The Way of the Center

Morris sat next to the TV with a can of beer in his arms. He pressed the remote control to switch the screen to CBS TV station. He had just finished talking with An Jie on the phone, and the kid was already extremely excited. And not long after, the draft will officially begin. Morris watched the TV nervously, as if he was the one in the draft.

Madison Square Garden in New York is overcrowded today, basketball fans from all over the United States gather here. The NBA Finals may only be about the life and death of two teams, while the draft is directly related to the future of all NBA teams. Fans of various teams come from afar, wanting to witness what choices their teams will make.

Can we witness the team like the Bulls in 1984 who selected Jordan with the third overall pick, or choose a big parallel importer with the No. 1 pick like the HSD Wizards in 2001. No one knows the result, the draft is an exciting gamble, arousing everyone's curiosity.

In addition to An Jie's parents and Moslav, Ricard and Divac also successfully reconciled with An Jie in New York, and they will accompany An Jie to participate in the draft later. Of course, Mike Taylor's family has also joined this team. It must be known that Anjie is not the only player participating in the draft for the Cyclones this year. It is worth mentioning that Mike Taylor also chose Meslav as his manager.

"Are you ready? Maybe we can join forces in the NBA." Taylor and Angie stood at the entrance of the Madison Square Garden Theater. When they came out again, their lives would be turned upside down.

"Let's go, buddy." An Jie and Mike Taylor bumped their fists. The two of them seemed to be in the player tunnel, ready to fight.

Time passed by every minute, and there were fans from various countries and regions in the stands. There are still a lot of international players in this year's draft. In the stands, you can even see Chinese fans waving Chinese flags. They all know that another Chinese big man is ready to step on the NBA stage.

Now An Jie and a group of people accompanying him are sitting in the audience, as if they are about to watch a high-level opera performance. However, what will happen on the stage will be hundreds of times more exciting than opera, because in a few minutes, NBA Commissioner David Stern will take the stage, and he will personally announce the future of these teams and players.

Dozens of Chinese media also crowded in the interview area, and most of them set aside an entire section to report on An Jie's draft, and CCTV even broadcast the draft live! You must know that before An Jie appeared, Joe Alexander, who was inextricably linked to China, was the subject of media reports. After all, in the highest hall of the basketball world, Chinese people are still too rare.

The managers of every team are constantly yelling at the phone, and the time left for them to make a decision is running out. While they were still hesitating and struggling, David Stern finally took the stage.

An inspiring speech earned Stern the applause of everyone in the audience, but people now only care about the little envelope he is holding in his hand. All of a sudden, the lights in the audience dimmed, and only a spotlight shone on David Stern. The talent show has officially started!

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Chicago Bulls chose the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft." Having said that, Stern paused and glanced at the envelope in his hand. Stern is proficient in using this old-fashioned method of whetting the audience's appetite.

"The Chicago Bulls chose Derrick Rose from the University of Memphis. Let us congratulate him." There was thunderous applause from the audience, and the Bulls really chose this talented point guard with the No. 1 pick.

The fans in Chicago were not disappointed, and choosing Rose can also be said to be what everyone expected.

Derrick Rose wore a suit and a Bulls baseball cap, and walked onto the stage with a smile on his face to shake hands with Stern for a group photo.

"The next one is the second pick. Pat Riley, what do you think?" Moslav glanced at the luxury box above his head, Riley must have made a decision there.

Michael Beasley is still Angie, or choose O.J. Mayo and Wade to form a double shot in the backcourt. Pat Riley, who had a headache, didn't make a choice until the end, and put the written name into the small envelope that determined his fate.

Five minutes later, David Stern came on stage again. Now, all the Chinese media focused their cameras on An Jie. They knew that An Jie had a deep contact with the Heat. An Jie's heart was also pounding, and he was already sweating profusely from being nervous.

"The second overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, the Miami Heat selected..." Stern, as always, glanced at the envelope. "Michael Beasley, from Kansas State University."

"Stupid!" Moslav cursed the moment Stern said his name. That damned Pat Riley actually chose an unruly data brush.

Beasley jumped up excitedly, and he walked onto the stage in a few strides. Whether it was by accident or on purpose, he gave An Jie a pesky look, as if announcing his victory in a high-profile manner.

"It's okay, we still have a lot of opportunities." Moslav turned his head and comforted Anjie and his family in a calm tone. As a manager, he should not be in a mess.

The Minnesota Timberwolves chose O.J. Mayo with the third pick, and the domestic media's illusion that Anjie could be selected in the top three was officially broken.

