When pride still matters

Chapter 51 2001 Draft Conference
2001/6/27

New York, Madison Square Garden

Yu Fei and his party of four came to the small green room, where there were other potential lottery picks.

Kwame Brown, who has been promised by the Wizards as the No. [-] pick, warmly greeted Yu Fei, "Fry, here!"

The Brown family is far larger than Yu Fei imagined.

Brown is surrounded by more than a dozen people, including seven older siblings, the youngest of the family, then his mother, Joyce, who raised them all on her own — not surprisingly — and some older ones. There are adults, some are about the same as Joyce, some are older, they should be his aunts or other relatives.

They all come from Brunswick, a small city of just 15000 people that is both beautiful and dirty, with the paradoxical beauty of old Southern charm.

According to Brown, their family of nearly ten people lived in a small wooden A-frame house with torn window screens and a collapsed sofa.

However, after today, this life will also end.

Yu Fei briefly introduced his mother and companions and took his seat.

Soon, Eddy Curry also appeared and briefly greeted Brown.

Then there was Tyson Chandler, who was sad to see Brown looking so complacent.

Followed by Jason Richardson and Shane Battier.
Some clues about a person's personality can be seen from the first face.

As one of the few potential lottery picks in this draft who has reached the legal drinking age in the United States, Battier is a person who exudes a friendly atmosphere.

Before taking his seat, Battier took the initiative to say to those present: "I am honored to participate in the same draft with you. I hope we can all end this day successfully."

Do all people who have completed four years of college speak so nicely?If so, David Stern would have to consider limiting the age of players participating in the draft not to 20 years old, but to 22 years old.It can even be stipulated that every local American player needs to play four years of college before he can participate in the draft.

⑴At the beginning of the new century, with a large number of high school students participating in the NBA draft, limiting the age of participating players has become a major issue between labor and management.Initially, the league's proposal was to limit the age of players to 20 years old instead of the 19-year-old we know now.

When Eddie Griffin appeared, the atmosphere in the Little Green Room became much more subtle.

Griffin glared at Yu Fei fiercely.

Yu Fei looked back at him indifferently.

"Eddie, I have room here."

Shane greeted him warmly.

Griffin looked over strangely. He and Battier were not familiar with each other.

Moreover, they can also be said to be competitors.

Griffin and the people around him walked to the empty seats near Shane and sat down.

Battier said: "You know, Eddie, I'm jealous of you. I played four years in college before I could barely get a lottery prospect, and you only played one year before someone considered you for the No. [-] pick. In this world It’s really unfair.”

Thank God, there is Shane Battier in this draft, otherwise Yu Fei really doesn’t know how difficult it would be to wait for Stern’s yin and yang man to come to power.

Shane is like Empress Fucha in "Story of Yanxi Palace", purifying everyone's anger.

Even Griffin's emotionally unstable lunatic was made fun of.

At 7:35 p.m., NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped onto the podium and delivered his opening remarks: "Good evening and welcome to the NBA Draft. As you may or may not know, this will be the last time there will be a high school draft. draft because I plan to disband the players union again and set a mandatory minimum age for the draft. Billy Hunter (NBPA advisor), you better get out of here right now. I'm going to beat the crap out of you. You heard me Really? I’m going to beat you up. You’ll never imagine that!”

Well, what Stern said later was Yu Feiyy’s. In fact, the president of his company greeted everyone seriously and thoughtfully gave the Washington Wizards 5 minutes to consider for the last time whether they should take the No. [-] pick. High school student.

"Black, white, red, yellow

Purple green blue gray
yours my his hers
big small round flat
good bad beautiful ugly
Old and new styles
Various colors for you to choose from"

No song's lyrics better reflect the situation of the team holding the No. [-] pick than Hui Peizhe's "Balloon."

They are like the most evil people on earth, going to the most evil dark club, where countless beauties are lined up for them to choose from.

Michael Jordan, who had not attended the draft in person since 1984, came to the scene again. He was familiar with Madison Square Garden, but he was not so familiar with this theater dedicated to the draft.

Within 5 minutes, the eyes of the basketball world were completely on the Wizards.

The world wanted to know what they were going to do with the second No. [-] pick in franchise history.

Without any reversal, as Yu Fei knew, the Washington Wizards selected Kwame Brown with the first pick of the first round.

