Reborn in 96, I started by taking charge of the Dallas Mavericks.

The NBA Summer League kicked off on July 10.

In the 1990s, the Summer League was still organized by the NBA teams themselves.

Some of the more well-known ones include the Pepsi Summer League hosted by the Orlando Magic, the Rocky Mountain League hosted by the Utah Jazz, and the California Summer League.

Players participating in the Summer League are typically fringe players from various teams, free agents, players from the Development League, and some international players.

These people participate in the Summer League with only one goal: to showcase themselves and try to secure a formal NBA contract.

Of course, in addition to these players, some high school or college players with very promising futures also use the Summer League to prove their strength and thus improve their draft position.

The benefits of holding the Summer League are not limited to these; it also serves as an important testing ground for experimenting with new NBA rules.

Here, the NBA can experiment with new rules, and referees can warm up through the Summer League. In addition, many NBA referees are selected through the Summer League.

At the same time, the Summer League can also help teams to integrate their lineups and select players.

Rookies can also use this opportunity as a buffer before entering the NBA.

In his previous life, Wang Zhizhi and Dirk Nowitzki entered the NBA together. Nowitzki's performance was average in the first two seasons, but after playing in the Summer League in the third season, his performance improved significantly, and he gradually became a key player for the Mavericks.

Wang Zhizhi missed the Summer League after the draft because he had to play for the Chinese men's basketball team, which made it impossible for him to quickly adapt to the NBA regular season.

The following year, Wang Zhizhi also fell out with the Chinese Basketball Association because he wanted to play in the Summer League to improve his skills. Unfortunately, due to the lack of understanding from domestic fans and the distortion of facts by the then chairman of the Basketball Association, Xin Lancheng, he was unable to concentrate on the game and thus failed to improve his skills through the Summer League.

Of the several summer leagues this year, Chen Fang ultimately chose the California Summer League.

Besides the fact that Kobe Bryant participated in this summer league back then, Chen Fang's main reason for choosing the California Summer League is that the Chinese men's basketball team will also participate in this summer league.

Chen Fang wanted to use this summer league to attract the attention of the Chinese Basketball Association, so as to pave the way for his future as the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team.

As long as he becomes the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, he will have the right to select players.

At that time, he will have the right to refuse Yao Ming and others from returning to China to play games.

Yao Ming was drafted into the NBA by the Rockets in 02 and retired in 11. Why was his career so short?

Aside from Van Gundy's excessive weight gain for Yao Ming, the real culprit behind his early retirement was the long-term overtraining in competitions.

Like other NBA stars, after a long season, they rest and recover their physical condition during the offseason to prepare for the next season.

But Yao Ming, after finishing his NBA season, had to rush back to China to participate in various competitions, both big and small.

Take 2008 as an example. In February 2008, Yao Ming suffered a fracture in his left foot. At that time, there were only 6 months left before the 2008 Olympics. Even though his injury had not fully recovered, Yao Ming still represented the national team in friendly matches such as the Stankovic Cup.

Moreover, the Chinese Basketball Association will even call Yao Ming back to play in some commercially oriented competitions.

Therefore, Chen Fang did not want the tragedy to repeat itself.

He needs to make himself more influential.

……

On July 11, the Mavericks faced their first opponent in this Summer League: the Los Angeles Lakers.

This time, Chen Fang brought the entire Mavericks team, setting a new record in the history of the Summer League.

In contrast, the Lakers only fielded some role players, free agents, and some undrafted players.

As Chen Fang entered the stadium, he immediately spotted the Chinese men's basketball team sitting in the stands.

It must be said that the older generation of Chinese men's basketball team was still very strong, dominating Asia for many years.

But who could have imagined that decades later, the Chinese men's basketball team would lose to the Philippines by 21 points, which was a disgrace.

Just as Chen Fang was looking at the Chinese men's basketball team, the Chinese men's basketball team representatives in the stands were also watching Chen Fang.

They were also very curious about Chen Fang's appearance.

In a foreign land, the group suddenly saw an Asian face, and even appeared with an NBA-level team, and immediately started discussing it.

"Look, there's an Asian player on the Mavericks team. Could he be a player?"

"No way, I've never heard of an Asian player joining the NBA. Team manager, do you know this person?"

"I don't recognize him, but judging from his build, he should be Chinese."

While the group was discussing this, the players on both sides had already started warming up.

While the players were warming up, Chen Fang walked alone towards the Chinese men's basketball team.

Upon seeing Chen Fang approach, the group immediately stopped their discussion.

"Hello, my name is Chen Fang, and I am the head coach of the Mavericks. May I ask who is in charge?"

Chen Fang approached the group and introduced himself in a confident and open manner.

Upon hearing Chen Fang speak fluent Mandarin, the group immediately showed expressions of surprise.

But what surprised everyone even more was that Chen Fang was actually the head coach of the Mavericks.

It's simply unbelievable that a Chinese person is the head coach of an NBA team.

If they knew that Chen Fang was not only the head coach of the Mavericks but also the owner, they would probably be even more shocked.

Just then, a middle-aged man wearing glasses stood up and came to Chen Fang's side.

"Hello Coach Chen, I am Gong Luming, the head coach of this national team."

"Coach Gong, I've checked the schedule, and we'll be facing each other tomorrow. Please go easy on me."

Chen Fang was very polite, but he still held Gong Shuai and the men's basketball team in high esteem.

The Chinese men's basketball team of 96 was known as the Golden Generation, and they reached the quarterfinals for the first time at the Atlanta Olympics.

Among them are many outstanding players, such as Hu Weidong, the Flying Man of China; Li Nan, the Flying Dagger; Liu Yudong, the God of War; Gong Xiaobin, the Carefree King; Sun Jun, the Tiger King; Zheng Wu, the Evergreen Tree; and Wang Zhizhi and Da Ba, among others.

After greeting everyone, Chen Fang returned to the bench, just as the match was about to begin.

The starting lineup that Chen Fang had already decided on for the Mavericks was the one he had sent out long ago.

Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, power forward Ben Wallace, small forward Peja Stojakovic, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, and point guard Steve Nash—all five are this year's rookies.

On the other hand, apart from Fisher, who is a rookie this year, the other four players on the Lakers' side were all players signed by the Lakers this summer.

The Lakers' starting lineup for this game was Fisher, George McLeod, Shawn Lukes, Rumir Robinson, and Larry Chriskowiak.

To be honest, Chen Fang only recognized Fisher among the Lakers' starting five; he had never even heard of the others.

Seeing the opposing team's lineup, Chen Fang knew they had already won even before the match started.