Sports Medicine Master System

Inside the conference room.

Chen Yu held a notebook, looking at the young man in front of him.

His name was Faruk Stankovic.

Just from his name, you could probably guess where he was from.

He was 22 years old, from Croatia, and an international student at Portland State University.

Having already graduated, he was trying to stay in the United States and find a job.

"Faruk, what are your hobbies?" Chen Yu asked, looking up.

"Basketball, sir. I love to play basketball," he said without hesitation.

He was 1.85 meters tall with a slender build, so he certainly had the physique for basketball.

But Chen Yu keenly noticed his eyes darting away slightly.

’He’s probably just saying that on purpose to get this job.’

"Besides basketball, I mean in your daily life, do you like music, movies, or video games? By the way, are there any fun games out recently? Could you recommend one to me?" Chen Yu continued to ask.

Faruk Stankovic was caught off guard.

But he recovered quickly. "I quite like music, especially rap. I watch movies, too. *Kill Bill* last month was really cool. As for games, I’d recommend *NBA Live 2004*. It just came out last month. Like I said, I like basketball."

Chen Yu nodded slightly.

There were 12 interviewees in total today, and Faruk was the 11th.

So far, he seemed to be the most suitable candidate.

He was from Europe, proficient in languages, young, and seemed like a young man with high emotional intelligence.

He might have been hiding something about his hobbies, but then again, young people all tend to like similar things.

"Very good, Faruk. I’m done with my questions. We’ll notify you of the results by phone." Although he had already made up his mind, Chen Yu decided to see the process through to the end.

The last interviewee was a young woman.

Even before the interview, Chen Yu had already mentally dismissed her.

Chen Yu wanted this translator to be like Rekton, able to accompany Milicic anytime, anywhere.

Besides, they would need to enter the locker room during training and games, which would be inconvenient for a woman.

Faruk stood up, bowed in thanks, but just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned his head and asked, "Sir, I know you treated Suker. May I ask what he’s like as a person in his daily life?"

Chen Yu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

’So his true colors are showing. The kid really is a soccer fan after all.’

After a moment’s thought, Chen Yu said, "Whatever you imagine him to be, that’s what he is. Alright, you may go now."

Faruk let out an "Oh," realizing his question had been a bit inappropriate.

But he had already asked it, so there was nothing to be done.

He was just so curious that he couldn’t help but ask.

"So? What do you think?" Patterson, sitting to Chen Yu’s right, asked quickly as soon as Faruk left.

"Not bad."

Chen Yu smiled and nodded, picking up the phone to have the next interviewee sent in.

As the person came in, Chen Yu picked up the final resume.

Alex Salerno.

years old.

The photo showed a beautiful, blonde young woman with a radiant smile.

"Steve, why did you think she would be a good fit?" Chen Yu asked, waving the resume.

A woman just didn’t seem suitable, no matter how you looked at it.

Patterson shrugged. "She applied on her own. She was an English major, so I thought maybe we could get an English tutor for Dako. Plus, she grew up in Novi Sad and is fluent in Serbian."

Just as Chen Yu was about to ask more, Salerno came in.

She was wearing a tasteful, dark-patterned skirt suit and was meticulously made up. She looked radiant and very professional.

Chen Yu gestured for her to sit and asked her to introduce herself.

Her father worked for a multinational corporation and had been stationed in Novi Sad for ten years, so she lived there from the age of 6 to 16.

She then returned to her hometown of Salem and eventually majored in English at the University of Oregon.

The United States has English majors, too.

She wanted to gain some work experience before pursuing her master’s degree, so she applied for the position.

"Hobbies?"

Chen Yu’s first question caught her off guard as well.

"Music, I suppose. I quite like classical music."

Chen Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. Milicic played the tuba and also happened to like classical music.

"You live in Portland, right? What are you like in your day-to-day life? I mean, what do you like to do? I apologize, this might be a bit personal. You don’t have to answer if you’d rather not," Chen Yu asked.

Salerno thought for a moment before shaking her head. "It’s okay."

Chen Yu continued to look at her resume, listening to her speak and trying to use a psychological approach to sketch out a picture of her in his mind.

She seemed to be a very cultured young woman. She was well-educated, had developed a love for music through her mother’s influence, had a special passion for the arts, and enjoyed frequenting the various art galleries and museums in Portland.

"Alright, that’s all. Please wait for our call."

Chen Yu ended the interview with a smile.

A flash of confusion crossed Salerno’s eyes. She felt that Chen Yu’s questions were all unrelated to the job of a translator.

But she didn’t dare to ask further. She politely stood up, excused herself, and left.

"So, we’re going with that Faruk Stankovic guy? Or should we wait and keep looking?" Patterson asked, looking at Chen Yu.

