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Chapter 268 Newcomer on stage

The aftertaste of the Supersonics' championship has not yet spread, and the draft is coming amidst the ups and downs.

For the draft, all teams have to work, and it has nothing to do with whether you win the championship. If the boss sends money, then the work must continue.

In addition to the meticulous work of the Sonics uniform team, there are two kinds of teams that are more concerned by players.

One is called a high-ranked team. For example, this year, the Los Angeles Clippers with the first pick in the first round, the Vancouver Grizzlies with the second pick, and the Denver Nuggets with the third pick.

Last season, the top eight in the West had a good record, but the teams behind them had a bad record. This also led to many high picks being taken by Western teams this year.

Such a team with a high draft pick has attracted the attention of elite-level rookies.

There is no rookie who does not aspire to a high draft pick.

The higher the pick, the better the resources, the higher the salary, and the status of entering the team and the opportunities obtained are completely different.

There is also a team called multiple picks, such as this year's Orlando Magic.

In fact, the Magic's record last season was not bad, and it was not particularly bad. It ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference, and it was only 2 wins away from the eighth Nets in the Eastern Conference.

But the Magic have hoarded a batch of draft picks before. In this year's draft, they have three opportunities to select players in the first round.

The more chances to pick, the higher the probability of picking a good player.

As far as players are concerned, whoever has more draft picks may consider many aspects, and some considerations that were originally not within the scope of the plan may also happen.

On the eve of the draft, Qin Fei left Seattle for vacation in Los Angeles.

This summer, he didn't have any work arrangements. Apart from regular summer training, the most important thing was to help Helena finish her film debut.

He can't help much, at most, he will give some money, and some money.

But that's enough. What the film industry needs is a literary youth with billions of dollars like him.

The day after Qin Fei arrived in Los Angeles, the NBA Draft was officially held in Vancouver.

The draft process in the NBA is very long. In the earliest days, it was called the regional draft. This mode no longer exists.

Under this mode, the team can give priority to choosing a local player to join. In this mode, the star of the joining team will be deeply loved by the fans in his hometown. If he can bring honor to his hometown team, he will be a hero and will be remembered by the city.

With the development of the times, the regional draft model has been eliminated, and the draft conference has entered the stage of history.

From 1979 to 1991, the host city of the draft has always been New York.

Later, the league discovered that this might be an opportunity to increase ties with other cities and further enhance the influence of the draft, so it tried to hold the draft in different cities. Of course, New York is still the first choice.

Like this year, the venue is in Vancouver.

The league also knows that the Vancouver Grizzlies have always been concerned, and they especially want to leave Vancouver. There are so many cities in the United States, which one must be Vancouver?

But David Stern doesn’t think so. For the NBA to develop, overseas strategy is the only way out. No matter how flat the ball market in Vancouver is, it is also an important part of global promotion. Only by firmly taking this step can the globalization strategy be implemented more perfectly.

Vancouver is relatively close to Seattle, and Qin Fei actually wanted to visit it.

But the team didn't invite him, so he didn't feel embarrassed to lick his face to join in the fun, so he flew to Los Angeles in the south.

In Los Angeles, the manager Tellem was not there, and Rob was in charge of Qin Fei's daily affairs.

Qin Fei and Kobe met.

The two made an appointment in the cafe, which was a rare time for leisure and entertainment.

Kobe was very happy to see Qin Fei, but there was a little anxiety between his brows.

"You have won the championship, you are the starter, you are the All-Star, you are the best team, and you are the winner. How did you go so fast?"

Kobe arbitrarily labeled Qin Fei as a "fast guy", but Qin Fei definitely didn't recognize it.

But he also said something quite philosophical about basketball.

"In the basketball world, one step is fast and every step is fast. Of course, the reverse is also the same. One step is slow and every step is slow. Sometimes, fast is slow, and sometimes slow is fast."

The chicken soup master for the soul went online, and Kobe was taken aback by his words.

Kobe carefully read Qin Fei's words, and finally felt that what Qin Fei said was very reasonable.

"I didn't expect that you have already reached this level by mistake, compared to what you are doing on the court now, right?"

"Rhythm is actually not difficult, but think about it, if I want to fight Jordan, I'm not as good as him in every aspect. If I don't come up with some real materials, how can I do it?"

Kobe believed it deeply, and he also knew Jordan's strength.

