Champion, please stay!

Chapter 91, Chapter 89: The Elementary School Student is Jealous.

Yi Shui was busy for several days with a series of miscellaneous matters related to the national team and the brands he endorsed.

Those tasks were only completed on September 3rd.

My parents went back to their hometown on the 27th. I gave the silver medal to them as a souvenir of my half-month Olympic trip. It's a pity to keep it.

These days he often thinks that if he had traveled a year earlier, worked a year harder, and played a year more in college or the NBA, would he have been able to defeat the Dream Team?
The final loss was straightforward – they couldn't compete with the sustained one-on-one damage output.

Even with Yao Ming taking turns, they couldn't withstand the combined efforts of Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and super substitutes like Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams, and Reed.

So whenever he feels down, he looks at the news about LeBron James scoring 8 points in the Finals.

He found that sometimes he needed this kind of self-comfort. Of course, he could do it secretly, since he had a little giant behind him and it wasn't worth showing off.

On the 4th, Yi Shui stayed in the hotel all day, playing games and not wanting to do anything.

At noon on the 5th, Yi Shui had lunch with Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Sun Yue. The four of them were jokingly referred to as the 'NBA squad' by their national team teammates. They originally wanted to invite Wang Zhizhi to join, but he declined.

In the evening, Yi Shui arrived at the airport, where Yao Ming saw him off.

It was time for Yi Shui to head to New York, but Yao Ming would stay a little longer before going to the United States, as he was in the process of acquiring the Shanghai Sharks.

His former employer's shareholding structure was in disarray and could not be resolved in a short time. His main task was to finalize the specific tasks and hand them over to his newly formed personal business team.

On the way back to the city, Yao Ming, huddled in the back seat, was thinking about what Yi Shui had said earlier.

"Brother Yao, your weight is putting too much pressure on your knees and feet."

I remember in your rookie season, you could dunk over the center even one-on-one. No one could stop you, and no one could break through your defense.

There's no Shaq in the world you need to deal with anymore.

You don't need to be Shaq, you're much better than him, I think you can be yourself...

Yao Ming knew that the people from Yi Shui's agency had left yesterday, but Yi Shui waited an extra day to get together with them because he had work to do yesterday.

When he heard Yi Shui ask him to see her off at the airport, he knew there was something he wanted to discuss privately, but he didn't expect it to be this.

He wasn't unaware of this; after gaining weight, he suffered more and more injuries.

Everyone just thinks it's good for him to gain weight and hopes he will become the next Shaq.

He wanted to meet people's expectations and was proud of the dominance he displayed after gaining weight.

But he sometimes wonders if he would look more like his idol, Sabonis, if he hadn't gained weight.

Back then, he was known as the 'flexible giant'.

Videos of him stealing the ball, dribbling behind his back to get past his defender, and dunking are still saved on his phone.

He often feels that his weight is a hindrance. For example, he could defend Brad Miller very well in the first three years of his career, but he couldn't handle him after gaining weight.

What struck him most in Yi Shui's words was, "You don't need to be Shaq, you're much better than him."

If someone else had said these words, Yao Ming would have been moved, but it would have been difficult for him to think about them so deeply.

But this is Yishui, the NCAA champion, a super talent who led the national team to a silver medal upon returning...

...

When the plane took off, it was just getting dark, and when it landed, it was still night, and the date was the 5th.

This time, Yi Shui learned from experience and brought comics to read, repeatedly reminding the flight attendant to wake him up if he fell asleep.

As it turned out, the flight attendant was dishonest. After waking him up, she actually opened the door wide while he was half asleep, trying to lure him into a trap.

He refused on the spot. Although there was no one else in the cabin at the time, it was a public place where people would occasionally pass by, and he didn't want to be featured on Western channels, in celebrity gossip, or in uniform columns...

The main thing is that he'll be very interested in his female companion cosplaying as a flight attendant, but he has absolutely no interest in the flight attendant herself.

Without a team picking her up at the airport or any public itinerary, Yi Shui took a taxi back to the hotel by herself.

He enjoys being in the spotlight, but sometimes he craves peace and quiet, such as right now after the tumultuous Olympics.

The luggage and the local specialties from my parents' hometown that they asked me to bring were already brought over by the team yesterday.

He endured nearly 30 hours of travel, only managing to doze off briefly before being woken up by the flight attendant's antics. He had already started to doze off on the bus, and upon arriving at his hotel room in Manhattan, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

When I woke up, it was already 11 a.m. the next day.

Yi Shui felt that this operation went quite well. Although it was still not the most comfortable state, it was much better than the time she returned to China.

After calling the team, he showered and then headed to Madison Square Garden.

Upon arriving at the stadium, the nutritionist had already prepared lunch, and the trainers were on standby. Yi Shui hadn't thought much of this before, because whenever the Husky team trained at the Kangda Gymnasium on the main campus, the nutritionist, trainers, and team doctor were always on call, ready to come and work overtime at the drop of a hat.

The national team is similar.

