2002 was a tangled and painful year for Wang Zhizhi. In 2001, he reached the first peak of his life, successfully bidding for the Olympic Games on behalf of the Chinese Olympic team, and successfully landed in the NBA and became the first person in China.

But by 2002, things began to take a turn for the worse, first of all, he began to play less and less playing time with the Mavericks, and began to become the main guardian of the water cooler, only in garbage time could he get some poor playing opportunities and some painless goals.

For Wang Zhizhi, who experienced the glory of 2001, the gap in his heart is a matter of course. In March, he chose to break up with his original agent, Xia Song, and let his friend Chen Weiming, whom he met on the TV show, be his new assistant.

From this moment on, an idea that had been entrenched in Wang Zhizhi's mind for a long time had taken root, and he decided to stay in the United States and not return to China to participate in the national team's training camp. He's going to play in the Summer League and work hard for his next contract.

On June 24, two days before the 2002 NBA draft, Wang Zhizhi and his assistant Chen Weiming came to Los Angeles, this year's summer league will be held in Los Angeles as usual, and many teams from the Pacific Coast and the Southwest will send teams to participate in the summer league here, which is an opportunity for Wang Zhizhi to come to Los Angeles.

Although the Dallas Mavericks agreed to Wang Zhizhi to represent the team in the summer league, Nelson Jr. has been persuading Wang Zhizhi to return to China to play for the national team, which made Wang Zhizhi finally choose to give up playing for the Mavericks, and he is determined to use his summer league performance to get a new contract for himself.

The plane arrived in Los Angeles at 9 a.m. on the 24th, and after getting off the plane, Wang Zhizhi and Chen Weiming took a taxi to a hotel near the Nike-air West Training Center, where they booked a room. The Nike-air West Training Center is where many stars play together in the summer, and it is important for professional players to go to the place where the stars gather to attract attention and get opportunities.

When they arrived at the hotel, it was already noon, and Wang Zhizhi and Chen Weiming chose to solve the problem of lunch in a small restaurant nearby. After coming to the United States. The problem of eating has always been a big problem for Wang Zhizhi, who does not like to eat Western food, and the ratio of Chinese food in the United States and Chinese food is completely different.

"When is Schwartz coming? The steaks here are a little old. Wang Zhizhi ate some old steak fried in the restaurant and asked Chen Weiming in Chinese.

"About twelve o'clock... He just... Come, he said, use the phone, don't worry, don't answer. Chen Weiming replied to Wang Zhizhi in not very fluent Chinese, and he could feel the slightly anxious look on Wang Zhizhi's face, since May 20 and the calf completely said goodbye. In Wang Zhizhi's brows never stretched again.

Chen Weiming was originally an employee of the NBA entertainment company, and because of his Chinese identity, he was sent to Dallas to record some programs about Wang Zhizhi, and the two became good friends after a while. Chen Weiming grew up in New York, and his parents were first-generation expatriates, so he could speak some Chinese, which became a link between Wang Zhizhi and him, in a foreign country full of strange faces, to have a yellow-skinned, black-haired partner who can also speak Chinese, is really precious to Wang Zhizhi.

It is also Chen Weiming. After becoming Wang Zhizhi's friend, he tried his best to persuade Wang Zhizhi to give up returning to China in the summer and seriously participate in the NBA summer league and preseason training camp, only in this way can his basketball skills be trained. Enough to really get a foothold in the NBA.

Wang Zhizhi's heart was moved, he was a simple person, his ideas were very simple, he loved basketball. I love basketball and hope to make my mark in the NBA and play a role on the court. Enjoy the fun and glory of basketball instead of sitting on the bench like you are now. So he didn't take into account that before he entered the NBA, he signed a tripartite agreement with the Chinese Basketball Association and the Bayi men's basketball team, which clearly stipulated that after the NBA season ended, he must return to China to participate in the national team training camp and represent the national team in international competitions.

Faced with this problem, Wang Zhizhi used the most simple and crude way to solve it, that is, to block all the voices that persuaded him to return to China, he fired his agent in March, and he is also Xia Song, who led him into the NBA, the mediator in many parties. In the face of the Mavericks' Admonition from Nelson Jr., he didn't listen, but directly ended his contract with the Mavericks and tested the free market.

However, this seemingly decisive behavior does not mean that he is confident about his future, on the contrary, he feels that his future is full of uncertainty, so he waits anxiously in the restaurant for news from his agent Schwartz, who arrived in Los Angeles early to pave the way for Wang's summer league trip. Schwartz is also considered the number one person in the NBA, as an excellent agent, he has big stars such as Jason Kidd and Paul Pierce at his disposal, and there is a faint trend to replace David Falke as the NBA's first agent.

That's why Wang Zhizhi trusted him so much, and he said that he would arrive at the restaurant at twelve o'clock, and sure enough, he appeared in front of Wang Zhizhi at eleven fifty. Schwartz is not tall, has gray fluffy curly hair, wears a pair of light-colored toad glasses, has a beard, and looks like an IT engineer in the nineties. He walked briskly and looked lively, and he seemed to be a guy who could get things done.