ABC commentators and TNT commentators began to evaluate the Wizards' selection.

Just a few seconds after Brown took the stage, ABC's special commentator Rick Pitino showed strong appreciation for Brown, "Perfect choice, DC got the grand prize of this draft, Kwame Brown will be a better player than Chris Webber."

This is a coach who was coming off a disastrous NBA tenure and was thick-skinned enough to write a book after his NBA career called "Success Is a Choice."

Do you think it's a good thing to be praised by him?

TNT's Barkley expressed some emotion about the changes in the draft standards: "Once upon a time, the gold standard for the draft was to play in college for four years, be elected as the best player in the United States, and win the NCAA championship with the team. But now, youth and talent are the key to the NBA. What the team wants. Is it better to be a player who has proven his talent over and over again for four years in college, or is it better to be a rough diamond that needs to be carefully crafted? I think everyone has the answer."

By Barkley's standards, the Wizards should select Shane Battier with the No. [-] pick.

However, if Jordan was given a hundred more chances, he would not select Battier with the No. [-] pick, let alone if he was from Duke.

TNT analyst John Thompson conducted a brief interview with Jordan at the scene.

The strange thing is that Thompson did not ask the Wizards why they selected Brown. Instead, he asked whether it was true or false that Jordan's ribs were broken by Artest last week.

If it is true, it means that Jordan is determined to come back, because only if he really decides to come back will he take rehabilitation so seriously.

Jordan did not give a positive answer.

"I am not the protagonist today, you should ask some questions about Kwame."

I have to admire the big dog's confidentiality work well. In the face of the all-pervasive dogs and the media, he covered up the story of Artest breaking his ribs without any trace. If Doug Collins hadn't told the public Revealing this matter, the outside world still knows nothing.

This kind of confidentiality work is much better than being detained by a college student and confiscating someone's video, only to have it exposed, making the whole thing even more embarrassing.

At 7:45 pm, the Los Angeles Clippers selected hometown boy Tyson Chandler with the second pick.

Chandler is the earliest player in the 2001 class to become famous.

He became nationally famous before he even entered high school, growing up in the spotlight.

However, no matter how early he becomes famous, the top prize will not be his.

And he was also selected by the Clippers. Chandler's fate seemed to take a turn for the worse. Even the white and brown suit he carefully selected for himself looked a little more depressing at this moment.

ABC experts began predicting who will be selected in the next three draft picks, and it doesn't look difficult at all.

Eddie Curry, Shane Battier, Eddie Griffin.

Here are their predictions.

Yu Fei doesn't care about these predictions. He even has a wish, which is to speed up the passage of time. Why can't the real draft jump to the protagonist's draft like the NBA2K game?This is too painful.

Then, reality slapped the ABC expert in the face.

The third pick originally belonged to the Atlanta Hawks, but they gave it to the Memphis Grizzlies before the start of the draft in exchange for Sharif Abdul-Rahim and Jamal Tinsley.
The Grizzlies took an unusual approach and used the third overall pick to select Spanish long-time player Pau Gasol.

Boo!Boo!Still booing!

Even if it's not the choice of their home team, New Yorkers don't like the Grizzlies picking this thing with the third overall pick.

Isn’t the lesson left by New York City’s selection of the French center with the 1999th pick in the first round in 15 not profound enough?What contribution does that low-energy Frenchman have except creating the second scene in FIBA ​​history for Vince Carter in the 2000 Olympics?
New Yorkers hate European players.

The Grizzlies' selection of Gasol with the third pick was more controversial than imagined.

Prior to this, Gasol's draft prediction had been around tenth, and the team that was obsessed with him was the Celtics.

However, Gasol changed the mind of the Grizzlies management with a perfect trial.

They didn't even consider trading down the draft picks to maximize their profits. They had to use the third pick to win Dajia to ensure that this person would be selected by them.

Moreover, Dajia still has a contract with Barcelona at this time. According to regulations, the NBA cannot pay the full buyout fee for him.So if Dajia wants to play in the NBA next season, in addition to a small portion of the advance payment from the Grizzlies, he will have to spend $200 million to buy out the contract.

From this point of view, Dajia has a high probability of playing in Europe for a few more seasons like Peja or Kirilenko did back then. By the time he lands in the NBA, the period of rising goals may have been wasted.

