On June 26, the entrance to the Madison Square Garden arena was already covered with a red carpet.

An Infiniti nanny car stopped, the wide doors opened suddenly, and a tall figure stepped out of the car.

"Wow, Chinese Yao is here!"

"He's so tall!"

“……”

Yao Ming walked on the red carpet and walked towards the stadium under the leadership of his agent Zhang Mingji and American agents John Hesenger and Bill Duffy.

"Yao, straighten your waist so that the reporters can see how tall you are."

Of the three agents, only Bill Duffy is a professional NBA agent, and he also has parallel No. 1 Michael Olowokandi under his umbrella, as well as Jay Williams, another favorite in this draft.

But Bill Duffy still values Yao Ming the most, because he knows what Yao Ming will bring him, the huge Celestial Empire market, and countless dollars, which Jay Williams can't bring.

Yao Ming entered the arena short.

The next one to arrive was a Mercedes-Benz business car, and it was Qiao Hai who got out of the car.

……

Johi enters the Madison Square Garden arena and takes his place in his place, flanked by Darryl Morey and Sam Presti.

Not far away is the small green house.

The Green Room usually refers to the lounge of actors in a theatrical show, but it has a different meaning in the NBA draft, where all the NBA general managers vote for the players they think are most likely to be the lottery pick, and invite them to the draft site to enter the Green Room and wait for the draft results.

The roster is usually about 15 players, and they will be able to bring their friends and family to sit at the draft.

Qiao Hai saw Yao Ming's appearance in the Little Green House, and as the champion, Yao Ming was naturally one of the members of the Little Green House.

This made Qiao Hai couldn't help but touch his chin and think of his previous life.

Yao Ming in his previous life had not been to the draft site, and Qiao Hai also understood the reason inside, because of the general non-return incident, the Basketball Association believes that if Yao Ming can't lock the champion position, there is no need to waste time in the United States.

So in his previous life, because of the obstruction of the Basketball Association, Yao Ming did not show up to participate in the draft.

And in this life, roughly because the Grizzlies have a stable main position, they don't need to play in the summer league to get a new job, and the no-return incident naturally didn't happen.

There was no general no-return incident, coupled with the influence of Qiao Hai as the general manager of the rockets, Da Yao did not encounter any resistance, and did not return to China after the Chicago training camp, and transferred directly to New York.

……

The Madison Square Garden arena quickly filled up as rookies at the draft, managers, scouts and owners of various teams, and ticketed New York fans entered.

With the camera focused on the center stage, David Stern walked up to the camera amid the boos and whistles of the New York fans.

Then it began to announce: "Ladies and gentlemen, now, I declare that the 2002 MLS Basketball Draft has begun......"

"The first pick in the first round of the 2002 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets will make the selection, and they have five minutes to ...... selection"

As soon as David Stern's words fell, Qiao Hai wrote the note in his hand - "Yao Ming".

Then, it was handed over directly to the staff.

Popovich, who was sitting not far from Qiao Hai, saw Qiao Hai so confident, and couldn't help muttering two sentences: "It must be Joe's compatriot, a giant with a height of 7 feet 6, Joe is going to make a comeback......"

"It's okay, he's not the manager, the head coach is Rudy." Brett Brown feels that as long as the head coach is not Qiao Hai, the threat of the Rockets is reduced a lot.

Popovich didn't think so: "Don't underestimate Rudy, he has two rings on his hands, no worse than Joe." ”

……

David Stern received the note, and he reappeared on stage and pointed at the microphone.

At this moment, Yao Ming was very nervous, and kept turning his head to look at Qiao Hai's side, and Qiao Hai was full of confidence, he was waiting for Yao Ming's area to celebrate.

Jay Williams, another top pick, frowned, his sixth sense telling him that the throne was far away from him.

Jerry Krauss is also very nervous about the position of the Bulls management, they have the pick, and the Rockets' selection is closely related to them.

If the Rockets choose Yao Ming, then they will have to choose Jae Williams.

"In the 2002 draft, the first pick in the first round, the Houston Rockets chose to-" David Stern dragged out the tone of the last note, and everyone's breath was suffocated, except for Qiao Hai.

"From China!"

In the corner of the arena, cheers had already sounded, and Qiao Hai looked in Yao Ming's direction, where someone had already jumped up.

David Stern continued: "7'6" tall center - Yao Ming! ”

Yao Ming stood up, hugged his parents, then put on the rocket's ball cap and walked towards the stage with an excited face.

……

Jae Williams frowned deeply, and on the other side, Jerry Kraus shook his head helplessly: "We can't choose Yao." ”

Klaus's assistant Jim Paxson didn't have a change in expression: "It's nothing to be sorry about, they pick Yao, we pick Jay Williams, maybe this is another 1984 draft, the Rockets selected Hakiem Olajuwon, and we selected Michael Jordan." ”

"Then Jay Williams."

Jerry Claus didn't think much about it, and when David Stern was still pulling Yao Ming to take a photo, he wrote Jae Williams' name directly on the note.

Where the Rockets were, Qiao Hai high-fived with Darryl Morey and Sam Presti, and Yao Ming arrived!

……

Yao Ming gave a speech, and then hugged David Stern and took a group photo.

NBC's McBrin said: "Yao Ming made history, he became the first foreign champion in NBA history! ”

At the same time, in the text live broadcast room of domestic fire fighting sports, the young anchor used unskilled typing skills to type a paragraph with difficulty: "The first pick in the first round is out, Yao Ming is elected!" Let's congratulate Yao Ming! ”

Then, the hotline was brushed with barrage after barrage.

"Da Yao is good!"

"Champion in the NBA! Beautiful! ”

“……”

In CCTV's live broadcast room, Xu Jicheng was very excited: "Yao Ming was elected champion, and he will form a golden partner with another Chinese Qiao Hai." ”

Zhang Weiping also said: "So the question is, entering the NBA as a champion and also meeting Qiao Hai, can Yao Ming surpass the rough?" ”

It is worth mentioning that in the 2001-2002 season, he was roughly the main power forward of the Grizzlies, averaging 13.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and is still improving.

Whether Yao Ming will be able to go beyond the general is indeed a question.

……

"In the 2002 draft, with the second pick in the first round, the Chicago Bulls selected a 6-foot-2 point guard from Duke University, Jay Williams!"

Jay Williams jumped to his feet, and his position was similarly boiling.

After putting on the Bulls' ball cap, Jae Williams silently glanced at Yao Ming, who was being interviewed in the audience......