NBA: I really just want to be a second-in-command

Chapter 1 [Kobe's Choice]

2006, April 6.

Madison Square Garden Theater in New York.

The NBA Draft is about to begin!
This year's draft will be broadcast live by ESPN TV to 202 countries and regions around the world.

Although the annual draft will officially create momentum.

But this year is a small year that everyone recognizes (not many potential rookies).

So the attention is not high.

But no one expected that just an hour later, a shocking piece of news unexpectedly broke out in this draft, which instantly attracted the attention of the whole world!
This explosive news comes from the Lakers.

When NBA Commissioner David Stern opened the draft envelope with the Lakers logo, his eyes paused obviously when he saw the content, and then read, "The Los Angeles Lakers, with the 26th pick in the first round, selected the Lu Yusheng, a point guard at the University of Florida."

The drowsy media and the audience instantly regained their spirits!
They were looking for each other, looking for this Asian player whose name they had never heard of!

And to their surprise, this guy didn't show up at the draft at all!

"My God! The Lakers actually used their first round pick to select an Asian player!"

"This is not the most shocking thing, the most shocking thing is that he is still an Asian point guard!"

"Is the Lakers management crazy?"

……

For a long time, everyone knows the NBA's attitude towards Asian players.

Although Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming have successfully landed in the NBA, their attitudes towards Asian players have changed.

But at the position of point guard, it is still difficult for them to trust Asian players.

Regardless of speed, explosive power, technical level,
In this position, black players have a huge talent advantage.

Before this, no player of Asian descent had ever been successful at this position.

Even, no Asian player has ever reached the level of a qualified substitute in this position!

there has never been!

The live camera cut to the Lakers' management for the first time.

They also looked panic-stricken.

The general manager Kubchak pretended to be calm, but in fact, he was flustered.

He had expected this reaction from everyone.

He himself didn't want to choose this Asian kid named Lu Yusheng, but he had no choice.

It all started with an unexpected phone call he received before the start of the draft.

Just 5 minutes before the start of the draft, Kubchak was still chatting leisurely with the management and coaching staff.

In this draft, the Lakers didn't have a good pick. The first-round pick was only 26th, and it was just a young year. They didn't expect to pick any powerful rookies at all.

The team is short of point guards, so just pick a point guard from the remaining rookies at that time.

At this moment, Kubchak's cell phone rang suddenly.

He found out that it was the team's star Kobe Bryant calling.

"Hello, Kobe."

"Where is our draft pick?"

Kobe Bryant's phone calls are never straight to the point, rarely polite.

But Kubchak has long been used to it.

"Oh, the position is not very good, it's in the 26th position."

Kobe: "Man, help me pick someone with this pick."

strangeness.

Kobe never questioned or interfered with team operations, especially things like the draft.

One is because Kobe never paid much attention to these.

Second, as a traditional giant, owner Jerry Buss has long made it clear that no player may interfere with team operations.

This is the strict rule established by the old Bass since he took the helm of the Lakers. Even Chamberlain, Magician and other Lakers famous players did not dare to go beyond the rules when they played.

Kobe has been with the Lakers for so many years, so he naturally knows it well.

But this time, Cook didn't know why, he actually crossed this red line.

Of course, even so, Cook asked patiently, "Who do you want to choose?"

"University of Florida, freshman, Lu Yusheng."

"Who?"

Cook looked astonished.

For the first time, he thought he had heard wrong.

Because he had never even heard of this strange name.

Kobe repeated it over there.

Kubchak mobilized the coaching staff, and then frantically found the information of Lu Yusheng from a pile of rookie materials.

"Asian players?"

"Yes, that's right."

Kubchak was even more surprised.

The head star of the team made an exception for the first time and risked interfering with the team's operation, but...

Ask him to choose an Asian player?
This really made him a little unbelievable.

"Hey, Kobe, it's not that I don't respect you, but is it a bit too risky to use the first-round pick to select an Asian point guard? Can we consider using the second-round pick to select him?" Cook Said with some embarrassment.

"If the second-round pick is not good, he will be intercepted." Kobe said firmly.

Seeing that Kubchak was a little embarrassed, Kobe asked, "Dude, do you trust me?"

"of course."

"Do you trust my judgment? It's like when I started the season saying Smash Park wasn't good."

"Uh...Of course..."

To Kubchak's shame, Bryant did stop Smash Parker from signing him last season, but he and the rest of the coaches favored the big, physically gifted point guard.

But after one season, the facts hit them hard in the face.

Smush Parker's performance was a disaster, especially in the playoffs against the Suns, which can be described as undercover.

Kobe continued, "Since you took office as the general manager of the team, I haven't asked you or the team anything?"

"This...it really doesn't exist."

"That's all right, I'll wait for your good news."

After speaking, Kobe hung up the phone directly.

Cook: "..."

He had already thought of a perfect rejection statement in his mind, but Kobe didn't give him this chance at all.

A series of logical and interlocking questions made it difficult for him to resist.

Damn oppression!
Kubchak had to look carefully at Lu Yusheng's information.

Name: Lu Yusheng
Age: 18 years old
Height: 192
Armspan: 211
Standing reach: 272
Run-up reach: 359
Vertical Bounce: 80
"Well, the static talent is not bad."

Kubchak glanced at Lu Yusheng's freshman league statistics again, and his face darkened instantly.

Points per game: 5.2
Assists: 2.3
Steals: 1.2
Rebounds: 3.8
This is so common, right?
He really couldn't understand that Kobe risked violating the team's red line, so persistently let him choose such an ordinary yellow-skinned player.

what is this?
(End of this chapter)