Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Wudao didn't know how much of what Sakuragi Hanamichi said could be understood, but what was certain was that Sakuragi agreed very decisively on the phone.

The two chatted briefly for a few minutes before hanging up the phone. Wu Dao got up, washed up quickly, and returned to the living room. He began to call his relatives and friends to inform them of the news.

After winning the championship, he basically had no contact with anyone. He went home early to rest after the dinner. I don't know how many phone calls he missed that day.

I have to apologize properly.

The joy of winning the championship is naturally shared with family and friends. The game between the Timberwolves and the Bulls also attracted a lot of attention. Even Coach Anzai, who is far away in Asia, was actually following the direction of the NBA Finals through his own channels.

The speed of information flow between Japan and the United States is actually very fast. For the people there, this information is not blocked. As long as they are willing, they can easily receive it. It is even possible to watch the live broadcast in the United States directly through some special channels.

Wudao made the phone call for a very long time. He first told his family the good news, then chatted with his girlfriend for a while, and finally, he made an international long-distance call to Coach Anxi.

It was already evening when Wudao got up. After making phone calls for several hours, it was just morning in Neon.

Coach Anxi and his wife are old and have little sleep, so Wudao's phone call did not disturb their sleep.

The person who answered the phone at first was Coach Anzai's wife. When she heard that it was Wudao calling, she hurriedly put down the phone and went to the tea room to call Coach Anzai.

"Hey?!"

When Coach Anxi's old and kind voice reached Wudao's ears, a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Coach Anxi, this is Budo, are you okay?"

It was just a simple greeting, but the other end of the line was filled with Coach Anxi's hearty laughter: "Hahahahaha——"

"Your skills have improved a lot, Budo-kun."

"I'm very relieved."

“Hohohoho.”

From Coach Anxi's words, we can tell that he has been paying attention to Wu Dou's development in the NBA. He did not celebrate Wu Dou leading the Timberwolves to win the championship, nor did he congratulate Wu Dou on how many honors he had won. He simply praised Wu Dou's improvement in basketball skills. Such simple words made Wu Dou's heart burn with joy.

When everyone's focus was on the honors that Wu Dao had won, only Coach Anxi was concerned about whether Wu Dao's skills had improved.

This made Wu Dao feel understood.
Yes!

Even if you enter the NBA league, the most essential thing to become a basketball player is to improve your skills.

Honor? Salary? Status?
These things are actually not the most important things for a player. Whether his skills have improved is what a player really needs to focus on.

"I haven't slacked off since I came to the NBA. I've never given up on the basics of shooting and dribbling."

"I am different from him, you can rest assured."

All the joy and all the words of gratitude are summed up in this one sentence.

The "he" mentioned by Budou is actually a reference to another student of Coach Anzai who studied in the United States in his early years - Tanizawa.

Completely different from Budo's path to the United States, Tanizawa, who went abroad as a college player, did not have the ability to participate in the draft after entering the United States. Although he successfully entered an American university, the NCAA league is also divided into levels, and Tanizawa's university can only participate in the lowest level 3 league.

Moreover, even in such a low-level league, Gu Ze still failed to show his dominance here. In other words, with his strength and talent, he was mediocre even in the NCAA's third-level league in the United States, and there was nothing worthy of praise.

When there was a huge gap between reality and ideals, Tanizawa regretted his original decision. After repeatedly struggling between ideals and reality, he eventually suffered from depression and decided to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.

This has always been Coach Anxi's inner demon. He always felt that it was his strictness and harshness that drove away Gu Ze and led to Gu Ze's suicide.

The death of his beloved student has always troubled Coach Anxi. It is precisely because of this that Coach Anxi does not approve of his students going to the United States to play basketball in high school.

Faced with a man with equally outstanding talent and ability, Coach Anzai did not impose his own thoughts on Budou, because Budou and Tanizawa are completely different.

He has demonstrated unparalleled dominance in dance during high school and has no rivals in competitions of the same age group. If he wanted to, he could easily score 50, 60 or more points in a single game.

