The older superstars of the NBA

"What? The national team invited me to play in a game?"

"No, the national team just invites you to be an assistant coach! The current head coach of the national team is coach Denzel Chris. He previously led the Jiangsu team in the CBA..."

"You know, the Jiangsu team's record in the past two seasons has been mediocre, so there are many players in the team who are dissatisfied with Coach Denzel. Your qualifications and abilities are sufficient. If you join the assistant coaching team, Coach Denzel will definitely be able to easily Some......"

Yao Ming patiently explained to Zhao Feiyang on the other end of the phone.

After listening, Zhao Feiyang hesitated for a moment, and then asked curiously, "If Coach Denzel has no prestige, then why did the national team choose him as the coach?"

This question made Yao Ming on the other end of the phone sigh heavily.

"Coach Denzel is actually not bad at ability. He has led strong teams in Europe before. He has stayed in China long enough and understands some of the problems of Chinese basketball... Of course, this is not the most important thing... ....”

"Actually, we planned to choose a local coach to lead the team, but there are too many people and sophistication involved! No matter how we choose, it will be difficult to balance all aspects, so..."

Zhao Feiyang understands this!

Coach Denzel is probably the product of compromise in all aspects!

In fact, the local coaches were able to lead the team well before, at least the record was acceptable. However, some situations occurred later and the problems of the local coaches were also exposed.

Someone always needs to take the blame for losing. In this case, the local coach has less say and has lost some trust in the Basketball Association.

After hesitating again and again, Zhao Feiyang really didn't want to wade into this muddy water.

"Brother Yao! You also know that I have played too many games this season. If I continue to work too hard, my body may not be able to bear it...and there are many people with status in the national team, and I am not the only one. It would definitely be possible to switch to someone else..."

Zhao Feiyang's rejection seemed to be expected by Yao Ming.

"Feiyang, I know it's hard for you! Not only this season, everyone also remembers the games you played for the national team..."

"But this time it's different! It's really just for you to join the assistant coaching team, and you don't need to do any physical work. I can assure you that as long as you come, winning or losing will have nothing to do with you. You can just leave when the time comes. If you have something to say, You can ask for leave at once and we will not restrict your freedom. We only need you to follow the national team when it is playing..."

Zhao Feiyang really knows how deep the national team is! Therefore, at this time, he still refused.

Unexpectedly, Yao Ming had no intention of giving up.

"Feiyang, you are the top star in the NBA. If you join the assistant coaching team, you can be of great help to those young people by giving them some guidance... And if you are willing to come, the national team can give you some guidance." You offer a reward of five million..."

"five million?"

Zhao Feiyang muttered in his heart.

Five million is nothing to him! But it’s not a small amount for the Chinese men’s basketball team! Most of the head coaches hired by the Basketball Association before did not earn more than this amount.

For example, coach Gong Luming was in the early days. At that time, the national men's basketball team was in a trough, and there were constant internal problems within the team. No one with a discerning eye wanted to take over this hot potato.

However, Coach Gong stepped forward in critical moments.

The Basketball Association coaxed and lied, saying that if he won the championship, he would be given a bonus of two million, including a monthly salary of 15. As a result, after they won the Asian Championships, some people in the Basketball Association immediately started pretending to be stupid. Even when Coach Gong came to find him, the other party said that giving bonuses was illegal because Coach Gong was an insider of the national team at the time. .

Therefore, in the end, neither amount of money was cashed out, and Coach Gong only received a salary of 7,000 yuan as remuneration.

In addition to him, Guo Shiqiang later received a salary of one million when he served as head coach.

Li Nan has 250 million, Du Feng has 300 million, a foreign coach like Yunus has offered 400 million, and the most passionate and passionate Deng Huade has 750 million.

It can be seen from the above examples that the Basketball Association's move this time may be considered a big deal.

Of course, five million is just drizzle to Zhao Feiyang, and his bonus after winning the championship is more than this. What's more, as he becomes more and more famous, he has won the favor of many sponsors. Now, any endorsement contract he signs starts with tens of millions of RMB.

"Brother Yao, I think it's better to forget it! I..."

"Feiyang, just think of it as my personal request for you to help the national team, okay? The national team has been very difficult in the past few years. To be honest, sometimes some things that happen make me not want to continue, but I can't help it... ....If top players like us are not willing to help the national team, then who is going to do it?”

"If we ignore it, China basketball will only get worse! Even if we try a little bit, just a little bit, the China men's basketball team can at least get better..."

Yao Ming's almost pleading tone made Zhao Feiyang sigh helplessly.

Now that the conversation has come to this point, he really has no excuse to refuse! If he were to play as a player, he would definitely not want to, but now he is just an assistant coach and can only talk a little bit. If Zhao Feiyang doesn't even give Yao Ming this face, it would be really unjustifiable.

