously.
"What about your personal future goals?" Maxon asked casually.
"Me?" Su Feng scratched his head and replied, "I want to play in the NBA."
Hearing Su Feng's answer, Maxon was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly glanced at Mills who was still recording.
fine!
Fortunately, this idiot didn’t hear it!
Big news!
I didn't expect that my casual question would lead to such a big treasure!
Although Sam Gold is very worthy of coverage in Maxon's opinion,...
When doing the investigation before, Maxon had investigated Su Feng's background thoroughly.
After all, as a professional basketball reporter, Maxson believes that if the first three sentences you ask when interviewing an athlete are "What's your name?", "Can you introduce yourself?", "What do you think are your characteristics?"...
It's better not to ask...
Because that's so amateurish.
If the interviewer has to answer everything, then what is the role of reporters?
Although he is not as quick-witted as Mills, Maxon, who has a keen sense of news, knows that perhaps the really explosive news is in his hands at this moment!
Because this Chinese student in front of me...he wants to play in the NBA!
And in Maxson's view, this is not impossible to do.
After watching Su Feng's two games in a row, even Maxson was optimistic about Su Feng's future.
Although Su Feng will face many difficulties in entering the NBA in the future, but...
What if he really did it?
As a photographer for the sports section of the Philadelphia Evening Post, Maxon was well aware of the character of his editor-in-chief, Johansson.
Johansson is a complete gambler, he dares to bet as long as there is a 1% probability.
"The editor-in-chief will definitely agree to publish this news! Although this news may be laughed at by colleagues in the short term, if Su Weilai really makes it to the NBA... then, we will be the first media to report this news!"
Although he is 47 years old this year, the ideal of journalism has always been Maxon's lifelong pursuit.
Maxon knew very well that if this news became a reality in the future, the news published by the Philadelphia Evening News would be the first, exclusive, and a report that no one else could replicate!
"Su, can I take a picture for you?" Maxon smiled at Su Feng.
For some reason, Su Feng always felt that the reporter's smile was quite vulgar...
However, Su Feng did not think much about it, because Maxson and Mills had both introduced themselves during the interview.
Su Feng had read both of these newspapers after traveling through time. They were both serious newspapers.
It shouldn't be a mess...right?
Snap!
Just like that, Maxson took a photo of Su Feng sitting on the bench holding a basketball.
On the other hand, after interviewing Su Feng, Mills asked Kobe the same question. It was obvious that he was very interested in Sam Gold's move.
"Ah... my precious first interview!"
There are always many firsts in life.
Su Feng originally thought that reporters would only pay attention to him after the main competition began, but he never expected that reporters would come to him before the main competition even started.
"Don't think too much about it, they're not here to do a feature story on you, believe me, they're just interested in 'Sam Gold'."
Looking at Su Feng who was somewhat self-indulgent, Kobe felt that he needed to prick Su Feng to wake him up.
"That's right." Su Feng nodded, thinking that what Kobe said made sense.
So, Kobe is truly an essential tool for basketball practice... ahem, an essential companion.
Not only can they accompany you in special training, but they can also provide you with psychological counseling to prevent you from becoming overly inflated and losing sight of yourself.
In his heart, Su Feng silently gave Kobe a thumbs up.
…
It has been five days since Lower Merion's game against Chester High School.
New York, Fifth Avenue, Olympic Tower, NBA Headquarters.
"David, I suggest you look at our financial statements, financial estimates..."
"David, if the ratings continue to drop, I'm afraid we won't be able to..."
"David..."
"Okay, let's stop here for now."
After cursing the American national curse in his heart, NBA Commissioner David Stern rubbed his temple and glanced out the window meaningfully...
Oh, it's been another difficult year!
If one must use one sentence to describe the mood of the Jewish old man Stern at this time, it would probably be:
I... am... so... difficult!
You know, for the NBA, which is currently sandwiched between the other three major sports leagues in North America, the NBA's situation is more than just difficult.
Because the players kept making bad moves and using bad language on the court, even many American parents publicly expressed their intention to boycott the NBA to prevent their children from learning bad habits.
