The attention of basketball fans is once again focused on Li Ao!
If he just held a press conference and said he wanted to participate in the draft, it would not cause any sensation.
Nowadays, the draft is gradually moving towards a "younger age". Although juniors and seniors still account for the majority of candidates, among the players who have publicly announced to participate in the draft in advance this year, high school students, freshman and sophomore players who are 20 years old or younger have already A record number of over 50 people.
These include Cincinnati's DeMarre Johnson, who is predicted to be in the lottery, Missouri's Kenyon Dulin, Austin's Chris Mihm, and even LSU's Swift...
The fact that he participated in the draft is not as topical as the fact that he is a flower grower participating in the draft.
However, Time Warner was very interested after learning about his idea, and spent several days previewing it on the sports channel. Finally, he said, "I want to bring my talents to the NBA"...
Buffs are superimposed layer by layer, bursting out completely different effects!
This sentence is popular among fans!
The next day, Li Ao's draft report was prominently displayed in the new issue of Sports Illustrated, a magazine owned by Time Warner.
"18 years old, born on August 1, 1981.
He is 201 centimeters tall and has a wingspan of 217 centimeters. He has outstanding static physical conditions and still has room to grow at the age of 18.
Has excellent mobility and flexibility at the same position and can play as a defender.
Possessing top-level support talent, he averaged 4 assists per game in his first season in college, and during March Madness, he averaged 5.8 assists per game.
He is good at playing without the ball and has low ball possession requirements. His ball holding rate ranks 46th from the bottom among players in the NCAA Division I who average more than 10 minutes per game. Players with a lower ball holding rate than him are all blue-collar players. Insider.
Possessing excellent defensive talent and awareness...
Has excellent shooting talent and is exceptionally good at shot selection...
…
…
Advantages: Possessing unpredictable talent, he can contribute immediately on defense. He is especially good at guarding outside shooters. He has the potential to defend from position 1 to position 4. He is capable of playing a tactical transition role. He has a tough personality and a big heart and can shoot key shots. …
Disadvantages: Not long enough to be exposed to basketball, no experience in playing all year round, poor team defense, single technique, single scoring method, no ability to hold the ball...
Forecast Template: Lower Detreff-Schrempf.
Predicted pick: 10-15th pick in the first round. "
After Sports Illustrated's draft report came out, it once again caused controversy.
There are many things in the report that are very contradictory.
Sports Illustrated listed a lot of strengths, more than they did in the draft report for Kenyon Martin.
The predictable picks were only given to picks 10-15.
Many people feel that this pick is too high. For example, Indiana fans feel that Li Ao should lose the draft.
But the expectations for the 10-15th pick are extremely exaggerated.
Schrempf was one of the best point forwards in the last decade. Last season was shortened. At the age of 36, he was still averaging 15+7+3 per game. In his peak year, he averaged 19.1 points per game. With 9.5 rebounds and 6 assists, Schrempf played an important role in the SuperSonics reaching the Finals in the 1995-96 season. In the Finals, his scoring performance was better than Pippen...
Is this actually the lower limit?
In addition, many people are focusing on Li Ao's age of only 18 years old.
Although Li Ao looks tender, in American perception, Chinese people are inherently tender. He is already a sophomore, how can he be so young?
I didn’t expect it to be really tender!
At just 18 years old, he is already averaging 20+6+5 per game in the Crazy Three, and has led the team to a 33-game winning streak and won the championship in a sweep!
When the media hyped his talent before, many people sneered at it, because the media's hype seemed like praise and comparison, and many people took it as a joke.
But if you are only 18 years old, it will be terrible!
Some media found a video of Li Ao participating in a Time Warner Cable Sports program and re-watched Li Ao's self-introduction... He practiced basketball for 8 months!
After they visited the University of Southern California to investigate, they got confirmation from students at the University of Southern California.
Why didn’t they suspect that it was a USC student who was bragging?
