"I respect your thoughts, and if you prefer to stay and play in Los Angeles, we can try to contact the Lakers.
From the perspective of commercial value development, big cities like Los Angeles and New York are very good choices. "
Schwartz closed his mouth again after speaking, letting Li Ao think quietly.
Different from before, Li Ao responded within a few seconds: "They are all going to try out anyway, and there won't be many Lakers."
After getting the answer, Schwartz said nothing more to avoid appearing like he was recommending which team.
When he arrived downstairs in the apartment, Li Ao called Su Qun and Xu Jicheng respectively and told them that his agent wanted their contact information, and the other party enthusiastically agreed.
Finally, another Chinese player is about to enter the NBA. Both of them are very excited. Recently, they have been reporting on Li Ao's performance in college to promote it in the country.
The two of them would naturally be happy to get the contact information of Li Ao's agent.
Fortunately, Li Ao hasn't entered the NBA yet, so it's easy to contact him.
After Li Ao entered the NBA, he became busy. He started playing 82 games a year. If he had interviews or something, it would be easier to contact his agent.
Schwartz was very efficient. At noon the next day, Li Ao received a call and was given a trial training time.
The day after tomorrow, the 3rd, Saturday morning.
At this time, Li Ao remembered that the Lakers will play at home in G5 of the Western Conference Finals tomorrow. The Lakers currently lead the Trail Blazers with a score of 3 to 1 and are expected to advance to the finals tomorrow.
The Lakers didn't go well in the Western Conference Finals this time. They won the first game by 15 points, and everyone thought they were going to stand up. However, they lost by 29 points in G2 and were brutally beaten by the Trail Blazers 77-106.
The Lakers' dismal performance even hurt Li Ao.
In the second round, the Lakers beat the Suns 4-1, and no one mentioned Li Ao.
Now his phrase "OK group is the best in the world" has been ridiculed by the media again.
There was nothing he could do about it, and Quan Dang became famous again.
Just when public opinion generally believed that the Lakers were going to be swept by the Gentlemen 1-4, OK went berserk. Kobe made 11 of 18 shots in G3 and beat the Trail Blazers on the perimeter;
In G4, Kobe transformed into a rational Kobe, taking advantage of the intimidation brought by his outstanding performance in G3. He made perfect choices in shooting and passing. He scored 18 points and 7 assists in a single game, plus O'Neal's 25 points and Glenn Rice's 21. points, the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers 103-91.
Two consecutive away games, with this performance, Lakers fans can once again shout 'OK team is the best in the world' and 'Lakers championship'.
After school in the afternoon, Li Ao immediately went to the Memorial Stadium and made an appointment with the coaching staff to prepare for the trial training.
At this stage, none of the four coaching staff members have had personal contact with NBA trials.
But have you never eaten pork or seen a pig run away? They had made preparations before and helped Li Ao do a surprise training before he went for a trial training.
Li Ao felt good about this feeling of someone behind him!
…
Soon, Saturday arrived.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, Schwartz came to the apartment to pick up Li Ao to the Lakers training facility.
It was originally supposed to be a one-person trip, but it ended up being a foursome.
The hospital assistant's aunt and good brothers all went to join in the fun. Liam ran to the apartment before 7 o'clock this morning to play iron with Li Ao.
Li Ao did not refuse and took the two of them along.
His mentality is very relaxed. He conducted a "pre-examination assault" for two hours after school the day before yesterday and three hours yesterday afternoon. He already has a good understanding of the trial training process.
The main reason is that he is approaching this trial training with the mentality of "a day trip to the Lakers training facility." He really doesn't care whether the other party wants to draft him or not.
However, he estimates that the Lakers will not be in a good mood today - Tianzun scored 22 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists last night, Pippen scored 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocks. The Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers away from home. Tied the big score to 2-3.
Based on this factor, he doesn't have high hopes for the outcome of this 'one-day trip to the Lakers training facility'.
Schwartz is also feeling quite depressed now - his boss won't take his car! Went in a luxury car!
He secretly swore in his heart that when he made money, he would also buy a luxury car, just to see if his boss would dare to despise his poor car...
Wait, he only has one player like Li Ao under him now. He only gets commission. He earns more. Doesn’t Li Ao earn more? Li Ao can buy a better car by then...
Vaco!
It seems like this tone will never come out in this life!
After half an hour's drive, the four arrived at the Toyota Center training facility.
The Staples Center, Memorial Stadium, and Toyota Center training facility are not very far from each other. They are all about 20 minutes' walk away from each other.
It was said to be a training hall. When Li Ao got closer, he felt that it was no smaller than some university gyms.
