Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters
Chapter 54: Chapter 51: The 2001 NBA Draft

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June 27, 2001

New York, Madison Square Garden

Yu Fei and his three companions arrived at the green room, where other potential lottery picks were also present.

Warmly greeted by Kwame Brown, who had already received the Wizards' first pick promise, "Frye, over here!"

The Brown family was much larger than Yu Fei had imagined.

Around Brown were about a dozen people, including seven siblings; he was the youngest child, then there was their mother, Joyce, who had single-handedly raised them all—unsurprisingly—along with some older adults, some about the same age as Joyce and others even older, likely aunts and uncles, or relatives of that sort.

They all came from Brunswick, a small city with just 15,000 people; it was both beautiful and filthy, with the contradictory charm of the Old South.

According to Brown, their family of nearly ten lived in a small, A-frame wooden house with torn screens and collapsing sofas.

But after today, that life would come to an end.

Yu Fei briefly introduced his mother and companions before they took their seats.

Soon, Eddie Curry appeared and simply nodded to Brown in greeting.

Then came Tyson Chandler, who felt uncomfortable seeing Brown's triumphant demeanor.

Jason Richardson and Shane Battier followed shortly after…

One could glean quite a bit about a person's character at first sight.

As one of the few potential lottery picks at the draft who had reached the legal drinking age in the United States, Battier exuded a friendly aura.

Before taking his seat, Battier proactively said to those present, "I'm honored to be part of this draft with you all, and I hope we can all end this day on a high note."

If everyone who played four years of college spoke as eloquently, then David Stern should consider making 22, not 20, the age limit for entering the draft instead of the 19 we now know. He could even stipulate that all domestic players must complete four years of college before being eligible for the draft.

At the turn of the century, with the influx of high school athletes into the NBA draft, restricting the eligibility age of the players was a major topic for both labor and management. Initially, the league proposed setting the eligibility age at 20 instead of the 19 that we are familiar with.

When Eddie Griffin arrived, the atmosphere in the green room grew somewhat tense.

Griffin glared at Yu Fei fiercely.

Yu Fei looked back at him without a care.

"Eddie, I have a seat open here," said Battier warmly.

Griffin looked over in surprise; he was not familiar with Battier.

Moreover, they could be considered competitors.

Griffin and the person with him took their seats near the empty spots by Battier.

Battier commented, "You know, Eddie, I'm jealous of you. I barely got a lottery prospect after playing four years of college, and you're considered for the number one pick after just one year. Life's not fair."

Thank God for Battier; otherwise, Yu Fei really didn't know how he would endure the waiting time before Stern, that androgynous person, took the stage.

Battier was like Empress Fucha from Story of Yanxi Palace, purifying everyone's negative energy.

Even Griffin, with his unstable emotions, was made to laugh by him.

At 7:35 pm, NBA Commissioner David Stern went up to the podium and delivered his opening speech: "Good evening, welcome to the NBA Draft. You may or may not know, this will be the last draft featuring high school athletes, as I plan to disband the players' union again and set mandatory minimum age requirements for the draft. Billy Hunter (player union consultant), you better get lost now. I am going to lay into you. Do you hear me? I am going to lay into you. You can't even imagine that scenario!"

Okay, the latter part was Yu Fei's own fantasy; in reality, the commissioner greeted everyone properly and considerately gave the Washington Wizards a final five minutes to reconsider whether to use their number one pick on a high school athlete.

None of those songs' lyrics better reflect the situation of the team holding the number one draft pick than Xu Peizhe's "Balloon."

They're like the most evil person on earth, heading to the darkest night club, with countless beauties lined up for their choosing.

Michael Jordan, who had not been at a draft since 1984, was once again present; he was familiar with Madison Square Garden but not so much with this theater designated for the draft.

Within five minutes, the focus of the basketball world was entirely on the Wizards.

The world wanted to know how they would use their franchise's second number one pick.

Without any surprises, just as Yu Fei knew, the Washington Wizards selected Kwame Brown with the first pick in the first round.

The commentators from ABC and TNT began to evaluate the Wizards' choice.

In those few seconds as Brown walked on stage, ABC's guest commentator Rick Pitino showed intense admiration for Brown, saying, "The perfect choice, D.C. has got the jackpot of the draft, Kwame Brown will become a better player than Chris Webber."

This comment came from a coach who had just ended a disastrous term in the NBA and had the thick skin to write a book titled Success Is a Choice after his NBA stint.

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