Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters
Chapter 42: Chapter 39: If I explain everything to you, it will be hard for you to grow

Because Boston had gained an additional lottery pick through a trade, they had two lottery picks this year, the tenth and eleventh overall.

As a result, many potential lottery picks would go there for tryouts.

Yu Fei wasn't surprised that Eddie Griffin was going to try out for The Celtics, but Roy's appearance really surprised him.

Since he couldn't get into a First Division League university, Roy decided to skip college. If he couldn't get picked by an NBA team, he would only have two paths to choose from: either give up on basketball and replace a random job to enter society or attend a community college in the meantime and try to improve his academic performance, with the hope of playing in the First Division League in the future.

Based on Yu Fei's understanding of Roy, he should have chosen the second path.

As to why he was still trying to pry open the door to the NBA and even obtained a tryout with The Celtics, Yu Fei didn't understand.

Therefore, he gave Roy a call.

"Fulai, is that really you? How have you been?!"

He sounded very excited. Indeed, Yu Fei hadn't contacted him for quite a while.

Yu Fei shared his recent situation and then turned the conversation to Roy, "I heard you're going to try out in Boston tomorrow?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because I'm going too."

"That's awesome! This... this is unbelievable!!!"

Roy's situation sounded as crazy as Zhuang Qiang learning that Wang Duoyu had inherited ten billion.

With Yu Fei there, he could confidently showcase himself.

After all, he played a different position than Yu Fei, and their draft prospects were entirely different: one was a certain edge-of-the-lottery or even lottery prospect, while the other would be grateful to be picked by any team.

"I know you're excited, but don't get ahead of yourself," Yu Fei said. "What's your situation right now?"

It seemed that Roy had made up his mind to go all the way in the professional basketball world.

After failing to recruit a professional basketball agent, he broadened his search and finally found an overseas agent. This agent had contacts with The Celtics and arranged this tryout for Roy.

Yu Fei was surprised and also worried about Roy's future.

He might have inadvertently changed Roy's life trajectory.

Would a Roy who didn't go to college be the same Roy from his previous life?

Yu Fei didn't know, so he asked again, "Are you really not considering college anymore?"

Roy said firmly, "I don't want to waste my youth in some crappy school."

At this point, all Yu Fei could do was to wait and see.

That evening, Yu Fei got the list of people going to Boston for the tryout from his agent.

He didn't realize it until he checked, but there were quite a few familiar faces.

Apart from the known Roy and Griffin, there were Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, Kedrick Brown (Kedrick Brown SG/SF), and Rodney White (Rodney White SF).

Among these people, Yu Fei had known only Joe Johnson in his former life; the others he had met after his time travel.

Apart from Gerald Wallace, everyone else was a potential lottery pick in this draft, just like Yu Fei.

That meant none of them were top-five material, but they would be seriously considered by teams with the 6-13th pick.

Out of all the players participating in the tryouts, Eddie Griffin had the highest profile. He was recognized as a "Sleeping Dragon."

His talent was exceptional, but it wasn't certain if it could be turned into success.

Therefore, those who liked him, such as the Rockets, thought he was first pick material. Those who didn't might feel he wasn't worth a lottery pick.

After one night, Yu Fei, accompanied by Anthony Lawson and Quentin DiMio, headed to Boston.

Upon reaching Boston, Lawson expressed his stereotypical views of the city: "I don't like it here; it's too white, too conservative, too traditional, too boring."

"The last one is the main point, isn't it?" Yu Fei laughed, "It's surprising that a guy who studies in Kent could say such a thing."

Could any city be more boring than Kent?

Yu Fei didn't even know what kind of entertainment a normal kid could replace in Kent City.

Yu Fei and his party first went to the hotel to rest for a moment. After grabbing a bite to eat, they headed for The Celtics training facility.

Aside from The Celtics head coach Jim O'Brien, Yu Fei also saw The Celtics' star player Paul Pierce.