"Fine!"

"I promise you! Brother Yao!"

"But I have to rest for a week, and I will leave to report to the national team a week later..."

Soon, the national team issued an official announcement stating that Zhao Feiyang had accepted the invitation of the national team and would officially join the national team in a week and become a member of the assistant coaching team.

As soon as this news came out, many fans on the Internet were dumbfounded!

"Holy shit! Am I dazzled? Go to the assistant coaching team? Shouldn't Zhao Feiyang go play?"

"You are indeed not dazzled! In fact, it is not bad for Zhao Feiyang to join the assistant coaching team! Otherwise, everyone will rely on him alone. In this case, when will China Basketball improve? Zhao Feiyang is the fig leaf of China Basketball. I think it is better if he does not play. , lest he should stand up and take the blame again..."

"I don't doubt Zhao Feiyang's ability on the court! But can he be an assistant coach? It's better to let him be the head coach of the national team..."

"You're kidding! Changing the coach before the battle is taboo! The national team has been training for a while. If Zhao Feiyang is replaced as the coach now, what will happen next? Can the team finish running in less than two months? "

Time passed quickly, and a week passed in the blink of an eye. After returning to China, Zhao Feiyang also took a good rest. In order to get his body back into shape as soon as possible, he didn't even do daily morning exercises. He would just find a place to shoot and practice his ball skills in the evening.

During this period, the national men's basketball team was too embarrassed to lose to the Philippine team, so they directly canceled all subsequent warm-up matches.

In addition to announcing that Zhao Feiyang has joined the assistant coaching team, he also said that the national team will hold an internal meeting to reflect on the loss.

Zhao Feiyang didn't know what the national team did, but he arrived at Yanjing's training base quickly. The national team also specially sent someone to greet Zhao Feiyang at the door. It was not Karami who came, but the second-in-command in the leadership who is responsible for the general affairs of the national team.

"Hello Zhao, my name is Wang Jianwei!"

"Welcome to the training base! We have been waiting for you to come over!"

Wang Jianwei has a lean face and wears glasses. He looks about thirty-five or sixty-six. There is a "professional" feeling in his every move, a feeling that Zhao Feiyang has only seen in the senior executives of the NBA China Region before.

Zhao Feiyang also responded politely and chatted a few words on the way. Unexpectedly, when he asked the other party, it was really what he suspected.

"I have worked in NBA China before, so I have some experience! Chairman Yao sent me to take charge of this Asian and African Championships because of his trust in me. Of course, it is also to cooperate with you and the members of the coaching staff... ..”

"You can ask me anything about the national team's follow-up matters..."

After Wang Jianwei finished speaking, Zhao Feiyang's senses improved a lot. If the other party has done operations, then to some extent they will respect the away rules, instead of being like some leaders of the Basketball Association who always feel that as long as a document is issued, things that are objectively unsolvable can be solved.

After simply putting away his luggage in the dormitory, Zhao Feiyang didn't even take a rest. Instead, he got up and walked towards the training hall with Wang Jianwei.

Wang Jianwei also agreed with Zhao Feiyang's work attitude. While praising him on the way, he introduced Zhao Feiyang's recent situation.

"This group of players now are all young people, the oldest are only 27 or 8 years old. The players you used to have in the national team are not here. Some players are older and have serious injuries, and some players are here because of some club reasons. No..."

"Coach Denzel had something to do at home a few days ago. He has returned to the United States temporarily... It will be delayed for a while. During this period, the person in charge of the team's training is assistant coach Lin Yi... He previously He works in the national team and has some experience..."

The two of them walked to the training hall as they talked.

Zhao Feiyang did not rush in, but pulled Wang Jianwei to stand at the door and observe.

It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and the national team usually practices for two to three hours at this time. But the players in the training hall did not practice seriously at all. A group of players were just having fun, chatting and joking while practicing, and some even told dirty jokes.

Wang Jianwei's face looked a little unsightly.

"These guys...no one dared to do this before when Coach Denzel was still there..."

"Where has Coach Lin gone?"

Zhao Feiyang didn't care about everyone's training status, he just asked curiously.

"this......"

Wang Jianwei hesitated and hesitated for a long time before he finally managed to say, "I don't know... I might have gone to a meeting!"

Zhao Feiyang shook his head helplessly.

He quickly got up and walked towards the arena, and Wang Jianwei quickly followed behind him. The two naturally attracted the attention of the players. When a group of young people saw Zhao Feiyang coming, they did not dare to indulge any more and immediately started exercising pretending to be training seriously.

"Everyone, gather!"

Zhao Feiyang looked solemn and shouted directly to the young players.