บท 23: Chapter 20 I Joined
Yu Fei sat down, and the questioning continued.
Others were still asking boring questions, while Yu Fei had clearly become an impressive figure.
A small group of people quietly inquired about his background.
When they learned that Yu Fei was ranked 16th in the United States for the class of 2001, everyone was surprised.
Brandon Roy even questioned Yu Fei, "You were never a fan of Kobe, were you? Why did you ask those questions?"
"Because there are a lot of media here, and I believe someone will write about my questions in the news," Yu Fei said with a smile. "If Kobe and Shaq have a falling out in the future, maybe they can find some clues in Kobe's statements today."
A falling out?
Roy had not expected Yu Fei to make such a malevolent prediction about the golden duo, "How dare you say that?"
How dare I? Let's not talk about the fact that this was something Yu Fei, as a time traveler, knew would happen early on. After the new century, no duo was more dominant and dramatic than Shaq and Kobe—Boston's Big Three, Miami's Big Three, Thunder's Young Trio, the Spurs' Big Three, the Splash Brothers, the Tsunami Duo, the Brooklyn Nets' Big Five, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George... The list could go on, but none could compare to Shaq and Kobe, right? They neither had Shaq and Kobe's accomplishments nor their dramas. The formation and dissolution of Shaq and Kobe perfectly fit the epic narrative of professional sports.
In 2001, who could have foreseen the end of Shaq and Kobe?
Yu Fei saw some signs in an interview with Kobe last month.
It was at the beginning of this season when a championship had constructed Kobe as a fully successful person, a rare young player who found balance between sports and celebrity status. However, at that time, Shaquille O'Neal was the favorite for MVP, while Kobe was never part of the discussions; meanwhile, Iverson was a pop culture icon, and Carter was rising in the Eastern Conference, stealing all the limelight completely surpassing Kobe as the recognized successor closest to Jordan.
In a post-game interview with NBC in February of that year, NBC asked Kobe if he was challenged by Carter's 51 points in a single game and wanted to know if he intended to attempt the same feat. A flash of annoyance crossed Kobe's face, and he indignantly replied, "Dude, why would you ask those questions?"
Yu Fei swore this was the NBA version of "What the hell?!!!" Kobe's jealousy was apparent; his desire to be "the man" on the team like Iverson and Carter was unmistakable, but at the time, he had to wear the hat of the perfect team player, and perfect team players do not do such things.
Kobe quickly regained his composure and denied any competition between himself and Carter on the spot.
Furthermore, Kobe stated, "My current situation is perfect, I can learn every aspect of the game without people scrutinizing my every move. What's interesting is that people are too curious about me. Am I jealous of Shaq? Is Shaq jealous of me? Am I jealous of Vince? I'm not that kind of person. Shaq is playing brilliantly—no one wants to see him play like that more than I do. Vince? I'm very, very happy for Vince. I like what he is doing."
A flawless answer, but if you add a "Yes" after every question Kobe was asked, and if you change the last "like" to "jealous," it would perfectly reflect Kobe's state of mind.
Every superstar needs a public image—that's what the public wants.
How long Kobe had to play this role depended on when he would take a trip to Eagle County.
After the Q&A session, Kobe had completed his duty.
Before leaving, he promised the players present that he would return on the last day of camp to award the top-ranked high school student.
Next came the team formation phase.
This phase didn't have many rules, as Wakaro allowed players to form groups because there was no championship competition in the camp.
The seniors formed the upperclassmen group, and sophomores and juniors formed the underclassmen group. Juniors could join the senior teams.
After the teams were formed, each team played three 20-minute games each day, lasting three days. On the fourth day, the ABCD Camp staff, representatives from various media, and college coaches selected the all-star lineup to play in the all-star game.
Yu Fei and Roy formed a team, which they named Emerald City as a testament to where they were from.
Roy noticed that DeAngelo Collins' team was popular and that many seniors wanting to ride on his coattails were eager to join Collins' team.
But Collins was not just accepting anyone; he only allowed seniors ranked in the top 100 nationwide and juniors in the top 50 into his team.
"It's all your fault, we missed a great opportunity!" Roy said as if he saw the chance for the media to notice him slipping away.
Yu Fei mocked, "He only wants seniors who are ranked in the top 100 nationwide; seems like you don't qualify, do you?"
Taken aback by the comment, Roy then defensively said, "I'm still among the top 100 high school students in the country on some lists!"
"Like The Seattle Times? Oh no, they wouldn't be so silly. I guess the paper that ranked you in the top 100 must be Garfield High School's school newspaper, right?"
"How could it be?!"
"No need to explain, everyone looks at the mainstream rankings, and the reality is you're no longer in the mainstream top 100. Accept it; you can't join his team!"
