It’s still the familiar Hidden Mountain Park, the familiar evening sunset, the same three basketball courts lined up side by side, and the same group of young men.
But everyone’s posture and mindset have changed.
DeRozan looked at the beaten and tattered Kobe standee, weathered by sun and rain, and recalled the summer of 2003. He had picked up a boy here who played baseball and joined him in a game of streetball. Now, two years later, that baseball player made it to the NBA... Wasn’t it just about graduating early to go to college?
Harden: Zhang San is too strong, how can I ever surpass him... Hey! My brother is awesome! But I still want to surpass him, what should I do... Train harder! I don’t believe it, my energy alone is almost surpassing Ronaldo, and one day I will definitely surpass Zhang San... But he entered the NBA at 17... Then I’ll enter at 19! Can’t be any later! Zhang San made it to the NBA after just two years of practicing his skills, I started practicing last year, another 3 years, 4 years at most and I should be able to make it to the NBA, right!
Tatum: Heh, just entered the NBA at 17? My uncle had a teammate who also entered the NBA at 17.
Jarett Young lamenting: I actually took Jack to play baseball for 5 years... I really should die!
Oh, right, Jarett Young is no longer a teenager, his freshman year has ended, and in a few days he’ll turn 20. He’s back for the summer break to accompany his mom and incidentally to work part-time to earn some living expenses and pocket money for the new semester. Hidden Mountain city’s tens of thousands of people in the handicraft, textile, and food industries are all providing goods for the surrounding affluent rural areas and towns, making it easy to find temporary jobs.
Tyson Roy is currently undergoing pre-season training with the University of Southern California football team. The NCAA football season starts on September 4th. Finally securing a starting position on the second team, as his little brother made it to the NBA, he only made a phone call to congratulate him, focused on striving for his own dreams.
Zhang Yang: The evening breeze is still so gentle...
After reminiscing for a while, DeRozan asked, "Jack, why did you take so many days to come back?"
Today, July 9th, ten days after the draft, Zhang Yang had just flown back from Charlotte in the morning. After a mass text, the four friends gathered here in the afternoon.
Zhang Yang replied, "Don’t even mention it, boring classes at the NBA, interviews, going to Charlotte for physicals and signing... Everything else was okay, the real deal, you’ll know about the NBA classes later, DeMar, James, Carmelo."
Tatum: "What kind of class could bore someone who loves studying as much as you do?"
Do I love studying? Okay, let’s just say I do... Zhang Yang replied, "There are only three useful classes: taxation, media relations, and NBA prohibitions. They could have been covered in two hours, but the league stretched them to two days, filling it with a lot of boring stuff, even half an hour just to teach us how to wear a shirt, tie a tie, and a belt."
Harden joined the conversation: "I saw the news; last year Okafor also mentioned this. Some experts say that the NBA did it just to match Major League Baseball by extending what used to be a half-day rookie orientation to the same two days as the MLB."
Zhang Yang understood; he wasn’t aware of other countries’ baseball leagues, but Major League Baseball in North America indeed had complicated rules, even to the extent of dictating the dress code.
Yet, it is those seemingly nonsensical rules that make Major League Baseball the most ’civilized’ among the big four leagues in North America.
DeRozan: "Jack, I saw your interview, when did you become so humble?"
Zhang Yang: "Haven’t I always been very humble?"
DeRozan: "You? Humble? Uh... You were pretty humble in 10th grade, but 11th grade was different. I’ve never seen an 11th grader show off as much as you did..."
Zhang Yang: "The weak keep a low profile to grow, the strong declare I would be second only because first is already dead!"
During June 30th and July 1st, Zhang Yang had continuous interviews, a lot from both American and Chinese media.
Long before the NBA officially announced the draft entrants, many media outlets wanted to interview him, but at that time he was still keeping a ’sense of mystery’ by declining interviews.
In fact, even after being drafted, he didn’t really want to accept interviews, feeling it was a waste of time and worrying about being grilled with questions.
But these interviews were arranged by the NBA officials, and Tellem needed him to use the heat from the draft to do interviews and show his face to create buzz, so he could negotiate from a stronger position with those sponsors, so he made himself available for two days.
Luckily, he was drafted, and moreover as a lottery pick. At least the media in his home country was quite friendly. For a time, the topic of the Hornets always... being promising was very hot in his home country.
After all, it was the team led by the God of Basketball, Michael Jordan.
At this point, Jordan’s reputation in management wasn’t bad, despite the dark history of ruining Kwame Brown. But Brown’s talent was still recognized by people.
When the Hornets were established, Jordan made a series of moves, trading the 4th pick for the 2nd pick of the Clippers, selecting Emeka Okafor, who made an impression in his rookie season, averaging 15+10 with strong defense, and winning Rookie of the Year. He was called a taller version of Ben Wallace, marking a successful maneuver.
Zhang Yang was very humble during the interviews. Being new to the NBA, he entered a cautious development phase.
This contrasted with the media’s speculation over the past period about his proud and rude image. The reality was better than expected, and the domestic media were also very friendly in their reports about Zhang Yang, saying that under the guidance of the God of Basketball, his future was certainly promising.