The risks were so huge, but the Grizzlies just kept going.The reason is related to the grizzly bear's own delicate situation.Last season, due to the downturn in the market, the Grizzlies told Vancouver fans several times that if the situation could not be improved, the team would consider moving.It turns out that Vancouverites really don’t take the leader of a bad team seriously. You can move wherever you like, and you won’t support a bad team even if you feed money to dogs.

Historically, due to the poor operating conditions of the team and the recession of the ball market, there were many teams that wanted to change their home court. However, those like the Grizzlies who cannot stay for a second and directly change their home court during the season can be called The show of changing the home field.

Memphis doesn't have a fan base yet, and the team is just bad at first glance. At this time, they can afford to gamble. If they lose the bet, they will continue to be bad. If they win the bet, the future will be really bright.

Stud is really a kind of wisdom.

The moment the Grizzlies' selection was announced, Jordan's expression changed.

What kind of weird choice is this?
There are a lot of good seeds, why don't you choose a European one?
The butterfly effect produced by the Grizzlies' selection is immeasurable. The Chicago Bulls, who were originally entangled with who to select with the fourth pick, were ecstatic to win the No. 2001 high school student in the class of [-]. Dee Curry.

Rick Pitino started again. He congratulated Jerry Krause. Congratulations that his smoke screen worked. There really was a fool who selected Gasol with the No. [-] pick. Otherwise, how could the Bulls use the No. [-] pick? Get your hands on a baby shark?

As someone who has become a benchmark for losers in NBA front offices, Pitino's praise of Krause was like someone throwing a black cat into Krause's fat belly in Jordan's eyes.

That stupid pig
Jordan cursed in his mind, his mind spinning faster.

The consequence of the Grizzlies "cutting" Gasol is that the team with the fourth to tenth picks in the first round got a better choice than the original one.

Some targets originally selected as hopeless will fall out of reach.

Jordan's eyes turned to Yu Fei in the Little Green Room. His eyes were dull and he was very dissatisfied with the slow draft process.

"Kwame, what do you think Fry?"

Jordan, who is in the honeymoon phase with Brown, asked gently, like the former's biological uncle.

As the happiest man in the world, Brown said all the good things he could say for Yu Fei: "Frye is a great player, he is my brother, he is better than Eddie Griffin, better than anyone else Both are better, the second-best player in this draft."

Brown's attitude toward flying heightened Jordan's desire, "Do you want to play with him?"

"That would be great if you could!"

Jordan smiled and said no more.

Then, the second gambling monster appeared in the draft.

Since you, the Grizzlies, can take the risk of using the No. [-] pick to draft a European talent, then we, the Warriors, can ignore Sean Battier, the best college basketball player in the United States, and use the No. [-] pick to select someone with better talent but maturity. The speed is far inferior to that of Shane Richardson's Jason Richardson.

Two consensus top-five picks (Shane Battier and Griffin) fell out of the top five.

Unless the Grizzlies go crazy (the sixth pick is the Grizzlies' own), they will definitely use this pick to select one of Battier and Griffin.

And the Nets, who have the seventh pick, have absolutely no chance of missing the person who fell to the seventh pick.

According to the information Jordan received, the Nets, who were concerned about Eddie Griffin, had already made up their mind to select Yu Fei with the seventh pick after learning that the latter was firmly in the top five in the draft.

The Wizards have no players that the Nets are interested in, so Jordan cannot be traded.

However, the Grizzlies and Warriors, two "draft masters", appeared in the draft. Suddenly, Yu Fei's chances of being selected increased greatly.

Jordan is waiting for the Grizzlies' decision.

The Grizzlies are the biggest variable in this draft. Since he can be crazy enough to use the third pick to pick a European player, it is not impossible to make an outrageous choice with the sixth pick.

At 8:10 p.m., Stern returned to the stage and announced that the Grizzlies selected Shane Battier with the sixth pick in the first round.

This shows that the Grizzlies' condition is under control.

Jordan stood up immediately and quickly walked into the hallway to make a phone call.

"Rod, call Cleveland right away." Jordan said decisively, "According to what we negotiated in advance, Courtney Alexander, the 2002 first-round pick (top five protected), the 2004 first-round pick (Lottery protection) in exchange for their No. [-] pick. As long as the draft gets to this pick and the person I want is still there, the deal is valid!"