There was no higher goal worth pursuing for martial arts in Asia, and the path taken by martial arts in the United States was completely different from that taken by Tanizawa. He entered Oak Hill High School, which was ranked the highest in the United States at the time, and only jumped to the NBA after gaining a foothold in Oak Hill High School.

His advancement in martial arts was very fast, and his ball skills improved at a rapid pace, but every step he took was down-to-earth and steady.

Before he had absolute strength, Wu Dao had never actually expected how much playing time he could have on the field.

He knew very well how cruel the basketball court was, where the capable ones would advance and the weak ones would be eliminated.

No matter how many chances a person who is not good enough is given, he will not be able to perform well in the end; when a player's strength reaches a certain level, even if someone deliberately suppresses him, it cannot cover up the player's brilliance.

Wu Dao knows very well what the foundation for a player to gain a foothold in the court is. With his current basketball philosophy, he has never stopped various trainings.

And fortunately, Wu Dao's playing style and path are very compatible with the Timberwolves team he joined.

The Timberwolves where Wu Dao is located do not have a true ball-holding center. Although Garnett has shown his talent, there is still a huge difference between him and that kind of center who sticks to the ball.

It is precisely because of this team environment that Wu Dao has the opportunity to display his talents.

In the Timberwolves, there is no difficult team leader like Michael Jordan; there is no inside giant with extraordinary dominance like O'Neal.

On the road of growing into the core of the martial arts, those who hindered him had already been swept aside by him.

Being able to succeed is the result of martial arts talent and hard work, but also a result of luck.

If Wu Dao went to a dynasty powerhouse like the Bulls, even if he had the ability, he would have no chance of making a breakthrough under the suppression of Michael Jordan.

And if the team in Zone 5 is a historical powerhouse like the Lakers, the seniority-based system can still wear out his precious first-year rookie season and leave him no chance to stand out.

Even a player as strong as Kobe Bryant, a super rookie who averaged 15 minutes per game and scored 7.6 points in his rookie season, can only start as a substitute in a team like the Lakers.

Doesn't Kobe have the ability to become a key player for the team? Or is he too young to be cultivated?
Neither, it’s just that the coach doesn’t trust this young player.

Kobe, who does not have many opportunities to play, is actually suppressed. If he has more opportunities to play and gain experience, Kobe's growth rate will be faster than it is now.

Wu Dao was lucky, he met the Timberwolves who were in the process of reorganization.

A group of talented young players gathered together, and the players had to fight for playing time themselves.

And Wu Dao also proved his worth in such a team. This championship raised Wu Dao's starting point infinitely high, and also successfully widened the gap between Wu Dao and all the rookies of the same period.

On the other end of the phone, Coach Anxi was silent for a long time.

Wu Dao's words inevitably reminded Coach Anzai of Tanizawa who committed suicide by jumping into the sea. His original joy was diluted a lot at this moment. Until now, Coach Anzai still can't get out of that pain.

"Coach Anxi, I don't blame you." "Competitive sports are very cruel. Talent and opportunity are both indispensable."

"It was his own choice after all. He couldn't forgive his weak self, and couldn't accept his weak self."

“Everyone who can step onto this stage is a genius among geniuses.”

"His talent is not great enough, his will is not strong enough, his ambition is too great, but his expectations of himself are too high."

"After all, he just couldn't reconcile with himself."

"Coach Anxi, you need to make peace with yourself."

At this time, Wu Dao was qualified to say such words to comfort Coach Anxi. His achievements had far surpassed that of Tanizawa. In his opinion, it was Tanizawa himself who defeated Tanizawa.

In the future world, there are too many people who want to rush to this arena, and no one knows how many of them will be screened out and eliminated because of their talents or abilities.

But in the end, only a few people actually end up in a dead end.

There are also many players with average talents who, through their unremitting efforts, finally stand on the NBA court.

Maybe they are just a functional player, maybe they are just a piece of the team's puzzle, a substitute.

However, those athletes who strive for their goals are the most dazzling. Even if they are just marginal players on the field, they can still attract the attention of fans.

