In March 2001, Chris Dennis brought Portland with a box of VHS video, which he guarded like a treasure. Dennis is a Seattle native who competed in his brother's Nike Regional Invitational last year. But he was attracted by a taller and better child than his younger brother.

Dennis inquired and learned that the child's name was Frye Yu. At that time, Dennis contacted the ABCD camp staff, "I saw a kid who was going to be better than Lamar Odom. ”

The staff was not impressed by Dennis's exaggeration. And it doesn't feel like there's going to pop up in Seattle with a talent worthy of being compared to the NBA's most promising power forward.

However, Dennis was undeterred and went to watch Yu Fei's game as much as possible. He also developed a friendship with Yu Fei's coach, Hank Selwan, and kept a close eye on Yu Fei's performances with the Royals. During the finals of the Washington State 4A High School Championship, Dennis recorded the game with a camcorder.

Now, he's taking the tape to Portland with one goal in mind — to show it to his boss, the most influential person in the basketball shoe industry.

Sixty-year-old John Paul Vincent Vaccaro prefers to be called Sonny. Almost everyone in the basketball world regards Vacarro as the godfather of the basketball shoe industry. In the '60s, Vacarro founded a national high school basketball all-star game. Over the next two decades, he developed close relationships with top college coaches and elite high school players across the country. Eventually, he joined Nike, signing 21-year-old Michael Jordan in 1984 with the most valuable athlete endorsement contract in history. At the time, Converse and Adidas dominated the basketball shoe industry. Nike's decision to pay Jordan $250,000 in his rookie season was seen by the industry as a hasty and reckless decision. However, doubts quickly faded as Jordan's debut NBA season brought in $126 million in sales for Nike. Suddenly, Nike overtook Converse and Adidas at top speed to become the most influential presence in the basketball world, and Vacarro established himself as a figure in the world.

At the same time as signing Jordan, Vaccarro persuaded Nike to start sponsoring an annual top high school basketball camp. Vaccaro coined the concept and name – ABCD Basketball Camp. The letters ABCD stand for academic enhancement and career advancement. Vacarro smartly kept all interest in the name, and Nike provided financial support for the basketball camp. At the time, although there were many top basketball camps in the United States, they all charged high entry fees, which naturally blocked some high school stars from difficult families. Vaccaro has eliminated the entry fee, invited top college coaches to the camp, and provided players with Nike sports equipment. In addition, every elite high school player who attends the camp can take home a thousand dollars worth of Nike shoes and clothing. Soon, Vaccalo's camp became the go-to place for the nation's top high school basketball players to showcase their talents, and Nike became the most popular presence in high school basketball, by signing basketball shoe contracts with coaches and attracting colleges to sign apparel contracts. Vaccaro became an authority on sponsorship contracts for college players.

With his stellar performance and control of the basketball camp, Vacarro was one of Nike's top decision-makers for a time. But eventually, he left Nike due to a conflict of interest, but Nike still maintained its influence on ABCD training camps, and the increasingly independent Jordan shoe brand always sponsored training camps, but that didn't stop Vaccarro from bringing his ABCD basketball camp to Adidas and pushing for a series of high school athlete signings, including Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady.

At Adidas, Vacccaro relies on a network of AAU coaches and scouts to help identify and recruit top high school players on the Adidas roster. Two of Vaccarro's long-term partners are Calvin Andrews and Mark Olivier.

Suddenly, expatriate employee Chris Dennis joins Andrews and Olivier in the Adidas suite. Then, Dennis put Yu Fei's game tape into the VCR and pressed the play button. Andrews and Olivier were so impressed by what they saw that one of them said, "Damn it! ”

When Vakkaro walked into the suite, he saw the crowd gathered in front of the television and asked what they were watching.

"His name is Fry," Olivier said.

Vacarro looked dazed.