At this time, Stern knew better than anyone that basketball could no longer compete with football or even baseball in the United States.
The NBA needs new audiences.
Need a huge overseas market.
Therefore, in 1992, after professional players were allowed to play in the Olympics, Stern immediately called on the stars to play for the country.
It can be said that in Barcelona, ​​the Dream Team's style allowed countries around the world to appreciate the charm of the NBA for the first time.
but……
What happened next made Stern feel like he had gotten the wrong script.
Because it was agreed that all fronts would start to advance, will the NBA live a simple and boring life under his leadership?
No!
None at all!
The 90s were not the future, and except for a few players, most European basketball players were not interested in joining the NBA.
The most famous of them is the King of Europe, the "White Magician" - Bodiroga.
Because in Bodiroga's opinion, I can make a lot of money playing in Europe, so why do I have to go to the NBA?
As one of the representatives of basketball in Europe at that time, even Bodiroga had such an idea. It is conceivable how limited the appeal of the NBA is to European players.
So Stern is too difficult.
But it doesn’t matter. As a president full of energy, Stern will not give up even if the European market cannot be opened for the time being.
Because Stern discovered a new world in the NBA overseas market——
China.
While researching the history of basketball in China, Stern discovered that China has a history of playing basketball that is almost as long as North America. The old China even sent a basketball team to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
And these histories made Stern realize that China has a far better basketball foundation than Europe.
Because the center of world football is in Europe, even if the NBA can enter the European market, its influence will be very limited.
But China is different.
So, in 1986, despite everyone's opposition, Stern, who insisted that China would become the largest basketball market outside the United States in the future, mailed several boxes of NBA videotapes to China's Great China Television.
In Stern's view, although China was still in a state of disrepair at that time, he firmly believed that China would rise and the NBA must enter the Chinese market as soon as possible.
In 1989, in order to further promote the NBA in China, Stern once again went against the majority opinion.
This time, the old Jewish man once again took NBA video tapes and went to China alone.
Outside the then very old building of Great China Television, Stern had to wait for two hours because he did not have an appointment. Finally, the old Jewish man met the leader in charge of sports at Great China Television.
In the end, Stern impressed the Great China Television with his sincerity. If Stern's experience is described in a modern way, it should be like this:
Stern: The NBA here is so exciting, with Jordan, Dream, and Shaq...
Great China Television: But our programs are all arranged.
Stern: That’s okay. If it really doesn’t work, you can just broadcast it as a commercial!
Great China TV: Advertisements? If you talk about this, I won’t be sleepy anymore. By the way, speaking of advertisements, how much are you prepared to pay?
Stern: ORZ.
It can be said that the process of Stern opening up the entire Chinese market was very difficult, but at the same time, all this also proved Stern's vision.
In Su Feng's previous life, this little Jewish old man's judgments were basically correct, except that he failed to anticipate the various decisions made by our emperor.
Stern doesn't have the ability to predict the future, but he is full of sincerity.
In the early days of cooperation with China Television, Stern said in his own words: Don't talk to me about money. It hurts our feelings.
So, just like that, in the 93/94 season, the NBA officially invited China Television to broadcast the NBA All-Star Weekend.
After that, the Great China Television broadcast the NBA All-Star Game every year.
until……
In the future, some idiot who thinks all this doesn't matter appears...
"Alas, although the cooperation with China has taken shape, there is still a lack of a bridge between us and China."
Although Stern has never read Chinese online novels, the president knows better than anyone that if the NBA wants to truly open up the Chinese market, it must have Chinese players.
Because Stern, who has worked hard to understand Chinese culture, knows that this... is called a sense of immersion.
Just like a certain author named Shui Duanqiao who always likes to write about handsome protagonists, isn’t that all for the purpose of making readers feel more involved?
In Su Feng's previous life, in addition to the well-known Wang Zhizhi, Battelle, and Yao Ming, in fact, during this period, many NBA teams had also extended invitations to Hu Weidong, nicknamed "China's Jordan".
Because the Great China TV felt that it should reciprocate with the NBA, after the establishment of the CBA, the Great China TV also mailed a CBA highlights video to the NBA.
