Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 073: Tricked into getting a badge?
Tony Allen dragged his tired body back and couldn't help but sigh - it's so difficult to be a professional player.
Tony thinks he is still very hardworking. To be honest, compared with those real geniuses, his basketball talent is not worth mentioning.
He has reached where he is today through hard work step by step, from a junior college player to someone who now has the opportunity to enter the first round of the draft.
But the recent training still makes Tony feel very tiring.
In the summer of the draft, Tony thought he would just meet with NBA team general managers, shoot commercials, and then go up and shake hands with David Stern...
As a result, this summer of the draft was completely different from what he expected!
According to Schwartz, “Practicing hard now is not only to get good grades in the tryout, but also to lay the foundation for the upcoming summer league.
Don't underestimate the summer league. Those guys who are eager to fight for a place in the NBA will fight harder than ever.
If you are not prepared, you will only be abused."
There is no other choice but to try hard.
Moreover, seeing Wayne training so hard every day, Teacher Tony couldn't just give up.
Sure enough, training two people together does have the effect of encouraging each other.
When Tony reached his front door and opened it, he smelled the aroma of frying meat.
To be honest, Tony was already hungry after a whole day of training.
Now Tony can smell the fragrance as soon as he enters the house and he can’t resist it at all!
He rushed into the kitchen and found dinner already on the table.
Due to the nutritionist's requirements, Wayne and Tony's diets are strictly planned.
The nutritionist packed up everything they needed for each meal of the day and put it in the refrigerator, labeled it, so Wayne and Tony could just take it out and prepare it themselves.
It’s called cooking, but in fact it’s just frying the food packed by the nutritionist, basically chicken breast or beef and various vegetables.
And because Wayne and Tony need to gain weight differently, not only the amount they eat is different, but also the time they eat is different.
Tony eats three meals a day, while Wayne eats five meals a day.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, except for breakfast, Tony and Wayne would eat their own meals at their respective meal times.
Tony looked at his watch. At this time, it should not be time for Wayne to eat yet.
so……
"Wardfa? Wayne, are you preparing this for me?"
"Yeah, just consider it a thank you for making breakfast for me today, Tony.
I know you are very tired today. Since I have nothing to do anyway, I will fry the beef for your dinner.
Besides, after today we will go to tryouts separately. This is our last meal together, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you good luck.
Oh, I also made some juice, would you like to have some together?"
Wayne felt a little weird after he finished speaking... Why did he sound like he was going to have a drink at night...
Tony, exhausted, looked at the beef on the table. Although he could tell at a glance that it was overcooked and mushy... for some reason, Tony felt warm in his heart.
After finishing a day's work tired and hungry, when I get home, there is a delicious dinner waiting for me.
What else do you want a bicycle?
But let’s just make dinner. What do the three candles on the table mean... a candlelight dinner?
"By the way, before dinner, I want to perform a ritual with you. We have to do it before we separate." Seeing that Tony had taken the bait, Wayne was ready to reel in the line.
"ceremony?"
"Well, in China, if two people have a very good relationship, we will have a ceremony called 'Bai Ba Zi'.
After the ceremony, the two will become sworn brothers. This means that the two are like real brothers, and they are as close as brothers!
To perform the ritual, you need a special candle called 'incense', which you can't buy here, so I used an ordinary candle instead.
Will you be my sworn brother, Tony?"
Wayne has never sworn brotherhood with anyone, he's only seen it on TV. What he just did was all nonsense put together.
But it’s enough to fool the Americans.
"This... Wayne... Can I really do this?" Teacher Tony was fooled for a moment. He thought that this was a very serious and important ceremony in China, so he didn't dare to smile.
"I have no relatives here, and you and I are the closest. If you are not qualified, who can be?"
"Well, I'd like to be your good brother in America, Wayne! It's my honor!"
Then, Wayne and Tony stood side by side and said something like, "We don't ask to be born on the same day, but we ask to die and die on the same day, to share the joys and sorrows . "
Chinese people may be tired of hearing these words, as they are played on TV every day.
But Tony found it new and exciting, and was completely frightened... so much so that tears welled up in his eyes when he looked at the three candles.
