The Fifth Point Guard

When Shen Tong and Avril Lavigne were sunbathing on the beach in Hawaii, several NBA teams had already traveled to China to investigate and inspect the two Chinese basketball players who will be selected this year.

Yao Ming, who plays for the Shanghai Orient Sharks, and Battelle, who plays for Beijing Shougang.

Since the joining of Shen Tong and Wang Zhizhi opened up the Chinese market, American advertising companies, the New Jersey Nets and the Dallas Mavericks all tasted the sweetness, which made other NBA teams jealous.

More importantly, the outstanding performance of Shentong and the efficiency of Wang Zhizhi's coming off the bench convinced Americans that players from Asia can also gain a firm foothold in the NBA.

Therefore, Yao Ming and Battelle, who participated in the draft this year, are undoubtedly the most popular rookies in this year's draft.

There are media rumors that Popovich even flew to China specially for Battelle. Some people speculate that the purpose of the Spurs' thirst for Battelle is to deal with the Lakers' inside giant O'Neal.

After the physical test, the Spurs were full of praise for Battelle's strength and seemed very satisfied.

As expected by Shentong, Francis of the Rockets represented the team on stage and won the No. 1 lottery this year with a very low probability of 8.9%!

The Rockets even flew to Shanghai to meet Yao Ming as soon as they learned of the draft pick.

The current domestic environment does not allow players to go to the United States for trial training before the draft, so basically American teams make a special trip to China to contact players.

However, after the interview with Yao Ming by the Rockets, the voice of Yao Ming becoming the No. 1 pick is getting louder and louder.

Some media even said that Francis had filmed a video welcoming Yao Ming and was going to send it to Yao Ming.

June 26, 2002, Madison Square Garden, New York City.

The new draft session kicked off.

As widely rumored outside, the Houston Rockets used the accidental No. 1 pick to select tall center Yao Ming from China.

Although Yao Ming did not go to the scene, he showed his Rockets cap and No. 11 Rockets jersey in front of the live camera.

Dayao in front of the camera looked shy, occasionally fiddling with the red bracelet on his left wrist.

Shen Tong, who watched the draft on live TV, knew that it was a token of love between him and Ye Li.

However, Shen Tong is actually a little entangled in Yao Ming's title.

Logically speaking, it would not be an exaggeration for him to call Yao Ming Da Yao or even Brother Yao. After all, he grew up watching Yao Ming's games.

But in this time and space, he was more advanced than Yao Ming in the NBA, so there was nothing wrong with calling him Xiao Yao or Brother Yao.

Later, under entanglement, Shentong decided to hand over the address between the two to the date of birth to determine how they should be commensurate.

After comparison, Shentong is only 21 years old this year, while Yao Ming is 22 years old.

According to his birthday, Shentong should call Yao Ming Brother Yao, or at least Dayao.

But after comparison and confirmation, Shentong decided to put this question aside.

The No. 2 pick is a familiar face.

Jay Williams, the super guard who met the Arizona Wildcats with Shentong in the NCAA finals last summer.

He was selected by the Chicago Bulls.

They believe that Williams is the player with the strongest personal skills in this rookie class.

Although Yao Ming was missed, the Bulls did not feel sorry.

In the face of the interview, Williams even said boldly that he believed that Yao Ming's ability to become the No. 1 pick was due to the glory of the Chinese market. In terms of skills, he is the best candidate for the No. 1 pick.

Williams, who can play combo guard in college, will play point guard in the NBA.

Shen Tong took a bite of the apple, laughed involuntarily and said, This guy must at least learn how to pass the ball! Wait.

Shen Tong seemed to remember something.

The Golden State Warriors hold the No. 3 pick, a position that once dazzled the Warriors' management.

Except for Yao Ming and Jay Williams, the rest of the players seem to be about the same in strength, and it is impossible to choose one outstanding player, each with its own characteristics.

In the end, the tradition of bombarding the team led them to draft shooting guard swingman Mike Dunleavy from Duke University.

In the case of dazzling, Duke University has become a golden sign.

He and Jay Williams are teammates, and the quality of players produced by Duke will not be bad.

Last year's Sean Battier is a good example.

The Memphis Grizzlies, who played fourth, selected Drew Gooden, a junior at the University of Kansas.

This 2.08-meter-high power forward has a lot of background. This season, he led the University of Kansas to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1993, and won many individual honors.

ESPN Magazine Forward of the Year, USA Basketball Player of the Year, Sporting News All-American, Basketball Times All-American, Associated Press All-American, NCAA Midwest Division Player of the Year etc.

With Pau Gasol and Drew Gooden, the Grizzlies' inside line is full of imagination in the new season.

The Denver Nuggets selected power forward Nikoloz Skitishvili from Georgia with the fifth pick.

The player who played in the Spanish League has high hopes for the Nuggets.

He is 2.13 meters tall, plays in the European League, and has a long-range shot. The Nuggets hope that he can become the next Nowitzki.

However, Shen Tong knew that the wishful thinking of the Nuggets might come to nothing.

With the sixth overall pick, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected a guard, Dajuan Wagner.

This 1.91-meter-tall shooting guard is a little shorter in the second position, but he has extraordinary speed and powerful scoring ability.

In his senior year at Camden High, the guy averaged 42.5 points per game and scored an insane 100 against Glochester Academy!

That's right, he is the guy who is rumored to score 100 points in a single game.

In that year, Wagner was named the Player of the Year by USA TODAY and won the Naismith Player of the Year trophy.

In just one season at the University of Memphis, he broke the single-season scoring record in the history of the school team, was nominated for the All-American First Team, was also selected as the American Rookie of the Year in the division, and was selected to the American League First Team .

Some scouts compared him with the flourishing Allen Iverson, which is enough to illustrate his talent.

The New York Knicks have maintained their tradition of drafting big men, even if their interior is already bloated.

They selected Nene Hilario from Brazil with the seventh pick.

Like most children in Brazil, Nene, who just turned 20 this year, chose football when he was a child. He didn't start playing basketball until he was 14.

In 2001, Nene represented Brazil in the World Friendship Games.

In the game against the US team, Nene scored 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks in 18 minutes, 3 of which were awarded to Jermaine O'Neal, who has already stood out in the Pacers.

It was that game that made Nene quickly enter the eyes of NBA scouts.

After participating in multiple training camps, Nene, who performed well, decided to participate in the 2002 draft.

He didn't expect that he would be selected at such a high position.

However, the New York Knicks have become the object of ridicule.

Because there are as many as five players in their team who can play center.

Barkley taunted: Although basketball is a sport for adults, New Yorkers have obviously gone to extremes.

The ridicule is ridicule, and Barkley still gave some pertinent opinions.

They should seek some trades, exchange some inside players for a few outside players with strong scoring ability, then New York may be able to make the playoffs.