Wang Shuang saw Caruso who came to the team for training for the first time.

It was as if I had seen myself when I first came to the Toyota Center for training.

It was February 2015, not long after the Chinese New Year.

Wang Shuang spent his ninth Spring Festival in the United States in Houston.

Then I received a text message from the Lakers scouts to myself.

Said let him come to Los Angeles for a tryout.

At that time, Wang Shuang had been unemployed in the NBA for more than a month.

He was signed by the Houston Rockets at the beginning of the season.

At that time, it also caused a little public opinion in China.

Because Wang Shuang is the second Chinese player to play in the Rockets after Yao Ming.

But at that time, Wang Shuang was still very mysterious and low-key.

He didn't even have his own agent because he didn't pay the intermediary fee.

There is no one in the country to promote him.

I don't have my own team to give advice.

He just struggled on the edge of the league with his love and persistence for basketball.

I thought that Morey and the Rockets wanted to cultivate Wang Shuang.

didn't expect the rocket to just want to draw a prize to pull a wave of popularity.

I didn't see Wang Shuang's potential in a short period of time.

Didn't even let him play and try it.

Morey ended his cooperation with Wang Shuang and fired it.

The sincerity and smile that used to be disappeared without a trace in just one week.

After being cut by the Rockets, he worked two part-time jobs in the minor league.

At that time, he was not yet favored by the system.

Even so, he had excellent shooting.

Strong body.

As well as a good sense of playmaking and passing.

It's a pity that these things are not important in the secondary leagues.

The old black players there just thought about scoring, scoring, scoring.

Scoring, singles, these are the most important things.

Because in the end, there are very few people who can enter the NBA.

Most of them have either been hanging out in the secondary leagues.

Either it is favored by some scouts and agents.

Sign with an overseas team.

Go to Europe, go to China on the other side of the ocean to play.

In the league there, they need super scorers.

What strategy, defense, basketball IQ.

These are things that are only needed in the high-end of the NBA.

A slightly less subordinate league.

They are interested in the individual ability of the American players.

Scoring ability.

So, even though Wang Shuang showed some talent.

He still doesn't get the scouts in the favor.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the color of his skin.

There are a few scouts who recruit players for the CBA.

is interested in Wang Shuang and wants him to go to the CBA.

But Wang Shuang knows that the highest basketball dream still has to be realized in the United States.

China? It's a place where you can retire and return home.

Didn't make a name for himself and slipped back.

By mixing in the experience of a few days in the United States, it is mixed up.

What is the difference between this and Yangcheng Lake bathing crab?

Fortunately, Wang Shuang's performance was still discovered.

After receiving the short message, he flew to Los Angeles overnight.

The money for the plane tickets was borrowed from friends.

When Wang Shuang came to the Lakers Toyota Center for a tryout for the first time.

It's not tension, it's not reverence, it's not worship — although it does have a showroom for Lakers honor.

Rather, there was some surprise.

The famous Los Angeles Lakers.

The training venue turned out to be in the basement......

And this Toyota center is still rented by someone else.

Of course, the Lakers' new training facility is under construction.

Caruso came to the Toyota Center with similar feelings.

The famous Lakers are training in the basement with all their staff.

There is not even a modern stadium with large floor-to-ceiling windows.

Caruso met Wang Shuang and met Durant.

It was only then that I was really nervous and excited.

Durant didn't pay much attention to Caruso.

Just a faint hello.

The two are not at the same level in the team at all.

Players like Caruso.

There are a lot of encounters every season.

The regular season is long.

The team will have injuries.

There will be a lot of changes to the lineup.

Team managers often sign short contracts.

A lucky few were able to turn positive.

Survive in the NBA.

Most are just passers-by.

Try it for a week and then off.

Then continue to wander.

In Durant's opinion.

Caruso is one of those passers-by.

Because Caruso was white.

The current alliance is completely black people's world.

It is a fantasy to have yellow skin like Wang Shuang.

And white players have long since lost their competitiveness.

Especially the native white American players.

After Bird won the MVP in 1987.

No more white American player has won this award.

White little defenders like Caruso are even less popular.

Because white centers rely on height, strength, awareness.

It still has a place in the alliance.

The white little guard feels like a 10,000-person stab.

While Caruso shaved a blonde hairstyle common to black people.

Nor can it change the fact that he is a "soft" white man.

Wang Shuang was very friendly to Caruso.

Take the initiative to come up and greet him.

"Hey bro, come on."

Caruso's originally nervous countenance.

Because of Wang Shuang's encouragement, I relaxed a lot.

"Thank you, I will, I will."

Caruso squeezed a small smile into his face.

In the 16 draft.

Caruso was defeated.

After that, he was signed by the Thunder.

But it was laid off after a period of trial.

He has been unemployed ever since.

Being unemployed does not mean idleness.

Instead, in order to get a contract.

You have to work hard.

Non-stop training, non-stop participating in various competitions.

Keep going to the teams for tryouts.

Just to get a chance.

In the NBA, how glorious it is to be a player at the top.

Those players at the bottom are so down.

Moreover, the number of players at the bottom is much higher.

The Lakers train on a single field.

Caruso had a tryout at the venue next door.

During the break, Wang Shuang stood on the sidelines from time to time to observe.

Wang Shuang's opinion is obviously important for Caruso to stay.

To a certain extent, Wang Shuang's voice is heavier than that of the head coach.

Wang Shuang looked at Caruso's performance during the trial.

Speed, agility, shooting ......

It can only be said to be qualified in all respects.

Even some banal.

However, Caruso also has an advantage.

It's just that the body is very strong.

Among the defenders, he is quite strong.

And you can see that he has a lot of energy.

Kupchak came over and asked, "What do you think of him, King?" ”

Wang Shuang did not respond directly.

Rhetorical question: "What kind of players are the management looking for?" ”

Kupchak said: "There's defense, there's a three-point guard. ”

Wang Shuangdao: "What you said is nonsense. ”

Kupchak is really talking nonsense.

Wang Shuangdao: "Let him come over and practice with the team, let me feel it." ”

Tryouts alone sometimes don't show anything.

Only in a confrontational game can a player's true level be shown.