Sports Medicine Master System

Shanghai, Putuo District, Haitang Garden District.

7:20 PM.

"Next up is a sports update. Our nation’s young athlete, Liu Xiang, has made a historic breakthrough for Chinese and even Asian men’s track and field at the International Association of Athletics Federations Golden Grand Prix in Osaka, which concluded today. With a stunning time of 12.93 seconds, he stormed to victory in the men’s 110m hurdles."

"This time surpasses the Olympic record set by the famous American 110m hurdler, Alan Johnson, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics."

The scene cut, and footage of the race began to play on the television.

In less than 13 seconds, Liu Xiang was like a bolt of lightning, surpassing everyone.

And of course, there was no shortage of footage of Liu Xiang draped in the national flag, jogging a victory lap around the track.

"I’m very emotional. I want to thank my coach, Sun Haiping, the leaders at the Athletics Management Center, my parents, and Dr. Chen Yu. It’s because of their help that I had the opportunity to stand on the international stage and achieve a result like this."

In front of the TV, Liu Xiang’s father clenched his fists, suppressing his excitement. He didn’t pump his fist forcefully until the broadcast moved on to the next news story.

Then, he shot up from the sofa and turned to walk out.

"Old Liu, where are you going?" Liu Xiang’s mother asked, looking up from tidying the house.

That afternoon, leaders from the Sports Bureau and the sports academy, along with relatives, had already come to visit. Add in the television reporters, and it had been quite a commotion.

"Nowhere special. I’m just going for a stroll."

Liu Xiang’s father put on his shoes and left the house without a backward glance.

Liu Xiang’s mother shook her head. ’He just has to show off, doesn’t he?’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’a world champion... he’s earned the right to show off.’

And making the seven o’clock news was just the beginning.

Special reports on Modu Television’s sports channel, newspapers, the front-page headlines of major web portals.

Overnight, it seemed as if all of China knew Liu Xiang’s name.

12.93 seconds was truly groundbreaking.

When the track and field team returned to the Capital, Liu Xiang got a real taste of what it was like to be a sports star.

Everywhere he went, there were reporters, with cameras practically shoved in his face.

Outside the Sports Bureau, a red banner had been hung, congratulating Liu Xiang on his landmark achievement.

Yuan Weimin personally appeared on behalf of the Sports Bureau to host a reception for the track and field team that had brought glory to the nation.

And on the spot, he awarded Liu Xiang two hundred thousand in cash.

But that was far from the end of it.

After the reception, a leader from the Athletics Management Center pulled Liu Xiang aside to ask how many days he could stay in the country.

His upcoming schedule was already completely booked.

A special interview with CCTV, a trip back to Shanghai to attend receptions hosted by the local leadership and speak with the media there.

Many major newspapers had also scheduled exclusive interviews.

Then there were the commercial endorsements.

Sharp-eyed companies had already come knocking, inquiring about endorsement deals.

For example, the courier company EMS.

Nike also approached him at the first opportunity, hoping Liu Xiang could make time to shoot a promotional ad on short notice, and they proactively offered to increase his endorsement fee.

Afraid he wouldn’t have time, they were even willing to shoot it after he returned to the United States.

This time, Nike had really hit the jackpot.

Back when Liu Xiang was still unknown, Nike had been the first to extend an olive branch, and they had even signed him to a lifetime contract.

Also delighted was Coca-Cola, which had signed an endorsement deal with Liu Xiang last year.

At the time, it had been an experiment for Coca-Cola to sign a sports star. They never expected to hit the jackpot like this.

"Dr. Chen, is it like this for Yao Ming, too?" Liu Xiang asked Chen Yu a question in the hotel.

The sudden onslaught of attention was a huge shock to him.

And with it came exhaustion.

Every day was scheduled, making him feel like a puppet on a string, being pulled along with no personal life whatsoever.

Under these circumstances, if he still had to train and compete, he really felt it would affect his performance.

"What do you think? He’s a much bigger deal than you," Chen Yu said with a smile.

Yao Ming’s star power was far greater than Liu Xiang’s. From the moment he entered the NBA as the first overall pick, and on top of that joining the high-profile Lakers, the commercial development surrounding him had been non-stop.

"So, this is a test of your ability and wisdom—how to balance your life on and off the field. And most importantly, you need to have a clear understanding that your performance on the field is the core factor that determines everything you get."

When you have results, you’re adored by thousands. Once the results dry up, it’s no exaggeration to say they’ll abandon you in a heartbeat.

If you let all this praise go to your head and forget where you came from, that would be truly foolish.

Of course, if you realize you don’t truly have the talent to reach the absolute peak, there’s nothing wrong with cashing in while you can.

Take Kournikova, the "First Beauty of Tennis," for example. Didn’t she choose to retire at a young age to cash in?

But Liu Xiang clearly had the potential to go much further, so Chen Yu felt he had to give him this reminder.

Liu Xiang nodded, then said, "Dr. Chen, what time is your flight tomorrow? I’ll see you off."

After staying in the Capital for three days, Chen Yu was preparing to return to the United States the next day.

"No need. You have a ton of appearances. It wouldn’t be right to cancel them."

As for the Sports Bureau, Chen Yu had spoken with Yuan Weimin as soon as the reception ended that day.

Chen Yu first used the pretext of requesting compensation for Liu Xiang’s training costs, which was a perfectly reasonable demand.

Then, as a fallback, he proposed a new form of cooperation: his company would partner with the Sports Bureau to handle the commercial development for all their athletes, taking a commission in return.

In reality, the commercial development for sports like track and field was small potatoes.

After all, the commercial value of these sports was limited.

