Yu Fei indirectly announced that he would give up his college qualifications and directly sign up for this year's NBA Draft by openly recruiting agents.

The move seemed too low-key to Quint Demio, and with his local presence, he could have invited the Washington state press to his press conference with great fanfare, and then announced his decision to participate in the draft like Kobe Bryant did.

Looking back at Kobe's actions back then, Yu Fei thought it was reckless and frivolous, Kobe Bryant wore a pair of sunglasses frivolously in front of dozens of media, and then announced that he was ready to bring his talent to the NBA.

In the eyes of people at the time, Kobe Bryant was too high-profile and flamboyant, and his approach brought him a lot of negative evaluations.

This was actually a reluctant move, after all, from the perspective of the time, Kobe Bryant did not have the super talent that was visible to the naked eye like Kevin Garnett. This is one of the ways that Kobe Bryant hyped himself, and it is precisely because of this hype that he has put himself in the eyes of more and more people.

Now, the NBA has no doubt about the success rate of high school players, and Yu Fei doesn't need to hype himself up like Kobe Bryant back then.

Moreover, he was only fifth in the nation in the 2001 class, and three of the four ahead of him decided to sign up for the draft, none of which Kobe Bryant did.

It was wise that Yu Fei did the same.

Choosing a reliable broker is the most important thing at the moment compared to creating gimmicks.

There are many agents who are interested in Fei, but there is only one that really enters Yu Fei's heart, and that is the person recommended by Sonny Vaccaro - Arn Herschel Tellem (Arn Herschel Tellem).

Trem, a 47-year-old Jew from Philadelphia, started out as a lawyer until he became an agent in the early '80s, initially primarily serving baseball players until 1996, when he became the agent for a high school basketball player named Kobe Bryant.

Bryant was able to expand Tryme's reach into basketball, and, through Bryant's example, his client selection also tended to favor young players who were ready to enter the league — high school students were the best.

Trem is out of control, and in the eyes of those who want to go straight to the NBA from high school, he is an angel.

Tracy McGrady in 1997;

Darius Myers in 2000;

and this year's Kwame Brown, Eddie Curry, and Tyson Chandler, all under his banner.

In addition, Trem is not like the vampire agents such as David Falck and Dan Fagan, who are hated by NBA executives, he has a good reputation in professional basketball circles, and is known for his openness and empathy.

Yu Fei thinks that this is relatively rare, he doesn't need an agent like Falke who dares to knock on the NBA team in the context of a specific era, because the NBA will become more and more professional, and how big a contract a player should sign depends on his personal strength and demands; He doesn't need Fagan's kind of ghost agent who instigates players to sign contracts with the team, and arranges for players to go head-to-head with chairs during tryouts.

Yu Fei's concern about Trem is that he already has too many players under his roster who will be drafted in the 2001 draft.

"When I have a problem, can you be the first to show up?" Yu Fei asked.

Trem gave Yu Fei a sunny smile: "Anything that is within the scope of my business, if you have a problem in the last second, my phone will be called to the team's office in the next second." ”

Yu Fei then asked: "What if it's outside the scope of business?" ”

Trem joked, "If you suddenly want to kill everyone in the locker room one day, I won't buy you a gun." ”

Yu Fei smiled, and Trem gave him a very reliable feeling.

Seriously, he doesn't know if this person is the most suitable person, the biggest difference between him and other time-travelers is that he lacks enough qualifications, just ask a teenager who was in the flower season in his previous life to cross into another seventeen-year-old boy who is not much different from himself, will his experience in his previous life help him? He didn't even go out of society.

Yu Fei considered it from several points, personality, qualifications, professional opinions, player evaluations and impressions after meeting.

Trem has a good personality, deep qualifications, and a key recommendation from a big name in the industry like Vaccaro, Kobe Bryant and Maddie all said that it was good, Yu Fei also felt that this person was very reliable after meeting, plus he had been the agent of high school players for a long time, as the next high school player to land in the NBA, Yu Fei thought that he could not find a more suitable person than Trym.

That night, Yu Fei took Trem to meet Yu Fenglin.

Yu Fenglin's senses for Trem were surprisingly consistent with Yu Fei's.

At this point, there is no doubt about it.

Two days later, Yu Fei began to negotiate an agency contract with Trem.

Yu Fei, who had never experienced this kind of thing in his previous life, was stunned by various professional terms, and it took him half a day to understand various terms.

After more than half a day of negotiation, the agency contract between Yu Fei and Trem was finalized as follows.

