basketball boulder

Chapter 29 The Rookie Season
The next day, Duffy arrived in New York.

When he arrived at the arena, Li Lei was playing a match.

Snapped!
Li Lei took a dribble, forced past Crawford, and rushed to the middle distance.

Pachulia jumped up.

Li Lei took his time and made a small throw.

Swish!
The basketball crossed the parabola and got into the basket steadily.

Bill Duffy's eyes lit up.

Duffy is not the most famous agent, but he is definitely the one who knows basketball the best.

He played basketball in the NCAA for four years. He was still the team's scoring leader in his senior year, but his draft performance was not good, so he finally chose to be an agent.

So, he really knows the ball.

He could see Li Lei's soft touch in that ball just now.

With a soft touch, it will be much easier for Li Lei to practice mid-range shots, three-pointers, and floaters in the future.

In addition, it was Li Lei's frightening speed of progress.

He paid attention to Li Lei's summer league. In the game against the Pistons, Li Lei's throw was still very blunt.

But now, Li Lei played with ease.

This terrifying learning speed, you must know that it is only a week before the end of the summer league!

Duffy watched the game quietly, and then greeted Li Lei.

The two chatted on the sidelines.

"After watching the game just now, I am more determined to sign you."

Duffy said with a smile.

Li Lei nodded.

He was also prepared and asked about Alstom, White Chocolate, and Crawford's attitude towards Duffy.

Speaking of it, the NBA is a circle, and it is not big, and all practitioners will know it more or less.

The answer Li Lei got was that Duffy was almost the most reputed agent in the NBA.

Duffy's current players include Yao Ming, Nash, Anthony, Gooden... Prince, who played against Li Lei before, is also under Duffy's.

Almost every player under his banner has a positive image and has nothing to do with pornography, gambling and drugs.

This can be regarded as a miracle in the NBA where private life is chaotic.

This is enough to prove Duffy's good reputation from the side.

Of course, it is impossible for Li Lei to make a decision just by listening to other people's opinions. He also needs to talk to Duffy himself.

"What plans do you have for my career?"

This is the test question Li Lei gave Duffy.

Duffy spoke calmly, as if he had been prepared for a long time: "Your current strengths are defense and three-point shooting. With these two points alone, you can become an important rotation player in any team."

"This is the foundation for you to gain a foothold in the NBA, and it cannot be neglected. On the basis of ensuring these two points, you can develop more technologies in order to obtain more team status."

"As for which aspect of technology to develop, we need professional trainers to do a comprehensive assessment on you, after all, professional people do professional things."

Li Lei nodded, Duffy thought clearly and looked really professional.

Coupled with his own background as a basketball player, the planning of his players will be more reasonable.

After chatting for a while, Li Lei and Duffy reached an agreement.

Duffy took out the contract that he had prepared a long time ago from his bag.

Li Lei read it carefully, consulted Crawford and others, and quickly signed it.

Thus, Li Lei became a member of Bill Duffy.

Duffy smiled and said, "Now, I have to fly to Miami to talk about your rookie contract."

time is money.

Duffy embodies the most vividly.

Two days later, Li Lei received a message from Duffy, and he negotiated a contract with the Heat's management.

This is a three-year contract with a total price of 186 million US dollars.

The three-year salaries are $37, $62, and $87, respectively.

The third year is a team option.

Before you know it, time has entered September.

Li Lei's training team disbanded.

Players also need to rest. If they maintain high-intensity training, it may be counterproductive.

……

In late September, Li Lei once again boarded a plane to Miami.

His rookie season is about to begin.

As soon as he entered the American Airlines Center arena, Li Lei was stunned for a moment.

An old man with white hair and combed back stood behind the gate.

His hair was already grey, but he was hale and hearty, standing there majesticly.

Pat Riley.

Heat general manager.

Dinghaishenzhen in American Airlines Center Arena!
"Good morning, Mr. Riley!"

Li Lei was taken aback and hurriedly said hello.

Riley actually greeted the players at the door in person.

Riley smiled: "Stone, Miami welcomes you, go ahead and get ready."

Li Lei nodded in agreement, and walked into the arena, but many years were in his heart.

Alston had secretly told him: Riley was rumored in player circles to be extremely controlling.

This is the first day of training camp, and you've been monitoring the players?
"What are you thinking about?"

Li Lei shook his head, forgetting these messy years.

In addition, he was traded to the Heat by the Mosaic team.Spoelstra said: On the day of the trial, Riley saw him.

In this way, Riley can be regarded as Li Lei's bole.

It should be pretty good to play under him.

Thinking of this, Li Lei was in a good mood.

In the arena, the coaching staff is also welcoming the players.

Coach Da Fan (Stan Van Gundy) is the head coach and Spoelstra is the assistant coach.And then there's the player development coach, the shooting coach, the trainer...

In addition to the coaching staff, there are various other staff: nutritionists, team doctors, videographers...

An NBA team is not 15 players and a coach. It has a very complete system that takes care of everything.

On the first day, the players will meet with all the staff, which can be regarded as a ceremony for the beginning of the new season.

After the start of the season, everyone has to help each other, everyone is an indispensable member of this team.

Immediately, the Heat's players arrived one after another.

Centers: Brian Grant, Kevin Cato, Malik Allen, Lauren Woods.

Power forwards: Lamar Odom, Udonis Haslem, Samaki Walker, Jerome Beasley.

Small forwards: Caron Butler, Li Lei, Raschel Butler, Troon Ishir.

Shooting guards: Eddie Jones, Dwyane Wade.

Point guards: Ralph Alston, Bimbo Coles, Kirk Penny.

A total of seventeen people.

Here's the lineup at the start of training camp.

As the season begins, people will continue to join and leave, and finally form a 15-man squad.

As a team in the rebuilding period, the Heat's most notable feature is that there are many new players and few old players. There is no old man who has played for the Heat for more than four years.

And this summer, the team's personnel changes are also particularly large.

This has advantages and disadvantages for Li Lei.

The disadvantage is that the team may have to go through a long period of running-in at the beginning of the season, and losing will be the main theme.

The advantage is that the lineup changes frequently. As long as Li Lei seizes the opportunity, he can easily enter the rotation, and even the starting lineup can be imagined.

(End of this chapter)