Because the testimony of a student at the University of Southern California is - "Leo didn't join the school team until his sophomore year. I had heard of him before. Before he joined the school team, he fought and played with women every day. He was so famous."
Taking these factors into account, many people feel that the prediction of the 10-15th pick is too low!
As a result, fans led by Los Angeles and fans led by Indiana exchanged insults in the forum.
Now, the North American sports world should belong to the NBA, and the thing that sports fans are most concerned about should be the NBA playoffs.
But Li Ao stole the limelight!
…
It caused controversy and was criticized by many people. Li Ao had long expected it.
It’s not just a matter of being hacked once or twice, it’s a trivial matter.
At least it’s popular!
As for why you don't keep a low profile...how can you make a decision casually?
Of course everyone must know!
In this way, although he has a lot of trouble in terms of public opinion, on a more practical level, he has a lot less trouble.
For example, in the school forum, he saw that because of his high-profile participation in the draft, most of the attention from alumni and classmates were not that they were reluctant to let him leave, but that they were excited - the super genius of our Trojans is a genius!
Participating in a draft can lead to such a big battle.
Who else?
There is such a strange brain circuit, because this is the entertainment capital, Los Angeles, the City of Angels.
It also saves the coaching staff some potential trouble. If he leaves the school team and the coaching staff fails to retain him, they will be blamed to some extent by their superiors.
But when he announced his decision on a live broadcast, it was a done deal and irreversible. Naturally, the alumni and the school would not focus on retaining him.
One thing that surprised him was that Sports Illustrated actually predicted that he would be picked 10-15. He thought he would be good in the first round.
He saw a news report that some media contacted NBA headquarters to ask for their opinion on the matter. The call was connected to the president's office, and David Stern responded personally.
"We welcome basketball talents from all over the world to join. This is very important for the diversity of NBA players and for the NBA to go global. We did receive Leo's draft application. On the 5th, we already contacted Leo by phone. Leo Confirmed to leave college early to participate in the draft, I am very happy to see players from flower families appearing on the NBA court."
As an old Jew, his interests come first and he speaks politely.
After paying a little attention to the follow-up to the show, Li Ao stopped caring about the matter.
He did this just for fun.
The core purpose is to let NBA teams know that he is participating in the draft and save the coaching staff some trouble, nothing else.
His life has not been affected. He should go to class and train. Although he voluntarily withdrew from the competition for the school team roster and is no longer eligible to compete, his name is still in the USC basketball club, and Henry Bibby still provides free training. field for him to use.
Two days later, on May 11, the NBA draft lottery was completed, and Li Ao watched the live broadcast of the lottery.
Just as he remembered, the Nets won the No. 1 pick.
But he doesn't remember the rest. The 2000 draft was too short, and he didn't pay attention to it at all in his previous life.
The Grizzlies got the second pick, the Clippers' third pick... and the Magic actually had three lottery picks!
The 5th pick, the 10th pick, the 13th pick.
He didn't take Sports Illustrated's predictions of 10-15 picks too seriously.
Before this, the media had not given him a draft report, and no one thought that he would suddenly choose to participate in the draft.
In the past two days, other media have given him draft pick predictions, usually at the end of the first round. Some have given him a second round pick, but some have also given him a top ten pick... Whether it is high or low, it depends. It feels like it's heated.
However, when looking at the draft lottery, he will still unconsciously focus on the ownership of picks in the 10-15th pick range.
If he was really selected during this prediction period, he was shocked to find out that he would most likely go to the Magic!
Damn it, the management there is really stupid!
For an insignificant team rule, I lost the stone Buddha I got!
But if Shi Buddha really goes to the Magic, it will be different...
He unconsciously had a little expectation.
The next day, Friday, after class in the morning, Li Ao made an appointment to have lunch with his assistant aunt and Liam. When he was about to leave school, he was blocked by reporters who wanted to interview him.