However, when talking to Yi Jianlian about the NBA, he complained that the treatment on the Bucks was far worse than that on the national team. On non-game days and team training days, the team supplies were inadequate in various ways. It wasn't that the team staff didn't want to earn overtime pay, but rather that the logistical funding was insufficient and approval was not granted.

After finishing his nutritious meal, Yi Shui went to the lounge, browsed the news on his computer, and waited for his food to digest.

It's been about 10 days since the Olympics ended, and the hype has gradually faded. The hottest news in the US right now is the final stretch of the Major League Baseball regular season.

With the NBA offseason in its final month, the offseason is over, and the free agency and trade markets are heating up again. The media is starting to analyze and predict the performance of each team in the new season, potential trades, and so on.

After browsing the news for a while, Yi Shui opened the system.

He received his reward after winning the silver medal a little over ten days ago.

There are three 'second-tier' rewards.

One is the national team exclusive skill 'National Idol', which means that whenever he leads his team to achieve substantial results in the national team or the NBA, he can boost the basketball enthusiasm of children playing on the court in China.

He opposes the idea of ​​"everyone participating in sports," arguing that China is not an American slum or a South American backyard, and that studying and learning useful skills are more suitable for most children in China.

But it's great that kids like sports. And it's true that some people are not suited for studying or learning technical skills, but they have athletic talent. It's good to develop and train them early on.

One is 'All-round shooting talent +1', which increases the talent in the three areas of long, mid, and short range by 1 point.

He saw in the file that his long-range talent had increased by +3, while his mid-range and close-range talents were both newly acquired +1.

There is also a talent called 'Low Post Genius', which has a similar effect to 'Angle Genius'. When training low post one-on-one techniques, the efficiency is increased by 100%.

Looking at the four talents—'Angle Genius', 'Low Post Genius', 'Rhythm Type', and 'Guardian of the Basket'—Yi Shui outlined the training plan to be implemented before the start of the season.

He was already 206 cm tall on the 1st. This growth spurt did not affect his physical condition to the extent that his speed and agility were assessed. His speed was still 93 and his agility was 92.

This further solidified his idea—a center is impossible; a small forward-style offense, a power forward-style defense, occasionally executing perimeter defense or low-post offense, an all-around forward!
...

At 1 p.m., Yi Shui arrived at the training ground and saw that Curry was already there.

Curry asked with a hint of surprise, "Brook, didn't you just arrive last night? You're already training? Don't you need to adjust to the time difference?"

Yi Shui replied, "I stayed up all night on the plane, and slept until noon last night when I got to the hotel. Now I'm training, and when I get tired, I'll go back and sleep some more. It will help me adjust to the time difference."

Curry's lips twitched upon hearing this, and he said, "You're working way too hard. You just finished the Olympics and then did so many endorsement activities over the past few days. Don't you need to rest for a few days?"

Yi Shui teased, "Hey, Stephen, you're really paying attention to me... Alright, alright, aren't you working hard too? I heard from the nutritionist that you've been training every day since you came back from your trip."

Curry suppressed his threatening expression and replied, "I don't have the Olympics to play in, so if I want to improve, I can only train."

Why does that tone sound so sour?
Yi Shui understood and comforted him, "You're still a rookie. Isn't it a bit too early for you to want to join the national team? Don't worry, the national team will definitely be begging you to join in the future."

"You're a rookie too, and you made the national team, didn't you?" Curry ignored the last sentence.

"The Dream Team is different. Your country has a lot of basketball talent, and they are strong."

“Okafor from your team went straight to the Dream Team after being selected.”

"..."

Yi Shui was speechless, rolled her eyes at Curry, and went to train. She couldn't talk to this stubborn guy anymore.

Curry knows he's getting stuck on this issue. Since he returned to China, many people have been speechless because of him, including his father.

But he felt envious and jealous when he thought about Yi Shui being able to play in the Olympics. He wondered if he could lead his team to victory like Okafor, and if he could also enter the national team immediately after the draft.
It would be great if it were a top-league team in a big city...

But thinking about this made Curry feel much better. Now, he's in a big city!

But there's a top draft pick ahead of us... We absolutely have to surpass him!
After training until 6 p.m., Yi Shui finished dinner and prepared to go back to the hotel to work out weights for 'Day 7'.

As he passed through the office area, he saw the president's office light was on and people were talking. Since he had something to do, he knocked on the door.

After receiving a response, he went inside and saw that Walsh and D'Antoni were both there.

After exchanging pleasantries and discussing the Olympics, Yi Shui told her what he wanted.

Walsh replied, "Low post skills training? Your physique is indeed exceptional for a forward or guard, very suitable for this. Don't worry, I'll arrange it for you."

Oh, right, you're here just in time. Let's discuss the team composition together. Don't worry if you don't understand it, it's good to listen. You should know about this..."

Yi Shui did not refuse. After listening for a while, he asked a question: "Donnie, Mike, do we have a bit too many point guards?"

(End of this chapter)