Chapter 19: Funny Boys
The ABCD camp is held at the Rothman Center, home to the various school sports teams at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Today, 220 basketball players from the 2001, 2002 and 2003 classes of high schools across the United States gather here.
Sonny Vaccaro recounted the clichés he has been repeating tirelessly since 1986, about the present, about the future, about themselves in the live high school students, and how important this stage is to them.
Everyone who has watched the second part of "Love Apartment" should be deeply impressed by Zhang Wei's director of the welfare home, he tells the same story every time he tells the same story at the charity gala, and he may have told it a million times, so he can say it touching. The same can be said of Vaccalo, who cited three recent cases to make the high school stars at the scene feel empathetic.
For Fei, it's a cliché.
When he talks about Garnett, Garnett's big contract goes without saying, and everyone on the scene wants to be a billionaire.
Then there's Kobe Bryant, who is the hottest young superstar of the moment.
Finally, there's Maddie, who just last year signed a commercial endorsement that could bring him eight figures a year, a fraction of the amount he has now made for unlimited money.
What was the most exciting part of the day?
Not Vaccaro's speech, but the appearance of legendary figures.
The appearance of Kobe Bryant, the main character in Vaccarro's story, sparks riots at the scene.
For Fei, this scene is especially shocking.
Because he is from 2023, although the haze of Kobe's death has disappeared, it is still one of the most impressive social hotspots that Yu Fei experienced in his previous life.
Surprisingly, Kobe, who was born in the high school draft, actually suggested that the teenagers on the scene should seriously consider skipping college: "Don't hang yourself from a tree, maybe I'm successful now, and KG and T-MAC are also successful, but we have all experienced varying degrees of difficulty, which you can't imagine." ”
Hearing Kobe Bryant say this, Wakaro, who had just finished telling the story impassionedly, had a dark face.
Vacarro has a dream, and that is to destroy the NCAA.
However, the monster of the NCAA is already too big for American society to fail, so his second dream is to settle for the next best thing, making the NCAA basketball game boring and lacking stars.
It's not like Vaccaro and college basketball are inherently inseparable, and the feud between the two sides has a long history, dating back to the mid-'80s. As time went on, the tensions between the two sides became more acute, and Vaccaro made a big ambition to send all the talented people to the NBA.
Unexpectedly, Kobe Bryant actually sang the opposite, but he couldn't say anything, who made this girl the hottest superstar at the moment? The Associated Press said that he had grown up and was a perfect team player, and he would affectionately call him "Uncle Sonny" when he saw him. Smile and cover up the past.
Subsequently, Bryant invited the high school students on the scene to ask him questions.
"Here's your chance, Blessing!" Roy whispered.
For the first time, Yu Fei knew that there was such a thing as "opportunity" here.
"What chance?"
"I'm going to tell Kobe Bryant that I'm a fan of him, get him in my jersey, sneakers, underwear, socks... to sign. Roy amused Yu Fei.
Yu Fei couldn't help but smile: "You can ask him to sign your ass, that has a better chance of success." ”
Roy raised his hand aggressively, and his aggressiveness caught Bryant's attention.
So Kobe Bryant pointed at him.
"Yo, Kobe, I'm your fan."
Yo mom, can you be normal?
Yu Fei felt sad that he had to be friends with this subordinate man.
Seattle is so big, why does he have to know this person?
"Thanks, what do you want to ask?" Bryant didn't care about Roy's frivolous remarks.
Roy asked, "Can I ask you to sign it for me?" ”
Everyone at the scene laughed.
It's impossible for Kobe Bryant to say yes, because once he says yes, everyone will make that request.
"Unless you become number one in the training camp."
Roy sat down and began to mutter, "I knew he would reject me, but fortunately I'm not a fan of him at all, I don't like him, just a bastard who is protected by Shaq." ”
Yes, yes, that's right. Yu Fei smiled and nodded.
In a moment, D'Angelo Collins, the most talked-about person in the entire training camp, raised his hand.
He is the kind of person who brings his own traffic, and even as a questioner, he is highly valued.
Collins didn't have a fan mentality at all, instead, he felt like a superstar, so he said, "Kobe, can you go head-to-head with me?" ”
"Not right now." Bryant knew what he was thinking.
Collins asked, "When?" ”
Kobe Bryant once left a legend in ABCD training camp to blow up the current NBA players, and if Collins can perform in a monotonous relationship with Kobe, it will be a great thing for him.
