Healing Basketball

   Chapter 1 1. A member of the Little Green House

   "Jace, where do you think I'll be drafted?"

   Half an hour ago, when Anthony arrived at Madison Square Garden for an interview, he was asked about the No. 1 draft pick, and he didn't care.

  Now, facing the camera, Anthony, who is sitting at the draft site, still has the expression of that arrogant NCAA freshman MOP, with a calm and unruly expression. He seems to be very casual about the upcoming draft.

   Confident, arrogant and open-minded.

but…

   Liu Xiu heard anticipation from Anthony's tone.

   Decisive, Liu Xiu reassured: "Don't worry, the Clevelands will never choose you."

  Anthony tried his best to maintain the expression of the boss, gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "I should have let you sit at a table by yourself!"

Next to   , this senior, teammate and friend of the school team is too much to play! Anthony really wanted to smack this friend's admittedly handsome face.

​​​​​​

   Seeing that Anthony's mentality was about to explode, Liu Xiu was very satisfied, but he did not continue to tease Anthony. He had to give face to the apprentice who had been a teammate for a year. After all, they were following the legendary cool and elegant route.

On June 26, 2003, at 7:00 pm, there were still dozens of minutes before the start of the 2003 NBA draft. On the scene of the draft, the members of the Little Green House, that is, the 'lottery' voted by the NBA officials and the managers of 29 teams District candidates' and their relatives and friends have all come to the scene.

  As the outside core of the NCAA basketball championship team in the 2002-03 season, Liu Xiu also performed well this season and got the opportunity to enter the small green house.

   But entering the small green house does not mean that you can be selected into the lottery area. Every year, there are members of the small green house who cannot enter the lottery area, and it is not uncommon for them to fall out of the first round.

  The league will deliberately select one or two rookies with a high probability that they will not be selected in the lottery area every year, or even will not be selected in the first round but have a certain topical rookie to enter the small green room.

  'I'm probably the one who was used as a gimmick, the core of the backline of the championship team, and a Chinese player. ’

   was used by the government, but Liu Xiu didn't feel that he was at a disadvantage.

  The American cable TV sports channel, the live draft of the draft has begun.

   The agents of the rookies who entered the small green house have already told them to pay attention to their appearance after entering the scene. As the protagonists of the draft conference, the camera will always be given to them.

  Anthony, as the No. 1 pick, naturally got a lot of shots. By the way, Liu Xiu next to him also got a lot of shots.

  Anthony is very concerned about appearance and appearance, and he has to pay attention to his expression when he speaks, while Liu Xiu is much more relaxed.

  Liu Xiu looked around at the other rookies on the scene, turned around and saw that Anthony's mentality still seemed to be out of balance...

  This is understandable, who made Anthony so unlucky?

   As a freshman and under the age of 19, he led his team to win the NCAA Basketball Championship as a star. He averaged 22.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

   At this age, at this strength, at this college achievement, to participate in the NBA draft is still the No. 1 pick.

   But unfortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers got the No. 1 overall pick.

   Anthony didn't care at first. In his opinion, does it make a difference who gets the No. 1 pick?

   Facts have proved that there is a difference, the Cavaliers almost said in the trial stage that they would only choose James, and other talents would not be used.

   It has been more than a month since he signed up for the draft. Anthony also accepted this reality, but when he arrived at the draft conference, it was inevitable that he had some mental imbalance. He knew that it was impossible, but he still had expectations.

   I found out that there is a problem with my friend's mentality, so Liu Xiu naturally wants to comfort her!

   "Carmelo, I'm not telling you, if you enter the draft next year, who can grab your No. 1 pick?"

   Heartbroken! Anthony wanted to go berserk on the spot, but when he became emotional, he broke free from that unbalanced state of mind, and the guilt came again.

   'Even though I caused trouble for Jace, I asked him to enlighten me...'

  Although the way of enlightenment is a bit special, Anthony has gotten used to it after knowing each other for so long.

   The phrase "I didn't tell you", when Anthony heard it for the first time, his head was full of question marks.

Looking at Liu Xiu, who was already languidly leaning on the back of his chair, Anthony said: "Jess, maybe you have a higher probability of being selected in the first round of the draft next year, but if I'm not here, you will continue to stay in college, and you will definitely have to If you get enough exercise, it’s better to take part in the draft, for you, a higher level of competition is more important.”

   With this apologetic tone, Liu Xiu sat up straight, blinked her eyes, and leaned back: "You're right, otherwise I wouldn't sign up for the draft with you, but..."

   After finally saying what he wanted to say, Anthony was still a little nervous. Hearing Liu Xiu's answer, Anthony was a little moved.

   Although this friend has only known each other for a few months, and his words are often frustrating, he always shows a touch of tenderness inadvertently...

   But Liu Xiu's long tail made Anthony curious and wanted to hear the next sentence.

After listening to Liu Xiu pulling the final note for a while, he said: "...you look like you don't fit your cool personality at all, sit up straight, you are participating in the draft, don't be ashamed in front of other rookies, your expression is wavering, and you are arrogant. …”

  If it wasn't for the mother, coach, and teammates still on the other side of the table, Anthony would want to flip the table!

  At first, Anthony also sympathized with Liu Xiu's relatives, most of whom are in China, and the relatives in the United States have no time to travel these days. Now Anthony is sympathetic to himself...

   Take a deep breath, not angry... Anthony imitated Liu Xiu to lean back in his chair and look at the other rookies, cool ass, proud ass, how to sit comfortably.

   But this made Anthony really stop worrying about pulling Liu Xiu to participate in the draft together.

  …

  People are born with different temperaments.

  Liu Xiu sits like that, giving people the feeling of being sloppy.

  When Anthony sits like this, he still feels proud and confident, with a touch of uninhibitedness.

