The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 35 The Wasp's Choice
"what happened?"

"Five minutes are almost up, why hasn't the magician made a choice yet?"

At the draft, many people noticed something was wrong, and there was a lot of discussion because the telephones at the Orlando arena were out of service, making the atmosphere at the draft tense.

Christine Laettner looked very serious. Although his performance in the tryouts was not as good as O'Neal's, he was more famous in the NCAA and had been selected for the national team. The national team gave him an advantage, and he believed that he also had a great chance of being selected first overall.

O'Neal's expression was also a bit grim. Although he didn't want to go to the Magic, it would be a bit embarrassing for the Magic not to draft him.

Hornets general manager Dave Twitchell was overjoyed; if the Magic dropped out, the Hornets might get the number one pick.

In his opinion, no matter how good Tang and Mourning are, the best one will always be Shaq O'Neal.

"Ring ring ring..."

Just five minutes later, an official phone rang at the scene.

"hello……"

The staff member next to the phone listened for a moment after the call was connected, then quickly put down the receiver and came to David Stern's side.

"Mr. President, the phone is in the President's office. The Magic have called there and said they want to choose Shaq O'Neal."

David Stern frowned, nodded, then composed himself, took the microphone, walked to the front of the stage, and said with a smile:
"Ladies and gentlemen, just now we received a call from the Magic's management. They selected the number one pick from..."

"call!"

Upon hearing this, the Magic team officials breathed a sigh of relief.

At the Orlando Arena, Pat Williams and other members of the Magic's management team, watching the live broadcast on television, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Our number one pick has flown away."

Hornets' Dave Tvertzke, however, seemed somewhat disappointed.

Upon hearing Stern's words, both O'Neal and Laettner tensed up immediately.

Tang Bei appeared very quiet. He knew that his current skills were not as good as O'Neal's, and his talent could not completely overwhelm O'Neal's. He had no thoughts about this first pick.

Of course, he did hope for a miracle; if he could be selected first overall, it might infuriate that bastard Shaq.

David Stern paused for a moment before continuing, "Shaq O'Neill of Louisiana State University."

"Clap clap clap..."

Applause immediately erupted from the audience.

"Shet!"

Disappointed, Leitner cursed under his breath.

Shaquille O'Neal breathed a sigh of relief upon being selected. Although he wanted to go to the Lakers, he was still happy to be the first pick.

However, his agent, Leonard Amoto, was not so happy, because he knew that a lot of money had already slipped through his fingers.

O'Neal's family, on the other hand, seemed very happy.

After hugging his family, O'Neal shook hands with Mourning and others, then walked to the podium, took the hat handed to him by the Magic, and went up.

"Crack, click, click..."

When he shook hands with David Stern, a flurry of media flashes went off.

"Thank you so much to the Magic for drafting me..."

O'Neal said a few words briefly, then went down to the small room next door to be interviewed by a TNT reporter.

David Stern announced that the Hornets would now select their second pick, with five minutes remaining.

In front of Charlotte Hornets' Dave Twitchick was a small table with a sheet of white paper on it. He was holding a pen, ready to write down the names of the rookies he wanted to draft.

"We still need to think about it some more in the final moments."

But just as he was about to put pen to paper, he suddenly lifted the pen tip.

Leitner wiped the sweat from his brow. It would be embarrassing if he wasn't the second pick, considering he was the NCAA's number one star and a top contender for the first pick.

Mourning also tensed up. He knew he couldn't compete with O'Neal for the first pick, but he was determined to get the second. In his view, only two rookies could rival him for the second pick: Kristen Laettner and Tang.

Laettner is too famous, while China's Tang performed very well in the tryouts, and was even more dominant in the paint.

However, he is still very confident in his performance. He is more mature, has better defense, better skills, and a more certain future than Tang.

He is also more suited to the NBA than Laettner, whose performance in the tryouts was inferior to his.

Eric Fleischer's hands and feet were trembling slightly at this moment; he was extremely nervous.

He had no interest in being drafted first overall because O'Neal was too strong—talented, effective immediately, and his future was practically guaranteed.

However, based on his performance against Mourning and Leitner in several tryouts, Tang Bei, as the second pick, is ambitious.

He believed that, based on talent, Tang Bei was absolutely qualified to be the second pick.

However, considering the certainty of the future, in order to seek greater security, the teams with high draft picks may even see Tangbei fall out of the top five, or even the top ten.

Therefore, in his view, Tang Bei may be selected second overall, or he may, as the media speculated, fall to the end of the lottery like Shawn Kemp.

Xu Jicheng has read some media reports about Tang Bei in the past two days. Most of the media believe that Tang Bei should be selected at the end of the lottery zone.

So although he was a little nervous, he was more excited, hoping that Tang Bei would be selected at the end of the lottery section.

Tang Bei, on the other hand, wasn't nervous at all, because the Rockets and Heat had promised him that he definitely wouldn't fall out of the lottery.

While waiting for the Hornets to make their decision, the scene was filled with discussion.

Mavericks general manager Rick Sander asked Timberwolves general manager Brewer, "Jim, who do you think the Hornets will pick?"

"Mo Ning".

Jim Brewer said without hesitation.

Rockets general manager Steve Patterson, who was standing nearby, said, "Why not Laettner? He's more famous in the NCAA than O'Neal, and he's on the national team, while O'Neal didn't even make it onto the national team."

"If you ask me, it's better to choose Tang than Laettner. Laettner is more suited to the power forward position," said NBA legend Bill Russell, watching the drama unfold.

NBA legend Bill Walton, who was also watching the spectacle, said: "I think so too. Laettner is just famous. In fact, Tang's physical strength is more suitable for the NBA than Laettner's. Laettner is tens of kilograms lighter than Tang, but his movement speed is not as good as Tang's."

Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball emperor who was also watching the spectacle, said: "But many media outlets and NBA general managers believe that Laettner is better than Tang, and that Laettner's skills are several levels above Tang's."

Jim Brewer nodded quickly and said, "That's right, Tang from China is just a basketball beginner. People who rely on talent to play basketball have no certainty about their future."

Rick Sander quickly chimed in, "Yes, choosing Tang was a risky investment, an absolutely disastrous choice."

Jim Brewer reiterated, "With so many great big men to choose from, picking Don was the dumbest choice ever."

"Ha ha……"

Seeing Jim Brewer and Rick Sander relentlessly belittling Tang Bei, the others just sneered and remained silent.

In fact, both Jim Brewer and Rick Sander were a little uneasy at this point, unsure of what the Hornets would choose.

"Mr. Tvortsk, time is almost up."

Seeing that Tvortsk was hesitant to put pen to paper, his assistant cautiously reminded him.

Dave Tvertzke nodded, wiped the sweat from his brow, lowered his pen again, and began to scribble on the white paper.

A.

He wrote the first letter on the paper, then paused, his right hand gripping the pen tightening and trembling slightly.

"Alonzo Mourning".

Peter Phillips, the assistant standing nearby, immediately understood the general manager's choice.

Because the first letter of Mourning's name is A, while the first letter of Leitner's name is C, and the first letter of Don's name is T.

But at that moment, Tvortsk suddenly crossed out the "A" and then quickly wrote the letter "T".

(End of this chapter)