As a jersey that has been retired, it is also a very dramatic scene to be able to return to the stage.

Today's head coach McMillan is the owner of the shirt and one of those who strongly advocated keeping Sakuragi Hanamichi.

As the head coach of the team, he is probably the person who knows Sakuragi Hanamichi best besides Lin Dong, and this kid's unusually sincere enthusiasm for basketball touched him.

If Payton is Sakuragi Hanamichi's teacher in defense, then McMillan can be regarded as his master, retired in 98, experienced the same team as Payton, the same point guard and the same defensive style as Payton, won two of the league's best defensive second teams, and even when Payton first entered the SuperSonics, McMillan even won a league steal king when he played as a substitute for Payton, which shows the defensive skills of this Mr. Supersonic.

Many of Payton's skills were learned and improved from McMillan, and they are now in the same vein, the only difference is that the apprentice plays power forward.

At that time, the team was discussing the matter of making Sakuragi Hanamichi tryout 'rotten', frankly speaking, the benefits of this matter are all the team's, but there is no guarantee for the players, it is all risk, after all, it is impossible for the supersonic to sign anything with Sakuragi Hanamichi 'definitely sign your contract', it is nothing more than a verbal agreement.

Anyone who wants to change a little more heart will not honestly agree to this kind of thing, but that guy agreed without hesitation, and the smile on his face made Schulz, Peyton and McMillan embarrassed.

MD, do you have a good conscience for calculating this kind of child?

So Master Zu waved his hand at that time, the No. 10 jersey, give it to you!

"Sakuragi! Come on! Lin Dong applauded and looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with a smile.

Coach Anthy and others in the back also applauded, and Stephen pushed him on his back and said with a grin: "Haha, man, what are you doing in a daze, go up!" ”

At this time, the lights of the whole audience were also focused on Sakuragi Hanamichi's face.

I saw that the red-haired guy's face was full of joy at first, and then his face was full of nervousness, and his hands that clenched his fists tightly when he stood up were trembling slightly.

Selected!

He nervously walked up to the stage and took his jersey and contract from Schulz.

The lights all over the stadium were shining on him, the applause from the audience, the excited expression of Coach Anxi, and the smiling encouragement of Brother Gao and Lin Dad......

Countless images suddenly flashed through my mind.

Practice hard, learn English hard, eat hard, and grow taller.

He didn't learn as much as he did in the first ten years of his life when he came to Seattle, he didn't understand anything, but he was obedient, and he practiced whatever Brother Superior, Peyton and McMillan asked him to practice.

Coach Anzai paid him the living expenses on his card on time every month, the bank card that Brother Gao took the initiative to hand him when his mother was hospitalized, Dad Lin would send him a copy every time he sent him food, Sakuragi Army worked for a summer vacation, and only pooled money to send him five pairs of Jordan 6 generations that he couriered, Payton and McMillan often took him to eat at the beef shop in front of the arena, and Haruko's letters full of encouragement......

Two or three years ago, he was just a depraved young man who had nothing to do in the streets of Yokohama, but today he has become a basketball star that the whole of Japan is watching.

Step up your game? He felt that his efforts were nothing.

Sakuragi knows that he has come to this point because there are too many people helping him, and he has a lot to say at this moment, but he doesn't know where to start.

Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes were red, his mind was buzzing, and he couldn't hear what the host and Schulz were saying next to him.

In a daze, the microphone was handed to him.

He knew he should say something like a senior brother, but his mind was buzzing until Schulz tugged at the corner of his coat, and Sakuragi Hanamichi bent down at a 90-degree degree.

In a crying voice, he shouted loudly, "Thank you! Thank you! I'll play well, I love basketball the most! ”

And at this moment, far away in Japan, thousands of households are cheering.

This is their first player to land in the NBA, the first in history!

Haruko covered her mouth excitedly in front of the TV, the Sakuragi Army hugged each other and jumped and jumped, and the teammates and opponents of the former high school league were all smiling at the sobbing Sakuragi Hanamichi on the TV.

As the saying goes, those players who can pass the draft, whether they end up playing in the NBA or not, they have all been Jordan-like superstars in their respective worlds......

Rukawa Kaede also applauded, his expression was complicated, he knew that the supersonic would definitely choose Sakuragi, but he ......

A small episode, a second-round show, in addition to making the whole of Japan jubilant, did not cause any waves at the scene.

The host quickly continued the next process, Rukawa Kaede clenched his fists tightly, his palms were full of sweat, but his name never appeared.

The scene began to buzz, and the whole was no longer as quiet and tense as before.

After all, it's already the second round, and the good seedlings that can really make all teams value have been picked almost the same, and the rest are some leftovers, and each team also has several choices at the same time.

- 23rd pick in the second round, Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, No. 0 jersey!

Whether it is for NBA teams or today's American media, LeBron is a very special name.

From the pride of the sky the year before last, to the street rat last year, to the prodigal son who turned back not long ago and saved people, public opinion reversed...... With such ups and downs, not to mention a high school student, even many NBA stars, I'm afraid it has never been so exciting.

