Late June, Loyola University Gymnasium, Chicago.
Less than 48 hours remain until the 2002 NBA Draft officially begins.
At this moment, the focus of the entire league was not on Madison Square Garden in New York, but entirely on this college stadium in Chicago.
The reason is simple: the most unique and grandest rookie workout in NBA history is being held here.
The main character is Yao Ming, a tall guy from China.
This open tryout, open to the entire league, was originally planned by David Stern to take place in early May. However, due to the cumbersome approval process by China authorities, the issue of Yao Ming's contract buyout with his domestic club, and the national team's closed training camp in preparation for the World Championship and Asian Games, the tryout was repeatedly postponed and even faced the risk of cancellation at one point.
It wasn't until the New Jersey Nets won the first overall pick in the draft that Lin Qi decisively stepped in behind the scenes, helping Mark Roberts to effectively mediate between Chinese officials and the China government.
Lin Qi didn't offer any empty business promises; he presented a solid resume and Boston's attitude towards Wang Zhizhi over the past two years. Wang Zhizhi not only won two championship rings in Boston and steadily improved his tactical role, but more importantly, the Boston management showed him full respect and cooperation regarding national team call-ups and player repatriation, never creating any obstacles.
With Wang Zhizhi's extremely successful "golden brand" in Boston as a guarantee, coupled with the sincerity of Chinese owner Wang Jialian in taking over New Jersey, the China authorities finally gave the green light. David Stern also went along with it, directly using his commissioner privileges to arrange this unprecedented "public individual show for the entire league" for Yao Ming at Loyola University two days before the draft.
The scene was a huge sensation.
Of the 29 teams in the league, 28 sent representatives. General managers and head coaches from various teams, along with dozens of renowned NCAA coaches and hundreds of media outlets, packed the not-so-large arena to capacity. ESPN even went so far as to broadcast a nationwide live stream of a rookie workout, a first for them.
In the VIP section of the stands, Lin Qi sat in a corner, next to Mark Roberts, the newly appointed general manager of the New Jersey Nets.
As executives nominally belonging to two different teams, they naturally couldn't openly sit together and whisper in such a public setting. The two sat two empty seats apart, their eyes fixed on the center of the court, as if they were just colleagues who happened to be sitting in the same row.
" Jerry West of the Grizzlies had a huge outburst in front of the media last night." Roberts didn't turn his head, but kept his eyes straight ahead, his voice low, carrying through the noisy background of the arena to Lin Qi's ears, "He complained that the Grizzlies requested a private tryout, but the Chinese agent team refused, citing 'no time.' Meanwhile, Yao Ming secretly gave the Chicago Bulls some extra training."
"Normal." Lin Qi, without even looking at Roberts, leaned back in his chair and smiled faintly. " Chicago is a big market, David Stern is naturally happy to facilitate it. As for West... although he's a legend, a small market like Memphis can't absorb the commercial value behind Yao Ming. His complaints are useless; this player is destined for New Jersey."
In the center of the court, the trial officially began.
After overcoming a 12-hour international flight time difference, the 2.26-meter-tall Eastern giant began his performance under the watchful eyes of hundreds of extremely discerning professionals.
Everyone held their breath.
Then, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Near the free-throw line, Yao Ming received the ball, turned, and shot. His movements were fluid and graceful, without the slightest hesitation. The basketball traced an extremely beautiful arc in the air and swished through the net.
"Shooting test: 17 out of 25," the assistant coach announced loudly from the sidelines.
A collective gasp swept through the arena. A 2.26-meter giant had an astonishing 68% mid-range shooting percentage!
Next up was an even more unbelievable three-point test.
In the NBA of this era, it was considered outrageous for a center to shoot three-pointers. But Yao Ming stretched out to the three-point line and took five shots in a row.
"Bang, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!"
Five goals in a row!
The general managers in the stands exchanged bewildered glances, and even Jerry West's expression changed in the distance. They had initially thought he was just a rough guy with a height advantage, but they hadn't expected that this giant's shooting touch was softer than 80% of the guards in the league!
In the final free throw test, Yao Ming delivered an incredible performance, making all 12 of his free throws!
"Impressive." Lin Qi looked at Yao Ming, who was panting heavily on the court, and a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes.
On the other end, Roberts' eyes also blazed with fervor. He inwardly marveled, now finally understanding why Lin Qi had gone to such lengths to purge New Jersey of those ball-hogging, spacing-obsessed players before the draft. Yao Ming was no ordinary role player who only knew how to sit in the paint for defense. He possessed top-tier shooting touch and offensive intelligence; given clean perimeter spacing and a guard capable of feeding him the ball, he could dominate every center in the league in the low post.
The New Jersey draft pick is practically guaranteed.
After the tryouts ended, the general managers of each team left to make the most of the remaining time for trade negotiations on draft night.
Lin Qi returned to his hotel room.
He sat at his desk, flipping through a rookie report compiled overnight by the Boston scouting team. Besides the top prospects in this year's draft, he needed to find some pieces to fill the gaps in Boston's roster depth for the next few years.
If their draft position drops significantly, he wouldn't mind using Boston's second-round pick or simply selling cash to acquire them.
Lin Qi's gaze swept over Caron Butler's name.
Lin Qi turned to the next page of the report, and suddenly his gaze fell on a name, his fingers tapping lightly twice on the table.
Dwyane Wade.
Lin Qi looked at the assessment of the young man in the report and raised his eyebrows slightly.
The assessment in this scouting report can only be described as "appalling".
Wade's projected draft position is currently very low, around 15th to 20th in the first round, with some scouts even suggesting he will fall to the late first round.
The reason is simple: in the eyes of scouts in 2002, Wade was covered with almost every negative label imaginable.
First, his college grades were very poor. Because of his subpar academic performance, he was even banned from playing in his freshman year. This made NBA teams, who value tactical awareness and discipline, seriously doubt Wade's learning ability and tactical understanding.
Secondly, as a shooting guard, he is only 1.93 meters tall, which is too short for the position. However, if he were to play point guard, his passing vision and ball-handling skills would not be refined enough, making his role extremely ambiguous.
Third, and most critically, the scouting report highlighted in red, "His playing time during college was inconsistent, with extremely unstable attendance, suggesting potential undisclosed injuries."
In a draft that values physical talent and health, this kind of "time bomb" is something that all teams want to avoid at all costs.
Moreover, this year's " March Madness " was also a brief and bitter first-round exit for Dwyane Wade and Marquette University. As the No. 5 seed, they were surprisingly eliminated in the first round by the No. 12 seed University of Tulsa. Without proving themselves in the spotlight, their draft stock was further lowered.
Height deficiency, poor academic background, potential injuries, unclear career path, and a disappointing performance during the March Madness.
Lin Qi looked at these glaring negative comments and a playful smile appeared on his lips.
"15th to 20th in the draft?" Lin Qi closed the report and muttered to himself.
In this era brimming with talent, scouts are still misled by static physical attributes and so-called "safe" players. They simply cannot see the terrifying energy hidden beneath that 1.93-meter height—an explosive power worthy of being called "lightning."
In the original historical trajectory, Wade was drafted into the top five in 2003 by virtue of his explosive performance in March Madness during his junior Platinum Generation.
But now it's 2002. He's running early, and he's at the absolute bottom of his popularity.
"No matter the cost..." A sharp glint flashed in Lin Qi's eyes, "We must take him down."
Two days later, Madison Square Garden, New York.
The 2002 NBA Draft officially began.