novel-bin Chapter 18 Changing the Future
Chapter 18 Changing the Future
On May 28, 2005, most of the players who were going to participate in this year's NBA draft came to the basketball arena of Moody Bible College in Chicago to participate in the rookie combine.
Chris Paul arrived in Chicago with his agent, Lance Young.
Nineteen-year-old Paul is already renowned in the United States. His performance in college has led the media to call him the next "Smiling Assassin" and a strong contender for this year's top three pick.
At this time, Paul was still a bit green. Although he was very ambitious, he couldn't help but feel nervous when faced with all the talented monsters passing by. After all, his height was nominally 183 centimeters, and only Paul himself probably knew his actual height.
"Don't be nervous, Chris. You're the best. You're a key client of our Octagonal Brokerage. You need to be confident. Those who only have physical talent but no brains are idiots. Your future will be longer and greater than theirs."
Chris Paul was slightly reassured by his agent Lance Young's words.
Paul certainly has a high level of ambition, excellent skills and intelligence, and even his physical talent is outstanding among guards of the same height. However, deep down, he has a flaw: he is a person with an extremely strong desire for control, and he wants to control everything around him.
His grandfather's unexpected death during his high school years shaped his controlling nature; in college, he lost control of his emotions and punched his opponent, resulting in his suspension and his team's early exit from the ACC Regional Championship.
Despite his fame in the United States, Paul, who carries many regrets, is actually quite insecure, and in the future, he will gradually become more controlling.
Besides Chris Paul, the biggest name among the draft prospect at the rookie combine held in Chicago was Andrew Bogut, the Australian center from the University of Utah.
However, unlike Paul's cautiousness, Bogut's attitude was even somewhat arrogant.
Bogut didn't really want to participate in the so-called Combine because, in his own eyes, he was destined to be the number one pick. Nicknamed "White Duncan," Bogut shone brightly in the NCAA. In an era where interior pillars were extremely important, Bogut did not believe that he would fail to be the number one pick.
Many high school players participated in this Combine, including Wang Kai, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Gerald Green, and others. However, some popular college and high school players chose not to participate in the Combine.
Wang Kai did not come to the joint tryout alone. After all, he was already a player under Pelinka's management, sharing the same agent as Kobe. Even if Pelinka was unprofessional, he would not let this young man, who was favored by Kobe, participate in the joint tryout alone.
Therefore, Wang Kai not only has an assistant, but also a trainer and nutritionist who works with him.
However, Pelinka himself did not come to the joint tryout; his most important task now is to follow Kobe.
Wang Kai's arrival attracted the attention of some players. After all, Wang Kai's reputation at this time was no less than that of Chris Paul and Bogut, and his four consecutive high school championships were enough to shock everyone.
"Tch, a skinny Chinese guy who doesn't even have a muscle. If he dares to go inside, I'll break all his ribs."
Bogut felt jealous of Wang Kai, who was highly regarded. That's just how he is; he's not only foul-mouthed but also despicable.
"That Australian idiot is a dud, don't worry about him. He's the kind of player who looks good but is useless in practice. He's only good for protecting the rim in the paint, nothing else."
Old Ke was introducing the players participating in the joint trial to Wang Kai.
Given Wang Kai's level of fame, he didn't need to participate in the NBA Draft Combine. Many teams had already contacted Pelinka, hoping that Wang Kai would participate in private tryouts with various teams. However, Wang Kai still chose to participate in the Combine, hoping that he could participate in the draft with dignity.
The first two days of the joint tryouts consist of physical tests, and the test data will be made public. After all, participating in the joint draft is meant to allow each team to fully understand the players participating in the draft.
At this time, Wang Kai had grown to 2.03 meters tall, with a wingspan of 2.14 meters and a weight of 95 kilograms. He was nearly 18 kilograms lighter than LeBron James when he participated in the 2003 draft, so Wang Kai's figure appeared somewhat thin.
However, Wang Kai's seemingly frail body contains enormous energy. In the 84 kg bench press test, Wang Kai unexpectedly completed 4 reps.
It's worth noting that two years prior, during the 2003 NBA Combine, LeBron James, the prodigy of the draft, bench pressed zero times, while Carmelo Anthony, the third overall pick, bench pressed seven times. (I was stunned. I searched the data on Deepseek, and it really does say that James bench pressed zero times in the rookie combine. Perhaps GOAT didn't participate in the bench press test?)
In the subsequent dynamic talent test, Wang Kai's individual data was not the best, but when all the data were put together, he was one of the strongest in terms of overall strength.
Wang Kai is second in agility among all players and ranks among the top in explosiveness. Apart from his jumping ability being inferior to a few of the trainees who participated in the tryouts, well, one of them is Gerald Green, the nine-fingered "freak".
After the technical tests, Wang Kai's performance amazed all the team's scouts, assistant coaches, and even the head coach.
In the classic five-position three-point shooting test, Wang Kai made 24 out of 25 shots in 90 seconds, which shocked almost everyone. This also led to poor performances from Monta Ellis and Gerald Green, who followed him, because they were all intimidated.
As the Heat's assistant coach and director of scouting, Spoelstra naturally came to Chicago to personally assess the quality of the draft prospect. He had been paying attention to Wang Kai from the beginning, and after seeing Wang Kai's skills test, he immediately reported to Pat Riley.
"Sir, this high school player is outstanding, especially his shooting ability, which is the best among all the players. You could even say that he is better than many of the players on our team. Moreover, he has good physical talent and the potential to become a star. Perhaps we can focus on this player."
"Okay, let's send him a trial invitation directly. I want to see him in person and have a chat with this Chinese kid."
"Okay, I'll invite him as soon as possible after the joint tryouts. However, our ranking isn't high, so shouldn't we start preparing early?"
"Let's invite him for a trial first, and then see how he performs. Some young people, even if they are talented, won't be outstanding if they don't have a strong mind. Let's continue to observe him, and if necessary, give him a try to see what his personality is like."