Chapter 32: Uncle Sonny
The fourth day of the camp was the All-Star Game, and before the All-Star Game began, Sonny Vaccarro personally presented awards to the best players in the senior and junior divisions.
The best players in the senior division were Yu Fei and Antonio Lawrence PG, ranked No. 42 in the 2001 class.
There was no doubt about the best player in the lower divisions, with LeBron James and Cebattisian Telfer being chosen.
In addition, according to the unanimous opinion of the scouts in the ABCD training camp, Yu Fei officially surpassed D'Angelo Collins on the fourth day of the training camp and became the number one player in the training camp.
In the subsequent All-Star Game, the Emerald team was in the limelight, Yu Fei participated in the main game and the slam dunk contest, Iguodala participated in the slam dunk contest, and Roy participated in the skills contest and the three-point contest, but none of them won the championship in the individual competition.
Fortunately, as the first person in the new training camp, Yu Fei was able to join forces with James in the All-Star Game, and the cake sent by Xiao Zhan almost ate him.
Yu Fei scored 28 points and 14 rebounds in a single game and won the MVP of the All-Star Game, which perfectly ended the ABCD training camp trip.
After the training camp, according to the original plan, Yu Fei wanted to strike while the iron was hot before returning to his hometown, announcing that he would prepare for the 2001 NBA draft.
But Sonny Vaccaro's invitation caused Yu Fei to postpone the plan.
Vaccaro invited Yu Fei to join one of the top AAU teams in Oakland, California, but that team was not going to play any AAU game, but rather an exhibition game.
When the exhibition match is over, Vaccaro will represent Adidas and let Yu Fei see their "sincerity".
Moreover, Adidas will provide round-trip air tickets, hotel accommodation, and meals for Yu Fei and his entourage.
All Yu Fei has to do is get ready to travel again, get his frame of mind right, and spend another weekend listening to 2 PAC's "California Love."
It was just a few days after the ABCD training camp ended, and Yu Fei jumped 11th in the national rankings, officially replacing D'Angelo Collins and rising to fifth in the United States.
And Collins did not fall to sixth place as expected, but plummeted all the way to Yu Fei's original position - 16th in the United States.
Yu Fei didn't care about Collins, he only knew that he was in the national spotlight, there were only four high school students in front of him, and, to be sure, he didn't have a chance to prove that he was better than the top four before the draft.
Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler, Kwame Brown, DeJuan Wagner.
Yu Fei memorized these four names.
Subsequently, Yu Fei joined Oakley's famous Sentinel team, and when he met LeBron James on this team, he knew that these days would not be boring.
Before Yu Fei arrived, the Sentinels might have been dominated by James, but now, even if he was the No. 1 player in the 2003 class, he had to bow his head in front of the No. 5 player in the 2001 class.
James didn't show any dissatisfaction, and he said to Fly: "I'm going to help you play better like I did in the All-Star Game the other day!" ”
A closer look at James' words shows that he still wants to control the ball.
Yu Fei was like a copy of D'Angelo Collins, nodding lightly and saying, "Yes, we have worked together, and I know that you will assist me well." ”
James smiled: "That's for sure!" ”
"Haha!" Yu Fei said heartily, "I knew that our two fatherless children would definitely cooperate closely!" ”
In the first game, despite not being familiar with the team's tactical system, Yu Fei and James' talent and instant combat ability could ignore all this.
Yu Fei and James' ball distribution is six or four points.
Yu Fei six, James four.
"Hey, LeBron, get a dunk!"
This is Yu Fei's favorite thing to do.
In the positional battle, he suddenly called a block, pointed to the basket and let James run, and then he only needed to throw the ball into the sky.
Then, when it was James' turn to feed Yu Fei the ball, Yu Fei became nitpicky.
LeBron, you should be like this...
LeBron, you should be like that...
LeBron, if you pass the ball so casually, the Chosen One will be angry.
James knew that Yu Fei was basically joking, so although he heard these words, he didn't take it to heart.
But before you know it, a whole new level is established.
In this team, Yu Fei's status is supreme, and even James has to obey orders.
Then, having never faced a strong opponent, the two dominated the game almost with a giggle.
In the next few days, Yu Fei didn't guarantee how others were doing, he only knew that he was having a good time, as long as he thought about James having to look at his face every time he held the ball, the satisfaction was beyond words.
They had to play three exhibition games in three days, during which Yu Fei repeatedly stated that "this is my team, and I want to protect LeBron and others under my wings."
As a junior student, although James has ambitions, he doesn't feel that being Yu Fei's little brother is a shameful thing, and he also told the media, "Fulai is like my big brother." ”
Yu Fei further showed himself in the competition. Nearly all professionals who have watched him agree that he has the immediate ability and talent to challenge the NBA directly.
After the Sentinels' exhibition match, Yu Fei met Vakaro and his wife, Pam at the Marriott Hotel where he was staying.
There were also several of Vaccaro's henchmen in the hotel, one of whom was Chris Dennis, and Yu Fei didn't know that this person was the first person in Vaccaro's camp to discover his talent.
Dennis suddenly took out a beautiful sneaker and threw it to Yu Fei.
Yu Fei found the unique ornamentation on it, as well as his signature and number 44 (Yu Fei's jersey number in training camp).
He immediately realized that it might be a sneaker designed specifically for him by Adidas.
Yu Fei looked at Dennis excitedly.
"If you tell me you're going to join the NBA at the end of high school and you're willing to join the Adidas family, I'll give you another shoe," Dennis said. ”
Quint Demiou, who saw this scene with his own eyes, couldn't believe what was happening in front of him, Adidas actually designed a sneaker to please Yu Fei?
Did the same thing happen to Maddy, Kobe, Garnett?
"I'm on!" Yu Fei lost his rationality, and just wanted to have a signature sneaker of his own right away, "I'm joining!" ”
Dennis then threw the other shoe to Yu Fei.
Vaccaro laughed: "So, you've decided to skip college and go straight to this year's NBA Draft?" ”
"Yes." Yu Fei nodded.
Vaccaro said: "Bingo! ”
"You've made a great decision, kid, but until then, you're going to have to make a public announcement about it first, and then find a reliable agent, and if you don't know who is reliable, I can recommend a couple of people to you..."
The relationship between Yu Fei and Vacaro quickly warmed up.
At first, Yu Fei also suspected that Vacarro had other plans for him, but later, the more he learned about Wacarro, the more he believed that this old man known as "Sonny" spared no effort to help high school players not only have the intention of revenge against the NCAA, but also that this is a matter of fame and fortune for him.
Nearly every high school star he helped with had a good connection with him, and those people who fueled his fame and connections after his NBA success got everything he wanted in the process.
From then on, Yu Fei began to refer to Vacarro as "Uncle Sonny".
Before leaving California, Yu Fei learned that Vakkaro had asked him to bring him a pair of special sneakers — that starting next year, Adidas would host a national AAU tournament in the Seattle area, and they wanted Yu Fei to wear those sneakers as a local representative to shoot a promotional video for them.
This matter did not hurt Fei, he simply agreed, and the two sides agreed to shoot a promotional video in Seattle at the end of April.
Before that, Yu Fei will return to Kent City to be a 12th grader again, and he will continue to train to ensure that he graduates smoothly. Then, it is necessary to find an appropriate time to announce participation in this year's draft and openly recruit agents.
There's a lot going on, but it's all a matter of course compared to before, and the door to the NBA has been opened.