He Can't Play Professional Basketball

"Sun Hao?"

Li Yuanwei repeated the name, his tone puzzled.

Clearly, he had no idea who Sun Hao was.

Yang Wei, standing nearby, immediately explained.

He had been present during the tryouts and had some impression of Sun Hao.

After explaining, he got up and quickly walked over to the desk.

On the right side of the desk was a thick stack of tryout reports.

He searched through them and finally pulled out Sun Hao's report from near the bottom.

He handed it to Li Yuanwei right away.

Li Yuanwei sat back down and began flipping through it.

His expression was fairly good while reading the first part, and he even nodded from time to time. But after finishing it, he revealed a look of regret.

The meaning of that expression was obvious. Sun Hao had probably not been selected.

Yi Jianlian looked utterly incredulous.

Sun Hao was also surprised.

Judging by his performance at the tryouts that day, he had been among the best guards. Did the Hongyuan Team only want big men and not guards?

"He can't play professional basketball."

However, Li Yuanwei's next words were far more direct than either Sun Hao or Yi Jianlian had expected.

Yi Jianlian's mood immediately sank to rock bottom. He was even somewhat dissatisfied, but he did not dare argue.

Twelve-year-old children rarely dared to argue with adults.

Especially an introverted child like Yi Jianlian, when the person across from him was the director of a provincial Sports Bureau.

"Why?"

After snapping back to his senses, Sun Hao spoke up. He did not think there had been any problem with his tryout performance.

"Your tryout performance was good, but your bone-age test report indicates that you'll only grow to 1.75 meters in the future. That height won't let you play professional basketball."

Li Yuanwei did not say much, but he spoke with certainty.

"Exactly, exactly. At 1.75 meters, you'd be a little short even for soccer, let alone basketball."

Yang Wei chimed in from the side.

"Could there have been a problem with the test?"

Yi Jianlian asked, clenching his fists.

He had worked up the courage for Sun Hao's sake.

"We used the best testing institution in Guangdong Province, one of the best in the entire country. There absolutely can't be any problem."

Yang Wei immediately replied. Yi Jianlian was questioning his work, and in front of his superior, he had to make that clear.

Li Yuanwei nodded. Fairness in selecting players was something he had always emphasized. That included the testing; it was all absolutely fair.

"Does being short mean you definitely can't play professionally?"

Sun Hao shot back.

He had barely managed to suppress the urge to curse.

He knew physical talent was an extremely important factor in basketball.

Even before this, that had made him far from optimistic about his prospects after transmigrating.

But he had trained desperately for a month, been treated like a lunatic, and still put on a strong tryout performance—only for this to happen?

They would not even give him a chance?

He could not accept that!

Besides, nothing in this world was ever absolute.

There were famous short players in the NBA: three-time Dunk King Nate Robinson, the strongest 1.73-meter player on Earth Isaiah Thomas, and the 1.65-meter Earl Boykins.

Even setting aside the NBA, Gong Luming, the Chinese team's Starting Point Guard and a renowned undersized player in China, was only 1.72 meters tall.

Even closer to home, Li Qun, an old national team player currently on the Hongyuan Team, was only 1.80 meters tall.

Short players could not play professionally?

Not necessarily!

"Kid, our bone-age test reports are absolutely professional. You should trust our experience. We truly mean well for you. Go back and study hard. Don't let down your parents' expectations."

Yang Wei was somewhat unhappy at Sun Hao's words, but with Li Yuanwei beside him, he remained fairly polite.

Li Yuanwei did not speak, but he was clearly acquiescing to Yang Wei's words.

Seeing their attitude, Sun Hao's anger flared. He stood up directly.

"Then just wait and see. Within five years, you'll definitely hear that I've become a professional player!"

His tone was hard as iron. He was only missing the middle finger and a loud curse in their faces.

Li Yuanwei froze for a moment. He had not expected this thirteen-year-old, who was only about as tall standing as Li Yuanwei was sitting, to say something like that.

