On June 14, Kobe led the Lakers to a 4-1 victory over the Magic, winning the fourth championship in his career and the first championship trophy since O'Neal left.
If there was still controversy about his being the number one player in the league before, then with the ownership of this championship, Kobe, who was named the "number one loser" after losing last year and led the American Dream Team to return to the top of the Olympics, has become worthy of his name.
The era of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers has begun.
A week later, Xu Yong packed up his luggage and set off for New York again.
In a few days, the 2009 NBA Draft will be held at Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks.
Here is a little cheese. The number of people who sign up for the NBA every year is actually not that many.
Take this year for example, a total of 103 people signed up. By the deadline for withdrawal (you can continue to run next year if you withdraw before a specific date), 55 people dropped out, and in the end, only 48 people remained.
Of course, this does not mean that the 30 teams can only select these 48 people, because the NBA draft has a stipulation that the 22-year-old automatically participates in the draft.
So you happen to be 22 years old this year, so congratulations, you have the chance to be like Wang Zhelin and find out after waking up that you have been selected by the NBA!
However, this number further proves that this year is a small year for the draft. After all, those who actively sign up will naturally be stronger than those who automatically participate.
After arriving in New York, Xu Yong quickly met Schwartz again.
Schwartz is a well-known agent with many NBA stars under his management. He has not only signed Xu Yong for this year's draft, so naturally he cannot accompany Xu Yong throughout the entire process.
However, Xu Yong is the most promising player among the rookies he signed this year, so he also gave Xu Yong the most time.
"You need to prepare a suit, preferably a more formal one. That will be the first impression you give to the fans. Of course, you can also do some stunts to leave a deep impression on the fans as much as possible." Schwartz patiently warned.
"Like kissing a beautiful girlfriend?" Xu Yong asked with a smile.
Schwartz was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "That's a very good suggestion."
Xu Yong also smiled.
Kissing his beautiful girlfriend was what impressed him most about the NBA draft.
In 2011, Jan Vesely, nicknamed "Czech Yi Jianlian", kissed his girlfriend after being selected.jpg.
He doesn't mind, but who will send him a beautiful girlfriend first?
Of course, Schwartz could also tell that Xu Yong was joking.
After all, he had been in contact with Xu Yong for so long, and Xu Yong didn't have any women, not to mention beautiful girlfriends.
But such jokes show that Xu Yong's mentality is very relaxed, which is a good thing.
He has been a professional agent for so many years and has seen too many rookies become unbalanced because their draft picks were not as good as expected, and in the end they were lost to everyone.
The draft is just equivalent to a college entrance examination. It is very important in life, but in a certain sense it is only a starting point.
"By the way, you can also pick something that can bring you good luck." Schwartz reminded with a smile.
Hearing this, Xu Yong patted his suitcase and said with a smile, "I'm ready."
Although it was his first time participating in the draft, he had seen too many draft games as a commentator before his rebirth.
As the saying goes, "I've never eaten pork, and I've seen a lot of pigs running around." For that special night, he made careful preparations.
Schwartz smiled and nodded, and then chatted with Xu Yong about the latest draft news.
The most optimistic situation for Xu Yong now is that he is selected by the Kings with the fourth pick, then the Suns with the fifth pick, and then the Knicks with the eighth pick.
But now Schwartz has some information. For example, the Timberwolves are also trying to trade for the fifth pick, and their target is James Harden.
There is also news about trial training. Both Rubio and Thabeet performed poorly in trial training, which may affect their draft prospects.
Especially the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies may not pick Thabeet now, and both Rubio and Harden refused to go to them for a trial.
Speaking of which, the Grizzlies are not very popular with rookies either in Vancouver or Memphis because of their small market.
Xu Yong nodded frequently after hearing this, but as a reborn person, he knew that the Grizzlies would still take Thabeet in the end. As for the Timberwolves, they ended up with nothing. Not only did they not select Harden, they also missed Curry one after another.
Don't tell me, listening to Schwartz's analysis and then opening his own eyes, this feeling is still very subtle.
Shortly after Schwartz left, Xu Yong went to the airport to pick up Harden and the others.
After more than a month, they finally met again.
Harden's beard looks much thicker again.
"James, you'd better take care of your beard before the draft. You don't want the fans' first impression of you to be slovenly, right?" Xu Yong learned and sold now.
"Yeah, I'll fix them and iron them." Harden nodded, which was the advice his mother gave him.
"How was your trial training?" Xu Yong asked after waiting in the taxi.