Frankly speaking, when the news of LeBron's injury first spread, many teams were really a little tempted.

didn't want LeBron before, mainly because of his bad reputation, of course, there was also his poor performance when he went to the Wizards and Spurs to tryout, which makes people feel that this kid not only no longer has the competitive level he once had after a year of abandoning basketball, but even his heart, potential, etc., have also sunk and collapsed because of the heavy blows of this year.

But daring to face the knife-wielding gangster in that situation, it makes people feel that he does not seem to be as cowardly as imagined, the lack of competitive state may be due to the lack of professional training in the past year, coupled with the public opinion that has now changed, so that many teams still want to give it a try, with a first-round low pick, or a second-round pick to recruit his subordinates, in case of careful tuning to recover a seventy or eighty percent level, coupled with his own popularity, it must also be a good deal.

It's a pity that the teams with this kind of thinking have gone to Akron Hospital to learn about LeBron's injury, and after knowing that he will need to be hospitalized for at least two or three months to recover, they have dispelled this idea.

This means that LeBron will not be able to participate in the team's summer training this year, whether it is his own competitive state or the run-in with the team, there is no time to adjust, if you really want to sign him, you must first make a plan to 'raise him for nothing' for at least a year, and after a major injury, after a few months of rest, it is even more difficult to predict what his competitive state can recover.

The reputation of heroes is good, but after all, the team has to rely on results to speak, for the sake of that so-called reputation to raise an idler who is destined to have no future, no team will be willing to do such a thing.

Paxson still played with his heart, the Cavaliers actually have two second-round picks, and he used a high-pick second-round pick to get a center before, just to see if any other team is willing to take LeBron, and take the guy who is not under his control, and even has his handle in his hand, to another city, which is a pity...... He had to buy LeBron with his last rookie sign.

Although Paxson had a smile on his face, he was very unhappy in his heart, and he would have to be on guard against this madman in the future......

On behalf of LeBron to go on stage to receive the jersey and letter of appointment, it was LeBron's mother, a chubby-looking black woman, who has been crying since she came on stage, thanks to the previous heat and media reports, everyone knows the story of LeBron and her, and the audience has continued to send encouraging applause.

Rukawa Kaede was also applauding, but the applause was somewhat stiff.

He had just been called to the 29th pick in the second round, not his name.

There are two rounds in the NBA draft, and the top 14 picks in the first round are called lotto, which represents the most talented people.

Regardless of the first round and the second round, they each have 29 picks, 29 teams in the league, and normally one pick in the first and second rounds, and 29 in the second round, which means that it is over.

Unsuccessful?

No, there's still a chance.

Rukawa Kaede stared nervously at the host's mouth on the stage until a team manager came up to the stage and handed in the last draft pick.

Sakuragi, Coach Anzai and others also held their breath, and Lin Dong was also looking forward to it.

This year's draft is a little different from previous years.

History has changed again......

In previous years, the league had only 29 teams, so the two drafts were only 29 picks each, but this year the league has a new team: the Charlotte Bobcats.

At the end of the regular season in the first half of this year, the Charlotte Hornets, which originally belonged to the East, were approved by the league to leave Charlotte City due to many conflicts with local fans, moved to New Orleans, and officially joined the Western Conference, renamed the New Orleans Hornets, which later became the Pelicans.

Lin Dong remembers very well that once in history, after the Hornets left, at the request of Charlotte fans, the league approved them to form a new team in 04, and Charlotte Bobcats only joined the league in 04.

But probably because of this year's particularly hot ball market, the NBA has made great strides under the leadership of Stern, so Charlotte fans have made a lot of trouble about the new team, and considering the schedule, the league has also decided to balance things and things, from one less team in the West in previous years to 15 teams now.

As a result, Charlotte City reacted quite quickly to the incident, and the city government promised to allocate land for the new team to build a new arena, which attracted a large number of investors to participate in the bidding, and finally Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, injected $300 million to become the owner of the new team, and also voted for the name of the Charlotte Bobcats team through a vote of fans across the city.

That's why there are 14 teams competing for the top pick this year, otherwise there would have been only 13 teams that didn't make the playoffs to compete for the top pick......

And now, the last spot.

- 30th pick in the second round, Charlotte Bobcats, Rukawa Kaede, No. 17 jersey!

Robert Johnson, the first black owner in NBA history, walked on stage with a smile, because the team was formed in a hurry, and the new arena was still under construction, so many tryouts could not be carried out, but relying on the relationship between the new leagues, they got a good pick in the first round of 8 picks, and got the center second only to Chris Bosh in this draft - Nick Collisson, and also poached some little-known, but experienced players.

According to the team's current configuration, what they need is an excellent rotation shooter, and they don't expect the team to play anything in the first season, it would be good to win twenty or thirty games, and Rukawa Kaede's excellent performance in 75 shots and 74 in the trial, plus he is an Asian player, and now the Asian market is being developed, so it is really good to enhance his team's overseas popularity.

The clenched fist finally let go at this moment, Rukawa Kaede wiped his eyes fiercely, and then stood up firmly and walked towards the stage.

High rank and low rank or something, he doesn't care about that, and he knows that he is not qualified to care.

The only important thing is that from now on, I am also a member of the NBA!

(End of chapter)