NBA, Yao Ming is back!

On the afternoon of the day the physical tests ended, no contact training was scheduled for the entire training camp.

The process was simple and tedious, consisting entirely of a lengthy opening ceremony.

A makeshift stage was set up at the main venue of the Paris training camp, where several Nike officials took turns giving speeches.

It's nothing more than repeating the training camp rules, clarifying the precautions for daily training, emphasizing player discipline, and incidentally touting Nike's international youth training development philosophy.

The speaker on stage delivered a long and tedious speech, entirely in fluent English. Most of the European players in the arena listened to it without any difficulty; their native languages ​​are similar, making comprehension effortless. Yao Ming, standing in the crowd, listened fluently and smoothly throughout.

Having spent years playing in the NBA in his previous life, he was already used to speaking in English in daily communication, tactical meetings, and interviews. This kind of slow, official speech was no challenge for him at all.

Liu Wei, standing beside him, however, was a completely different person.

He stood straight, his body stiff, his ears trying to catch the English syllables around him, but the dense string of unfamiliar words was impossible to decipher quickly.

It sounds like bird language.

This made him anxious, and he could only look around at the foreign players who seemed calm and collected. He felt inexplicably flustered and uncomfortable all over.

His scratching his head and cheeks revealed his unease.

After all, there are probably not many people here who don't understand English.

The basketball market in Asia is too small; the authorities have overlooked this issue.

Midway through the ceremony, Liu Wei quietly moved closer to Yao Ming, lowered his body, and asked Yao Ming in a very soft voice if he could translate it briefly.

Judging from Yao Ming's head-shaking and swaying, he seemed to understand most of what he was saying.

Ok?

I almost forgot, Liu Wei doesn't speak English.

Yao Ming made no extra movements, his gaze remained fixed on the podium, his lips slightly parted, and he spoke very softly, simply and plainly relaying the key rules that the official had just mentioned to Liu Wei.

From training assembly times to the prohibition of leaving the training area without permission, and the refereeing standards for intra-team scrimmages, everything was explained clearly and concisely.

In just a few minutes, Liu Wei's tense nerves completely relaxed.

"How come I didn't know your English was so good?"

In his memory, Yao Ming rarely spoke foreign languages ​​on his own initiative, and usually only communicated in Chinese.

No one could have imagined that Yao Ming could understand the entire speech, delivered at a fast pace in English, and even accurately extract the key points to translate for himself.

Why did you practice English since you were little?

When they were born, they probably enjoyed the slogan of "Down with American imperialism" when they were young (this is true, Yao Ming said in his autobiography), so they would not have bothered to learn English.

Students at sports schools, needless to say, simply say, "I am Chinese, why should I speak English?"

It evokes countless memories for many.

But explaining this kind of problem is not a problem. Faced with his friend's doubts, Yao Ming casually glanced at the side of the venue and his eyes lit up.

There stood a group of cheerleading girls in brightly colored dance costumes, all local young women, tall and strikingly beautiful. He casually tilted his head and nudged Liu Wei lightly with his elbow.

"See those cheerleaders over there?"

Liu Wei subconsciously followed the gaze, paused for a moment, and then nodded honestly.

Do you like it?

The question was direct and simple. Liu Wei's cheeks flushed slightly, and he nodded hesitantly again without saying a word.

"Then why don't you study English properly?"

Liu Wei: !!!

That one short sentence left Liu Wei speechless.

He stood there, speechless for a long time, his eyes showing a clear change.

From initial shock to bewilderment, and finally to genuine "gritting teeth"!

It's too deep.

This guy was hiding his true abilities very well.

How could I not have thought of that?!

Just as Liu Wei secretly resolved to learn English, the tedious speech ended.

The training camp officially entered the professional training phase the next morning.

Today's schedule consists entirely of basic skills tests, accompanied by professional movement instruction. The coaching staff is comprised of several retired NBA assistant trainers specially hired by Nike.

These trainers have formal coaching qualifications and have served NBA lower-level teams for many years. Although they cannot compare with those senior trainers and their clients are mostly bench players and G League players, they are sufficient for these young international talents.

Who can blame them when the United States is now the undisputed number one basketball nation in the world?

These past few Dream Teams have really made a splash.

It's not the kind where they just expose your buttocks from behind.

The first thing to do is basic physical coordination training. The team members lined up in neat rows and practiced agility ladders repeatedly to hone their basic defensive footwork and correct their footwork habits.

Afterwards, the entire team underwent ball handling training, including various stationary dribbling, crossover dribbling, and high and low dribbling, to enhance their ball control.

After the basic training, everyone moved to the designated shooting area, where the trainer corrected each person's shooting form, release arc, and power rhythm.

With the basic projects completed, training was divided into internal and external specialized tracks.

Inside players were divided into separate groups to focus on refining their low-post footwork, post-up game power generation skills, and close-range hook shot.

At the same time, practice rebounding and positioning repeatedly, learn to make good use of body width to block people, master the logic of rebounding and exerting force, and polish the basic tactical cooperation of screen and cut to the basket.

Perimeter players should focus on controlling the pace of dribbling and penetration, dismantling pick-and-rolls, and developing court vision for passing.

In addition, a lot of time is spent practicing off-ball movement, learning cuts, going around screens, and baseline runs to fit the European and American basketball tactical system.

The group of European prodigies around him listened attentively and meticulously imitated the movements. Nowitzki, Gasol, Kirilenko, and others remained focused and serious throughout, strictly following the trainer's instructions to complete each set of movements.

