"Congratulations to the host for being successfully selected in the 2000 NBA draft. The system will be upgraded to version 2.0."
"Version is being upgraded, 0.1%..."
"Version is being upgraded, 0.2%..."
…
As Sun Hao was on his way out to celebrate, system prompts kept ringing in his mind.
It felt like there was a fish inside my head, spitting bubbles non-stop.
He was actually quite curious as to why the system had to constantly prompt progress during updates. Was it to strengthen his relatively weak presence?
As a result, Sun Hao's celebration outside that night became very strange.
"Sun, congratulations, now you are a real NBA player! Come, drink!"
"Version is being upgraded, 6.6%..."
"Sun, Benita said she wants to go shopping in Manhattan tomorrow. Will you go with her?"
"Version is being upgraded, 6.7%..."
"Benita is fine now, so let her go to Los Angeles with you."
"Version is being upgraded, 6.8%..."
…
Just when Sun Hao's mind was bubbling with thoughts, Su Qun finally finished his article about Sun Hao's draft.
As soon as he completed it, he sent it to the Sports Weekly headquarters via email.
When Sun Hao finished his celebration and went back to the hotel to sleep, this article titled "The Little Emperor Brings His Talent to NBA" appeared in front of the Chinese people.
"'I no longer have the same challenges that I had when I started out as a basketball player.'
When Michael Jordan said this a year ago, he announced his retirement from the NBA, and Chicago's second Bulls dynasty came to an abrupt end.
Jordan retired again, but unlike five years ago, he was 37 years old.
Will Jordan come back?
I don't think so. As he said, basketball is no longer a challenge for him.
What is challenging for him, as he said in his retirement statement, is the challenge of being a parent.
So, now that Jordan is no longer around, a group of "Jordan successors" can't wait, and Iverson, Hill, Kobe, and Carter are all starting to get excited.
Who will be the next Michael Jordan? Or is there a next Michael Jordan?
We have no way of knowing the answers to these questions, but what we can see is that when O'Neal swept the finals with crazy statistics of 38.0 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 blocks per game and was elected FMVP, the league will once again enter the era of giants.
In this era, O'Neal, Duncan, and even Garnett and Wallace are the protagonists of the league.
So, just like the 2000 NBA draft that just ended, four of the top five picks were centers, and eight of the fourteen lottery picks were centers.
Big guys are becoming more desirable, regardless of whether they are actually talented.
As long as you are tall enough and have good enough physical fitness, you can get a high draft pick.
This is the trend of the NBA, the trend of world basketball, and also ours.
In fact, we had already started the giant movement long before Jordan retired , including Wang Zhizhi, Battelle, and Yao Ming.
We keep pace with the times, we have our own mobile Great Wall, and we want to create our own place in the world of basketball.
Then, Sun Hao appeared.
He scored the highest points in a single game in the European professional basketball league, won the Champions League and La Liga double championships, and became the double MVP.
This was the first time in basketball history that a Chinese stood at the top of Europe, and he was only 18 years old when he accomplished all this.
And he is a defender, a defender who was 1.75 meters tall a year ago and is now 1.83 meters tall.
Maybe if we dig deeper we will find that he is a so-called short defender who was eliminated in the country.
He was like a bolt of lightning that streaked across the sky, lighting it up and startling us.
It was then that we discovered that while we were fully committed to developing tall inside players, our small and quick spirit, that 'small' was slowly .
Just yesterday, I had the honor of visiting Madison Square Garden, the 'Mecca of Basketball', the sacred place of world basketball.
When NBA Commissioner David Stern read out Sun Hao's name, I couldn't help but feel emotional.
For the first time, a Chinese, Asian, and even yellow guard stepped onto the NBA stage! And he was the 24th pick in the first round, making history!
When the tide of big men in world basketball was unstoppable, he went against the current and told us that yellow guards could also play in the NBA!
We should be grateful that the appearance of Sun Hao has sounded the alarm for us in advance.
At the same time, he also raised a series of questions for us.
Do our guards have the ability to shoot independently?
In addition to shooting, are our guards' breakthroughs enough to tear through the defense in big competitions?
Is this really the limit of our physical fitness and confrontation?
In Europe, Sun Hao did all these and did them well.
His three-pointers shot through the opponent's net again and again like a rainstorm, making people's blood boil.
But when the opponent frantically rushed up to defend the three-pointer, his first step to break through was like crossing a main road in the early morning.