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Yu Fei didn't have a strong impression of Pierce as a player, but after retirement, Pierce fit the stereotype of a legend perfectly.

Arrogant, proud, and prone to controversial outbursts.

"Yeah, if I were as big as you, I wouldn't go to any damn college either. Youth is the true essence!"

Pierce was very supportive of high school prospects like Yu Fei.

"Thank you."

Yu Fei politely replied and then went to the locker room to change.

In the locker room, Yu Fei met Gerald Wallace.

At this time last year, Wallace was considering whether to skip college and go directly into the draft since he was one of the top three high school players in the nation in 2000 and had even outperformed KG's successor, Darius Miles, to be named the Naismith High School Player of the Year.

However, despite his poor academics, Wallace was driven to improve, so he chose to go to the University of Alabama. That decision exposed all his weaknesses at a higher level of competition. His shooting was terrible, his fundamentals weak, and even though he could run and jump and "played every possession like it was the end of the world," his lack of refined skills meant his draft stock plummeted.

At the moment, Wallace, like Yu Fei, was recognized as a potential lottery pick, but there were many examples of potential lottery picks like him who had massive flaws and ended up falling to the end of the first round or even into the second round.

"AYO, are you... that Asian version of Eddie Griffin?"

As soon as Gerald Wallace spoke, Yu Fei felt like Wang Duoyu who had met the Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix—all the words "great wisdom" flashed through his mind.

"I don't like people saying that, but if it makes you happy, fine." Yu Fei responded.

"No offense intended," Wallace quickly said with familiarity, "Gerald Wallace, from Sylacauga, you can call me Big G."

"Yu Fei, from Kent." Yu Fei added, "You can call me Big Fei."

The two exchanged a few more words casually and then headed back to the gym together.

Yu Fei wasn't planning to take part in the physical tests today since he had already been tested by two teams and hadn't held back; the Celtics could replace the results if they wanted.

Gerald Wallace, on the other hand, was very interested in the physical tests since that was his strength.

About 20 minutes later, the other players also arrived.

Roy, seeing Yu Fei, couldn't avoid exchanging greetings.

Yu Fei, observing his carefree attitude, worried about his draft prospects. He also noticed that there were a total of 12 players attending the tryout today.

When Eddie Griffin appeared, Yu Fei gave him a look.

Neither of them spoke.

A natural antipathy and opposition arose between them; no one wants to be considered someone else's version of somebody else.

After the physical tests were over, Jim O'Brien said, "You can freely choose your teammates. In 10 minutes, we'll divide into a White Team and a Black Team for a 28-minute scrimmage."

Yu Fei naturally teamed up with Roy, and then Gerald Wallace joined them.

Thus, the framework of one team was formed, and Yu Fei naturally became the leader of this team.

On the other side, Eddie Griffin chose to partner with lotto prospect Kedrick Brown.

This gave Yu Fei the opportunity to persuade Joe Johnson.

"Joe, you surely don't want to play backup on their team, do you?" Yu Fei asked with a smile.

Joe Johnson and Kedrick Brown clashed positions. Of course, positions could be flexible in this temporary scrimmage, but Johnson didn't want to play second fiddle to anyone.

Therefore, he joined Yu Fei's team.

After that, Yu Fei managed to recruit a short center named Jack Dawson to the team, completing the lineup.

The final team assembly meant Eddie Griffin's team had seven players, while Yu Fei's side had five, implying they needed to play the entire game.

"When does the game start? I can't wait!" Roy asked excitedly.

"Five more minutes."

Shortly after, Yu Fei and his team went to claim their jerseys from the Celtics' equipment manager.

When Yu Fei asked for a No. 44 white jersey, the equipment manager looked at him meaningfully, "Kid, you would fit well with our team."

"What does that mean?"

Yu Fei was puzzled.

"Humph, if I explained everything to you, you would have a hard time growing up. Now, take your jersey and move aside."

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