basketball boulder

Chapter 14
6 month 26 day.

The day before the NBA draft.

Li Lei's family of three got on the plane to New York.

Along with him is Su Qun.

"Stone, you are about to enter the NBA, how do you feel?"

On the plane, Su Qun asked with a small notebook.

After getting acquainted, Su Qun directly called Li Lei by his nickname.

"Excited and nervous."

Li Lei picked up the instant coffee provided on the plane, took a sip, and answered calmly.

Su Qun: "..."

How can I not feel your excitement and tension?

Dear, do you know?
Does your entry into the NBA have a cross-generational significance?

You are not the first Chinese player to log into the NBA, but you are the first Chinese perimeter player to log into the NBA.

Your success proves that small Chinese players can also play in the NBA, which is of great significance to Chinese basketball!
Su Qun had countless emotions and coquettish words in his heart, but he couldn't confide in them.

"Brother Su, you haven't arrived at the draft yet."

Li Lei reminded, and then quietly looked at the clouds outside the window, floating quietly and calmly.

Su Qun's heart gradually calmed down.

"Hey, I'm already in my 30s, but my concentration is actually not as good as that of an 18-year-old kid."

Su Qun decided to go back and read more books, so as to cultivate his health and nature.

But he took a casual glance, only to find that the corner of Li Lei's mouth was raised high, it was obviously a smile, and he couldn't hide it.

"..."

Su Qun suddenly realized, yes, Shitou is a child after all, how could he not be excited?

Good guy, you actually lied to yourself.

When he arrived in New York, Li Lei saw Alston as soon as he got out of the airport.

He has already negotiated a contract with the Heat, and he will sign the contract directly when the free agent market opens this summer and the freeze period ends.

Alston, who had nothing to do, went home. His home was near Rock Park, the holy land of streetball in New York.

"Hey man, I knew you could. Welcome to the NBA."

Alston and Li Lei hugged and said.

As the host, Alstom received Li Lei's family and Su Qun.

At dinner, the five chatted while eating.

Alston chatted about some interesting facts about the draft.

"Stone, if you were drafted by an NBA team, what would you do in an interview?"

Su Qun quickly replied: "Of course it's bragging about the home team, bragging to death!"

Li Lei thought so too.

But he found that the corners of Alston's mouth curled up in a smirk.

Is there any problem here?
Alston said with a smile: "Then you may be miserable, maybe you will be traded to another team as soon as you finish playing the home team."

Li Lei imagined this scene. He was just selected by Team A, and then he bragged about it, saying that he wanted to play for Team A. If he didn't play, he would die.As soon as the words fell, Stern brought a message: Li, you have been traded to the B team!
Uh... I want to die already.

Seeing that Li Lei was stunned, Alston said triumphantly: "So there must be a limit to bragging, otherwise you will be really embarrassed if you don't get it back."

Su Qun was also educated, but his mouth was a bit harsh: "Don't worry about this. The Mosaic team has already given you a draft promise, and this kind of thing will not happen."

Alston disagrees: "There is nothing impossible in this world, everything is possible."

Su Qun argued: "But Morey also called Yao Ming. He might deceive Shitou, but he wouldn't deceive Yao Ming."

"I hope so."

Alstom was unwilling to argue and immediately changed the subject.

the next day.

Li's father, Li's mother, and Su Qun accompanied Li Lei to Madison Square Garden, where the talent show was held.

It is also the home of the New York Knicks.

Outside the arena, several Chinese stopped Li Lei and his party.

"Director Zhang!"

Su Qun took the initiative to say hello to the team leader.

Afterwards, Su Qunju introduced.

It turned out that the young team leader was Zhang Weiping, a well-known domestic basketball commentator.

He led the CCTV team to live broadcast this year's draft.

Both sides greeted each other.

Zhang Weiping asked: "Li Lei, can I say hello to my fans and friends in China?"

Li Lei naturally agreed.

Facing the camera, Li Lei waved his hands and said with a smile: "Hi everyone, I'm Li Lei, you can also call me Shitou."

Afterwards, Li Lei and Zhang Weiping had a brief interaction.

Zhang Weiping asked, Li Lei answered.

But they are all simple questions, such as whether you are nervous or not?Which position to play?Some experiences of playing basketball in the United States and so on.

Then, the two groups separated.

The CCTV team is going to the designated media area to arrange equipment.

And Li Lei also has a prescribed position as a candidate.

The scene is divided into upper and lower floors.

There are five areas on the first floor.

One is the rostrum, where NBA Commissioner David Stern will announce the results of the first round of the draft.

The second block is "Little Green House".

Lottery hopefuls can sit here, and everyone has a small round table where friends and family can sit together.

The third block is the media area.

The fourth block is where the players and their families with poor draft prices sit.

The facilities here are much worse. There are no special small round tables, only rows of seats.

The fifth block is the location of the audience. Most of the fans who come here are New Yorkers, the most difficult fans in the world.

On the second floor are a number of offices, which will be assigned to the draft teams of various NBA teams.

Each team selects its favorite rookie in the office.

After the four of Li Lei sat down, Su Qun took out a small notebook and wrote down something from time to time.

A few minutes later, the draft teams of each team began to enter the arena.

There are three that Li Lei is familiar with.

The first is the Pistons, led by Joe Dumars and Larry Brown.

Then came the Heat, led by Pat Riley, followed by Stan Van Gundy, Eric Spoelstra and others.

Finally there is the Mosaic team.

Carol Dawson led the team, followed by the likes of Daryl Morey and Jeff Van Gundy.

After entering the arena, Coach Xiao Fan scanned the candidate area and smiled kindly when he saw Li Lei's family.

Li Lei lowered his head slightly and smiled back.

Su Qun excitedly clenched his fists and shouted, "Stable!"

Coach Xiao Fan's greeting is to reassure Li Lei that the previous draft promises still count.

Su Qun patted Li Lei on the shoulder: "No problem, Stone. You will join the Mosaic team and fight side by side with Dayao."

Li Lei just smiled, he was still a little nervous.

Looking at the watch, Li Lei felt that the time passed so slowly that every minute and every second was very difficult.

I don't know how long it took, there was a huge booing sound at the scene, and the New York fans rioted.

Stern stepped onto the rostrum.

He is already a sixtieth old man.

"Good evening, gentlemen and ladies! Welcome to the 2003 NBA Draft. Fans and friends in front of the TV..."

With Stern's speech, the fiery 2003 NBA Draft kicked off.

(End of this chapter)