What Chen Yu ultimately wanted was the commercial development rights for soccer and basketball.

The sports agent industry in China was practically a desert.

And this was part of the business reform plan they had discussed previously.

Whether it would succeed or not remained to be seen; there was no final decision, as it was no small matter and involved significant interests.

But Chen Yu sensed that Yuan Weimin was leaning toward agreeing. ’He probably feels motivated to push for the commercialization of basketball and soccer. If this really comes to fruition, he might not have to retire. He could be rehired to work for a few more years. He’s only 65, after all. Working for another four years and retiring after the ’08 Olympics would be a truly perfect end to his career.’

But everything hinged on one precondition: Liu Xiang had to prove himself at this year’s Olympics, proving that concentrating resources to achieve results was a viable method.

「Back in Phoenix」

The Suns’ series against the Wolves was already over.

4-1. The Wolves hadn’t managed to stir up much of a storm.

In terms of star power and roster depth, the Wolves were still a considerable distance behind the Suns.

Meanwhile, the series between the Spurs and the Kings was not over yet.

But the Spurs were up 3-1 and would most likely take the series.

Chen Yu felt that the Kings had been resting on their laurels for the past two years. They were, of course, a top-tier team in the West, but they were still just that little bit short of a championship.

On the playoff stage, superstars were what mattered most.

Duncan, like O’Neal and Hardaway, was in a league of his own.

Over in the East, the Pistons had already eliminated the Pacers 4-2, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Magic, on the other hand, were still tangled up with the Knicks.

The Magic’s inside game was still a major problem.

But the Knicks had unexpectedly hit the jackpot with their 2002 selection of Stoudemire. The second-year player was already putting up a monstrous 20 and 9, leading countless New York fans to exclaim that they had found the next King of New York.

Plus, the Knicks were never afraid to spend money, so their roster was actually quite good.

’Still, it feels like the Magic have a better shot in the end.’

In the past two years, living up to his title as one of the "Four Great Shooting Guards," Tracy McGrady had been on an absolute tear, his fame even eclipsing Hill’s.

Unfortunately, the Magic had always been stingy and were unwilling to spend big.

’But thinking about it carefully from the Magic management’s perspective, they were in a tough spot. Their record wasn’t bad to begin with—they had made the Finals two years in a row, only to lose to the historic Five-star Phoenix Suns. A whole bunch of strong teams in the West couldn’t beat these Five-star Phoenix Suns, so what could they do? To bring in a top-tier big man, there has to be someone available on the market, and you need the assets to trade for them. And with a record this good, tanking for a high draft pick was even more impossible. Besides, they were making the Conference Finals and NBA Finals every year. What more could you ask for?’

Chen Yu didn’t have to worry about the team for now. The most important thing at hand was preparing for his television show and training camp.

The day after returning to Phoenix, Chen Yu went to visit the construction site.

After coming back from China in March, Chen Yu had rented another site and was having it renovated for his TV show and training camp.

At the time, he had wanted to rent a place near his clinic so it could be connected to the sports lab.

Unfortunately, there was nothing suitable nearby.

Buying land and building from scratch would be too slow.

After searching around, he finally chose a site five kilometers from the clinic.

It was an existing large warehouse that could be renovated extensively.

Two months had passed, and the basic renovations were almost complete.

Chen Yu didn’t rush them. As long as it was finished before the end of the season, it was fine.

"By the way, Matthew, have you identified any targets using the screening method we discussed?" Chen Yu asked, turning his head to a balding middle-aged man beside him.

His name was Matthew Negro. He was a veteran scout for the Suns, a former NCAA star player who hadn’t made it to the NBA. After languishing in the Development Alliance for a few years, he eventually switched careers to become a scout and had been working for the Suns for over seven years.

As the owner of the Suns, Chen Yu could certainly make use of the team’s scouting resources.

As for the show, open tryouts were one thing, but Chen Yu was well aware that the probability of finding a top prospect through them was too small.

If he only relied on open tryouts, he might end up picking a bunch of kids and, after tracking them for several years, find that not a single one made it to the NBA. That would be a joke.

He had to rely on a professional scouting system to discover potential talent in middle and high schools.

Even from a programming perspective, he needed a few main characters.

Chen Yu had previously discussed this with his company’s staff and the producers at ABC. They had tentatively decided to divide the show into two age groups.

One was for ages 14 to 16.

This age group basically consisted of freshmen and sophomores in high school.

By the time they were juniors or seniors, their potential would likely already be apparent, or they’d have been on the radar of NBA scouts for a while and could be considered for the draft.

At that point, it would be meaningless for Chen Yu to feature them on his show.

Focusing on freshmen and sophomores, who had just transitioned from middle school to high school, he might be able to discover some promising prospects through training.

The other group was for those under 14.

NBA scouts almost never paid attention to this age group, and players who excelled at this age weren’t guaranteed to pan out in high school or college.

But for an open tryout, casting a wide net to screen them wouldn’t be a problem.

Negro thought for a moment and said, "There are quite a few suitable options. But Chen, I do have a suggestion. We could find a super-prospect like James. That would ensure our show doesn’t fail."

"You mean find a sure-thing type of player?" Chen Yu asked in return.

’It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement, a safety net to prevent the show from becoming a laughingstock if no one made it to the NBA in the end.’

"Is there a player like that available?"

’There can’t be many players like James, who created such a huge buzz while shining so brightly in high school, right?’

Negro smiled. "Actually, there is one. He’s from my hometown, Indianapolis. A player from Lawrence North High School. His name is Greg Oden. He’s a sophomore this year and has already been named the national high school player of the year. The last person to do that just so happened to be James."