"Okay Tony, the ceremony is over. Come on and eat. After eating this steak, you and I will be good brothers!"
"Well! You are one of the few good people I have ever met, Wayne."
Wayne breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Tony sit down obediently and start eating the charred beef.
From now on, please call me Wei·Dahuoyou·En!
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for reaching a new bond level. The bond reward has been unlocked."
At this moment, Wayne heard the exciting system prompt sound.
Tony ate a mouthful of beef and drank a sip of juice, and then, as if he had swallowed two bowls of wine, he narrowed his eyes and began to speak earnestly: "Wayne, my good brother. You don't know, when I was on the streets of Chicago, that was also..."
"Well, Tony, you eat first. I'm going to go back to my room to rest for a while. I'll listen to your stories about Chicago in the evening."
Tony was just about to tell Wayne the childhood story that he had heard so many times that his ears were callused, but he saw Wayne suddenly turn around and run back to the room.
"Oh...oh...well, have a good rest. Thank you, Wayne." Teacher Tony shook his head, thinking that Wayne must be exhausted too.
But in fact, Wayne went back to his room to study the reward he had tricked himself into getting!
After returning to the room, Wayne hurriedly opened the system interface and found that on the bond page, Tony Allen's progress bar had been filled to the first tick mark.
It may be because this function was not unlocked before, resulting in a low default value. Otherwise, considering the relationship between Wayne and Tony, the bond progress would not be so low.
At this time, there is an additional button at the bottom of the page: "Receive bond rewards."
After clicking to receive, a white light flashed as usual.
Wayne was very much looking forward to it, wondering what good things he could get from Teacher Tony.
According to the previous introduction of the system, unlockable items are badges related to teammates' abilities, special moves and shooting moves, and other special functions.
Well, as long as it’s not Tony Allen’s shooting bag, then he will definitely miss shots.
For example, a three-point shooting percentage of -10%... Who can stand it?
Finally, a brand new badge appeared in front of Wayne.
Although it was only bronze level, after reading the description of the badge, Wayne exclaimed that he had made a fortune!
“Badge: Strong Defense (Bronze, Upgradable).
Effect: Slightly improves the effectiveness of close defense, and slightly improves the impact of close defense on the ball handler. "
Isn't this exactly what Wayne needs right now!
Because of his lack of strength and weight, Wayne’s biggest fear is that he will not be effective in close defense.
In this era, it is difficult for an inside player to win trust without defense.
Moreover, in the NBA, it is not easy to cover up your defensive shortcomings by blocking shots.
In the NCAA, Wayne once blocked 11 shots in a single game. But in the NBA, you only have a few chances to block a shot in a game.
Now, with this badge, Wayne's disadvantage in ability can be made up to some extent!
If you don’t have the ability, you can make up for it with badges.
I have to say, this badge is very Tony.
Moreover, this badge can be upgraded and you can practice it slowly. If you draw the badge upgrade essence again and upgrade it to silver, it will be so cool.
"It's a good deal, this meal is worth it!" Wayne happily equipped the badge to the newly unlocked equipment slot.
I thought the new badge equipment slot wouldn't be used for the time being, but it turned out I was using it all day.
Speaking of which, this bond system is simply a magical skill!
If I become teammates with more powerful stars and develop bonds with them in the future, won’t I be able to steal badges to my heart’s content?
Moreover, more powerful stars may have badges with more abnormal effects.
For example...Duncan's master of blocking shots on the spot?
It smells so good, it seems Wayne has found another way to get rich.
However, this feature is not invincible.
According to the system description, you can only form bonds with teammates. No matter how good the relationship is, it will not work with people who are not teammates.
In other words, after the draft, Wayne and Tony will no longer be teammates, and the progress of this bond will temporarily stagnate.
Therefore, bond progress cannot be directly equated with personal relationships.
Despite this minor flaw, this feature is already very practical.
Moreover, there are still some things that have not been unlocked in the bond interface. Maybe in the future you can increase the bond value without a team.
While Wayne was still congratulating himself for unlocking such a practical badge, Jeff Schwartz had already boarded a plane to Stillwater to pick up Wayne and Tony.
Tomorrow, the two of them will begin their trial training trip around the United States.
