Sports Medicine Master System

Although Chen Yu’s face didn’t show much emotion, Negro was confident it was a done deal.

’There was no way Oden would refuse!’

For a player like Oden, who had his sights set on the NBA, getting on a television show—let alone one of Chen Yu’s—was an irresistible opportunity to increase his exposure.

It was just like the previous prospect training camp.

After the results were announced, the hype around Howard clearly surpassed that of Okafor.

Before, it had been a toss-up, with opinions split evenly between who was better, Howard or Okafor.

But now, Howard clearly had the edge over Okafor.

All because Chen Yu had written in his evaluation that Howard possessed all-time great athletic talent.

He had also given Howard the only "Hall of Fame-caliber" rating among all of this year’s prospects.

A critique like that was equivalent to an endorsement from a legend—a top-tier letter of recommendation that would be a massive boost to a player’s future.

If anyone doubted it, they just had to ask Wade what he thought.

"Let’s go." Chen Yu told Negro to get in the vehicle.

But just as he settled into the SUV and was about to close the door, Chen Yu noticed Oden running toward them from a distance.

Chen Yu waved a hand at the driver, then waited for Oden to reach the vehicle.

’This kid is fast.’

"Sir." Oden was still a little nervous and stammered slightly. "That spot on the TV show you mentioned... is there only one? I have two friends, and they’re incredible players, really good. Can they go too?"

After a pause, Oden clenched his jaw. "If there really is only one spot, can I give it to someone else? I honestly think he’s a better player than me and deserves this opportunity more."

"Oh?"

Chen Yu didn’t rush to ask who this teammate was. Instead, he asked, "Greg, you need to think carefully about what you’d be giving up. This is an opportunity that could even make you the number one draft pick."

’Based on Oden’s current trajectory, he’ll most likely be the first overall pick anyway.’

’But with my recommendation, his status as the top pick would be even more of a lock.’

Oden gave a wry smile and nodded. "Of course I understand that, but I feel like they need this opportunity more than I do."

Chen Yu nodded to himself.

During their earlier conversation, Chen Yu had already noticed that Oden was actually very smart. His manner of speaking was logical, and his comprehension and reasoning skills were excellent.

This lined up with what Negro had said about him getting good grades in school.

So he must feel that since he already had more talent and a higher profile, it would be a waste for him to be on the show. His friends, on the other hand, had a lower profile and needed the opportunity to get more attention.

’He’s pretty confident, though.’

’But that kind of selflessness is also quite rare.’

"By the way, what are the names of these two you mentioned?" Chen Yu asked.

Oden’s eyes lit up. "One is Mike Conley," he said quickly. "He’s a great passer. The other is DeQuan Cook. He’s a great shooter and can hit threes."

Chen Yu beckoned to Negro.

Negro caught on, immediately grabbing his backpack. He pulled out a stack of scouting reports, shuffled through them, and handed two over.

Chen Yu flashed the two reports at Oden. "I’ll consider it. If it’s a go, I’ll let you know."

With that, he pressed the button to close the door.

"What’s the story on these two?" Chen Yu asked in the car, flipping through the scouting reports.

A scouting report was one thing, but Chen Yu was more interested in hearing the professional opinion of a career scout like Negro.

Negro thought for a moment. "Personally, I think this Mike Conley might have more potential. He’s very fast, reads the court well, and he’s a player who uses his head."

"As for Cook, he didn’t leave much of an impression. There are a dime a dozen players like him in high school. We’ll have to see how he develops."

Chen Yu nodded. ’It’s already a good sign that Negro even remembered his name.’

’As for Conley, being described as a player who ’uses his head’ was already high praise.’

’A point guard can be short, slow, or a poor shooter, but if he doesn’t use his head, he’s destined to not last long in the NBA.’

"Oh, right. This Conley’s father was a track and field athlete—a world champion in the triple jump. So Conley’s vertical should be pretty good."

That was the theory, anyway. Negro hadn’t seen many of Conley’s games; he just subconsciously assumed that having a world champion triple jumper for a father meant the kid’s jumping ability had to be good.

"Then add them to the list."

Chen Yu casually handed the scouting reports back.

’In for a penny, in for a pound,’ he thought. ’It’s like buying lottery tickets—the more you buy, the better your odds of winning.’

As the car entered the highway, Chen Yu thought for a moment and asked, "Besides Oden, are there any other outstanding players under sixteen?"

’Sixteen this year means players born in or after 1988.’

’From that standpoint, Conley and Cook don’t qualify, since they were both born in ’87.’

High school basketball in the United States was very well-developed. High schools with strong basketball programs generally had three tiers of teams.

First was the Freshman Team, generally composed of freshmen and sophomores. It was like a preparatory team with a wide range of skill levels, open to any student interested in basketball.

Next was the Junior Varsity Team, composed of juniors selected from the Freshman Team. This was the official reserve team.

