The Whip of the God of Basketball

In Leon's room, the draft at Madison Square Garden was playing on TV, and Stern stepped onto the podium, about to announce the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

With-the-first-pick-in-2002-NBA-draft, the-Houston-Rockets-select-Yao-Ming-from-Shanghai-China-and-Shanghai-Sharks! (In the first pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets selected Yao Ming from China and the Shanghai Sharks with the first pick!)” When Stern read the name Yao Ming, the entire Madison Garden The square was full of cheers and boiling, and one could feel the warm atmosphere of the scene while sitting in front of the TV and watching the live broadcast.

This is how the first foreign No. 1 pick in NBA history was born. He did not come from Europe, which has the strongest basketball outside the United States, but from China across the ocean, a world of yellow races ignored by Americans.

At this time, Wang Zhizhi, Schwartz, and Wang Zhizhi's assistant Chen Weiming were also in Leon's room. They were all making tentative greetings before, and they turned their attention to the TV after the start of the draft.

"How do you feel, Wang, your teammate and opponent, Yao Ming became the No. 1 pick. I heard that when you were in China, Yao could not win the national championship. He only got his wish after you left. Give me your evaluation." Leon asked Wang Zhizhi a sharp question.

After meeting Wang Zhizhi, he found that he was a shy and introverted big man, which made people feel a little strange. In fact, those tall giants have somewhat withdrawn personalities, which makes people feel weird. No wonder people call them lonely giants.

Then Leon found that Wang Zhizhi's English was not very good. Once Leon spoke that thick Boston accent and spoke at a very fast speed, Wang Zhizhi would look at Chen Weiming with a blank face, and Chen Weiming would use crappy Chinese to explain to Wang Zhizhi. An explanation of exactly what Leon said.

What Leon said just now used a very complicated sentence pattern, using two attributive clauses in a row, and the speech was very fast, which made Wang Zhizhi fall into a state of confusion again, and he had to ask Chen Weiming for help again.

Chen Weiming is not tall, with a handsome appearance, single eyelids, neat short hair, and looks very clean. He is a typical image of an excellent Chinese in the hearts of Americans. From the moment he entered Leon's room, he stayed by Wang Zhizhi's side every step of the way, acting as an interpreter for this conversation.

"He asked you how to evaluate Yao Ming. He is an opponent and a teammate. Now he is picked first." Chen Weiming's translation is quite accurate, but his Chinese is really not good, and Wang Zhizhi can barely understand it. understand.

Wang Zhizhi sat on the sofa and smiled, his smile was a bit forced. He looked at the people who had been left far behind by him, and now they came to the NBA with a posture of much attention, but he was on the verge of being abandoned. Bearing the torment of making choices in a small room, you must have mixed feelings in your heart.

The camera on the TV happened to switch to China, Beijing. At this time, Yao Ming was in a room in a foreign reporter’s apartment outside Jianguomen, where the NBA officially set up a temporary studio. Yao Ming, his parents and the head coach of the Chinese men’s basketball team Wang Fei sits in front of the camera. When Yao Ming was selected, he high-fived his father and his mother held hands with him, and then Wang Fei also shook hands with Yao Ming to celebrate. However, unlike those American stars who were tearful and hugged with their families, after a simple celebration, Yao Ming quickly calmed down. His mother put her hand on his thigh, which seemed to signal Yao Ming to calm down.

"It's okay, he's better than me now, he's working hard, and he will develop better in the future." Wang Zhizhi looked at Yao Ming, who was unable to attend the national team game thousands of miles away, and gave his evaluation.

"He said that Yao is not bad and will develop well in the future, but he may not be as strong as him." Chen Weiming said to Leon very quickly after hearing Wang Zhizhi's words. Obviously, he didn't want Wang Zhizhi's frustrating words to be heard by potential new clubs. Players in the United States should be confident. Even in the face of Jordan, he must firmly believe that he is the strongest, so he slightly changed the original meaning of Wang Zhizhi's words.