I heard that this is also the home court of the WNBA Sparks, and the Lakers' team in the NBA's second-level league, the NBDL League, which is being established, will also temporarily set its home court here.
Schwartz contacted the Lakers before leaving the apartment, and the four of them arrived at the parking lot, where the Lakers general manager's secretary was already waiting for them.
Vivian and Liam were taken to the reception room to rest, and Li Ao and Schwartz came to the general manager's office.
Seeing the two people coming, Jerry West stood up from his desk and came out, stretched out his hand towards Li Ao, and said enthusiastically: "Oh, Leo, I finally see you. It's the first time I saw you playing ball. Just make sure you're going to be in the NBA."
"Thanks."
Li Ao shook hands with Jerry West unceremoniously.
After greeting Li Ao, Jerry West and Schwartz also exchanged pleasantries.
Li Ao looked at the energetic logo man and sighed softly.
This small detail was noticed by Jerry West, who asked curiously: "Leo, why are you sighing?"
Schwartz wanted to cover Li Ao's mouth. He didn't know what Li Ao was going to say, but such an abnormal sigh was definitely not a good thing.
Although they have not known each other for a long time, he already knows that this guy's mouth can easily offend people.
But I didn’t have time to cover it up...
Li Ao said: "Didn't you lose to the Trail Blazers yesterday? I thought you would be very unhappy today and just deal with my trial training casually. Although this is a good thing for me, I don't know why it is a pity."
Schwartz covered his face in pain.
Jerry West laughed heartily and said, "Hahahaha, it's just a defeat. It's not important. We will definitely win in the end. Didn't you say that the OK team is the best in the world?"
Li Ao felt that they deserved to be the Los Angeles Lakers and were always full of confidence.
Even when the last one gets Ball in the future, their fans will still be "Lakers Championship" day by day.
After exchanging pleasantries, Jerry West took the two of them to the training ground.
Someone is already training!
Li Ao's eyes lit up - seeing Kobe Bryant in person for the second time!
Seeing Li Ao coming, Kobe smiled and nodded towards him.
Li Ao blurted out: "Damn it, Kobe can actually laugh!"
After saying hello, Kobe turned around to take the next shot. When he heard this, his hands shook and he shot a shot from outside the basket.
Kobe turned to look at the would-be rookie: (O_o)??
Why the hell can’t I laugh?
No, what do you mean I can laugh? I am not a facial paralysis wearing size 21!
Originally, he had a very good impression of Li Ao. The first time he heard the phrase 'OK group is the best in the world', he felt like his whole body was about to fly.
He would be more satisfied if 'OK' was changed to 'KO'.
Then people will call him and O'Neal a KO combination, not an OK combination.
Li Ao didn't know that before he said that, Kobe and O'Neal didn't have a "group name."
The Lakers introduced Glenn Rice in the 1998-99 season. In the two seasons before that, Kobe was just a substitute. In the 97-98 season, he averaged 15 points per game, while Glenn Rice averaged 10 points per game in the previous two seasons. With 22 points and 26 points, he was selected to the third team in the 1997-98 season. At that time, people thought that the Lakers were O'Neal and Glenn Rice as the internal and external facades.
Different from Li Ao's perception, this year's Lakers team is regarded as a "three-person team", O'Neal, Kobe, and Glenn Rice.
It's just that after he said 'Lakers championship' and then 'OK combination', people understood the meaning and knew that he was talking about O'Neal and Kobe, and the nickname spread.
It's like he 'named' the OK group.
Kobe had a good impression of Li Ao before, but now...it doesn't mean it has suddenly deteriorated. I just feel that this quasi-rookie, as rumored, is really bad-mouthed!
Kobe ignored everyone and turned around to continue training.
He vented his frustration on losing last night on the basket one ball after another.
On Li Ao's side, Schwartz once again covered his face in pain. The trial training hadn't even started yet, but he had offended the second boss of the team. It seemed like there would be no good results from this trial training.
Fortunately, this team is not his first choice.
Jerry West smiled and said: "Leo, don't worry about Kobe's attitude. He has an arrogant personality. If you get along with him for a long time, you will get used to it."
He said this as if he had become a Lakers player. Li Ao felt strange and did not respond, staring at Kobe who was practicing three-pointers.
wipe! I actually scored several goals in a row, and the basket was feeling lonely without the ball rubbing against it!
Look at it for a while.
stare……
Kobe felt the burning gaze from behind, felt a chill running down his spine, and hit the rim with a bang.
Li Ao nodded with satisfaction and said to the logo man next to him: "Mr. West, can we prepare for the trial training?"
