The longest river

Chapter 32 The Chosen One by Vaccaro
In a private apartment in New York, Yang Shuai saw the fat man with droopy eyelids again.

Vaccaro was still wearing that wrinkled tracksuit, just like his father, as if he only had a few outfits to wear in his closet.

It was from Charles that Yang Shuai learned that Vaccaro was not Italian, but from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

"It's a real shame you didn't come to the ABCD training camp last summer." After Yang Shuai sat down, Vaccaro asked Charles to make him a cup of coffee, and then looked at Yang Shuai and said.

“If I had gone, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” Yang Shuai replied.

Vaccaro looked at Yang Shuai, then suddenly burst into laughter, as if he had discovered an interesting person.

He picked up a cigar from the table, cut it open, and then looked at Yang Shuai and continued, "I read Sean's article in the New York Times. Your experience is legendary."

“There must be many people in America who have had similar experiences to me.” Yang Shuai spoke very frankly. Having traveled for so long and visited so many places, he has a certain understanding of America in this era.

“But only you managed to get it done.” Vaccaro lit a cigar.

"Mr. Vaccaro, what brings you here?" Yang Shuai didn't continue with small talk but went straight to the point.

Vaccaro looked at Yang Shuai in surprise, seemingly not expecting an 18-year-old boy to be so direct.

He put down his cigar, then looked at Yang Shuai with a serious expression: "Have you ever thought about skipping college?"

Skip college?

Now it was Yang Shuai's turn to be surprised.

Does "skipping college" mean high school students can run for office directly?

"Yes, I'll be participating in the NBA draft in June," Vaccaro confirmed his answer.

Yang Shuai shook his head.

He had only discussed the topic of high school students running for office with Garnett and others before, when he was at the Nike training camp.

However, that was because Garnett felt he wouldn't pass the test, while he had already passed.

"So, are you interested?" Vaccaro asked, taking a puff of his cigar.

Yang Shuai stared at Vaccaro across from him, and suddenly he understood something.

Paul previously said that Vaccaro was stationed in New York to scout high school students.

At the time, he thought that Vaccaro wanted to make connections with high school students as early as possible to facilitate future cooperation.

But it seems that's not the case now; Vaccaro is preparing to snatch players ahead of schedule!
After all, Nike's brand is so big that no one can guarantee that the person they're trying to connect with now will still choose Adidas after graduating from university.

So, back to himself, he wasn't actually that interested.

According to his memories from his previous life, high school students who directly entered the NBA didn't seem to have a very smooth start.

According to my fellow LeBron fan, Kobe played as a substitute for two seasons after entering the NBA.

Oh right, that guy also mentioned McGrady. McGrady struggled in his first few seasons, and only started to shine after switching teams.

While his deskmate mentioned that James was the only one who had a winning start, he curiously looked him up and found that James' rookie season wasn't actually that great.

James, known for his efficiency, only had a shooting percentage of just over 40%, so calling it a game-winning start is a bit of a stretch.

The NCAA emphasizes tactics, which greatly improves players' tactical awareness.

Moreover, he didn't have time to go to university in his previous life, so if he doesn't go in this life, it will be a missed experience.

However, Yang Shuai did not immediately respond, but instead asked other crucial questions: "Why me?"

Although he is now ranked fifth in the nation's high school rankings, aren't there four ahead of him?
Vaccaro smiled and put down his cigar, as if he had received the answer he expected.

"You might not know this, but interior players don't sell shoes."

Vaccaro's first statement was incorrect because Yang Shuai is a time traveler, but his statement was correct: "Since ancient times, inside players don't sell shoes."

Even legends like Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley couldn't change this.

"As for Marbury and VC, from what I understand, they will not choose to skip college."

"So I'm third in line?" Yang Shuai asked rather directly.

“No, you are my first choice.” Vaccaro said, lifting his droopy eyelids and sitting up straight.
“I’m an honest person. You have potential not only on the field, but also in business.”

Yang Shuai wasn't excited about this, because he always felt that Vaccaro must have said similar things to Marbury or Carter.

"Have you heard the story between me, Michael, and Nike?" Seeing that Yang Shuai did not show the expected change in emotion, Vaccaro withdrew his body again.

"Some people say that you strongly recommended Nike to sign Michael." Paul had shared this story with Yang Shuai before.

“So, I’m going to build you up like I built Michael, to make you Adidas’ Michael Jordan.” Vaccaro said, picking up a cigar and taking another puff.

Yang Shuai was shocked.

In the story Paul told, Converse was the biggest brand in the league at the time, and then Jordan led Nike to defeat Converse.

Vaccaro meant to do what he had done before, except now it was him and Adidas instead of Jordan and Nike.