After this video was broadcast, Americans became interested in the tall and thin Chinese defender.
Because he has a gorgeous playing style and can fly and dunk.
Ahem...I think I've gone off topic.
Let’s get down to business.
worry!
worry!
worry!
Who can understand the sorrow in my heart?
As Stern drank the bitter coffee and felt the inner distress, suddenly...
Someone knocks on the door.
"Please come in." Stern calmed himself down. After all, as a president, he should act like a president. How could he be so dejected?
"David... I have a newspaper here. Would you like to take a look?" A senior executive wearing a gray suit and looking a bit like an Asian said to Stern while holding a newspaper in his hand.
"Mark, I don't think I'm in the mood to read the newspaper right now." Stern looked at Mark and said.
"No, no, no, I think you need to take a look at it." Mark put the newspaper in front of Stern despite Stern's objection.
"Huh?" Looking at the newspaper headline, Stern was stunned for a moment...
China's first NBA player?
Stern felt as if his eyes were blurry, but... he was clearly wearing glasses.
The Philadelphia Evening Post?
"Isn't it about the players of the Chinese men's basketball national team?"
"Su, Su Feng? Pennsylvania...Laurel Merien?"
Looking at Stern who kept sending him various question mark emojis, Mark smiled and said, "This report is about a Chinese student studying at Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia."
"The newspaper mainly introduced some of the deeds of this Chinese student, as well as his playing characteristics and the statistics of the recent friendly matches."
Stern frowned when he heard what Mark said, "Friendly match? What about his stats from freshman and sophomore years? Why aren't they listed here?"
"David, this Chinese player named Su has never played in the high school league before ," said Mark.
"They dared to ..."
Originally Stern wanted to say, how dare this newspaper write like this about a player who hasn’t even made an official appearance?
"That's strange, because according to my research, the Philadelphia Evening Post is a very respectable newspaper."
“But after they sent out this report, almost the entire industry laughed at them.”
"Because in the eyes of colleagues in the industry, no matter how good this Chinese talent is, they should report on him after he has played a full season."
"Moreover, in the last paragraph of the article, the writer Maxon used nine consecutive 'I think's' to affirm the strength of this Chinese student."
"Therefore, the industry feels even more that this report is unrealistic and is just a hype," Mark told Stern.
actually……
It’s not just these so-called industry insiders who think…
Stern felt the same way after reading the entire report and listening to Markle's explanation...
"So, Mark, today is not April Fool's Day." Stern looked at Mark weakly and said.
"No, David, if that's all, I don't find it strange. After all, this kind of hype can be seen frequently." Mark said as he took out another newspaper.
"Pennsylvania High School Basketball League Amazing Skills - Sam Gold"
"This is also a very popular report in the past two days. In addition, ESPN played this video yesterday afternoon." As he spoke, Mark took out another videotape. (Are you Doraemon?)
Soon, in Stern's office, Stern watched the following video on videotape:
In the video, first a yellow guard used a dribbling skill that Stern had never seen before to shake off his opponent and completed a three-point shot. Then, a black guard completed the attack in the same way...
"I remember this kid with number 33, his name is Kobe, right? His father is Joe, a former NBA player." Stern said to Mark.
"Yes, that's right, David, do you know who is the first player to appear in this video?" Mark asked.
Stern shook his head, then opened his eyes wide.
"He is Su, the Chinese genius high school student mentioned in the report written by Maxon."
"Although I don't know if he can play in the NBA, after all, there is too little information to be gained just by watching this video."
"But David... I think this might be an opportunity," Mark said, looking at Stern.
Stern knew what Mark meant.
There has always been a lack of a bridge between the NBA and the Chinese market.
And now...
What if this genius high school student named Su Feng can build this bridge?
In Stern's opinion, it doesn't matter even if he can't play in the NBA in the future.
Trying to find a way to open a back door for him, letting him try out in the NBA, or finding a team to let him play in the summer league is also a good idea!
Stern felt his mood improve immediately.
At this moment, Su Feng, who was practicing one-on-one with Kobe in Philadelphia, could never have imagined...
The boss has already written down his name in his little notebook.
…