Seeing Li Ao's inexplicable and slightly proud expression, and seeing Kobe turning his head and staring angrily at Li Ao, Jerry West shed a drop of cold sweat.
Can these two get along well?
Forget about it for now, try it out first!
Jerry West responded: "Let's go to another training ground. It's ready there. Andre, you help Kobe practice shooting. Gary, you come and help Leo warm up..."
…
When I came to another training ground, there were people inside, a few trainers, and... Lakers head coach Phil Jackson!
Phil Jackson, who is in his 50s, like a kind-hearted old man, told Li Ao to take it easy and perform well.
With this image of a 'kind old man', Li Ao would have believed him if he didn't know his coaching style off the court.
Without the idea of chatting more with the Zen master, Li Ao went to the locker room to change into training clothes, then took a static physical fitness measurement, and then warmed up with the help of Gary Vidi.
Warm up, Li Ao is professional!
In the first trial training, no matter what the result is, he will go all out and strive to be the best.
Different from training in front of a familiar coach in the past two days, now, he feels quite nervous.
He kept hinting to himself that this was just a 'test trial', and the tension was relieved.
You have to make good use of this trial training to make yourself less nervous in subsequent trials - so he thought.
But once the body was warm, it stayed hot for nearly an hour.
He didn't fall asleep until early in the morning after playing the game last night and dealing with the media after the game. Master Chan who came to the training hall early this morning yawned many times.
The same goes for others. They watched Li Ao warm up in an orderly manner. In the end, Gary Vidi, who was originally leading the warm-up session, became an assistant... This warm-up was too detailed!
but……
The logo man and the Zen master looked at each other: There is something special about this kind of player from a flower family!
At close to 10 o'clock, Li Ao finally finished his warm-up. Under the command of Zen Master's assistant coach Charlie Rose, Li Ao began the trial training session.
The first is the dynamic physical condition test, which is carried out completely.
But then the other tests... yes, he gave it his all and showed what he can do.
If he couldn't, he just said no and didn't try.
This made Charlie Rose find it very difficult. No matter how much he tried to persuade him, the other party was unwilling to try. He looked at the Zen Master and the logo man for help, and when they both nodded, he had to skip the link that Li Ao didn't want to try.
In less than an hour, all aspects of the trial training were over.
The warm-up time was longer than the trial training time, and the Lakers were screwed.
At the end of the trial training, the logo man and the Zen master went to the side to communicate. Li Ao rested for a while. After his body stopped sweating a lot, he took a shower under the guidance of the trainer, changed back into his own clothes, and met with Schwartz again. Come to the general manager's office.
Jerry West got straight to the point: "Leo, we are very satisfied with your trial training. We want to conduct more detailed tests on you. Jeff, when do you have time?"
Before Schwartz could speak, Li Ao said first, "Sorry, I don't want to have a second trial with you."
Jerry West was stunned for a moment and asked in astonishment: "Why? Did we fail to provide good hospitality today?"
Li Ao shook his head: "No, the legendary superstar logo man and Phil Jackson, one of the greatest coaches in history, tried out for me. This is a treatment I can't imagine, but I will only accept the second try of the lottery pick." , I’m sorry, I’m not interested in your draft picks.”
Jerry West was stunned for a while, then smiled: "Okay, I understand... I think we will definitely meet again."
Li Ao responded: "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to try out. I'll see you again when I have the opportunity."
After saying that, Li Ao took Schwartz, who still wanted to say something, to leave the office.
When they reached a corner and no one else was around, Schwartz grabbed Li Ao and complained: "Leo, if you say so, is it possible for the Lakers to choose you?"
Li Ao pouted: "If they really want to pick me, they will find a way. They have a lot of bargaining chips, and isn't that what you said? My draft market is very good. We have to strive for a higher pick, and we can't do it because of a team." Only the team with the 29th pick wants to pick us, so let’s just humble ourselves and beg them, right? 3 million contract, 5 million contract, 7 million contract, which commission do you want?"
These words speak to Schwartz's heart. The money he can get with the 29th pick, the 19th pick, and the 9th pick is completely different.
Seeing Li Ao's confident look, Schwartz also knew the reason for the opponent's confidence. He could see that Li Ao performed very well in the trial training in what he was good at. Wouldn't the opponent's general manager and head coach see that?
The other party took the initiative to invite me for a second try!
He secretly despised himself. He was so bold when he wrote the plan, but now he is so unsure...
On the other side, after Li Ao and Schwartz left, the man with the logo immediately picked up the phone and dialed. After the call was connected, he said loudly: "Jerry! Get that flower grower's kid! We want to trade up, and we must choose him." !”
(End of chapter)