After a while, Higgins called back: "Cleveland asked us to change the 2002 first-round draft pick to unprotected."

Jordan's brown eyes seemed to have bloodshot eyes. He hated those who went back on their word, but this was normal in the trading arena.

Getting the best for your team is what everyone does.

These are the rules of the game and he has to accept them.

Unprotected draft pick in 2002?Give it to you if you want it. Anyway, under my leadership, the Wizards will never be able to send you a high draft pick, and Frye Yu, he will become the biggest "if" in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers' trade. We Let’s wait and see!

There was a storm brewing inside Jordan, but on the outside it was calm.

"Tell them I'll accept the increase, but just this once. If they want more, screw them!"

At 8:15 p.m., Eddie Griffin's name popped out of Stern's mouth. He was selected by the Nets.

However, Yu Fei found that there was no smile on Griffin's face, and he was not happy at all.

It's a shame that a consensus top-five pick fell to seventh, and it's a shame that he didn't recite the names of everyone who was drafted before him like Draymond Green did.

Of course, Yu Fei suspected that his IQ was too low to remember so many names.

But he remembered.

As the ninth pick in this draft, he only needs to remember eight names, which is much simpler than Green.It's not because he's competitive, he just thinks it's cool to remember the names of everyone in front of him and then surpass them in the NBA. This kind of story should not belong to Green's two-dimensional vampire cancer.

It has to be given to the chosen one!

He's already stolen James' nickname, what's the big deal if he steals another Green anecdote?
"Is it your turn?" Yu Fenglin asked nervously.

Yu Fei remembered that the eighth pick belonged to the Cavaliers, but he did not receive the Cavaliers' draft commitment.

"They will probably choose Dessaguena Diop." Yu Fei sarcastically said, "They like big centers with big feet and potential injuries."

At this time, agent Arne Trim ran over quickly and handed the phone to Yu Fei, "Your phone."

Before Yu Fei answered the phone, he thought to himself: Do the Pistons have such a sense of ceremony that they have to call to notify them when selecting the No. [-] pick?
"Fry, we just reached a deal, and you will eventually come to DC to play. However, you have to pretend not to know about the deal until it is announced." Jordan said seriously, "Any questions?"

"No." Yu Fei replied without emotion, "I'm honored."

Yu Fei handed the phone back to Trime.

Everyone looked at him, wondering what was going on.

"It seems I have to remember one less name." Yu Fei said.

At 8:20 pm, David Stern returned to the stage, opened the envelope, and narrowed his eyes slightly. To him, the name was not special, but the last name was special. He had heard of this child.

"In the 2001 NBA draft," Stern said, "the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Frye Yu, eighth overall, from Kent Meridian High School!"

Everyone was surprised except Yu Fei and Trime.

Lawson and Demeo gave Yu Fei a big hug, and Yu Fenglin was so moved that he could not speak, leaving only tears.

Yu Fei hugged her gently, "Mom, I want to buy you a mansion and a luxury car, open your stores all over the country, and realize all your dreams. I love you."

As if crying against his mother wasn't enough, Yu Fei's words made Yu Fenglin's tear ducts completely burst.

Then, Yu Fei turned around and walked towards the high platform.

On this night, no matter which pick was selected, for the young people participating in the 2001 draft, being able to leave their seats and walk on the stage was success.

This will be the best night of their lives.

When the news came out that the Cavaliers might trade Yu Fei's signing rights, TNT happened to enter the commercial break.Every year on draft day, TNT will broadcast a short special program called "Classic Trades in NBA History" during the commercial period.

Today, TNT takes people to review the Mavericks' trade for Dirk Nowitzki from the Bucks.

At the end of the program, Ernie Johnson said in a clearly audible voice: "A few years have passed, and Dallas and Milwaukee have turned real life into two tragedies of Bernard Shaw." You will lament the luck of Dallas, and you will also be surprised. The bad luck in Milwaukee, and that's just a story that happens every year in the draft. What NBA teams want to avoid is becoming the next Milwaukee."

⑴ The first scene in FIBA ​​history was when the Soviet Union used the first black whistle in history to win the Olympic championship in Munich.

⑵There are two kinds of tragedies in life, one is despair and the other is complacency. ——Bernard Shaw
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PS: You really can’t say I’m short today, right?

(End of this chapter)