In Sun Hao's eyes, he sensed a glint that did not belong to someone that age.

This kid was extraordinary.

Yang Wei was also stunned, but he immediately burst into laughter.

This kid was a little childish, a little funny, and a little too fanciful.

Five years later?

Sun Hao would only be eighteen in five years!

Those who could play professionally at eighteen were Children of Heaven like Yi Jianlian.

Someone like Sun Hao was simply daydreaming.

If Li Yuanwei had not been sitting there, he would already have called security to throw Sun Hao out.

Sun Hao ignored Li Yuanwei's gaze and Yang Wei's laughter, then walked straight out of the office.

After leaving the gym, he looked at the huge iron sign of the Hongyuan Youth Team at the entrance and let out a long breath.

If Li Yuanwei and Yang Wei had said those things a month ago, he might have accepted them.

After all, that was how he had lived in his previous life.

People always had to bow their heads before reality.

But now, everything was different. He had the system, and he could accomplish more.

Not only could he slap these people in the face, he could even change this unhealthy state of Chinese basketball.

Height did not determine everything!

He could prove that, and he could also find a path for those who could not play basketball because they were not tall enough!

He had also thought over what he had said just now.

He would be eighteen in five years. Before then, there was no way he would fail to become a professional player.

He might even have a chance to enter the NBA!

After all, the NBA had not yet introduced the rule barring high school students from entering the draft.

As long as he was good enough, an eighteen-year-old could enter the NBA!

The only issue was that the Hongyuan Team had rejected him. Where could he begin his basketball career?

Hongyuan's selection standards were also the domestic selection standards. That meant he would basically have no opportunities in China.

Yi Jianlian had not come out yet, so Sun Hao found some steps to sit on, waiting while he thought.

If he could not play in China, then an American high school would be a good option.

He had been an assistant coach in the NCAA in his previous life, so he was familiar with America's basketball system and would adapt quickly.

Moreover, American high schools were the source of NCAA players, and the NCAA was the NBA draft's main source of talent.

Especially in this era, Stern's globalization of the NBA had not yet fully unfolded, and the NBA draft was not very receptive to overseas players.

Aside from some tall players, few overseas guards could enter the NBA. Even if they did, most were second-round picks who could not get playing time.

Compared to that, going through an American high school and then the NCAA was also his most likely path to successfully entering the NBA.

But the problems with that path were not small either.

Basketball exchanges in this era were extremely limited. There were almost no Chinese players playing in America, and the obstacles were immense.

The most typical example was Ma Jian.

This former national team player had represented the Chinese team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Because of his strong performance at the Olympics, UCLA took notice of him and recruited him to play in the NCAA on a full scholarship.

But the Basketball Association immediately issued a warning: if Ma Jian dared to go, he would permanently lose his eligibility to represent the national team.

Ma Jian chose the NCAA. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in one season, and recorded a career night of 21 points and 9 rebounds in a single game.

But the price was that he never appeared in any national-level competition again.

And setting aside that kind of obstruction, how he would receive an invitation from an American high school was also a problem.

Ma Jian had caught their attention after playing in the Olympic Games. Forget the Olympics—Sun Hao could not even make the Hongyuan Team right now.

As he was thinking, Yi Jianlian came out of the gym.

"Brother Hao, I think they're wrong. Height doesn't determine everything. I believe you can definitely become a professional basketball player."

Yi Jianlian hurried over to him and spoke as soon as he arrived.

He had not dared to say it in the office earlier, but that was what he truly thought.

"Yeah, within five years."

After speaking, he added one more sentence.

Sun Hao laughed when he heard that. He stood up, jumped, and patted Yi Jianlian on the shoulder.

"Trust your brother. If I say it, I'll do it."

Sun Hao's face was filled with confidence.

A certain great man who preferred to remain unnamed once said that there had originally been no roads in this world, but when enough people walked them, roads appeared.

He had once thought those words were strange, but thinking about them now, weren't roads made by people walking them?

He would always find a road that belonged to him.

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