Deflated, Roy asked, "What do we do next?"
"What to do? Can you believe you're asking me that?" Yu Fei said indignantly, "I'm ranked 16th in the country; am I supposed to recruit people? You go recruit for me!"
"Me?"
"Who if not you?" Yu Fei said fiercely, "If you can't schmooze a few fools to join the team, don't blame me for kicking you out of the team!"
Roy was not accustomed to being treated this way and immediately retorted, "Kick me out, and Emerald City will be left with just you. How would you play then?"
Yu Fei laughed slyly, "Guess what, would DeAngelo Collins refuse to accept the 16th ranked high school student in the country to join his team?"
"Just wait a moment, I'll go find a few dumb underclassmen for you!"
Roy was very tactful. It was tough to recruit top-100 players from his own grade, but wasn't it easy to fool a few lower-grade nobodies?
Moreover, although Yu Fei's reputation wasn't as prominent as Collins', he was still a top-20 high school player in the country, which was certainly attractive.
Yu Fei didn't completely leave the recruitment to Roy; he decided to look around himself.
One thing was for sure, the ABCD Camp was America's premier high school basketball camp, so among the players of three different age groups who came to the camp, there surely were some future stars he recognized.
Even among them, there might be someone like Iguodala who didn't realize they could become NBA All-Stars in the future.
Even if they were being bullied here, Yu Fei could stand up for them.
Being their big brother, once they all made it to the NBA, would they forget this old kindness?
Maybe one day they could play brotherhood basketball together?
As Yu Fei walked around, he suddenly saw not far away, a thin black kid with big ears and a buzz cut was pleading with an upperclassman to let him join his team.
"Will, please believe me, I can protect your team... I..."
Clearly, the upperclassman doubted his abilities, "Don't even think about it, I would never let an eleventh-grader join my team!"
"Go play your damn lower-level games, your tiny body would get crushed in a higher-level game!" The upperclassman shook his head dismissively, bluntly rejecting him.
The black kid with big ears looked embarrassed, as this obviously wasn't the first team to have turned him down.
Just as he was about to brazenly look for another team, an Asian youth appeared in his sight.
The other party was looking at him too.
He remembered this person—he was the guy who asked Kobe that weird question.
"Got a problem?" Seeing that the other party seemed more and more like they were mocking him, the black kid with big ears asked indignantly.
Although he didn't look the same as he would in the future when he stole the NBA Finals MVP from Stephen Curry, Yu Fei still recognized him.
"Andre Iguodala?"
Yu Fei asked with a smile.
"You know me?" Iguodala was secretly surprised.
Yu Fei said nonchalantly, "I think I've heard your name somewhere, but that's not important. It looks like that guy just rejected you?"
"So what if he did?" Iguodala felt more and more like Yu Fei was up to no good.
"Who rejected you?"
Annoyed, Iguodala said, "Big Will, he's ranked 54th in the country, and Roger Powell Jr., who is ranked 62nd in the country... Damn, why am I telling you this? What do you want?!"
Yu Fei didn't have particularly good or bad feelings about Iguodala.
Putting aside his performance with the Warriors, his refusal to play for the Memphis Grizzlies at the end of his career really soured people's perception of him.
He acted as if he was some noble old soldier too dignified to play for a team that seemed to be rebuilding.
But the current Iguodala was quite amusing, like a straightforward country bumpkin.
With that thought, Yu Fei said casually, "Well, as the 16th-ranked high school player in the country from the class of 2001, I formally invite you to join my team. Then you'll have the chance to prove that Big Will and whoever else made a mistake."
In an instant, Iguodala's heartbeat quickened.
This was an incredibly exciting feeling!
He regretted his poor attitude towards Yu Fei...
"A 16th national rank...?" Iguodala asked incredulously, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
Yu Fei smiled and said, "I'm Yu Fei from Seattle. You can check my ranking with the staff. Now I'll ask you again, do you want to join my team?"
"This... this... of course!" Iguodala said loudly, "I'm in!"
PS: Who plays "Fearless Contract", last night I duo-queued with my cousin, 5 losses and 1 win. I'm almost emo; I urgently need a strong leader for the team. Of course, I won't fall behind on my writing work while playing; I've already decided to publish next month, so I'm currently stocking up on drafts for a bigger update on the day of publication (I wouldn't dare say an explosive update, since I've heard of a recent publication monster who dropped 50 chapters in one go).
Finally, I ask for follows and votes, which are truly important for me and any author in their new book period.
Thanks to Yuren, Shawn, Mukongyi, Xingyin Yue Ming, Xia Qingyou, Zhong Yun Shuzhou, book friend 20190417172921404, and Sad City for the rewards.
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