Leon just smiled when he heard this, and didn't care about Chen Weiming's tricks, and continued: "Do you know how people evaluate you and Yao in your country now? You know how much it will affect your life if you choose to stay in the United States." The impact? I think you should have read that fax. If you want to get everything back on track, then I advise you to go back, go back to your hometown, and solve your problems in China. Next Have a good season and come to the Celtics to play."

Hearing Leon's words, Chen Weiming frowned. He knew that the highlight of the meeting was coming. As Wang Zhizhi's assistant and translator, he had already evaded a lot of persuasion for him in his capacity as Wang Zhizhi, including many people from China. Chen Weiming blocked them one by one from Wang Zhizhi. This time he decided to repeat the old trick, taking advantage of the language barrier, to trick the deer into a horse.

"Now there are a lot of comments about you and Yao in China. Some of them are not good for you, but the one about Yao is better. He thinks you should go back, deal with this kind of thing, and then return to the United States to play." Chen Weiming's translator is at There is actually no problem in the meaning, but the feeling of saying it is completely different.

Wang Zhizhi turned his face away when he heard this, and said coldly: "What are you going back for? If there is anything to solve, I just want to play well. As long as I can play well, any comments will be nonsense."

"He said he didn't want to go back. As long as he played well in the United States and performed well, he didn't care about the gossip." Chen Weiming spread his hands towards Leon and said to Leon with a very helpless expression.

Leon snorted coldly. He turned off the TV, walked to the window, and opened the curtains. Outside the window was the bustling night scene of New York City, which was dazzling and charming. He opened the window a little to let the evening breeze in. He took out another cigar from his pocket, "Cleopatra", lit it slowly with a long stick match, and took a strong puff. Because Leon had cut his long hair, he looked a little less evil and more upright, but when he smoked a cigar, the sinister aura in his body was released vigorously like Auerbach.

He pointed at Wang Zhizhi with a finger with a cigar in it, and then said to Wang Zhizhi in Chinese Mandarin: "Comrade Wang Zhizhi, I heard that Chinese people pay attention to returning leaves to their roots. People have deep feelings for their hometown. A wanderer's longing and expectation for returning to his hometown is often the motivation to support them to go on. The United States is a country of immigrants, and an American cannot understand this kind of cultural feeling Yes, but you are not American, you are a Chinese. You have to think about not only basketball, but also your parents, your lover, your hometown, your motherland. I don't want to be in Kyle next season The players played by the Celtics are shells without spiritual affiliation, and we don’t want the Celtics, the team with the longest culture in the United States, to lose the world’s largest market because of you when the NBA is developing globally. You can’t get any live broadcast. Including your confrontation with Yao Ming! Therefore, no matter from your personal emotional considerations or the interests of the team, you should go back and go back to solve the problem. As for your development in the NBA, I I promise you that I will give you enough opportunities, provided that you work hard and listen to me. This is your last chance, Big Zhi."

When Leon finished the big call, the whole room seemed to freeze. Schwartz, who had been watching the play silently from the beginning to the end, froze, while Chen Weiming's eyes widened in horror. Wang Zhizhi was also stunned at the beginning, when he found that he could understand every word Leon said, and the expression on his face became more dignified and anxious as time went on, and when Leon said "This is you "Last Chance, Big Zhi", Wang Zhizhi completely collapsed. He buried his head between his legs and grabbed his hair with both hands. This kind of life of "betrayal" everyone for several months made him fall into a huge crisis. of isolation and hesitation.

Chen Weiming and his wife are his only straws, especially Chen Weiming who can speak some Chinese. When he saw the fax sent by Leon in Chinese that day, he was moved, but after seeing Fox-Leon, he found that this was an American who spoke English. Translated by Chinese students studying in Boston, after all, there are too many prestigious universities in Boston.

However, when Leon knocked on the door of his heart with authentic Chinese and words that fit the Chinese people's psychology, the little spiritual wall he maintained because of his stubbornness and tenderness was defeated.

Leon stepped forward, grabbed Wang Zhizhi's shoulder and said, "Go home, big boy."