"Let me drink saliva! Let's take a look at this report first! After sitting down, Schwartz threw a newspaper in front of Wang Zhizhi and Chen Weiming, and then took a glass of lemonade and drank it down.

Wang Zhizhi only glanced at the headline of the report, and his face changed completely, although his English has been a problem for a year after coming to the United States, it is mainly limited to speaking, listening and watching him without problems. The headline of the report, "Wang Zhizhi may defect against the Chinese government," came from a female journalist named Judy Vlad in the Dallas Morning News.

"I didn't defect, I just wanted to play basketball!" Wang Zhizhi clutched the newspaper tightly and muttered to himself. Although he violated his previous promise and refused to return to China to play, Wang Zhizhi's purpose was just to improve his skills as soon as possible to gain a foothold in the league.

"I'm going to go to this newspaper and reason with the reporter!" Wang Zhizhi couldn't hold back his emotions a little, and Chen Weiming hurriedly explained: "Don't get excited, don't. Calm, calm down. ”

Although Schwartz didn't know what Wang Zhizhi was talking about, he also understood that he must be very angry and might have some impulsive thoughts, so he beckoned to Wang Zhizhi and signaled him to calm down.

"Calm down, Wang, this should be expected in the report, but it is just an alarmist statement in one media, and there are such false reports every day in the United States. After a few days, when it cools down, everyone will forget about these things. If you look at those players in the NBA, which one has not had some scandal reports, and which one has really been affected? As long as there is a good performance on the pitch, none of this will be a problem. Schwartz, who had finished drinking the water, looked quite calm.

Chen Weiming on the side also nodded, and roughly repeated what Schwartz said just now in Chinese, and Wang Zhizhi understood Schwartz's words. And hearing Chen Weiming's retelling, he finally calmed down.

"That's... Can I play then? Wang Zhizhi asked Schwartz in simple English.

At this time, Schwartz had a sly smile on his face, and he lifted his glasses. said to Wang Zhizhi: "Yes, you can play, not only can you play, but there is already a team that has contacted me." I'm going to sign you directly! ”

After more than a month, there was finally a piece of good news, and Wang Zhizhi was so happy that he almost jumped up. His brow, which had been tightly locked, finally stretched, and even the pimples on his face were a little shiny, and he couldn't wait to ask with a bright smile, "Which team is it?" Where am I going to play? ”

Schwartz didn't answer him, but took out an envelope from his arms, took out a piece of stationery from it, and put it in front of Wang Zhizhi and said, "This is a fax sent to you, from that team." I didn't read your name because I couldn't read it. ”

Wang Zhizhi felt a little strange, why couldn't Schwartz understand the fax sent to him? When he picked up the letter and opened it, he found that this was a fax written in Chinese, square words on white paper, seeing such a letter Wang Zhizhi actually felt very cordial, only to see that the letter read: "Dear Comrade Wang Zhizhi: When you see this fax, our Boston Celtics should have made the decision to sign you." I'm Fox Leon, the new head coach of the Celtics, and I'm recommending the team to sign you as a free agent. The reason why I want you to join Celtic is not only to appreciate your talent, but also to consider the tactical needs of the team, which I will talk to you about when you come to the team. Before that, I know you've had some trouble and some choices, so please allow me to say a few words that you must remember and do as much as you can as much as I say. First of all, the team has confirmed that you have signed a contract, so you don't have to worry about work, so please abide by the previous agreement with your country and parent team, and go back to China to participate in training and competitions. For a professional player, no matter how unreasonable the previous agreement is, since he agreed and signed his name, he should abide by the content of the agreement and do his duty. I think you're not only a player, you're a soldier, and that's the least you can do. Second, the Dallas Morning News' report is bound to have a very bad impact and must be stifled before it spreads, and the best way to do this is to hold a press conference to clear up the misunderstanding and take advantage of the situation to announce his return to the national team. Third, when participating in the national team training and competitions, please be sure to protect your body, train scientifically, eat scientifically, and we will send trainers and nutritionists to communicate with you remotely. Finally, after reading this letter, please destroy it immediately, don't doubt my sincerity and kindness, after the draft meeting, I will go to see you in person, before that, I hope you can deal with all the problems according to my advice, if there is any difficulty, please contact your former good friend and agent Xia Song, people can't forget the people who have been kind to them in the past. Sincerely, FOX-Lion-from-boston."

"What's the matter, Wang?" Chen Weiming looked at Wang Zhizhi, and after reading the letter, he looked confused, asked, and wanted to take the letter over to take a look.

As a result, Wang Zhizhi held the letter tightly in his hand, then tore it to shreds it and threw it into the trash.

"It's a love letter written to me by a female fan, I already have a wife, and I won't think about it anymore." Wang Zhizhi said after tearing up the letter. (To be continued.) )

PS: The format has been changed many times, and there is that name, I don't know why it is blocked...... I'm sorry......