With the fourth pick, the Seattle SuperSonics are hesitating whether to choose an excellent big man to assist Durant, or continue to choose a very offensive outside line to enhance offensive firepower? Sonics general manager Presti made up his mind after some struggles.

"With the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, the Seattle SuperSonics selected, Russell Westbrook, from UCLA."

Presti believes in his choice. After all, he is a member of the Spurs system. Looking at the successful draft experience of the Spurs, you can know why Presti can correctly select Durant. But to be honest, he is still very interested in the big Chinese man. But there is no way, you can't have it both ways.

With the fifth overall pick, the Memphis Grizzlies chose Kevin Love. They originally wanted to pick Westbrook, but the Sonics got ahead of them. They have no intention of choosing Love, the Grizzlies just want to use him as a bargaining chip in exchange for a good outside player. This is business, this is the NBA.

The sixth pick, Danilo Gallinari from Italy, was selected by the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been really obsessed with European players in recent years. But when they made a decision, Knicks fans immediately booed dissatisfied in the stands. Not all rookies can become the darlings of fans.

The next few picks were all occupied by outside players. In the current NBA environment, outside players who perform well are much more popular than before. An Jie became more and more panicked, he was really afraid that he would fall below the 15th pick. Ricard kept helping An Jie decompress, but as long as Stern didn't pronounce An Jie's name, An Jie's nervousness would never dissipate.

Now that it has come to the tenth overall pick, the New Jersey Nets are about to announce their selection.

Since Anjie defeated the Lopez brothers in the round of 64 in the NCAA March Madness Championship, the Nets have maintained a high degree of attention to Anjie. Their goal is to choose a big center, but is it Brook Lopez or Angie?

The general manager of the Nets thought of last year's No. 1 pick, Greg Oden, who was overshadowed by injuries, and thought of the slightly weaker physique of Asians. Asians, look at Yao Ming's painful injury history in the NBA, maybe Anjie will suddenly fall down one day! Anyway, at least Brook Lopez is not a glass man. The general manager of the Nets made a decisive decision and wrote Brook Lopez's name on the envelope.

Missing the Nets with the 10th pick, Anjie and Moslav could only pin their hopes on the Kings, because the Indiana Pacers with the 11th pick had never expressed interest in Anjie, so Anjie did not go directly The Pacers tried out.

Sure enough, the Pacers selected Jerry Bayless with the eleventh overall pick, and it's the king's turn next!

Divac in the audience became more focused. Will his old club fulfill its promise? After all, the two sides only reached an agreement verbally, and the Kings did not state in black and white that they would definitely choose Anjie.

The general manager of the Kings just hung up a phone call, and the matter has almost been negotiated, so let's make this decision easily now.

David Stern came to the stage again, and the results of several heavyweight drafts have just been announced, but for Chinese fans and reporters, the real climax of this draft has not yet begun.

Holding the envelope from the Kings, the eyes of fans all over China were on Stern.

"Twelfth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings selected..."

An Jie felt that Stern's pause seemed to have lasted for several years, and his heart was in his throat, but Stern still took a leisurely look at the envelope that determined An Jie's fate.

"The Sacramento Kings chose, Anjie! From Iowa State University! Let me congratulate the big Chinese man!"

An Jie jumped up from the chair excitedly, and hugged his parents excitedly, followed by Ricard, Divac, and Moslav. In the end, I didn't forget to hammer each other's chests with Mike Taylor.

"Go, Anjie! Let them know the main center of our Cyclones!" Taylor helped Anjie get the Kings baseball cap, and Anjie put it on and walked onto the podium.

"Welcome to the NBA, young man." David Stern smiled at An Jie friendly, and then shook hands with An Jie. All the Chinese media exploded, frantically filming all the pictures.

Can Stern not laugh? The Chinese market with huge potential has now been opened up by him again. In the past, there were Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Battelle. Last year, there were Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue. This year, there is another Anjie. The joining of these players is enough for Stern to make a fortune in China.

After getting off the stage, An Jie didn't leave immediately. He still had to accompany Mike Taylor's family to wait for his teammates' draft results.

Just when everything was getting better, Moslav suddenly received a text message from the general manager of the Kings. At first he thought it was a routine blessing message, but after opening it, Meslav was completely dumbfounded.

"Anjie." Moslav tried his best to see the contents of the text message clearly, making sure that he was not dazzled.

"What's the matter?" An Jie turned his head to look at his manager. Moslav had been in this business for a long time, and now the surprised expression on his face gave An Jie a sense of foreboding.

"You were traded by the Kings." Everyone sitting around raised their heads and stared at Muslav who was speaking in disbelief.

(It's here at the third watch. Does the ending surprise everyone? Add book friends: 426042887 and shoot me as much as you want.)