So the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Qin Fei was not simple.

"Of course, I'm not bragging. I've known the rhythm since the day I played basketball."

Qin Fei spread his hands and said.

Kobe nodded, believing it.

He is a little anxious. On the one hand, it is because Qin Fei is ahead of him every step of the way. He is obviously not as good as him, but his mentality in this aspect is better.

On the other hand, he has spent a lot of money recently.

The main reason is that his parents moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. As a son, he needs to help his parents solve housing problems.

Parents chose a mansion with sea view, from decoration to moving in, it cost a lot.

Although Kobe is young, he has already begun to think about financial management. He feels that although NBA players can earn money when they are young, they lack material protection after their playing career.

"You're right, sustainable development is king."

Of course, Qin Fei agrees with Kobe's idea. Kobe doesn't earn much money now, which is basically the same as him. What makes him more than him is that the sneaker contract he signed with Adidas is bigger and longer.

Qin Fei doesn’t have these troubles of Kobe’s. The biggest problem of Kobe’s troubles is that although he can be financially independent, he is not independent in life. His parents are helping him manage everything, and Qin Fei has achieved independence from life to finance. He can spend or save as he wants.

Qin Fei also understood that for a person like Kobe who has a desire to control, this conflict will erupt sooner or later.

But this is someone else's family business, and he doesn't want to talk about it. He is now staring at Kobe. If Kobe engages in helicopters, he will veto it verbally. From the standpoint of being a friend, he firmly opposes it.

"How many people practice together this summer?"

"Currently, there are McGrady, Marbury, and Iverson who are asking me out." Qin Fei counted, and there are quite a few people, and there is a high probability that McGrady will bring a "draft cousin" over.

"so many people?"

When Kobe heard that there were too many people, he didn't particularly want to get together to practice.

He wants to practice with Qin Fei now, and the improvement speed of practicing with Qin Fei is obviously faster. Others, some have no way to learn and learn from it.

"Although there are many people, but you know some people, it is impossible to practice for a long time, and if you practice for a week, it is probably enough to pretend."

Qin Fei knew in his heart that fishing for three days and drying the net for two days was the instinct of everyone. If the system hadn't been there to urge him to become stronger, he might not be able to be so persistent.

In other words, Kobe is really hardworking. This attitude towards training and 120% dedication to basketball should be learned by all rookies.

After the afternoon tea appointment between the two, Qin Fei returned to his villa in Manhattan Beach.

He can watch the draft at home.

In this year's draft, in Qin Fei's view, there are also many talents that can be made in the future.

For example, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and so on.

The point in his memory is relatively far away, but he still remembers that the magnificent golden period was almost coming to an end in 98.

The old man leaves the court and the newcomer enters the court. The NBA is such a cycle of reincarnation, and different basketball stories are written.

Perhaps it was only when I was leaving that I felt great.

But it is all stars like Jordan and Olajuwon that make the youth of watching football so long. ,

Perhaps in a certain year and a certain month, when seeing a certain rookie with the shadow of the original generation, fans can take the time to think of the old look at this time.

On the TV, David Stern stepped onto the stage.

The audience naturally kept the traditional program and booed the president first.

It wasn't all boos though, some whistled, cheers and whoops.

In the camera, some fans with green jerseys appeared. People saw that those were supersonic fans who had been very enthusiastic a few days ago, or since these days.

Supersonic fans are happy, can they not be happy after winning the championship!

Vancouver is close to Seattle, so many people came to watch the league's draft, and also wanted to know how the Supersonics played in the draft.

David Stern first made some opening remarks, and then announced the official start of the draft.

After the official start, the audience was full of cheers. David Stern stepped down first, and the draft meeting was handed over to the host.

Meanwhile on a TV show, the host starts talking nonsense.

For example, the host talked about labor negotiations.

This is a major event that has received more attention than the draft. Relatively speaking, the draft is just a plate of insignificant peanuts. Before the main course is served, it is okay to eat, or not to eat.

It means that if you are an NBA player or someone else, it doesn't matter whether you pay attention or not, but labor negotiations involve everyone's vital interests, so how can you not pay attention?

The two hosts are also very interesting.

One said: "The current labor negotiations in the NBA have entered an endless loop. Both the labor and management are unwilling to make concessions on the final interests. The lockout seems to be an inevitable event."

