One Year Left to Play-Chapter 104 - 33: Advice for Domestic Players

But as soon as I walked into the hotel lobby, I saw a few familiar faces, and there were even cameras.

Xu Jicheng, who was only in his 30s, felt like he already had white hair. Seeing Zhang Hao, he hurried over with a look of grievance and said, "Aix, I’ve been waiting for you forever..."

How creepy is it for a burly man in his 30s, with bushy eyebrows, a square face, and a fine mustache, to show a look of grievance?

Zhang Hao experienced it once again.

Seeing Xu Jicheng, he suddenly remembered that yesterday, before the draft, he had an exclusive interview with the Imperial Channel. At that time, he said his goal was to be selected in the first round, and then he arranged to have another exclusive interview after the draft. However...

He was like Van Jin upon winning the exam, except he didn’t go crazy... and he was so overjoyed it wasn’t much different from being crazy, so he couldn’t speak clearly. He decided to have the interview this morning. In the end, he was so excited about signing the contract that he forgot about it.

Fortunately, it’s daytime in New York now, and it’s evening in China. As long as the interview is completed during the day, the news in the morning back home can be broadcast as usual, no delay.

At least the interview proceeded smoothly. Far from home, Xu Jicheng was very satisfied. In these times, it’s not easy for anyone working abroad. He could well imagine the hardships Zhang Hao, a Chinese student in the United States, must have faced and how hard he had to work to successfully enter the NBA.

As a young basketball enthusiast in China, Xu Jicheng, although he can’t become a professional basketball player, also wants to help Chinese Basketball in his own way.

Thinking about Zhang Hao managing on his own in the world’s top basketball circles in the U.S., it’s outrageous that there are people back in the country trying to trip him up. Not only does it interfere with internal things, but when they found there was a domestic player succeeding outside of their organization, they even wanted to suppress Zhang Hao’s popularity back home...

While the Basketball Association could say something to Xinhuanet to show some courtesy, in this case, Xinhuanet’s sports news department didn’t plan to extend any courtesy.

So, after Zhang Hao was selected as the 9th pick last night and behaved like a celebratory student, neither Xinhuanet nor the Imperial Sports Channel sent the news back to China. Instead, they mentioned that Zhang Hao was too busy after being selected and postponed the exclusive interview until the next day, only reporting last night that Zhang Hao was selected 9th.

Zhang Hao here did feel he was in the wrong, so he treated Xu Jicheng and his team to lunch. Xu Jicheng couldn’t decline, thinking that Zhang Hao was rich now, and a meal wouldn’t matter, so he went with the flow. His modest salary, aside from typical travel expenses reimbursed by the unit, made paying for a meal in the U.S. quite painful.

After lunch, Pierce went back to the hotel, and Zhang Hao and the crew from Xinhuanet and the Imperial Channel went to Madison Square Garden for the interview again.

After the interview preparations were done and the camera started rolling, Xu Jicheng spoke a lot about Zhang Hao being selected, the talent he surpassed at the 9th pick, how difficult it was for a high school draftee to be selected... before starting the interview, asking, "You’re the first Asian to be selected in the first round of the NBA. Why did you choose to skip college and enter the NBA? I heard over a dozen top universities invited you to join."

Xu Jicheng directly expanded China to Asia, to which Zhang Hao could only nod in understanding... Before the draft, he needed to be a bit low-profile; now Zhang Hao wasn’t humble at all and directly said: "A good horse does not turn back to graze on grass. I had applied to those universities before, but they rejected me. It’s all about basketball, and the NBA holds more attraction for me."

"Being selected 9th, what are your goals after joining the Brooklyn Nets?"

"To first establish my footing in the NBA and find my place."

No airs, just a down-to-earth vibe. Xu Jicheng’s impression of Zhang Hao improved further, continuing with the question, "This summer, the NBA is very likely to have a lockout. There are reports that the Las Vegas Summer League has already been canceled, and the Orlando Summer League might also be canceled. Can you share your plans for this summer? Are you considering going back home to rest a bit?"

"I won’t be going back this summer. I plan to train hard and hone my skills, striving to get stable playing time as soon as possible next season. Also, I need to consider where to attend college, as I must coordinate well with the school since I won’t be able to attend classes for a long time. Resting is too much of a luxury for me."

"Do you pay attention to domestic basketball? Do you think there are any players back home who might make it to the NBA?"

"Players entering the NBA, I think it will happen soon. We’ve had players selected by NBA teams before, albeit in the third round though they had opportunities. It’s just a pity that a major injury at 21 prevented joining the Hawks.

I believe many talented domestic players join the professional league too early, starting to play professionally at 13 or 14, which makes injuries too common. If possible, I think they have the opportunity to try the youth training camps in Europe, or universities in the United States... for example, Wang Zhizhi, who is a few months younger than me but already makes a significant contribution to the national team. If the country could let him play NCAA for a few years in the U.S., I think he could smoothly enter the NBA..."

This suggestion, Xu Jicheng thought, is reliable. NCAA doesn’t receive much attention domestically, or rather it’s hardly known that the level of the NCAA Basketball Championship is good enough to be called the world’s second basketball league. The Basketball Association also doesn’t want to acknowledge it, but if this suggestion were made by a domestic player who joined the NBA... it’s just that the suggestion comes from a player who skipped college to join the NBA; no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t carry much persuasion...