Gary Smith has been working for Sports Illustrated since 1983 and is arguably one of the most important writers of the illustrated.

For 17 years, Smith has written an average of at least four full-length character articles per year for the Pictorial.

He has 14 articles in Sports Illustrated's Pick of the Century, the most of any writer, including his 1996 article for Tiger Woods, which was named the best sports article of the 20th century.

Smith has always been the most influential writer in sports.

If he hadn't come to Seattle for a vacation by chance, maybe he wouldn't have had the chance to hear Yu Fei's name at all, let alone watch the game live.

The results were far from Smith's expectations.

In terms of the quality of the game alone, Yu Fei's opponent today can be said to be not worth mentioning, but Smith, who has seen countless superstars, believes that Yu Fei is a future star.

He decided to keep an eye on the young man in all directions.

It just so happened that he was going to write an article for Sports Illustrated this year, and the editor gave him free rein when he couldn't find the subject.

Yu Fei appeared.

Gifted and progressing rapidly;

Born out of thin air, bright as a star;

Asian-American identity is probably the most distinctive label for Yu Fei, which gives him a special Woods-esque label.

At the same time, he has the ability to envelop the room like those superstars who dominate the world of sports.

On this day, Smith did not take the initiative to go up to greet Yu Fei.

Rather than getting close to Yu Fei, he wanted to see how this kid behaved in the face of celebrity pressure.

This is also the standard by which stars are measured.

About four years ago, there was also a basketball prodigy named Richie Parker in New York high school basketball, who had a bright future, but after becoming famous, he committed the unpardonable sin of being ruined.

What Smith didn't expect was that after playing a beautiful game, Yu Fei didn't rush to chat with those college coaches who came from afar.

He left without even saying hello.

As if these people on the scene didn't matter to him at all.

"Hello Coach, I'm a reporter for the Seattle Times, may I interview Frye?"

The Seattle Times? It was the most influential newspaper in the vicinity of Kent.

Responding to the reporter was Kint Demio, a teaching assistant at Kent Merridian High School.

Demio told reporters: "I'm sorry, Frye won't be interviewed today because he is in a hurry to go home and eat pork chop rice. ”

No high school star would turn down the opportunity to be exposed in a big newspaper.

However, rather than increasing his exposure, Yu Fei wanted to hurry back to eat a pork chop meal that Smith didn't know how to eat.

Judging from Yu Fei's urgency, as well as the affairs he has given up, it is conceivable that he attaches great importance to pork chop rice.

However, Demio didn't say anything to death, he was a smart man, "However, if you have time tomorrow, you can come to K-M, maybe Frye will agree to do an interview with you." ”

Clever, the interview should be more formal and serious after the game.

The Seattle Times reporter agreed.

Gary Smith didn't show up, and as he had planned, he silently watched from the sidelines and then spoke to the reporter of the Times.

Smith believes that local journalists must know Yu Fei better than he does.

Smith wanted to know what else was so special about Yu Fei.

The Times reporter laughed: "The most special thing about this kid is... He was like one chosen by God. ”

It's like being chosen by God...

The words tugged at Gary Smith's heartstrings, and Tiger Woods' face came to his mind.

"Why do you say that?" Smith asked.

The reporter said: "Fulai played volleyball until the eleventh grade. ”

This sentence startled Smith.

Then, the reporter said: "One day at the beginning of the year, he found that basketball was more fun, so he quit the volleyball team and joined the basketball team instead, for a child of his age, if you want to consider career prospects, it is too late to play basketball, but, as if basketball chose him instead of basketball, he became a top 40 high school student in the country in just a few months." After watching his game today, I think he has the strength to be in the top 10 in the country. ”

"Now, if you think about it again — he only started playing basketball systematically at the beginning of the year." "I think it's even more sensational than the legend of Hakim Olajuwon," the journalist lamented. ”

Gary Smith was even more convinced that he had made the right choice.

He stayed in Kent City and attended every basketball game at Kent Merridian High School.

He waited for the upheaval in the world of sports.

Jerry West has left the Lakers.

Dan Marino's jersey was retired.

Bob Knight was almost expelled from the university.

Vince Carter leaped past France's seven-foot center and completed the first dunk in history.

