China on the other side of the ocean.

Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the night sky of the city seems to be nothing out of the ordinary. There are many fewer pedestrians and vehicles on the street, which is completely different from the Liaoning Stadium that was full of people just now. There, the people of the city prepare for the arrival of the national basketball championship for the first time.

The taxi called by Karonsky II travels on the central axis of the city, across a large river, to the busiest part of the city. All kinds of hotels, office buildings and high-end residences are lined up, with colorful but not brilliant lighting. In the tall building, he saw a white one-story building, like a public facility like a museum or library, and a huge V-shaped sculpture stood on the lawn of the square in front of the door, and several small bronze statues in front of it, depicting the postures of different football players.

Karonsky II did not understand the origins of this. He didn't know that in this area, which is called "Wuli River" in Chinese, there used to be a football field in the direction facing the statues. From that demolished football stadium, the country's men's soccer team "broke out of Asia and into the world" for the first time. The emotions given to these statues are the same as all the fans in the stadium just now who took the initiative to change into white T-shirts to cheer for the home team.

Because you can't get it, it's precious.

Kalonsky II did not understand any of this.

He is a data strategist in the basketball industry, and under the direction of his father, Scott Kalonsky I, he built a player rating system with five major sports, digging for new stars for decades, scoring them, and bringing the best of them to the United States. Kalonsky II didn't know anything about other sports, but if he knew a little bit about the goal of "breaking out of Asia and going to the world", in fact, Chinese basketball had already achieved it many years earlier than football.

From Wang Zhizhi, the first person in Asia, to Yao Ming, the first all-star starter, Yi Jianlian, Battle, Sun Yue and now the new generation of Zhou Qi and Yang Yiming. These Chinese basketball players have long stood on the highest stage in the world one step earlier than Chinese football.

Karonsky II rolled down the window in the back seat of the cab a little, revealing a slit. The northeastern Chinese city had just rained, and the air was still a little damp and cool, and he tried to sniff it out, as if it smelled something different from the vast, empty land of America.

He had long been accustomed to savoring the nuances. As a scout, he would be on the road all year round, traveling from city to city, from one arena to another. In these arenas, there may be a basketball temple like the NBA's Garden Plaza in New York, a high school basketball practice hall in a town with less than 1,000 people, or a basketball hall like the one just now, surrounded by faces of different languages and colors.

However, as the years go by, Kalonsky II will now enjoy these strange and welcoming city arenas even more, and experience those subtle different atmospheres.

As a data strategist, looking for undiscovered gems like a hunter in these chaotic and vibrant environments is something that can really excite an old man like him who has seen too many winds and waves. In the basketball world of the United States, all the seedlings are becoming more and more alike, and there are too many people staring at them.

So he went further. Asia, Europe, Australia, and even Africa have all left his footprints.

It is also for this reason that even in the interval between the fierce battles of the NBA playoffs, Karonsky II has to take time to watch the CBA Finals on the other side of the ocean.

You must know that Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Zhou Qi, who left the United States that year, have all won at least one championship in the CBA arena before they pursued more exciting challenges and set foot on the hot land of the United States. But Kalonsky II slowly found that this pace of training was becoming less and less suitable for the requirements of the NBA.

On the one hand, the system that originated in the former Soviet Union and continued the training methods of Europe and focused more on the basic skills of players has been greatly inherited and retained in this land. But today, if you wait for a talented player to reach championship age, you often miss the golden age of NBA-level training at the age of 20-24: what other potential rookie will obediently complete four years of American college before participating in the draft? On the one hand, of course, there is the temptation of money, on the other hand, the technical maturity period of each player is getting earlier and earlier, and the gap between professional sports and campus sports is getting bigger and bigger.

On the other hand, it is becoming less and less likely that the CBA will produce talent suitable for the NBA. The Chinese players who have been able to land in the American professional basketball team before are almost without exception not tall insiders and skilled centers. When the race is not inherently dominant, Asians need to rely more on hard-condition height and more comprehensive skills to make up for the disadvantage in confrontation and earn capital to gain a foothold in the NBA. However, the center has been in decline for many years, and even the All-Star voting and the best team selection no longer set up a separate center position, and the draft prospects of Yao Ming, Bogut, and Bagnani, who were very popular in the foreign No. 5 positions, also plummeted.

This is a world of new people who are physically strong and can't tell what position they will play, but they can fight.

So Kalonsky II did not sit at the end of the finals. The suspense of the game gradually faded, and the momentum of the desperate yellow away team was gradually swallowed up by the cheers and the desire of the white home team to win the championship for 22 years, and finally the championship became a matter of time.

But the loss of Kalonsky II came from elsewhere. The taxi carrying him had already driven to his destination, the Shangri-La Hotel. Situated on the city's main thoroughfare, this newly built hotel is in a league of its own in the city with its full facilities and bright lights. But often in such an environment, Kalonsky II felt lost: the familiar comfort was not what he had come to the city for the first time. The game just now seems to be the palatial hotel lobby in front of you, and the game is lively and imposing, but if you look closely, there are many familiar faces - there are almost as many foreigners as locals staying here, and even the doorman who welcomes you will say an elcome greeting in English, and it is really difficult to say that there is any joy in discovering the new world.

A void of prosperity.

In the entire Finals, the most promising person to go to the NBA is the home team's No. 13, Guo Allen. When Kalonsky II first saw him at an all-Asian youth basketball camp at Nike and Adidas almost a decade ago, Allen Guo was undoubtedly stronger, more stable, and more dependable. He became the backbone of a CBA championship-caliber team and even the cornerstone of a future dynasty, but alas, the best window for him to join the NBA was also perfectly missed.

Guo Allen, who was born in 93, will turn 25 this year. He's still growing and getting better, but he'll never be able to catch up with his NBA peers.

Among the peers born in '92 or '93, there are already such leaders as Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Victor Oladipo, while the second-tier Zhuangshen, Barnes, Harris (Clippers), and Adams are also eyeing it. Where else is Allen Guo's seat?

At the age of 20, he stayed in China.

Because I need to prove myself first, because I don't have enough confidence, because I don't want to leave my comfortable environment... Whatever the reason, Karonsky II did not know the real reason for not being able to convince the young man personally, but all in all, on this night when the young man surnamed Guo won the crown for the first time, the new king ascended the throne, and it was worth writing about, Kalonsky II was in a cool mood through the hotel lobby. What he saw was different from the others, and what he witnessed tonight was a new star streaking across the sky and officially falling.

Kalonsky II sighed.

The mentality of data strategists is that success doesn't bring them much joy, but if a player doesn't live up to the heights they expected, they can't help but sigh.

So when Kalonsky II unearthed Yang Yiming, an immortal genius, and brought him to the NBA, and the latter was taking off step by step along the path he imagined, he was so excited and trembling.

He was afraid that if he made any wrong move, the uncarved jade would become a stubborn stone.

Because of this, Karonsky II will give his best, will not be reserved, and will follow suit.

He arrived at his hotel room, changed into his tracksuit and running shoes, and prepared to go to the gym for a while, forgetting for a moment the cranky thoughts along the way out of the arena. But when the door closed, he reached out to block the door again, took away the Bluetooth headset from the desk in the guest room, and put it in his pocket.

When I was running in the gym for a while, I would still give Yu Xiaochun another transatlantic phone call and ask him about the recommended Yang Yiming's summer training arrangements, and finally confirm the progress. It would be better to make an appointment with Nowitzki's mentor Hogel for special training in Germany.

This was undoubtedly the most important thought of Karonsky II on the night of the championship's birth.