One Year Left to Play-Chapter 49 - 15: The Philadelphia High Schooler in the Corner Who Prefers to Remain Anonymous
"...?"
Zhang Hao wondered why Kobe seemed to dislike him! The polite attitude from their first meeting at noon was gone.
But why did he take the initiative to knock on his door and invite him to dinner?
Sure, his words were harsh, but they weren’t exactly offensive... What did he mean by that? Was this bizarre-brained 16-year-old genius high schooler Kobe actually complimenting him?
Zhang Hao looked around. Luckily, it seemed no one else overheard their conversation, otherwise, how could he steadily progress toward his future coaching career with such remarks from Kobe getting out?
Zhang Hao wasn’t afraid of making enemies, the world is big, and going somewhere new where no one knows him would allow him to start over. But there was no need... The key is, he only had a little over a year left to live, no time to start over.
At this moment, Zhang Hao’s impression of Kobe had changed since noon—this guy was a troublemaker! Always ready to stir up some trouble!
People like this, Zhang Hao felt it was best to keep a distance, lest he got implicated by Kobe’s big mouth.
Zhang Hao wasn’t in the mood to chat, and Kobe wasn’t very talkative either. Hamilton was shy. After dinner, Zhang Hao said goodbye and went back to his room to rest.
Kobe and Hamilton also cleared their dishes and left the restaurant.
On the elevator, Hamilton, who had been puzzled for a while, asked, "Kobe, you seem to have a special interest in that guy next door?"
"Richard, do you believe there’s a high schooler whose Mid-range Shot is stronger than both of ours?"
"I don’t believe it."
On this subject, Hamilton, usually known for being shy, appeared quite confident and responded without hesitation.
"I didn’t either, but today I did. This afternoon, I saw him training his Mid-range Shot. He reminded me of Andrew Tony."
"Uh... Who’s that?"
"..."
...
...
Having decided to stay away from the troublemaker, Zhang Hao returned to his room. As he opened the door, he knew his roommate was finally back since he had turned off the lights before leaving.
Curious all afternoon about who his teammate was, he was shocked to find out...
The person in the room heard the door open, looked toward the entrance, and frowned, "Is it you?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
"It’s me," Zhang Hao nodded, "I didn’t expect it to be you either."
"..."
"..."
The two fell silent, unsure of how to continue the conversation, creating a slightly awkward atmosphere.
At this point, Zhang Hao decided to break the ice and put his arm around his roommate’s shoulder, "I really didn’t expect my roommate to be you, Mike. If both of us make it to the final roster, we’d make quite the duo, don’t you think we’d shoot the competition to tears?"
Bibi instinctively resisted such close contact, but faced with someone who’s shameless, he had no choice. Plus, he acknowledged Zhang Hao’s prowess—a top-notch athlete with an astonishingly good shot—who indeed matched well with him, so he wasn’t angry.
Discreetly freeing himself from Zhang Hao’s embrace, Bibi returned to the bed to continue packing, sorting through his own change of clothes as he spoke, "I believe you’ll definitely make the final roster. If someone like you can’t make it, this camp wouldn’t need to exist."
"..."
Zhang Hao felt that the two strongest perimeter players he met today were rather odd?
From an ability standpoint, Zhang Hao believed Kobe and Bibi were the strongest outsiders at this camp, but they often said things that felt quite peculiar to him.
They were very different from the stars he remembered! Zhang Hao figured these future stars were still young; they would change once they entered society.
Rooming with someone he knew was better than Zhang Hao had expected. Although Bibi had a quirky personality, he wasn’t difficult to get along with. See, now he’s quietly organizing his stuff. Although he’s hard to chat with due to his proud and peculiar nature, not chatting at all is fine; not everyone likes to talk.
Zhang Hao himself had a quiet side, so he was accustomed to this way of interacting.
Thinking about starting the camp tomorrow and perhaps partnering up for training or scrimmages with those future stars... Zhang Hao felt excited. If it were the original Zhang Hao, he might only be excited to train with talents like Garnett, Kobe, and Bibi, although the likelihood was he’d skip the event and stubbornly try to join a college team. Maybe persistence would have eventually won out...
But the current Zhang Hao was excited not just because of them but because he knew two of them would be among the top 50 basketball geniuses in history, with one ranking in the top 10!
Besides these three, there’s Raheem, Marbury, Billups, Odom, Jamison, Little O’Neal... This year’s camp definitely has the most luxurious lineup since Adidas started hosting camps!
Filled with excitement and anticipation, Zhang Hao fell into a deep sleep. Nothing happened overnight... Wait, something did happen. The next morning before dawn, while the roosters were still sleeping, the phone in their room 508 suddenly rang!
Zhang Hao pulled the blanket over his head, ignoring the phone.
But Bibi in the other bed couldn’t ignore it. He turned on the bedside lamp, picked up the phone, and in an irritated tone, yelled, "Damn it, Aix wants you... Hello, hello..."
Bibi forcefully woke the already half-asleep Zhang Hao.
Half-conscious, Zhang Hao grabbed the receiver, glanced at the small black-and-white screen on the phone that read 03:45 a.m...
Instantly furious! Zhang Hao asked gruffly, "Who is it!"
The caller on the other end seemed accustomed to being yelled at while calling... or perhaps getting yelled at for calling at such an hour, responded calmly, "It’s me, Kobe. Have you ever seen San Francisco at 4 a.m.?"
"...Are you crazy!"