   The draft is about to start. Anthony really didn’t know what to say in the chat, so he stopped chatting, and looked at the other Little Green House members around him like Liu Xiu.

  Although the knot in his heart has been untied, and the unbalanced mentality has also broken away, Anthony will still look forward to it.

   This kind of expectation is different from the expectation of the unbalanced mentality just now. It is not a negative emotion, but an expectation that should be expected as the No. 1 draft pick. What if the Cavaliers change their minds in the end?

   Even if the final expectation fails, it will only be the emotion that it should have. Just like the lottery of the Great Penguin Game Empire, knowing that the reward that you want will never be drawn, will still curse you if you don’t get it.

   But not as mentally exploded as before.

Looking around, Anthony's gaze unconsciously moved to the table in front of the right, and looked at the man who did not even participate in the joint trial during the draft trial and only participated in the Cavaliers trial - LeBron James .

  Anthony is arrogant and a little straight, and may still be won over by James' social skills in the future and become friends.

   But now, how unhappy Anthony sees James.

   He is so handsome, why is he not the No. 1 pick? This guy looks so...why is he the No. 1 pick?

   Liu Xiu opened the system panel after adjusting Anthony's mentality.

   "Healing value +67, from Carmelo Anthony."

   "Healing value +99, from Carmelo Anthony."

   "Healing value +51, from Carmelo Anthony."

   "Available healing value: 3451 points."

   once again gave Anthony a heart-warming cure, and Liu Xiu was very happy.

   'Xiao Dongdong is still strong, just give a full value casually, the one who looks anxious only gives 5 points...'

   Thinking of this, Liu Xiu couldn't help but look at the man Anthony was staring at.

  ‘This guy is really 18 years old? No wonder it looks so anxious, it is to match the chengfu and the xinxing. ’

  …

   "LeBron...LeBron..."

   "Sorry, I'm distracted. Looking at these talented rookies of the same class, I can't help but imagine the game after entering the NBA."

  Ricky Paul listened to James' words and was happy both physically and mentally. The genius who locked the top pick in the 2003 draft is talented, capable, and he speaks nicely. That retro jersey was not given away in vain!

Rich Paul, a local celebrity in Akron, runs several retro jersey shops in Summit County, and also sells sporting goods. James, who was still a freshman three years ago, runs his own business in Rich Paul. The store door stared at a jersey and never left.

He also came out of the slum and knew that this anxious-looking but poor teenager could never afford to buy it, but that day Rich Paul was in a good mood, so he gave him a jersey and formed a good relationship. Only then did I know that this was a talented high school student in the local area, and later it was replaced by him who took the initiative to make friends and became friends.

   When James decided to skip college and go straight to the NBA draft, Rich Paul was the first to offer financial help.

  James felt like a man on his back, and the two people in the back left were staring at him!

  Like everyone else, he was also looking at other people while chatting with his friends and friends from previous years.

   Don't ask, asking is talent, James is able to make his friends around him feel like a spring breeze, while still having the energy to observe others.

  friends, there are two high school teammates and two friends who took care of him since childhood; he made friends with several local Akron celebrities he invited.

  James' mother now feels that she has a good face. Those famous hometown celebrities who were high in the past have now become his son's friends!

   Seeing his mom happy, James was happy too. A celebrity in Akron, he invited him here to save face and make his mom happy.

   Of course, it is also in order to exercise your social skills. It is more appropriate to start with community celebrities in small places.

   is just the ability to use the heart and mind, and sometimes it is not so good.

  For example, there are two red eyes behind his back, which makes James feel very uncomfortable.

  Anthony... This James feels indifferent.

  The top picks are disgusting him now.

   This is a phased problem. Once this phase is over, this emotion will fade away, and there will be a chance to make friends.

   But another person... James can't read it!

  James recalled meeting Liu Xiu and Anthony at the hotel arranged by the league yesterday morning. He took the initiative to say hello and wanted to get to know him. Anthony glanced at him and left.

   This is to be expected.

   And Liu Xiu, this guy has a good-looking appearance that matches the body shape of a passerby. He looks harmless to humans and animals, like the little brother next to Anthony.

But Anthony had already left, but this guy looked him up and down, his eyes made him not know how to describe it, and he didn't even know what to say. 'It's inspiring to be in the NBA draft at such a young age', and then left.

   is not the first time he has been mocked for being old, but James was almost really angry at the time.

   If there were still cameras around, James would definitely have to figure it out...he's much smaller than that guy!

   He is only 18 years old!

   Not only Liu Xiu, Anthony, and James are watching other Little Green House members, but other Little Green House members are also paying attention to their competitors.

   But not everyone pays attention to James, there will be, but more attention is paid to direct competitors.

  The focus on James is also on the top picks like Anthony, Milicic, Bosh, and Kaman... Liu Xiu is an alternative.

  Like Hinrich and TJ-Ford, the two still stare at each other from time to time.

  The draft is a very important way for the league to create competitors after perfecting the draft system.

Hinrich and TJ-Ford, the former is known as Jr. Stockton, the latter is known as Jr. Iverson, both are players in the Big Twelve League. In the past two years, the two have been competing constantly, and now there is In the same draft, no matter who is higher in the draft, the rivalry between the two will deepen.

   This is what the league wants. Although not all high-ranked rookies can play, if a pair or a few competitors play, it is possible to create a pair of "enemies for life".

   The Alliance didn’t notice this at first, but after discovering it, it naturally chose to fuel the flames.

This year, the members of the Little Green House, the rookies waiting in the candidate hall, and the rookies who have not had the opportunity to come to Madison Square Garden for some reason or another, probably all have one of them when the draft is about to start. The figure they wanted to win the most appeared in their minds.

   (end of this chapter)