For Asia, which is weak in basketball, the appearance of Asians on the NBA court is enough to attract everyone's attention.

"Mitsui, Sakuragi, and Rukawa, all three of them followed in your footsteps and played in the United States."

"Your honor and achievements are far beyond the reach of others. If they encounter any difficulties in the United States, you should help them if you can."

“It’s impossible for everyone to be like you.”

"In the future, they will all have their own paths."

“Choosing the right path for yourself is the most important thing.”

"If you ever meet Rukawa Kaede, be sure to tell him what I said."

"By the way, next summer, Miyagi will also choose to follow in your footsteps and go to the United States to play basketball."

"You are more familiar with the basketball ecosystem over there. If you have any good suggestions, I can help you pass them on to him."

Coach Anxi did not say much on this topic of Tanizawa. He naturally understood Wudao's good intentions, but the knot that had troubled him for many years would not disappear just because of Wudao's words.

The topic turned to Miyagi Ryouta, which also surprised Takeshi.

It is understandable that players such as Mitsui Hisashi, Rukawa Kaede, and Sakuragi Hanamichi went to the United States to practice martial arts. After all, Mitsui Hisashi, the shortest of the three players, is over 190cm tall. It is not difficult to understand that he could get into the NCAA with his outstanding personal abilities.

But if Miyagi
His speed may be very advantageous among Asians, but it may be difficult for him to bring it into play after moving to a higher-level league.

If Budo hadn't heard it from Coach Anzai himself, he wouldn't have dared to imagine such a thing.

It’s not that he discriminates against short people, but Wu Dao knows how difficult it is for someone of this height to gain a foothold on the basketball court.

"Mid-range and long-range shooting, speed, and conduction."

"If Liangtian really wants to gain a foothold in the NBA, he must do these three things well."

"I don't think there is anything to look forward to in the future of Liangtian."

"The road he has to take is very difficult, more difficult than mine. If Liangtian is really mentally prepared, then come on!"

Wu Dao showed a gentle smile on his face, and he encouraged the young people who were pursuing their dreams.

What kind of achievements Liangtian can achieve in the future, I am afraid only he himself knows.

But if Liangtian gave up because of his height problem, his basketball career would always be confined to that small circle, without any possibility of improvement.

Efforts may not bear fruit.

But without hard work there will be no results.

Especially competitive sports.

International long-distance calls were a bit expensive, so the conversation between Wudao and Coach Anzai didn't last long before they hung up.

Anxi family.

After hanging up the phone, Coach Anxi walked slowly to the tea room, looking at the lush lawn with a look of remembrance on his face.

The streets of Minnesota were filled with cheers. Fans gathered on the streets, holding basketballs, jerseys, sneakers and other items in their hands, looking toward the end of the street with anticipation, waiting for the Timberwolves team's parade float to appear.

Suddenly, cheers from fans broke out on the streets, and fans on both sides of the road rushed forward.

A little further away, the fans who saw this scene also quickly rushed towards the direction where the crowd was gathering.

On the parade float.

The Timberwolves players appeared in the fans' sight wearing their team uniforms. The trophy symbolizing honor was held high by Garnett. The cheers of the people made the big boy smile. Marbury on the side was shaking the champagne in his hand wildly, pulled out the cork from the bottle, and sprayed it towards the crowd.

The roads were blocked by crazy fans and the parade motorcade was also stuck in place.

There were cordons on both sides of the street, but they were broken through by crazy fans.

State police and volunteers who were there to maintain order rushed forward, and after nearly half an hour of effort, they finally cleared the way forward, and the parade was finally back on track.

Wu Dao, holding the golden FMVP trophy, stood on the open-top bus and waved to the fans.

The moment Wudao's bus appeared in the fans' sight, the fans on the street shouted Wudao's name in unison.

On this day, Minnesota fans welcomed their emperor.

The title of Wolf King was given to Wudao by the fans, and the blessing of the championship trophy also made Wudao's title of Wolf King well-deserved!

(End of this chapter)