Volume 1 Western Cowboy Chapter 41: The genius that made Thomas give up James
Wayne himself was quite surprised to see the newspapers full of news about himself.
Although he was the Big 12 regular season MVP, Wayne still had a clear idea in his mind. There were many college stars who were more famous than him in the March Madness .
Emeka Okafor, Deron Williams, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon...these guys are all the proud children of the NCAA.
But after the first round of games, there was very limited coverage of them.
The sports pages of most newspapers are dominated by two players.
One is Wayne, who scored 17 points and 11 blocks, an alternative double-double.
The other is Sebastian Telfair, a talented point guard from Lincoln High School, who got rid of Howard and dribbled to the left corner to complete the buzzer-beater in yesterday's game.
During the March Madness tournament, a high school player was able to steal the limelight from so many college stars, which shows how popular Telfair is.
In terms of popularity, he is even slightly more popular than Wayne.
Even David Stern did not expect this situation, because in his plan, Wayne should have been the only one to become popular today.
Yesterday afternoon, Stern mobilized all media forces and began to hype Wayne crazily, hoping that Wayne could enter the first round and attract the attention of Chinese fans.
But Telfair's sudden appearance caught Stern off guard.
Even David, the master of making trouble, can make mistakes sometimes.
Wayne looked at the photos in the newspaper. He recognized Howard who was defeated by the buzzer beater, but he had no memory of Telfair who made the buzzer beater.
Who is this guy?
Will there be such a figure in the NBA in the future?
As a veteran and hardcore football fan in his previous life, Wayne knew many unpopular players.
But Telfair had never heard of it.
Could this guy be a basketball player who suddenly traveled to this world and obtained the system like me!?
At this time, Tony Allen, who was staying in the same room with Wayne in the hotel, woke up.
After washing up, he picked up a newspaper and started reading, ready to kill some time while waiting for breakfast.
When Teacher Tony saw that the entire sports section was filled with reports about Wayne, he couldn't stop smiling.
"This is March Madness. You only need one win to become famous all over the country! Winning a game in March Madness is more effective than winning the MVP award in the Big 12 Conference. How does it feel to be famous, Wayne!"
"Uh... I don't feel anything at the moment. By the way, Tony, who is this Sebastian Telfair? Why is he so popular today?"
As soon as Wayne finished speaking, Tony Allen showed an expression of disbelief, as if to say: "How could such a question come out of your mouth?"
"Telfair... that Telfair."
"So, which Telfair is it?"
"He's the guy who appeared on the covers of countless magazines with James last year, who beat up everyone in the ABCD training camp with James, who was signed by Adidas as a spokesperson while still in high school, and who is as famous as James as the top high school point guard Telfair. You can't really not know him, right?"
"Oh, it's this Telfair." Wayne pretended to understand a lot, but in fact he understood nothing.
A super high school point guard who is as famous as James?
How come I've never heard of it before?
This means there is only one possibility - this guy named Telfair will never make it in the NBA in the future.
Because if Wayne had been in the league for a longer time and was a rotation player, he would not have never heard of him.
"I never thought he would make the buzzer beater over Dwight Howard. That guy is known as a combination of Duncan and Garnett! Telfair was already popular enough, and this time he made the buzzer beater over Howard. It's hard not to be popular."
"It's better to read less of that kind of street-style reports. There is no combination of Duncan and Garnett in the world." Wayne got a headache when he mentioned Howard's outrageous template.
"Even if he's not a combination of Duncan and Garnett, his talent is explosive enough. So, completing a buzzer-beater over him is definitely a feat! But it doesn't matter, in my heart, you are still the most popular player today, and Telfair has to stand aside."
Tony Allen comforted Wayne. He thought Wayne was discouraged because he was overshadowed by a high school student.
But Wayne was simply curious about Telfair . After hearing Tony Allen's introduction, it seemed that Telfair was quite vigorous in high school.
No wonder it was able to grab so much traffic during March Madness.
In the afternoon, when Wayne and his team returned to Jingshui City, the entire airport was surrounded by fans.
This is not the first time Wayne has played an away game. When he came back from away games before, there were also many fans gathered at the airport, but never was there such an exaggerated crowd as today.
Fans shouted the names of Cowboys players and held up signs that read "Welcome Home Heroes."
Among them, Wayne is almost the most popular player.
The CCTV Channel 5 reporter team who returned to Jingshui City the night before to do the field work were all stunned.
This kind of treatment is simply what NBA stars get!
"Don't be surprised. In Jingshui City, Wade and Tony are the biggest basketball stars!" Coach Zhang looked like an experienced person, as if he was not surprised by this.