Bryant told Collins with a smile on his face: "When you enter the league, I will beat you in every way,"
Aside from Collins' request for a heads-up with Kobe, the question session was boring.
Yu Fei even hoped that there would be a few more rebellious teenagers like Roy.
But it's a pity that in the training camp, which is dominated by blacks, the question session actually gave Kobe Bryant a sense of déjà vu in the interview question.
He had a desire in his heart to break out of this boring situation.
So, he suddenly raised his hand.
"You want to sign too?" Roy said sourly, "I don't have a high school student ranked 58th in the United States, can you have it as the 16th in the United States?" ”
"Remind you of the old sentence, your old ranking is last year, and this year you have fallen out of the mainstream list."
"That's because they have eyes!"
Roy let out a low sigh, while Kobe Bryant pointed to Yu Fei, who also made him feel very special.
This is the only Asian face in the audience.
"Hello, Mr. Bryant." Yu Fei deliberately gives people the feeling of being a nerdy Asian.
When he said this, Yu Fei felt that his green tea value was off the charts, and he really should have worn glasses without prescription.
"Hello."
Kobe Bryant liked polite teenagers because he was polite from an early age, and black-style communication was not something he liked.
"Can I ask some questions about you?" Now, Yu Fei is the body of an innocent big boy.
Years of experience in dealing with the media made Kobe a little alert, but he looked at Yu Fei's big eyes that didn't seem to have any distractions, how could such a teenager who admired himself dig a hole for himself?
"As long as there's no privacy involved," Bryant said.
"Hmm..."Yu Fei is still like that, like a fan who doesn't want to know what he doesn't know, "Mr. Bryant, I've always been a big fan of yours, I think you're the best player on the Lakers, but Shaq O'Neal is so annoying, he always stands on the inside and asks for the ball, he's lazy, fat, and unprofessional, when can you replace him as the best player for the Lakers?" ”
Hiss...
It's not just Brandon Roy who gasped.
He stared at Yu Fei with wide eyes and tried to convey a message to Yu Fei: There will never be a "loyal" fan like you again!
Originally, Kobe Bryant's blatant smashing of his own field had already made Vacarro very dissatisfied, and the question session also made people drowsy, but he didn't expect an innocent big boy who played cards unreasonably suddenly came out of the crowd and Gank Kobe Bryant.
"Who's that?" Vacaro asked, holding back a smile.
"Uh... From the outside... He must have been the Kent boy that Chris had recommended. ”
Vaccaro remembered: "Frye Yu? ”
"Yes, it should be him."
The scene was quiet, and everyone held their breath to know how Kobe Bryant would answer.
Kobe Bryant glanced at Yu Fei seriously and asked, "Kid, what's your name?" ”
"I'm Yu Fei from Kent." Yu Fei did not use English when he said his name, but in authentic Chinese.
Kobe Bryant inexplicably agreed with what Yu Fei just said, which was the main reason for his dissatisfaction with O'Neal.
But now, he can't tell the truth, otherwise, wouldn't the glorious image that the media have worked so hard to create for him be all over?
That's how hard it is to be a papier-mâché perfect team player, as you know.
"Boy from Kent, you asked a good question." Kobe didn't remember Yu Fei's name at all, but he would never forget this face, "If one day, Shaq said to me: 'Kobe, I don't want to take on heavy responsibilities every night, you have to help me.'" I'll tell him I'm ready, and that's where I start to be the best player on the Lakers." ”
The innocent big boy continued to ask, "And what if Shaq never makes such a request?" ”
"That's okay, I'm only 21." Kobe Bryant suddenly became the most broad-minded second-in-command in history, "When I was 28 years old, how old was Shaq at that time?" 40 years old? My time will come! ”
Yu Fei suddenly felt that the praise of Kobe Bryant in "Associated Press" was still too restrained, and asked them to take a look at this, please, Kobe Bryant had already entered the play, he felt that he was the best second-in-command ever, he pretended that he had enough patience to wait for O'Neal to grow old, and pretended to be young and demented to remember the age of the shark wrong.
Let Kobe still remember how Smash Parker cheated him after retiring from our minds, Kobe's memory is not good at all!
"Thanks, I don't have a problem."
Yu Fei sat down.
What a funny boy! Kobe Bryant thought so at the time.