One Year Left to Play-Chapter 51 - 16: Why Is No One Happy Anymore?
Based on the gathered information, Bibi discovered that Zhang Hao had excellent academic performance, yet faced rejections everywhere while applying for NCAA Division I scholarships.
This led Bibi to imagine Zhang Hao as a super-talented individual who "wasted" his basketball gift on academics—a supreme genius who, after experiencing unfair treatment from colleges, started training hard and rapidly improved...
Imaginations can be deceiving, as Bibi had already considered Zhang Hao as someone so talented that even he was scared of him.
Meanwhile, Zhang Hao, after completing 500 total shots in 5 sets, stopped shooting practice to start core exercises without equipment.
Feet shoulder-width apart, hips fixed, upper body rotating left and right; feet shoulder-width apart, hands raised, hips fixed, leaning to both sides... some simple exercises.
Even though his stamina had always been good, he didn’t do much that consumed energy, as there would be physical testing in the morning, which would definitely be a factor for whether he would make the final list.
Even Bibi had decent physical conditions; only his running and jumping abilities weren’t as good. In terms of speed, strength, and flexibility, Bibi was definitely exceptional among high school students, with skills comparable to college students.
Zhang Hao’s techniques were simple; besides catching and shooting a mid-range shot, he had no other strong skills, which made him take physical tests very seriously.
However, while practicing, Zhang Hao suddenly realized how the atmosphere during their training became even more odd. Looking up at the sky, the moon was nearly full, only a few days from the lunar mid-month. Despite the bright moon on a sunny day with such good weather, Zhang Hao felt an unusually low pressure...
"For these three guys, shouldn’t training be something really fun? What’s going on today?"
...
By 6:30 in the morning, finishing training, Zhang Hao and his group returned to the hotel, went back to their rooms, took a shower, and agreed to have breakfast together.
Bothersome matters for young boys wouldn’t last long, even for early-matured ones like Kobe and Bibi.
When it came time for training, they practiced even harder due to the gap in shooting skills with Zhang Hao. But once off the court, they were good boys again, and indeed, during the meal, Zhang Hao clearly sensed the low-pressure atmosphere from the training ground had vanished. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
In the restaurant, the originally eye-catching trio, now with Bibi added to their small team, attracted even more attention! As they entered the restaurant, other high school students stared at them, making Zhang Hao feel a bit uneasy.
Though Kobe was also famous, he was still too young, only 16, without the immediate draft prospects and top-ten pick status of someone like Garnett or the bright futures that figures like Bibi held in high regard among high school basketball players.
In the eyes of high school students and in media reports, the only true genius comparable to Bibi or Garnett wasn’t Kobe, and certainly not Zhang Hao, but Sheriff Raheem from Joseph Wheeler High School, a 19-year-old super talent also considered a prime future pick.
This was Zhang Hao’s deviation in understanding; he always thought Kobe was the best among this year’s guards, not just due to Kobe’s high future achievements but also the sheer amount of news about him among high school players, matching only Garnett.
However, Kobe frequently made it to the news, which annoyed other high school players out of sheer envy. It’s simple: they weren’t convinced!
Garnett, unbeatable among high schoolers, was often compared to Moses Malone. Many talented high school players believed Kobe just had a savvy father for publicity.
Zhang Hao, the high school dunk king, held a title many disagreed with. Despite watching replays of that dunk contest and few believing they could out-dunk Zhang Hao, they were not convinced, always claiming their friends could dunk better.
Kobe, with his privileged background, was considered a crunchy cream cookie, a subject of much jealousy among those growing up in the housing projects, often despised by word but envied inside.
Even Bibi encountered similar disgruntlement, as he famously raced around the court, trash-talking opponents, fans, referees, everyone.
The three together certainly brewed jealousy wherever they went.
Only Hamilton was left in a miserable state, having done nothing wrong but being a part of a sports family, received a good education since childhood, being humble and low-key, yet got dragged into this mess.
Nonetheless, sitting alongside such three geniuses, as a high schooler, Hamilton felt secretly delighted beneath his calm surface—yet now, in this situation... was innocently implicated.
Kobe and Bibi had gotten used to it, and even Zhang Hao had no solution. What else could he do? Return his dunk king title? Impossible! Whatever! Within a week, he wouldn’t encounter most of these people for the rest of his life, so thinking that way, he didn’t care anymore.
Why did Zhang Hao come here?
To stand out!
Only by standing out could he possibly get colleges to take him seriously. Since he was ready to make headlines, Zhang Hao hoped for more of such situations!
...
After breakfast and a bit of rest, at 8:30 in the morning, the small envious squad of four arrived at the San Francisco City Hall Ballroom, where all 102 high school students attending the training camp gathered.
At the large temporary training ground set up from the basketball court, 102 geniuses from North America’s major high schools, after changing into their training gear, gathered here.