No matter which of these things is used to write a feature article, the attraction to the outside world will be huge.

But Smith wasn't interested in those things, because too many people were already paying attention to the celebrities who had made a name for themselves.

Yu Fei, a prodigy with a genetic mutation, is Smith's favorite object of observation.

After entering the City Championship in Kent City from the Kent School District, the Royals' winning streak has not stopped.

It's true that the competition in the City Championship is far greater than the fishpond game in the Kent School District, but it still doesn't pose a challenge for Fly.

Because Kent Merridian High School belongs to the 4A high school.

1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A are divided into the size of the school, not the level, but in fact, the basketball competitiveness of 4A colleges and universities with more students is far less than that of 3A.

Therefore, although the Royals encountered some challenges in the City Championship, Yu Fei had enough energy to penetrate the strong opponents in front of him.

In November and December 2000, the Royals won 18 consecutive games to advance to the 4A basketball tournament in Washington state.

Yu Fei's fame has become more and more resounding with the leakage of his stats and match highlights.

Gradually, he became not only a basketball star in Washington state, but also a big name on a national scale.

The two-month competition has promoted Yu Fei's high school ranking from the top 40 in the United States to the top 20 in the United States.

Being in a low-level competitive environment is the biggest doubt about flying from the outside world.

But the problem is that it's not that Yu Fei's competition area is not competitive.

In terms of poor competitiveness, we have to count Kwame Brown's division, even if it is a 3A high school, it is also a fishpond bureau in the fishpond bureau, and the entire division except for Brown, I can't find the second basketball player in the top 100 in the United States.

With the advent of the state championships, Yu Fei's average playing time per game has skyrocketed.

If the Royals want to win the title, they need to win six games in the tournament.

During this period, the Royals encountered two dangerous situations, and the game was dragged until the last minute.

However, Yu Fei's key secondary offensive rebound and outside three-point jumper after the false shake made the scene fall into a frenzy.

Yu Fei became more and more terrifying, and advanced to the finals with an average of 36 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 blocks per game in the state championship.

The final will be against Long Beach High School in Washington, which has two of the nation's top 100 players.

The final match between Kent Merridian High School and Long Beach High School was set at the Seattle SuperSonics' home key arena.

At the same time, Q13 FOX, the most popular sports channel in the Seattle area, will broadcast the entire game live.

On the day of the game, there was not a single empty seat in sight, and the scene was filled with supporters of both teams, as well as coaches, scouts, and recruiters from major universities across the country.

Judging from the comparison of the strength of the two sides, Long Beach High School has an overwhelming book advantage.

And the only winning point for Kent Merridian High School was Yu Fei.

According to the normal logic of team sports, Long Beach High School has a 100% win rate, but basketball is a sport that can be erased by superstars.

From the cheers at the scene, you can also see who is the protagonist.

When Yu Fei ran to the field, two-thirds of the audience stood up and cheered.

Whoever wins, Yu Fei has already earned a reputation as the son of Seattle, even if he's a Kent.

Yu Fei and Anthony Lawson walked to the midfield, and across from them, the inner and outer cores of Long Beach High School also walked over.

Larry Turner C, the 71st center in the United States, said defiantly: "Da Fei, believe it or not, even if you score 100 points tonight, we will still win in the end." ”

Yu Fei gently held Turner's hand and said coldly, "Put away your smug and stinky face, unless you want me to score 100 points on your head." ”

Hearing this, Erroll Knight SG, the outside core of Long Beach High School and ranked 80th in the United States, said: "Hey Big Fly, what if you score 100 points? We only need 101 points to win. ”

Yu Fei wanted to refute, but he was powerless to refute, because he found that Anthony Lawson, the captain of the strong and middle-class team, had been completely suppressed by his opponent and couldn't speak.

Just when Yu Fei felt that he was going to confess tonight, Lawson suddenly called out to Turner and Knight, and shouted: "If you can score 101 points, I will help Fulai make up for the winning 2 points, and it is our K-M who will win the championship, you two mongrels better remember what I said!" ”

"It's good, at least I didn't lose in momentum." Yu Fei became optimistic.

Lawson said with a dark face: "You can't lose the game. ”

After all, Lawson is well aware that everything lies with Fei.