"Napoleon of China scored a staggering 40 points, setting a new single-game scoring record in Europe's top-tier league. He may be the greatest scoring point guard in European basketball history."
After the game, not only Spanish media, but even UEFA Champions League newspapers reported on Sun Hao's performance.
At that moment, Sun Hao's influence had spread across all of Europe.
In fact, it was not just Spanish and European media. Even Titan Sports Weekly, China's most renowned sports newspaper, covered it—and as its front-page headline.
That was the benefit of breaking records, especially records this big.
Even though information did not spread as quickly as it would in the future, the news still traveled at once.
Sichuan Blue Sword Team Club, head coach's office.
Yang Wei frowned deeply.
Two years ago, when Yi Jianlian entered Hongyuan Team's first squad, Yang Wei had ridden his coattails to success and become Sichuan Team's head coach.
But because of his poor coaching record, the team had missed the playoffs for two straight years, and he was about to be fired.
He wanted to find another job before that happened.
But because his record was so poor, other teams had turned him down with all sorts of excuses, leaving him deeply troubled.
"Coach Yang, your newspaper."
Just then, the security guard knocked on the door and brought him a newspaper.
He was not in the mood, merely gesturing for the man to put it down before continuing to think.
After spending half the day getting nowhere, he picked up the newspaper and gave it a look.
The moment he saw it, surprise flashed in his eyes.
It was his first time seeing Titan Sports Weekly use its front-page headline to report on a European basketball event.
And the headline was exceptionally eye-catching.
Europe's Strongest 175.
He stared at it closely and discovered that someone named Sun Hao had won the UEFA Champions League MVP.
Two questions involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
What kind of competition was the UEFA Champions League?
And why did the name Sun Hao sound so familiar?
He carefully read the article and learned that the UEFA Champions League was a new European competition. It seemed to carry quite a bit of influence.
But halfway through, he wanted to curse.
Using this incident, the article actually questioned China's basketball selection system, claiming that the height cutoff was why Sun Hao had gone to Europe.
It even cited Muggsy Bogues and Kevin Murphy from the NBA as examples, showing off the writer's supposed knowledge.
He did not read the second half, skipping straight to the end to see who had written it.
Su Qun.
He had never heard of the name. Clearly, the man was some newcomer.
Those people at the newspapers were getting more and more outrageous.
Did they know the reality of Chinese basketball? Did they understand what the system was? Did they know how selection worked?
A bunch of outsiders, yet they were still pointing fingers.
There was a saying in China: every profession was like a mountain apart. These people were just like those scholars from the old days, showing off empty learning.
He tossed the newspaper aside.
But just after setting it down, someone came to mind.
Yi Jianlian.
He remembered that when Yi Jianlian had gone to Hongyuan Team for a tryout, he had been accompanied by someone who seemed to have the same name.
Although it had been a long time, that kid had arrogantly made a Five-Year Pact, so Yang Wei still remembered him somewhat.
He picked up the newspaper and looked at it again.
Newspapers in those days did not have high-resolution pictures. After studying it for a while, he shook his head.
There were many people in the world with the same name. It could not possibly be such a coincidence.
It had only been a little over four years since then. Someone who could not even get through the door to professional basketball back then had now broken the single-game scoring record in the European League?
What kind of joke was that!
He put down the newspaper and stopped thinking about it.
But it did remind him of something. Wasn't his greatest achievement discovering Yi Jianlian?
That was what had allowed him to become Sichuan Team's head coach in the first place.
Now that he wanted to go back, he could rely on that too!
Li Yuanwei, the old leader from the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau, was now with the General Administration of Sport of China.
Not to mention helping him become a head coach in another province, arranging for him to enter the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau and get into the system would be effortless.
At that thought, he instantly felt enlightened.
There was still a long time before the season ended, which meant he had plenty of time to contact Li Yuanwei and meet with him for a talk.
He believed his old leader would not be so heartless. Besides, he was an expert at serving tea.
Thinking of the comfortable life inside the system, he almost wanted to slap himself.
Why had he not thought of that earlier?!
General Administration of Sport of China.
"I misjudged him. I misjudged him."
Li Yuanwei put down the phone in his hand, then picked up the newspaper before him and looked at it again. He shook his head with a smile, repeating the same words.
Unlike Yang Wei, he was now a Sports Bureau official, one responsible for cultivating China's youth player development system.
Whenever new talent emerged, he naturally had to learn about it as soon as possible.
He had learned about the UEFA Champions League before, but had not paid much attention to it.
After all, it was a new competition, Europe was far away, and there had not been much exchange before.
Until he saw this newspaper today.
Who would have thought that the single-game scoring record in Europe's top-tier league now belonged to a Chinese player!
Even if he had not deliberately gone looking for this news, it had now appeared right in front of him.
In other words, it was not that he had seen it—it had been forced upon him.
The call just now had been the result of someone he sent to investigate.
This Sun Hao really was the Sun Hao he remembered.
That Five-Year Pact had come from the mouth of a thirteen-year-old child. It had been far too unusual.
And there had been that gaze, one no thirteen-year-old should have possessed.
Back then, he had believed Sun Hao could never do it. Yet before five years had even passed, the boy had already achieved it ahead of schedule.
And he had used this kind of method to tell him.
After smiling, his expression became somewhat complicated.
Normally, if it had been anyone else, he would have sent someone to contact them immediately and bring them into the system as soon as possible.
That would mean adding another elite talent to Chinese basketball.
But it just had to be Sun Hao.
Wouldn't that be making him slap his own face!
He was not narrow-minded, but asking him to turn around and seek out a mere seventeen-year-old Sun Hao was something his old pride simply could not bear.
Besides, although La Liga was fairly high-level, it was still a European League. The value of those points still needed to be verified.
Yet after reading this article, he found himself deeply considering another issue.
Was there really something wrong with the current system?
His stance had always been firm. Basketball was a sport that depended on physical talent, and among physical talents, height was the most important.
Using height as a hard cutoff could maximize selection efficiency.
As for the Muggsy Bogues and Kevin Murphy mentioned by Su Qun, how many short players like that could there be?
Even America had only a few, let alone China.
But Sun Hao had shaken him.
A real, undeniable case was unfolding right before his eyes.
Someone they had once believed could not even play professionally had now made a name for himself in Europe's top-tier league and even posted the highest score.
And there was that particularly glaring headline.
Europe's Strongest 175.
He was only 175, yet he had done it.
It was true that shorter players had a lower success rate, but did they really not deserve even one chance?
If one of them succeeded, would that not be a blessing for Chinese basketball?
If one was buried, would that not be a misfortune for Chinese basketball?
P.S. I wish to draw my sword toward the heavens and pierce through the short-water pink chrysanthemums. Would you great ones be willing to lend me a hand with recommendation votes?!
Today's cheesy love line.
I missed you so much today that I changed my underwear five times in a row.
Before you continue