Finally, there was the Varsity Team, the official school team, which was mostly made up of seniors.

The team they had just watched was the Varsity Team.

Therefore, any player who could make the Varsity Team as a freshman or sophomore was a true prodigy.

By junior year, their potential was already considered somewhat lower.

This reminded Chen Yu of the previous discussions about developing school basketball programs in China.

’The level of professionalism and participation there is just so far behind.’

’If the foundation were better, I would never have suggested Yuan Weimin take the sports academy route for basketball.’

"Let me think," Negro said, stroking his chin as he tried to remember.

After a long moment, he shook his head. "Sorry, Chen, I really can’t think of anyone like Oden who made such a huge splash as a freshman or sophomore. And there’s no point in mentioning the ordinary ones."

Unless they were a player on Oden’s level, it was meaningless to bring them up.

"But looking at it another way," Negro added with a smile, "for a player like Oden to get this much attention as a sophomore just proves he’s a true prodigy."

Chen Yu nodded and didn’t press the matter.

The idea for this show had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

No one had ever done anything like it before, so Chen Yu had no idea if it would succeed.

The first season could be treated as a pilot, an experiment.

It would be great if it succeeded, but if it failed, it wouldn’t have a major impact on Chen Yu.

With Oden as a lock and Rose, whom Chen Yu also had high hopes for, he had more than enough.

Even without those two, Chen Yu had another candidate in mind.

Stephen Curry!

The kid was only a sophomore but had already established himself as a starter on the varsity team at Shadow Mountain High School.

Having trained his body and skills with Chen Yu over the past few years, he was far superior to his peers in technique, court awareness, and physicality, even though his 5’8" height was a limitation.

His only problem right now was his height.

Old Curry constantly bugged Chen Yu about it, even asking if there were any methods to induce a growth spurt.

In terms of raw physical talent, Little Curry was clearly lacking.

But perhaps because he had been around him so much and knew him so well, Chen Yu always felt the kid had a certain indescribable quality, a unique aura that suggested he was destined for great things.

「Back in Phoenix」

The playoffs were still raging.

Aside from his work at the clinic, Chen Yu was incredibly busy.

Driven players whose regular seasons had ended had taken a short vacation and were now trickling into Phoenix, looking for Chen Yu to handle their physical conditioning and tune-ups, and to train with the team.

J Kidd, for example, still hadn’t sold his house in Phoenix. He returned every Summer to work on his game.

These NBA stars had to find trainers to work with every summer anyway, and nowhere in the entire United States could they find a more professional or safer training facility than the one Chen Yu provided.

Kobe and Yao Ming, both having been eliminated from the playoffs, had also arrived.

Yao Ming would soon be returning to China to prepare for this year’s Olympics.

A group of rookies from the Pioneer had also arrived and were training daily at the sports lab to improve their skills.

Nelson was in charge of all this training, though Chen Yu would occasionally stop by to check in.

On May 22nd, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Phoenix Suns and the Spurs tipped off.

The day before, the entire Phoenix Suns team had come to Chen Yu’s clinic for one last physical tune-up before heading to San Antonio.

After several days of rest and a full physical tune-up, the Phoenix Suns were in peak condition.

Chen Yu didn’t plan to travel with the team to San Antonio.

’It’s only the first game. Let’s see how they do. We can reassess if things go south.’

That morning, a little after ten, Chen Yu pulled up to the sports lab, the engine of his little roadster roaring.

By the time he arrived, quite a few people were already training.

Kobe and Yao Ming were both there.

Chen Yu stood on the sidelines, making small talk with Kobe.

They were mostly discussing parenting.

Kobe was more experienced in this area and was happy to share his child-rearing tips with Chen Yu.

It was usually Chen Yu teaching him how to train, so it was a rare reversal of roles. Seeing Chen Yu humbly asking for advice filled Kobe with a deep sense of satisfaction.

Vanessa had come to Phoenix with Kobe, and her baby bump was quite noticeable now.

They had found out the sex: it was a boy.

The guy now had both a son and a daughter, and he often talked to Chen Yu about how he planned to train his son to take over his basketball legacy when he grew up.

As soon as Kobe walked away, James, who was standing nearby, came over to greet Chen Yu.

The superstar phenom was also incredibly driven. The moment his season ended, he had rushed to Phoenix after only a short rest, eager to improve his skills.

He mainly wanted to work on his shot.

Chen Yu and Nelson were in the process of discussing how to improve it.

The iron ball training regimen was already on the schedule, but they still needed to find a shooting form that suited him.

Trailing behind him was Little Curry.

It was Saturday. As long as it was a weekend and his school didn’t have a game, Little Curry would be here to train.

Knowing he was undersized, he trained incredibly hard.

And somehow, he had gotten chummy with James.

Chen Yu later asked and found out the two of them were actually born in the same hospital.

It was pure serendipity.