But in fact, when he first came to Wayne a few months ago, he was also shocked by the popularity of college basketball.
In Boston, you can see all the citizens gathered at the North Shore Gardens.
In Los Angeles, there are always crowds outside Staples Center.
At this time in Jingshui City, you can also see similar scenes.
Coach Zhang raised his camera and took a few photos of Wayne waving to the fans.
This young man is different from all the Chinese players who have entered the NBA before. Before entering the league, he already had a star appearance and fame in the United States.
He hopes that he can convey these reports back to China truthfully so that Chinese fans can fully understand this unusual Chinese student.
Because the fans were too enthusiastic, the journey from the airport to the school, which was supposed to take more than 40 minutes, took Wayne and his friends an hour and a half to complete.
Although Jingshui City has a small population, there are usually few people on the streets.
But when everyone gathered together, it still caused great obstruction to traffic.
When Wayne and the others arrived at school, it was already time for lunch.
Old Sutton originally wanted to hold a tactical meeting today, because the end of the first round meant that the Cowboys' second-round opponent had also been decided.
But when he saw that it was getting late, he decided to let the players go back and rest and talk about it tomorrow.
So before the team dismissed today, Sutton said a few words to the players: "I am proud of your performance yesterday, but it is not time to relax yet."
"In the next game, our opponent will be the prestigious Wake Forest University. There is no doubt that they will not surrender as easily as the University of Washington.
So, have a good rest tonight, it’s best not to go anywhere, and be ready to face the challenge! ”
Because they had just won the game, everyone was in high spirits. Therefore, even if they heard that the opponent was a famous school like Wake Forest , they were not afraid at all.
The same goes for Wayne, he didn't even think about what players Wake Forest University has now.
No matter who he is, just do it!
After returning to the dormitory, Teddy called two girls to celebrate Wayne's first victory in March Madness.
Although many American universities still do not allow men and women to live in the same room, they allow men and women to live in the same building or even on the same floor.
Not to mention America, in Wayne's previous life, when he was in college, the dormitory buildings in the new campus of the school had not been completed yet, so he also experienced the good times of men and women living in the same building.
The advantage of men and women living in the same building is that female students can visit the dormitory at any time.
Therefore, when Wayne pushed open the dormitory door and found two girls inside, he was not surprised.
After dinner, the girl and Teddy were still eager to go to the nightclub to continue celebrating, but Wayne declined on the grounds that he was too tired and wanted to rest.
In the end, Wayne had to use China's universal social skill, "Call me if you have any problems," to make the girls reluctantly leave.
During March Madness, it’s better not to overdraw your physical energy.
Although he seemed unwilling on the surface, Wei was actually still a little restless in his heart.
After all, they are all young and attractive female classmates...
Alas, Wayne finds it too difficult to face various temptations every day.
After March Madness is over, I must catch up!
Before going to bed at night, curious Wayne borrowed Teddy's "thin laptop" that was heavy enough to kill someone and looked up information about Chatelfield.
Only then did I realize that I was indeed ignorant.
Telfair's fame in America, especially in New York, is comparable to that of a professional player.
After he and James dominated the ABCD training camp last season and appeared on the covers of major magazines together, their fame has become unstoppable.
It is worth mentioning that Telfair has also announced that he will participate in this year's NBA draft, and it seems that he will embark on the same path as James.
Currently, Telfair's mock draft is in the late lottery.
For a high school guard who is less than 1.9 meters tall, this draft pick is quite incredible.
On the Internet, Wayne also saw many comments given by celebrities after Telfair scored the buzzer-beater against Howard.
Jay-Z and Spike Lee have both said they will attend Lincoln High School's next game in person to support Telfair.
Hollywood director Jonathan Hawke said he wanted to make a documentary about Telfair.
The most exaggerated thing was that Wayne saw a statement from Isaiah Thomas.
"If Telfair and LeBron James were both in the draft, I would choose Telfair."
Wayne: ???
Thomas, are you serious?
Fortunately, Bird made a prompt decision to fire Thomas last year and did not give him the opportunity to embarrass himself.
To sum up, Telfair, who is slightly more popular than Wayne today, is a high school basketball genius in New York, but it is very likely that he will not make a name for himself in the NBA in the future.
Of course, Wayne had no idea that this high school genius who seemed to have nothing to do with him was subtly influencing his draft...
After satisfying his curiosity, Wayne turned off his computer and prepared to end his long day of traveling.
At the same time, in the basketball hall of the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, a 1.83-meter-tall man drew a big red cross on Wayne's portrait in the newspaper.
He would not allow himself to lose to any opponent, even one who was much taller than him.