Yao Ming, however, seemed out of place.

The main reason is that his movements are too standard.

Several standard trainers lingered their gazes on him for a while as they walked past him.

Moreover, if you pay close attention, you'll notice that they provided detailed explanations for everyone except Yao Ming.

No one talked to him much, because there was nothing to say.

It was done to such a perfect standard.

That's for sure. He's been trained in the NBA system, NBA standards, and NBA training methods since he was a child.

In addition, he already had All-Star memories in this area.

His trainer is a star, not someone of this caliber.

Therefore, doing this kind of training is just a waste of time.

His main reason for coming here is to improve his ranking in the competition.

This teaching material is more than enough to instruct the young players in front of them. But for Yao Ming, who has professional experience from his previous life and is well-versed in the logic of modern basketball training science, it has no learning value whatsoever.

Some of the knowledge points are even outdated.

They will be eliminated by the league soon.

He was too lazy to put on a show, nor did he want to pretend to be serious.

All you need to do is complete the training step by step, not hold the team back, and not leave a bad impression on the coach.

"Hey Yao, why do you seem so unenthusiastic during training? You need to concentrate when you're working."

Yao Ming took one look and exclaimed, "Hey, isn't this the veteran driver?"

No, it's the junior driver now.

Nowitzki's eyes were pure, his tone kind, without sarcasm or disdain. He simply felt that Yao Ming, with his exceptional talent, shouldn't waste his potential and should take every training session seriously.

Looking at the earnest-looking white German boy in front of him, Yao Ming couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

Nowitzki was an upright and reserved person with a simple and kind heart. His ingrained meticulousness made him meticulous in everything he did.

This is also a characteristic of Germans.

"I'm very serious, but if you want to be a star player, you have to practice something else."

"What do you mean? It's hard for us inside players to become stars and attract fans, right?" Nowitzki was a little curious, mainly because he didn't expect Yao Ming's English to be so standard.

They seem to be even more standard-bearers than I am.

"Practicing this kind of thing will definitely not attract fans. Even if you go to the NBA, you can only play on the bench. We are supposed to be star players, and star players should act like star players."

"For example, the signature move we want to create."

"Show off your one-legged stance!"

what?

Standing on one leg?

What do you mean by "standing on one leg like a rooster"?

The young driver looked on curiously, not understanding what it meant.

Yao Ming slapped his forehead, "Oh dear, he doesn't know how to do this now, after all, the driver isn't a draft pick this year."

He had always had a very good impression of the driver, or rather, in the entire NBA, except for the peak Big Three that the driver destroyed.

There shouldn't be many people who have a bad impression of him.

"Remember this, little driver, if you want to be a star athlete, you need to have a different mindset."

"Every player needs a signature move, but what is a signature move?"

"Remember three points."

Yao Ming's earnest attempt to deceive someone is rare; such opportunities to deceive top NBA stars are rare, only possible when one is a child.

"The first thing is to be flamboyant."

"The second point is that you have to be handsome."

"The third point is that he's both flamboyant and handsome."

"If you have all three of these, then it's a good signature move. Let me demonstrate it for you."

After speaking, Yao Ming turned around, lifted his pivot foot, slightly bent his knee, and then leaned back gracefully.

The basketball is shot.

Clang...

Missed the mark.

"Oh dear, I haven't practiced this move much lately. This doesn't count, let's try again."

But Yao Ming didn't expect that even though the shot missed, it would instantly ignite Nowitzki's interest.

The young driver watched Yao Ming's figure, especially his handsome... blacksmithing move just now.

It seemed to have stimulated his soul and left a deep impression on his mind.

I just can't shake it off.

Handsome!

So cool!

Is this what they mean by being both flamboyant and handsome?

Is this what they call a signature move?

study!

I must learn it myself!

"that……"

"Yao, the training camp scrimmage starts tomorrow. Can I be on your team?"

ha?

Seeing the driver's expression, Yao Ming was stunned for a moment. It seemed that being in a team with the driver wasn't so bad. In any case, as far as he remembered, no one had ever wanted to team up with him when he came here.

"Sure, then you can come with me."

Yao Ming said generously, glancing slightly out of the corner of his eye, actually worried that the driver might not be willing.

Basketball is a team sport, and it's quite difficult to play without teammates.

My teammates in my previous life were really...

It sucks.

The driver was overjoyed, thinking that he must take advantage of this training camp to learn the training techniques for this move.

Then you'll have your own cool signature move.

I can be a star player myself.

"Hey, I'll treat you to German food sometime!"

Yao Ming: ...

German food?

Are there any recipes for Germany?

Let's skip that then.

"By the way, Yao, what's your nickname?"

People on the basketball court like to give each other nicknames, after all, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

"My name is Dino, the little dinosaur of the primitive man. Everyone calls me that because I like to stick my tongue out when I play ball."

"And you?"

"I?"

Yao Ming thought for a moment, looked at Nowitzki's face, and said, "They call me the Chinese Chariot."

"You could also call him a seasoned Chinese driver."

After hearing this, Nowitzki paused for a moment, and after a few seconds, seeing Yao Ming turn and leave, he quietly said:

"So cool!"

"I want to choose a similar nickname from now on!"

"It has to be as cool as this!"

Ok.

That's the decision.

The young driver clenched his fist.

He secretly made up his mind.

P.S.: The new leader has been born, the old leader has returned, and the old leader has arrived! I can only say that I'll owe you your updates for now, and I'll pay you back when the book is released!

And then, as I must say, the Alliance Leader is mighty!!!