"He's a 12th grader from Kent City, Washington," Olivier said, "and Chris thinks he's going to be better than Lamar Odom." ”

Vacaro rolled his eyes and approached the TV, while the others moved out of the way. Vaccaro narrowed his eyes and spent a minute watching the footage of the match taken by Dennis from a distance.

Despite the remote angle, Vaccaro saw that the game was a 4A high school basketball game.

“4A？ Or in Washington State? "Where did this kid come from?" You say he's in twelfth grade? Why haven't I heard his name before? ”

After last year's Nike Regional Invitational Tournament, Yu Fei was already well-known in the high school basketball circle, but the reputation established by a regional AAU competition was not enough to impress a big man like Vacarro.

Dennis explains: "Folly had been playing volleyball until he was in 11th grade, and his real rise to fame started last year... In my opinion, he is a awakened sleeper with great potential. ”

Vacaro did not respond to Dennis.

He continued to watch the footage of the match.

The qualities displayed by Yu Fei are comprehensive.

You say he's a center, except when defending, he basically doesn't stand on the inside. But you can say that he is a defender, because it is difficult for his size to play a defender at a high level.

Chris Dennis is right, it's really an Odomesque style of play.

But Vaccaro met Odom at the same time, who was the undisputed No. 1 high school student in the United States, and in terms of strength, he was above the current Yu Fei.

However, even if the quality of the competitions he participated in was not high enough, Yu Fei's performance was outstanding.

He is undoubtedly one of the ten best high school students in the country.

It's amazing considering he's only been systematically exposed to basketball for a little over a year now.

Odom has stagnated in the NBA, and the title of left-handed magic looks like it will always be just a title, will Yu Fei be different? Will he keep up the pace of progress he is at his current level?

With Yu Fei completing a three-point block, catching up with the out-of-control ball, and rushing to the front court to score a violent dunk, Vaccaro no longer questioned Yu Fei's ability, he looked at Dennis, "I think if Fulai can join this year's ABCD training camp, things will be more interesting." ”

Dennis was overjoyed, his fists clenched, knowing that his suggestion had been taken and that even the likes of Sonny Vacaro considered Yu Fei a future star to keep an eye on.

If Yu Fei establishes a deeper connection with Sonny in the future, or even signs with Adidas, then the deeds he recommends to Sonny today may be the starting point of his life as Sonny did when he signed Jordan with Nike.

Dennis went to follow up, and Vaccarro turned and walked out of the suite.

It's business as usual here.

※※※

After helping the school win the state championship, Yu Fei officially came to a crossroads in his career.

Theoretically, his senior year as a member of the basketball team is over.

The state championship is the finish line.

Next, he will either skip college and sign up for the NBA Draft like those top high school students who are confident in themselves, or he will actively deal with recruitment from colleges and choose one of them carefully.

Within a week of winning the state championship, Yu Fei received offers from 12 more universities, and he was also invited to visit by prestigious universities such as Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.

This is more sincere than giving him a direct offer.

Just when Yu Fei was thinking about his next plan, an ABCD training camp staff named Chris Dennis called home, claiming that they wanted to invite Yu Fei to New Jersey to participate in the ABCD training camp held in April this year, and Dennis said that he and Selwan were friends, and he would ensure that Yu Fei had food, clothing, housing and transportation in New Jersey.

Yu Fei couldn't rule out the possibility that this was a scam call, so he went to Selwan to confirm.

"Was it Chris's call? Looks like he's got Sonny done. Selwan happily patted Yu Fei on the shoulder, "Fulai, congratulations, the people who have been directly invited to the ABCD training camp are basically the top high school students in the United States, which is their recognition of your performance in the recent past." ”

After confirming that it was correct, Yu Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

He wants to go straight to this year's draft, but with the state championship in Washington state, he is obviously a bit lacking in confidence, and if he can prove his strength at ABCD training camp, he can be considered to officially enter the NBA's sights.

Just as Yu Fei was about to leave, he saw the resignation letter on Selwan's desk.

"Coach, what is this?"