A woman like Salerno would indeed be inconvenient.

Chen Yu folded his arms and thought for a moment, then said suddenly, "No, I just had an idea. I’ve decided to keep both Faruk and this Alex. One will be with Milicic 24/7, and the other will give Milicic English lessons at a fixed time each week to teach him English."

"Two translators?"

Patterson was stunned for a moment.

It wasn’t that he was worried about the money.

The salary the team was offering for this translator position wasn’t low—an annual salary of 60,000 US dollars, which was on par with the average salary for a government employee.

Someone like Faruk would live with Milicic, so he wouldn’t have to pay for rent or utilities, and he could eat with the team. It was definitely a high-income job.

Hiring one more translator for another 60,000 US dollars was nothing to the team.

The problem was, he thought one was enough.

His eyes darted around, and Patterson said, "Chen, you’re not trying to set Dako up with a girlfriend, are you?"

No matter how you looked at it, Chen Yu’s decision to hire Salerno seemed like an attempt to find Milicic a girlfriend.

"How could that be?"

Chen Yu quickly denied it.

"Really?"

Patterson still sounded a bit skeptical.

"Of course not," Chen Yu explained. "This Alex is well-educated and shares similar hobbies with Dako. She can serve as a positive role model to help Dako develop a proper outlook on life."

At 18, an age of restlessness and exposure to the flashy temptations of the world, he needed someone like that—a positive role model, like an idol, to show Milicic what proper conduct was.

After a pause, Chen Yu added in a serious tone, "Steve, Dako is a good kid, but he needs proper guidance from us."

Chen Yu had only just started working with Milicic, but he had done his homework long before coming to Portland.

Chen Yu had asked someone to look into Milicic’s background—his family, his upbringing.

He had also spoken on the phone with his coach from the Hemofam Club to understand him from all angles.

Based on all the information he had gathered, Chen Yu had already formed a rough sketch of what kind of person Milicic was in his mind.

He grew up in a war-torn country, his father was a soldier, and he was raised solely by his mother. He lacked a sense of security as a child.

When he was 10, he saw his father’s picture on TV. The host had read from the wrong list, making him briefly believe his father had been killed in action.

Truth be told, he wasn’t actually that fond of basketball.

His father taught him to play basketball, and later, feeling that someone so tall should play, he went along with it.

The NBA had a stereotype about international players: they were all supposed to have loved basketball since childhood and dreamed of playing in the NBA.

They could even picture it: a young boy in a run-down room, huddled in front of a beat-up TV, sees an incredible dunk by Jordan, is completely awestruck, and falls irrevocably in love with basketball.

Then, through tireless effort, he follows in his idol’s footsteps and makes it to the NBA.

Americans just eat up those kinds of underdog, rags-to-riches hero stories.

And in fact, many international players were like that. When Nowitzki didn’t even know what basketball was, his idol, Schramm, had already started his professional career in Dallas.

When a young Yao Ming taped a poster of Sabonis to his headboard, he probably also dreamed of one day facing his idol on the court.

But Milicic wasn’t like that.

Before the draft, he did many media interviews. When asked who his idol was, he answered Garnett.

But in reality, he had never seen Garnett play before coming to the NBA. It was just that his scout, his agent, everyone told him he played like Garnett, so to have an answer ready, he simply named Garnett as his idol.

Chen Yu believed that the real reason he ended up on the path of basketball was simply because he had the physical talent, and his father told him he should play.

Most importantly, in his young heart, he had witnessed too much hardship and suffering. He had seen his mother struggle to raise him, even selling family possessions to buy a milk cow just so he could drink milk and grow strong.

As a sensible child, he, like many other NBA players, had come to the NBA with the goal of making money and changing his destiny.

That’s why he worked so hard. Chen Yu had spoken with Billups on the phone, who told him that Milicic had trained extremely hard during training camp, even proactively seeking out Da Ben for one-on-one matchups just to show how tough he was.

Unfortunately, he was too impatient, and Larry Brown never gave him a second thought.

A hardworking, sensible kid who suffers that kind of setback and blow could easily give up on himself if not guided properly.

But with the right guidance, given his work ethic and outstanding talent, there was no way he wouldn’t succeed.

Chen Yu already had it all figured out. He would just need to tailor a training plan to Milicic’s technical skills, following the training manual he had previously designed for Yao Ming.

Give him one season, build the team’s tactics around him, and let him loose—there was no reason he couldn’t become the next Garnett.

Patterson nodded but still muttered, "Chen, I still think you’re trying to find him a girlfriend."

He then added as a well-intentioned reminder, "Chen, at his age, it’s easy to get sidetracked by women."

Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’I really am just trying to find him an English tutor.’