unfinished glory

Chapter 13 Selected
The trial training was over, and Li Chongxiao stayed in Durham. While training, he watched his beloved F4 Lakers being tortured to death by the civilian Pistons.

Time soon came to the United States on June 2004, 6. The new NBA draft will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

As a lottery pick, Luol Deng naturally has an agent to arrange the schedule.Du Hong will go with his relatives and friends.Andy Borman and Nick Horvat had given up after their trials and decided not to waste money.

Li Chongxiao could only go there alone.

Starting at 18:20, players participating in the draft began to arrive at the scene. Everyone wore very formal suits, and Li Chongxiao was no exception.

The players' seats are near the right side of the stage, and the security guards use a safety line to separate an area, which is full of seats for the players and their families.

The players in the lottery area even have a table for each person, and there is a basketball on the table.

Around 18:30, Howard, Okafor, Ben Gordon and other players predicted to be high in the draft arrived one after another, causing a commotion in the crowd.A large group of photojournalists rushed to the hot people in their minds and took countless pictures.

Shortly thereafter, the security guards began to maintain order and let the reporters take their positions.

At 19:25, the big screen in the stadium began to show the wonderful moves of the top picks in the past few years. Yao Ming slams the dunk vigorously, and LeBron roars...

19:30 The draft officially started, and music began to sound in the theater.

David Stern came onto the stage and said, "The Orlando Magic now have five minutes to consider who they will select with the No. 5 pick." choose.

The Orlando Magic are brewing a big trade for Francis and McGrady, but this does not affect their selection of Dwight Howard of Southwestern Christian Academy in Atlanta.

Although the existence of Kwame Brown has made many NBA managers question whether high school students can adapt to the fierce competition in the NBA, the existence of the new MVP Garnett, the three-year champion Kobe and the scoring champion Tracy McGrady has dispelled it to a certain extent. people's concerns.

What's more, last year's No. [-] pick, LeBron James, won the Rookie of the Year award, and at the same time let people see that high school students can also be very mature.

Howard overwhelmed Okafor to be the No. 2004 pick in the [-] NBA draft. Talent outweighs immediate combat ability, which is a good thing for Li Chongxiao.

Then the Charlotte Bobcats immediately picked up NCAA MOP Emeka Okafor; then the Chicago Bulls picked Ben Gordon.

It seems that what the NCAA championship brings to the players is not only honor, but also the real benefit of the draft pick.

Li Chongxiao's teammate Luol Deng was selected by the Suns with the seventh overall pick, but was traded to the Bulls.

……

Soon to the No.20 ninth pick in the first round, the Indiana Pacers selected David Harrison from the University of Colorado.

Due to the illegal operation of the Timberwolves, the first-round picks from 2000 to 2005 were fined, which means that the first-round draft is over.This disappointed Du Hong who was sitting next to him.

But soon, Du Hong was selected by the Bulls with the ninth overall pick in the second round, which meant that he and Luol Deng were teammates again.

Starting from the second round, the audience gradually retreated, and ESPN no longer broadcast player introductions and interviews.

The number of international players appearing in this year's draft has gradually increased, occupying many second-round picks.

In recent years, international players such as Nowitzki, Divac, Stojakovic, and Manu Ginobili have performed very well in the league, making NBA scouts turn their attention to the European arena .

The second-round pick lasted until the No.15 pick, and the New Orleans Hornets, who had just been sent to the Wild West, announced their selection of Florida State University Tim Pickett.

Li Chongxiao, who had been sluggish all this time, sat up straight in an instant. He didn't let any of the teams with the last fifteen picks go, and they all went to participate in the trial training.

These teams have reasons for choosing him: there are no good players anyway, so it is better to choose a potential stock.

Watching Du Hong take the stage just now made him very envious, and he desperately hoped that he could also become a member of the following team.

The draft continues:

"Charlotte Bobcats - Bernard Robinson."

"Portland Trail Blazers - Hesheng Town."

"Miami Heat - Pep Sow."

"Sacramento Kings - Ricky Minard."

"Phoenix Suns - Sergey Ryshuk."

"Dallas Mavericks - Vassilis Spanoulis."

"New Jersey Blue Nets - Christian Drej."

Soon it was the 23rd pick in the second round. This was a pick from the Spurs. Li Chongxiao's heart skipped a beat, but the message came:

"San Antonio Spurs - Roman Sarto."

Then came another second-round pick from the Heat, who couldn't even breathe aloud:

"Miami Heat - Matt Frager."

Even if Larry Brown is not good at training newcomers, I can influence him:

"Detroit Pistons - Rich Poulding."

Brother Yao bless, Brother Yao bless:
"Houston Rockets - Luis Flores."

Well, the Lakers fell apart, let me help Kobe:
"Los Angeles Lakers -- Marcus Douchet."

By this time, Li Chongxiao was a little desperate.He wanted to take out his mobile phone and ask his father when the arranged CBA team trial training would start.

"San Antonio Spurs - Daye Lee from Duke!"

Um?Uncle Li from Duke University, isn’t that just me! ! !

Li Chongxiao jumped up, raised his arms and shouted.

After high-fiving a few spectators around him, he walked up the steps and on the way, a staff member handed him a hat with the Spurs logo on it.

After taking a photo with NBA Vice President Russ Granik who pronounced his name, Li Chongxiao went backstage to accept an interview.

As Yao Ming's craze continued, the reporters were very interested in an Asian face, and surrounded him one after another, all kinds of questions poured out.A Spurs staff member next to him quickly helped separate the crowd and let the reporters come one by one.

"Excuse me, are you from Huaxia?" "Yes!"

"Did you play in China's basketball league before?" "No, I'm from Duke and played for the Blue Devils for a year."

When they heard that Li Chongxiao was from the Duke Blue Devils, the reporters were in an uproar. Some people didn't hear his draft introduction just now, and now they know that he is from Duke, which is very strange.

Because according to previous predictions, only Luol Deng and Du Hong would be selected, and now there is another unknown player, who is still from China.

"Excuse me, why do you think you were selected? I have never heard of your name. Is it because you are from China?"

Hearing this, Li Chongxiao felt tired: "You should first ask Mr. David Stern why he allowed Chinese people to participate in the draft; then ask the Spurs why they selected me."

Then he went on to say: "I also feel very strange, why did your newspaper choose you?"

After answering a few more questions, he said sorry to the surrounding reporters that he was leaving, told his relatives and friends the good news, and then walked away under the guidance of the Spurs staff.

At this time, a reporter from China's "Sports Weekly" just arrived, but failed to interview.

Because of Yao Ming's joining, the domestic media's enthusiasm for the NBA has reached the highest point, and the domestic media are also reporting more and more news about the NBA.

This time, the reporter of "Sports Weekly" mainly focused on the Chinese player Moko.Moko also participated in this draft, but unfortunately lost.

The reporter hurried over after listening to the last two draft lists, hoping to confirm Li Chongxiao's information.If it is of Chinese nationality, it will be an exciting news; even if it is of Chinese descent, it is also good news.

(End of this chapter)