Although he is reborn and has clairvoyance, the addition of his butterfly will actually change a lot of things.
Especially since he is currently so high in the draft.
"If everything goes well, I should go to Toronto." DeRozan is very real, and his luck should be that the Raptors gave him a draft commitment.
Xu Yong nodded. He did not perform well in the Raptors' trial training. In addition, he should not fall into that pick now. There is a high probability that DeRozan will still go to the Raptors as he knows.
He then looked at Harden.
"The Timberwolves gave me a draft commitment, and they don't rule out trading up the pick." Harden's answer confirmed Schwartz's previous words.
"The Thunder didn't give you a draft commitment?" Xu Yong asked.
Harden shook his head.
This reaction surprised Xu Yong. He had the impression that the Thunder had always wanted to choose Harden.
But this is just his impression. After all, even before his rebirth, he couldn't know too many details of the draft.
"I should go to Cleveland." Ayers took the initiative to say at this time.
To assist James?
This is a little different from history. He had the impression that Ayers went to the Spurs. 【Note 9】
But that's not bad. The current Cavaliers have a good lineup. At least they started in the Eastern Conference Finals, so they can experience high-level competition in advance.
…
Two days passed quickly, and on this day, there was a crowd outside Madison Square Garden.
On this day, in addition to the rookies, fans from each team will be present at the draft.
The scene may not necessarily be grand, but it must be very lively.
Xu Yong took the elevator from the underground garage to the audition site. With him were his parents and Cai Xiao.
Except for Ayers, he, Harden and DeRozan were all invited into the little green room.
The so-called Little Green Room is a separate area isolated in front of the main stage of the draft called the Little Green Room.
Each member of the Little Green Room has a small table where they can invite family and friends to wait for the draft results.
After entering the small green room, Xu Yong saw that his table was on the far right side of the first row of the stage.
Apart from anything else, it is the most convenient place to go on stage.
And next to him is Harden's desk.
Harden's back was turned to him, so he walked over and patted the opponent's shoulder directly.
"What..." Harden turned around and his eyes widened when he saw what Xu Yong was wearing.
Everyone else was wearing formal suits tonight, but Xu Yong was the only one wearing a red Tang suit with a golden dragon embroidered on the left side.
This is so cool!
But he immediately laughed and stood up and gave Xu Yong a big hug, which is what Xu Yong would do.
"Chinese style." Willis also noticed him and stood up with a smile to say hello.
Xu Yong rolled up his sleeves at this time and showed Willis the watch he was wearing: "Lucky watch."
It was the same sports watch Willis gave him a year ago.
Willis was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect Xu Yong to wear it on such an important occasion, and said slightly excitedly: "I hope it really brings you good luck."
"It will definitely happen." Xu Yong affirmed.
After greeting Harden and the others, Xu Yong went to DeRozan's side.
DeRozan's father and mother were both present, and this was the first time Xu Yong saw them.
DeRozan's mother's condition seems to be okay, but his father's face is very pale.
But when DeRozan introduced Xu Yong to them, they all stood up and greeted Xu Yong warmly.
Especially his mother, who kept saying words of thanks.
As a mother, how could she not feel her son's daily emotions?
However, what she can do is really limited. Not telling DeRozan when she gets sick like before is the limit of what she can do.
But she can feel the changes in DeRozan this year, especially after helping the school win the championship. She feels that her son is no longer pretending to be happy, but is actually much brighter.
Of course, Xu Yong was not the only one moving in the little green room at this time, many people were greeting each other.
Many people who can enter the Little Green Room know each other and are familiar with each other.
At this moment, Xu Yong was hit on the shoulder.
When he looked up, he saw that he was also an acquaintance, Thabit.
Thabit frowned when he saw that it was Xu Yong. The collision just now was an accident, but he didn't say anything and walked over on his own with his head held high.
He was extremely depressed when the two teams played in the regional finals. He was naturally unhappy with Xu Yong, and it was impossible to apologize.
And he basically booked the second place this year. To put it in a very realistic way: I am the second place, who are you?
Xu Yong didn't pay much attention to it. Thabeet, as the second most popular player in history, had never played a few minutes in the NBA.
It is a waste of life to argue with such people.
After saying hello to DeRozan and returning to his seat, he chatted with Cai Xiao about the NCAA.
Cai Xiao only arrived in the morning. The two hadn't seen each other for so long, and they had endless conversations with each other.
At this time, there was less than an hour left before the draft officially started.
The management levels of each team have also arrived at their draft cabins on the second floor. An invisible war has already begun.