He thought it would be good to gain a little more exposure at this time, so he accepted the offer and conducted an interview at the school gate.
The first topic was that he correctly predicted the No. 1 pick, which he made nonsense of.
The second topic is which team you want to play for.
Li Ao replied: "I prefer big cities, preferably teams in California. I am more accustomed to the environment and climate here. Of course, I can't decide these. I can go wherever I can."
The reporter was from the Los Angeles Times and was a local. He didn't mention topics that were too embarrassing for Li Ao.
The last question has nothing to do with the draft - which team can win the NBA championship this season.
Li Ao replied: "The Lakers, OK team is the best in the world."
…
After the interview, it was time for Li Ao to have dinner. In the afternoon, he went to the newly opened video game city with the hospital assistant, Liam, and Liam's new girlfriend.
The next morning, Li Ao and the hospital assistant opened the newspaper with great anticipation and found the NBA section.
Eye-catching headline - "New MOP flatters the Lakers"
Li Ao has a question mark on his head. When did he flatter the Lakers?
After reading the content of the report, uh...
To put it simply, the content is to ridicule the Lakers. They have been beaten by the Jazz and Spurs in the playoffs for three consecutive years. It is very ridiculous that a rookie said that the Lakers want to win the championship.
Said he wanted to go to the Lakers and flatter the Lakers.
Li Ao suddenly remembered that after he said the name Lakers in an interview yesterday, the reporter's expression became very exciting.
He didn't pay attention at the time, but looking back now, the reporter seemed to be looking at a fool... 屮!
Vivian suddenly exclaimed: "Leo, I remembered that the Los Angeles Times has a bad relationship with Buss. They have a better relationship with the Clippers. You shouldn't talk about the Lakers championship!"
Li Ao rolled his eyes: "Aunt Vivian, you didn't tell me earlier! What's the use of saying it now?"
"What should we do now?"
"Eat! Aren't you hungry?"
"Oh, that's right. If you don't eat enough, how can you have the strength to think of a solution..."
After breakfast, the two ignored the matter. It was the weekend. Li Ao continued to go to the gym to practice with the old man, and Vivian went to the next door to work out and watch TV series.
What a big deal, isn't it just being ridiculed by a media outlet?
But Li Ao also talked about this matter when chatting with the old man.
After lunch, they returned to the arena and browsed the forum on the computer in the property office.
Sure enough, this interview once again attracted people's attention. After all, he had just made his 'decision' a few days ago, but this time it was almost one-sided and ridiculed by the crowd.
Although there are Lakers fans who speak for him, the Lakers have really been beaten by the championship or finals teams in the playoffs for three consecutive years, and they can't be tough at all.
The Lakers are the most disgusted team in NBA history by fans of other teams. The more Lakers fans speak up for him, the more he is ridiculed.
He was implicated.
Li Ao didn't expect that he just stated his knowledge, and the other party finally asked a question casually, and he just answered it casually. As a result, he was sprayed by netizens and expert media.
…
Time will dilute everything. Li Ao did not stand up and respond. He only accepted two interviews with Xu Jicheng and Su Qun. After a few days, the popularity naturally faded away.
A major event in the NBA playoffs also diverted the attention of fans - the Jazz, the most popular team for the championship, trailed the Trail Blazers 0-3 in the second round.
This basically announced that the Jazz were going to be out. As for a comeback, judging from the fact that the Jazz lost by an average of 18 points per game in the first three games, the Jazz did not have that ability at all.
The NBA playoffs are changing rapidly. After stepping on the Lakers first, public opinion has become confusing as to which team will win the final championship.
Li Ao didn't care much about the second round of the game, and didn't watch much of the live broadcast. Occasionally, when he was watching TV to digest after dinner, he would switch to the live TV station and watch it for a while.
What he is worried about now is the choice of agent.
