no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 65: Broad-minded Qiao Feiren (additional update)

"This may be a bit difficult." Schwartz thought for a while and said.

"Because of money?"

"No, it's not money. You know, Grover is no longer a personal trainer. The last player he worked with was Dwyane Wade." Schwartz explained.

The profession of trainer did not exist when basketball was born. If its origin is traced back, it is actually Grover.

Grover, who was 23 years old and just graduated from college, found Jordan, who had already gained fame at that time, but had just missed almost a whole season due to injuries.

No one knows what method he used, but he managed to convince the basketball gods to be guinea pigs again.

That is, after that, the 2.0 version of the reinforced iron frame Jordan appeared.

Jordan was basically no longer troubled by injuries, Grover became famous because of this, and the profession of trainer was officially born.

Or to be more accurate, it should be called a physical trainer at that time, but with the development, many aspects have been refined.

The first time Xu Yong knew about Grover was when he was collecting Jordan newspapers when he was a child in his previous life.

After cooperating with Jordan, he successively cooperated with Grant Hill, Kobe, Tracy McGrady and Wade.

It can be seen from this list that this is simply the engine of the king.

This is why Xu Yong mentioned him immediately after finalizing the agent contract.

It's just that Schwartz's answer made him a little regretful.

If Grover can't get it, he can only go to the next best thing and go to Procopio or Phil Handy.

But just when Xu Yong was about to speak, Schwartz's next words turned things around again: "But he will hold some training camps now, and I can go back and find out about his arrangements."

"No problem." Xu Yong nodded happily.

In fact, he doesn't necessarily have to cooperate with Grover, he just needs to know how to train specifically, and then try to achieve Jordan's physical fitness.

This is not wishful thinking, because he is immune to injuries, and his physical development will not be lower than that of Jordan.

But the premise is that he needs the most scientific training method, and that method can only be given by Grover.

Schwartz was very efficient. He called Xu Yong the next day and said that Grover would hold a training camp in Chicago in a week. The cost was only a few thousand dollars, and he had already booked a spot for him.

And when Xu Yong talked about paying, Schwartz had already paid the money.

"That's part of the broker's investment." Schwartz's words gave Xu Yong a new understanding of the broker's profession.

According to Schwartz's description, before the draft, agents will make some investments in players, the most common being arranging air tickets and hotels for rookie trials.

Because most rookies are students, and there are too many poor black players in the United States.

However, Schwartz is an additional investment, which also shows that he is really optimistic about Xu Yong.

Xu Yong didn't feel that he was short-handed.

Because it is said that it is an investment, it will naturally pay off.

Changing his position, Xu Yong was eager to provide him with a one-stop service.

The players feel your kindness, and the commission for the next contract will be higher, and the little money invested will become a drop in the bucket.

A week later, Xu Yong flew to Chicago.

Grover just has the cards, and the training camps were all chosen in the training hall of the United Center.

The reason for choosing this time point is because the Bulls have been eliminated.

The Bulls ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference this year. They faced the Celtics, the defending champions ranked second in the Eastern Conference, and were eliminated after seven games in the final battle.

However, Rose played in style. He scored 19 points and 12 assists on 36 of 11 shots in his NBA playoff debut. The media in Chicago called the new Jordan.

It bears repeating that Rose also wore No. 23 when he played at the University of Memphis.

This is the first time for Xu Yong to come to the United Center. When he came to the door, he quickly saw the bronze statue .jpg standing at the door.

The overall structure of this [-]-meter-high statue is the air-walking posture of Jordan's free throw line dunk in the slam dunk contest, but the difference is that there is an extra dunked figure under Jordan's crotch.

Who this person is has always been heatedly discussed. Some people say it is "gorilla" Ewing. After all, Jordan really dunked Ewing;

Some people say it is Karl Malone. After all, "being dunked" is about equal to "background board", and when it comes to Jordan's biggest background board, it is none other than Malone;

Some people also say that it is "Magic" Johnson. After all, Jordan crossed Johnson's generation and became [the new sheriff of the town].

Opinions vary, but no one knows who it is except the designer.

Xu Yong's gaze was quickly attracted by the sentence below the sculpture.

"The.best.there.ever.was, The.best.there.ever.will.be."

As a Chinese, after reading this sentence, Xu Yong immediately came up with a sentence: "There is no one before, and there will be no one after."

With eight words, a majestic momentum rushed over.

Chinese is so broad and profound that it is simply a killer for translation.

However, only Jordan is worthy of such an accompanying text.

If you replace Jordan with someone else, even if it is the GOAT recognized by the media in the future, you are guaranteed to be splashed with paint the next day.

That is to say, after reading this sentence, Xu Yong had the answer to the question "Who is the person detained?" in his heart.

It should not refer to a specific person, because if it is a certain person, it is meaningless if the reputation is small, and the person who is detained will definitely not do it if the reputation is large.

So it should refer to "an era".

Jordan leaped an era, and then became the existence that has never been seen before or since.

This can be seen from the shape of the person being buckled, because it is the shape of a shadow.

After having this answer, Xu Yong felt inexplicably heroic.

For a moment, a statue of Jordan also stood up in his heart.

That is his idol, the great basketball god.

He took a deep breath and walked briskly into the United Center.

After the security confirmed his identity, he let him into the training hall.

Because he was a commentator before rebirth, he developed a habit of arriving at places earlier than the agreed time.

Being a commentator is to prepare for the next work, but also to relax.

What I said now is purely a habit. I saw Schwartz before. The advantage of doing this is that it will make others feel your respect.

This time, he participated in the training camp as well. In order to make a good impression on Grover, he was half an hour earlier.

So when he entered the training hall, he found that there was no one there.

He seems to have come a little too early.

However, it is not easy for a basketball player to find something to do when he arrives at the training hall.

He went to the rack to pull a basket of balls out, and practiced his shots as a warm-up.

But as soon as he pulled the ball out, before he started warming up, he heard footsteps outside the door.

He followed the sound and looked towards the back door, and when the footsteps reached the door, he also saw the person coming in.

His breath catches.

That unique temperament, like a sculpture suddenly came to life.

The person who came in turned out to be Jordan!

This is really something he didn't expect at all, because Jordan is already the small owner of the Bobcats at this time, so theoretically he should live in Charlotte.

And in the NCAA finals, Jordan was supporting North Carolina, but it was really surprising that Jordan appeared at the United Center at this time.

Jordan soon saw him too.

The two looked at each other.

Then, Jordan blurted out: "The caddy over there, come and play heads-up with me."

The moment he heard the words, Xu Yong, who was originally excited, froze on the spot, and the statue of Jordan in his heart collapsed.

(End of this chapter)