At this time, the NBA Finals is about to begin, but the carnival of the weak teams has already ended a few days ago.
The end of the draft lottery ceremony and the determination of the draft order also means that agents who have rookie players on hand will start to get busy.
Although Schwartz has the No. 1 pick candidate in Okafor, in reality, players like Okafor are the least worrying.
He only needs to let Okafor try out with the top three teams in the draft order, and don't consider any others.
Once Okafor falls out of the top three, no matter who he originally wanted to choose as the fourth pick, he will definitely recruit Okafor without hesitation, even if Okafor has never tried out for them.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis. Schwartz will not let Okafor fall out of the top three, and the No. 1 pick is still his goal.
The Orlando Magic really wanted a big man in this draft, and their target was set between Okafor and Howard.
With Schwartz's hype, Okafor now has titles such as "a stronger Garnett" and "the strongest rookie inside player since Denis".
And as far as Schwartz knows, Orlando's No. 1 white robe genius has also conveyed to the management his desire to partner with Okafor.
McGrady has won many personal honors, including four All-Star appearances, two scoring titles, and four All-NBA selections.
Therefore, he now longs for a greater honor - a championship ring.
In fact, McGrady chose to join the Magic just for the ring.
That summer, the Magic claimed that they wanted to get Hill and Duncan, but Duncan didn't come, so the Magic signed the "spare tire" McGrady.
McGrady was about to hug Hill's thigh, but Hill knelt down and never got up again.
Maddie, who was clinging to someone's thigh, found himself becoming the thigh...
Although his legs are very thin, he has no choice but to go ahead.
As a result, they haven't even touched the championship yet.
Since the goal is to win the championship, McGrady definitely hopes that the more mature and more powerful Okafor can join forces with him.
Howard? That guy is just pure talent.
With the precedent of Kwame Brown, all teams have to weigh the consequences when selecting a high school center as the No. 1 pick.
So, Schwartz doesn't have to worry about Okafor at all.
In this way, he can also focus his work during the trial period on Wayne and Tony.
As for Wayne, Schwartz cares about him no less than he does about Okafor.
After all, if the market behind Wayne can be opened up, its value will be immeasurable.
Since the draft lottery, several teams have contacted Schwartz, hoping that Wayne can go for a tryout.
Among them, the most active is the Portland Trail Blazers.
They had even made a promise before the tryout: "If there are no major problems , we will pick Wayne at the 13th pick."
It can be said to be full of sincerity.
In addition to the Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics also invited Wayne to participate in tryouts.
The Warriors have the 11th pick this year, and they really want a big man.
The Jazz are at 14th pick and they need a player at the four or five positions.
The Celtics picked 15th, but Schwartz didn't trust Danny Ainge very much.
The reason why the Celtics tried out Wayne was probably simply because they wanted to pick up a bargain.
Well, don't doubt Angie, he is someone who can do such a thing.
His style is to do the most with the least effort.
Of all these teams, Schwartz cares most about the Trail Blazers.
Golden State has been a bit shaky, and they haven’t been doing too well over the years.
As for Salt Lake City...it's a very suitable choice for Wayne, but with their draft position, they probably won't be able to get it.
Logically, Schwartz should now have in-depth communication with the Trail Blazers.
In fact, he had originally planned to do so.
Until he received a call a day ago.
A call from Larry Bird.
When Schwartz heard that the Pacers were interested in Wayne, he initially thought Bird was joking.
After all, the Pacers only have one draft pick, No. 29, this year.
He originally wanted to politely reject Bird because taking Wayne to Indianapolis for a tryout would be a waste of everyone's time.
But Bird's attitude on the phone was very tough: "Bring Wayne over here, I really want to see how he performs. And I promise you, if we are satisfied, I have a way to get Wayne before anyone else.
I’ve been following him all year and I’ve watched every one of his games. I needed a piece of the puzzle and this was an opportunity to take him straight to the top.”
Schwartz knew that Bird was not lying because his informant Sweet was a scout for the Pacers and they had indeed observed Wayne for a long time.
So, Bird's call made Schwartz a little shaken.
His joining made Wayne's situation more complicated.
