Everything is going in a good direction, and the players are excited about the upcoming championship.
Two days before the start of the tournament, the players are preparing to leave for Philadelphia. Their first stage of the game will be played at the Wachovia Center, the home of the Digital People.
But just as the team members were getting on the bus to go to the airport, Sandek made an impromptu announcement.
"DeMar won't be following us to Philadelphia, he's having some problems at home."
When this was announced, the team members were all stunned.
Although DeRozan is only a freshman, he is the third-leading scorer on the team after Harden and Xu Yong.
And more importantly, the Devils' current rotation is very tight. Suddenly losing such a strong scoring point will have a huge impact on their strength.
Xu Yong and Harden looked at each other and shook their heads.
During the morning training session, DeRozan was still chatting with them about the game. In the afternoon, he didn't see anything unusual about DeRozan.
It seemed that something happened so suddenly that DeRozan didn't have time to tell them. He only had time to say hello to Sandek.
But Xu Yong noticed that Harden's face was very worried.
After the car started, Harden couldn't help but take out his cell phone and call DeRozan.
But the line on the other end of the phone was busy, so he could only put down the phone.
"Can't you just let go of your family matters? What will you do if you leave the team at this time?"
"That's right, the championship is coming soon, and it's true that their family called even though they knew about this situation."
"Okay, maybe we encountered some unexpected situation. Don't you know that we have been together with Demar for so long?"
The teammates in the back row were talking.
Originally, the weather, location, people and people had all caught up, but now there was one less general, and it would be difficult for anyone to stay calm.
"Shut up!" But at this moment, Harden suddenly stood up and shouted directly to his teammates behind him.
This made the people behind him all stunned.
At first, it was just the team's two benches who were talking, but in the end it was Ayers who persuaded him.
And more importantly, Harden usually has a gentle personality. This is the first time they have seen Harden get so angry.
The atmosphere inside the bus suddenly became very tense.
Fortunately, Harden didn't say anything further. After scolding him, he sat down again and continued to try to call DeRozan, but the phone on the other end was turned off.
Xu Yong was also a little worried at this time, because Harden's reaction really didn't mean that something happened to DeRozan's family.
Harden finally sent DeRozan a message and put away his phone.
"Don't worry, Demar's phone probably just ran out of battery." Xu Yong persuaded.
Harden nodded and turned his head toward the window.
There was silence all the way until after the plane landed in Philadelphia, Harden turned on his phone and received a call back from DeRozan.
After the phone call was over, Harden breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened to Demar?" Xu Yong also asked at this time.
"Xu, can you imagine the pressure of life that a person has to face every day when his father has severe kidney disease and his mother has lupus?" Harden did not answer Xu Yong, but asked Xu Yong a question.
Xu Yong was stunned. Of course he could tell that Harden was talking about the situation at DeRozan's home.
Then he shook his head. He was born in a happy basketball family. He may have heard of families like DeRozan, but he really couldn't relate to it.
But he somewhat understands why DeRozan would be depressed later, and why he looks brighter than expected now.
If you are unable to work hard to stay optimistic in this environment, you will easily become depressed and then choose to go to extremes.
"DeMar originally wanted to go to the University of Southern California, which is only a 20-minute drive from Compton, making it easier for him to go home and take care of his parents." By this time, they had already boarded the bus to the hotel, and Harden continued after sitting down.
At this time, the car was extremely quiet. Not only Xu Yong was listening, but other teammates on the team were also listening.
DeRozan has never told anyone about his family.
"But Aunt Diane, DeMar's mother, she told DeMar to make the choice he wanted to make. After watching our game against UCLA last year, Demar went back and shared his feelings with her for an hour. She could Feeling that anticipation from DeMar.”
Xu Yong nodded. It turned out that this was the reason why DeRozan chose to come to Arizona State University.
"Aunt Diane was hospitalized. She didn't tell Demar. Her condition suddenly worsened, so her aunt called Demar." Harden continued, explaining why Demar left so suddenly.
At this time, in the seats in the back row, the two bench players who had been discussing before unconsciously lowered their heads, and Ayers was also ashamed.
Harden and DeRozan grew up together, and knowing DeRozan's family background, that's why he was so excited when he heard "an accident happened."
"Relax, everything will be fine." Xu Yong comforted.
Harden nodded. The call DeRozan gave him just now was to report that he was safe.
In the training session on the second day, Sandek made major adjustments to the rotation and also made changes in tactics.
DeRozan's absence has a huge impact on the Devils.
Especially since there is a game tomorrow, they only have one day to adjust.
Although the team members could understand psychologically after listening to Harden's story yesterday, the incident happened so suddenly that it was difficult to avoid a drop in morale.
Returning to the locker room after training, Xu Yong knew what he should say as the captain.
If they are upset due to morale issues, it will be a regret for all of them.
Seeing Xu Yong getting up as if he had something to say, the originally noisy locker room suddenly became quiet.
"Guys, I know that Demar's sudden absence has a great impact on the team, but I believe that he will come back after handling the matter. You have been with Demar for a season, and you believe that, right? ?" Xu Yong asked, looking around.
The team members nodded one after another. DeRozan gave them the feeling that he was as easy to get along with as Harden and as sunny as Xu Yong.
"So this incident does not bring us trouble. On the contrary, it gives us one more reason to win. Before Demar comes back, we must keep winning, all the time." Xu Yong then emphasized.
The journey of basketball cannot always be smooth sailing. Sudden situations, injuries, conflicts, etc. are all part of this journey.
He could understand this because in the Jordan story he had seen, Pippen, the second team leader, only scored 8 points in the game and thought he was suffering from the flu, but Jordan still led the team to victory in the end.
And he was able to say this because he himself was part of this situation in his previous life.
So when faced with this situation, all they have to do is face it and overcome it.
The tournament will last for more than 20 days, so they just assumed that DeRozan was injured and needed to miss a period of time.
What they have to do is not to be eliminated before DeRozan "returns from injury."
Harden stood up after hearing this, stretched out his hand, and then said: "For Demar."
Seeing this, the other team members also folded their hands one after another.
"For Demar!"
Uniform shouts echoed throughout the locker room.