It's a four-year contract, and Trem will receive 4% of the money from Yu's future rookie contract as a commission, but Yu Fei will also need to give 6% of the income from Tryme's rookie contract for offseason travel expenses, attorneys' fees in the event of litigation, and promotional fees for business activities. Yu Fei could choose not to give the money, but if he didn't, he would have to deal with these things himself.

All rookies will give this money, and Yu Fei is no exception, not to mention that the commission ratio charged by Trem is already very low, and the average agent will take 10% of the contract income, and he only needs 4%, which is simply a conscience price, Yu Fei agreed to this without any worries.

Then there is the issue of agency qualification authorization, which means whether the agent has the authority to sign commercial endorsement agreements or negotiate contracts on behalf of athletes.

There are countless rules and regulations in the contract.

Yu Fei and Trem started to negotiate the contract at lunchtime, and the two sides reached an agreement that it was already dinner time when the signing was completed.

"To celebrate the signing, I'm in for a treat tonight." Trem laughs, "Let's mark the day with the best steak." ”

At this time, Quint Demiou on the side teased: "Arne, it's time to get to know your customers better, Fulai prefers pork chop fairy pork chop rice to steak." ”

The news of Yu Fei's signing of an agent was quickly reported, and the college coaches who were expecting a frenzied recruitment of him during the summer vacation discouraged him.

Then, the media and city radio in Kent City began to promote Yu Fei with great fanfare.

Yu Fei will be the first NBA player to come out of Kent City, and he is the pride of Kent.

Seattle cheekily branded Yu Fei the title of "Son of Seattle", which is nonsensical and even more contemptible for Kents.

But it's like James forever saying "I'm a little boy from Akron," Cleveland is Cleveland, Akron is Akron, and likewise, Seattle is Seattle and Kent is Kent, and although these cities are very close to each other, their boundaries are clear.

In late April, just before the start of the NBA playoffs, Yu Fei went to Seattle to shoot a promotional video for Adidas.

As a result, the name of "Son of Seattle" became even louder, after all, Yu Fei never had the opportunity to help Kent make a promotional video.

After the filming schedule in Seattle ended, the hype about flying in Washington State began to escalate.

Yu Fei's name gradually made its way into the offices of NBA teams, but the explosive hype that really gave him the unquestionable prospect of a top-15 pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft was a long article written by Gary Smith, the most prestigious chief writer of the illustrated magazine, from Sports Illustrated's latest issue published on April 30.

30 April 2001

The Chosen One

Quote: Frye Yu believes he is the chosen man of God, but, in the eyes of those who adore him, his destiny is not only to become the greatest basketball player in Washington State, but to change the world. Will the pressure of celebrities crush him?

“... A few months ago, when Frye helped Kent Merridian High School win its first-ever state championship with a dominant performance, a transcendent allure was born in him, and Seattle fell madly in love with the youngster.

It was an extraordinary night. On the table were a salad, a loaf of bread, a steak, half a potato, a cake, a clanging fork, a man telling a joke on stage, and a room full of conversation. Then, a fat man with messy hair stood up. His voice trembled, tears welled up, his throat swallowed sobs as he choked, and everything ordinary was dispelled.

"Please forgive me...... But when I talk about Fry, I'm very emotional...... My heart...... Filled with so many ...... Joy...... When I realized...... The young man ...... will be able to...... Helping so many people...... He will surpass this competition...... And bring ...... to the world Unprecedented heroism...... The world will be because of his existence...... and his appearance...... I'll only admit a small part of it...... Because I know that God Himself chose me and K-M...... to nurture this young man...... and enable him to contribute to people...... This is our treasure...... Please accept it...... And use it wisely...... Thank you. ”

He blinked tears as the man found himself surrounded by the respect of his students and the applause of his parents, and everyone stood up. No principal in the history of Washington State would rate a student in this way. Most principals leave or remain silent before students enter the field, and few students are praised like this, because no one wants their students to wander and get lost in the wilderness of misery and absurdity of premature celebrity.

When the party was over and everyone was ready to leave, a well-dressed Latino woman in her fifties — the kind of woman we see at every country club — walked up to them and said, "Fry, I feel like I'm looking at my son as I watch you compete against other players." ”

At that moment, we can feel the flutter of the cosmic compass, and when a human looks into the eyes of a human of another skin color, he sees his own blood relatives.

Is Frye 'that guy'? Does he have a chance to change the status quo of Asian-American withering in professional sports? Only time will tell, but my answer is the same as that of the Kent, the same as the Seattle, the same as the Washington State.

He was the "chosen one".