When he signed up for the draft, he had already filled in the landline and mobile phone numbers of his apartment, and also spent $10 to register with the players union. Before he notified both parties that he had signed an agent, qualified brokerage companies could check it. His contact information.
He has received invitations to meet with several brokerage firms, but has yet to decide which one he wants to meet with.
He didn't like the attitude of some agencies. For example, the agency of Orn Talon, a famous North American sports agent, just randomly sent an employee to invite him and spoke in a condescending manner.
In addition, Orne-Telon's main business is in football and baseball.
There are also aggressive agencies, such as Bill Duffy and Dan Fagan, both of whom are very interested in signing players from the Flower Garden.
But Li Ao didn't like these two people.
The latter was a well-known vampire who often engaged in frivolous operations for profit. Li Ao's deepest impression of him was that he helped Chandler Parsons get two maximum salaries, but his reputation was also ruined.
The former is a real person, but too real. He is not aggressive at all when negotiating contracts. As Yao Ming's American agent, it is outrageous that he did not help Yao Ming get a maximum salary after the end of Yao Ming's rookie contract.
There are also some brokerage companies that are so small and have so few people that the brokers are also responsible for legal, financial... everything.
Being an independent agent does not mean that there is no strength, but there is definitely a majority of people without strength, and he does not want to try and make mistakes.
So, more than half a month has passed since he announced his candidacy, and the matter is still on hold.
But he is not in a hurry. If a team contacts him for trial training, he can go there by himself. He can also handle the draft by himself. He just needs to sign an agent before being selected and negotiating a contract.
It is better to be deficient than excessive.
Time came to May 26, at 5:30 in the evening, Li Ao finished his afternoon training, took a shower and came to the parking lot. The hospital assistant's aunt said at noon that she would pick him up today.
After waiting for a while, at a little after 6 o'clock, the car of the hospital assistant's aunt stopped in front of him.
After Li Ao got in the car, Vivian did not start it immediately, but took out a business card and said excitedly: "Leo, another agency has found the school, this time it is David Falcao's company! Jordan , O'Neal, Malone, Duncan, Garnett, etc. were or are still players in their company, and their top agents personally came to the school to ask for help..."
oh? Li Ao was actually interested. He looked at the business card...
()
He threw the business card out the window.
Regarding Li Ao's unethical behavior, Vivian asked in astonishment: "Why did you lose it after just looking at it? I met with him together with Liam's legal counsel. His business ability sounds very good. I heard that He is also Falcao's favorite successor. He personally has an accounting firm that he has designated to cooperate with. Liam's legal counsel knows that firm and has excellent business capabilities. It is called Wertheim & Wellenken. A business development plan has been formulated for you..."
"I believe his business ability is very good, but I don't like banks. Banks are all scammers."
Vivian: (O_o)??
Where is this from? Wait, bank.
Banksy?
"..."
Vivian was speechless. She remembered that the agent who came today was named Banks.
"Forget it, just pretend he has never been here. If I were you, I would be disgusted by someone whose last name I don't like every day."
With that said, Vivian started the engine and drove home.
She didn't take this matter to heart. She was just excited because the other party was from David Falcao's agency.
Her Leo didn't like that person, and she suddenly felt that the guy was arrogant and didn't look like a good person.
But what Li Ao was thinking about at this time was the two poor No. 21.
In the past 20 years, the two No. 21s have been defrauded of more than 100 million U.S. dollars by this guy using the name of investment to steal, transfer, and conceal information.
Are you really just trying to catch Trap No. 21?
Just as the car was about to drive out of the parking lot, a figure rushed out shouting. Thanks to Vivian, an experienced driver with more than ten years of driving experience, she was able to safely stop the car without hitting anyone.
Li Ao was startled. After he realized what he was doing, he got out of the car and shouted: "You don't want your life? You don't want your life to jump off the building! Are you still thinking about helping your family earn some money before you die?"
"Sorry, no, I...I just want to talk to you, I am the agent!"
(End of chapter)