What tempting conditions!

Of course, it also shows how much they think of him.

What you should know is that Vaccaro had no idea that he was a person with a system.

“If you agree, I’ll convince them to put all their bets on you, and all you have to do is play well,” Vaccaro said, putting down his cigar.

"I need to think about it." Although Yang Shuai was somewhat tempted, directly running for election would disrupt his previous plans.

“Of course, this isn’t something that can be decided overnight.” Vaccaro laughed again.

“This is a secret between us. If you’re ready, tell me and we can discuss the contract,” Vaccaro reminded Yang Shuai before leaving.

Right now, no one except Yang Shuai knows his real plan, not even Charles. Yang Shuai nodded.

The fact that Vaccaro brought up the contract so quickly shows that the other party is genuinely interested in him.

After returning to Cleveland, Yang Shuai began to seriously consider Vaccaro's proposal.

He was persuaded by Vaccaro during their conversation, but upon reflection, he realized that it involved a great deal of risk.

Although he has a system, this system is growth-oriented. If he enters the NBA too early and doesn't adapt well, he will also struggle.

The losses were actually greater than the sneaker contracts they received.

As for the idea of ​​attending university first and then signing a contract, Vaccaro might not agree, because he could tell that Vaccaro wanted to create a new legend.

If they only sign contracts with college students, then the biggest legend is lost.

So if he really intends to work with Vaccaro, he first needs to confirm whether he has the ability to play in the NBA in June.

This took less than five months.

If only he could find an NBA player to play against right now.

As he was thinking, Yang Shuai suddenly thought of Garnett.

I wonder how that guy did on his SAT and AP exams.

After thinking about it, Yang Shuai managed to contact Garnett.

I'm coming to Chicago to see you this weekend.

Yang Shuai is currently in a situation where he can't figure things out on his own, but since Vaccaro told him he can't talk to anyone else, he can probably only try to get some information from Garnett indirectly.

After all, there's a good chance Garnett could run for the NBA as a high school student.

Chicago is in Illinois, and is separated from Ohio by the state of Indiana.

However, because it is located in the northeasternmost corner of Illinois, it is not actually as far from Cleveland as one might imagine.

"That thing is driving me crazy!"

When Yang Shuai met Garnett in Chicago and asked about the exam, Garnett's expression was incredibly frantic.

Moreover, in Garnett's subsequent narration, it wasn't a question of whether he was willing to spend the time.

He spent twice as much time studying this season as last season, but his test scores improved only slightly.

"You might not believe it, but when I read, I always unconsciously look from the back to the front, and it's like I can see illusions." Garnett scratched his head.

Then, he looked at Yang Shuai and asked very seriously, "Tell me, am I mentally challenged?"

Yang Shuai was stunned by the question; he felt that Garnett might really be on the verge of going crazy.

"Kevin, you might have superpowers."

Garnett paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Thank you, Hansen, I feel better now."

Looking at Garnett, Yang Shuai felt that it was impossible to discuss the draft with him directly in the short term.

"Let's go play ball," Yang Shuai suggested.

"I don't want to play basketball at all right now, Hansen." But Garnett didn't seem to be in the mood.

"Kevin, I know you. You'll feel better as soon as you start playing."

Exercise releases dopamine, which makes people feel happy, and of course, that could improve Garnett's performance.

Garnett looked at Yang Shuai and nodded.

And just as he nodded, he suddenly said, "Let's do something really exciting!"

Yang Shuai was completely confused. What did playing basketball have to do with excitement?

He was talking about a real ball.

“Let’s sneak into the Bulls’ practice facility. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of Michael.”

It's been almost a year since Jordan retired, but recently the media has started to speculate that he might be making a comeback.

Some media outlets even reported that footage of Jordan training in Chicago was captured on camera.

"Do you know where they train?" Yang Shuai asked, instantly becoming interested.

He had previously thought of playing against NBA players to test his abilities, but what could be more useful than playing against Jordan directly?

Although he didn't think Garnett knew where Jordan trained, such things are usually kept secret, and Garnett was just a high school student.

Garnett, however, smiled without saying a word, with an expression that said, "I'm a local big shot in Chicago now."

“Let’s go to the Hilton; it has the best arena in Chicago,” he continued.

Yang Shuai nodded.

They boarded the bus.

Half an hour later, they appeared at the stadium that Garnett had mentioned.

They weren't allowed to enter through the main gate, so Garnett led him secretly through the side gate.

When they appeared at the training hall, Yang Shuai looked up and saw a familiar hard-boiled egg.

The last time I saw it was on a poster in Rondo's room.

(End of this chapter)