He is not afraid of confrontation, he is even good at confrontation. He is a little cannon with full momentum.
He has refreshed the fans' cognition time and time again. He is called the Chinese Napoleon by European fans, which is a title representing the emperor!
Now, after conquering Europe, he has stepped onto the NBA stage.
We don’t know how Sun Hao will perform in the NBA because no one can predict the future.
Just like we don’t know whether the men’s basketball team can achieve greater success during this trip to Sydney.
But we started to look forward to it.
Because this is the first time that a yellow person has appeared on the NBA stage.
Every step he takes will inspire us to move forward and guide us.
And I also believe that there will be more and more "ordinary people" like him who will no longer be abandoned because of their height.
More and more people will join the sport of basketball to build the bottom part of the pyramid.
This is actually the power of idols.
Personally, I prefer to call Sun Hao the Little Emperor because of what he has achieved in Europe and more because of his playing style.
The kind of temperament that can crush Steve Nash with ease.
The kind of temperament that would not even flinch in the face of Kobe Bryant.
And that is the charm of competitive sports.
Now, we can shout it out.
Little Emperor, it’s time to bring the yellow race’s talent to the NBA! ”
Su Qun's article quickly caused a sensation in the country.
While fans were excited about Sun Hao becoming the first first-round pick, they also began to think about a question: Can I also play professional basketball?
Sun Hao did it, why can't I?
He is not taller than me!
This is a completely different feeling from watching O'Neal, Kobe and others play.
One is high above, the other is within reach.
Especially for those players who love professional basketball but are blocked from entering the game due to their height.
Maybe I can’t play in the NBA even if I try my best, but I believe I can pursue my passion and dreams!
…
After Li Yuanwei arranged for the Chinese men's basketball team to play in the summer league in the United States, he picked up the "Sports Weekly" on the table and started reading.
After reading it, he found himself somewhat fond of this reporter.
After seeing Sun Hao's rise, his views have changed little by little, but there are some things he cannot say.
Su Qun said all these words for him.
He is now full of expectations for the future of men's basketball.
With Sun Hao and the current forward and inside players, the Chinese men's basketball team will definitely make a big splash in the next Olympics.
And just as Su Qun said, more and more short guys will emerge.
What Sun Hao has done is not just his own thing.
"Dee-dee~"
As he was thinking, there was a knock on the office door.
The secretary pushed the door open.
"Director, Coach Yang Wei wants to see you."
Hearing what the secretary said, Li Yuanwei frowned.
In the past six months, Yang Wei has contacted him by phone several times.
All they wanted was to let him say a word and transfer him back to the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau.
But he couldn't do that.
From a public perspective, this is against the system.
Personally, although Sun Hao was unable to play for Guangdong Hongyuan due more to the system, if we have to find someone to take the blame, it should be Yang Wei, not him.
So he had been avoiding it, but he didn't expect that Yang Wei would come to the State Sports Administration.
"Say I'm not here."
The secretary responded and went out.
After being busy for a while, he got up and went out to do something.
However, what he didn't expect was that he was stopped by Yang Wei before he took two steps.
This guy has been smiling and hasn't left yet.
"Director Li, I really can't find a buyer. Please help me!"
Yang Wei almost begged.
Li Yuanwei looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he lowered his voice.
"Did you know that Sun Hao was selected by the NBA?"
"I...I know."
Even if Yang Wei was not well-informed, as a basketball player it was impossible for him not to know such big news.
"If he returns to China and finds out that you are working at the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau, what will he think as a Dongguan native?"
Yang Wei was speechless.
He also knew that Sun Hao was not a person within the system, and that the country needed him as such.
Li Yuanwei's meaning was very clear. He would never annoy Sun Hao because of himself.
Officials will weigh the pros and cons.
Compared with Sun Hao, he is nothing now.
"Don't come to see me again in the future, lest it be spread by outsiders."
After Li Yuanwei finished speaking, he left Yang Wei standing there.
Yang Wei was stunned for a long while, and suddenly he couldn't help but want to slap himself.
However, his thoughts at this time were completely different from those half a year ago.
Why didn't he think of giving Sun Hao a chance to join the youth team five years ago?
To be honest, Sun Hao's performance during the trial was also outstanding among his peers, and he deserves a chance.
If he had given Sun Hao a chance back then, he would have been able to get into not only the Provincial Sports Bureau but also the National Sports Bureau!
…