Another said: "That's right, but we also have to be optimistic and positive about this, because the NBA has been running for so many years, and the previous labor negotiations were done like this. Now there is just a knot in the middle of the two sides. Maybe the knot will be opened the next day?"

One retorted: "That may be a dead end."

""

The two hosts were still gagging, and at the scene, David Stern was already on the stage under the gaze of many parties.

He took out a note from the envelope.

"In the 1998 NBA draft, the first pick in the first round, the Los Angeles Clippers selected—"

"Michael Olowokandi from University of the Pacific"

Olowokandi introduced before that the static and dynamic talent is perfect, and he was born in Nigeria. He is regarded as "the second big dream". The Clippers are obsessed with his talent, and it is reasonable to take him with the No. [-] pick.

Ogwokandi walked onto the stage, put on a baseball cap and smiled, shook hands and took photos with league president David Stern, and said something.

Although the Sonics and the Bulls have been in the championship ranks for many years in the past, the concept of "the one who wins the center wins the world" is still deeply rooted. People always want to use the precious No. [-] pick in the draft to pick an inside monster, and then easily embark on the road to hegemony.

This is also completely understandable. Qin Fei felt that changing him to the position of general manager must first solve the inside problem, and then build a team around the All-Star or top inside.

The most prominent example is the Spurs, which had a big belly in the previous year and took off directly in the next year.

Then in the second pick, the Grizzlies selected Mike Bibby from the University of Arizona, which made the fans very happy.

The main reason is that the Grizzlies already have a very talented inside player Raheem.

Raheem is Qin Fei's No. 22.3 show in the same class. In the second year of his career, he can average [-] points per game and is talented on the offensive end.

Mike Bibby is considered the most organized outside player in the 98th class. With Mike Bibby partnering with Raheem, Raheem is expected to further strengthen his firepower.

So the selection of 20-year-old Mike Bibby is also very good.

Then came the third pick, with the Nuggets selecting River LaFrentz.

Vince Carter is still not selected, but the choice of the Nuggets is also understandable, because the Nuggets had a bad record last season, especially in terms of rebounding and inside frame protection.

And LaFrentz is 2 meters tall and is a bit of a shot blocker. After four years of training at the University of Kansas, he has a very high combat power.

The Raptors selected Jamison with the fourth overall pick, and the Warriors with the fifth overall pick Carter.

The Warriors' draft pick is a bit complicated.

In 1993, the Warriors traded their 1998 draft pick "Penny" Hardaway to the Magic for Chris Webber.

In 1994, the draft pick was traded by the Magic to the Washington Bullets, and then traded back to the Warriors. The Washington Bullets got Webber from the Warriors.

Jamison and Carter are college alumni. The two were selected one after the other, which proves that North Carolina's players are of high quality. But at the same time, fans of the two teams are a little confused, such as Warriors fans. Don't they think there are a group of guards in the team? Why did they choose a guard?

I really believe that Carter is the future Jordan!

Raptors fans are also puzzled. In the Raptors, there are many insiders, such as Camby, Gary Trent, Puopaje Jones, Oliver Miller and so on.

The fans of the two teams haven't wondered how long. While the draft was still going on, the league's first deal was born.

It's a deal between the Raptors and the Warriors.

As the fourth and fifth picks, Jamison and Carter switched clubs.

The NBA trade came too fast. The young Carter was taught a lesson the first time he came into contact with the league. At first he thought he would live in the mild and comfortable Oakland, but he didn't expect to go to the cold Toronto in the blink of an eye.

Well, teammate with his distant cousin

This is too bad, obviously I have already passed PY, why not choose it directly?It made him a little bit happier for no reason, interesting!

"UFO" is coming

The promotion of Carter in the league is obviously more than that of other stars.

In the 90s, there were a lot of North Carolina masters. After Rasheed Wallace and Stackhouse entered the NBA, Carter didn't get a good chance. He only scored about 15 points, but when everyone saw his dunk, they were already dumbfounded.

"The Raptors want to rely on such players to save the market!"

"Carter's dribbling is not very good. Although he is good at dunking, in the NBA, I am afraid that there are not so many opportunities for him to dunk."

The former is fairly reliable, but the latter is obviously nonsense.

Perimeter players in the NBA have only a lot more chances to dunk than in the NCAA

(End of this chapter)