Champion Creed
Chapter 625 - 625 221 If you don't stir things up do you find life to be boring

625: 221: If you don’t stir things up, do you find life to be boring?

(Asking for monthly tickets!)_2 625: 221: If you don’t stir things up, do you find life to be boring?

(Asking for monthly tickets!)_2 Although it was just an exhibition game, a face-saving Barkley still admonished Pippen, “What the hell are you doing, tighten up on defense!”

Pippen, unconcerned, said, “I’ll shut this kid down in the second half for sure.”

As a result, Nowitzki erupted for 52 points for the entire game.

That’s right, 52 points.

But no matter what, it was just an exhibition game.

Pippen was playing with a casual attitude, and no one truly believed that a German high schooler could blow Pippen away.

So, Nowitzki remained largely invisible.

What really garnered some attention for Nowitzki in the American basketball scene was at this year’s Nike Hoop Summit, where Nowitzki scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading Team World to a comeback victory over the United States team.

However, that game only made the U.S.

college basketball scene notice Nowitzki.

After the game, Dirk received invitations from 10 Division I universities.

But as for the NBA, Nowitzki himself answered, “I might never make it to play in the NBA.”

Such self-assessment from an ex-tennis player who hadn’t even played in Germany’s top basketball league wasn’t sarcasm.

This is Nowitzki, switch his birthplace to China, then with a 21st-century perspective, you might understand it this way:

A 17-year-old basketball influencer who makes short videos, hasn’t played in the CBA, nor has been selected for the national youth team, just training individually with a national team player, normally just playing streetball.

Although he had a decent performance in an exhibition game with NBA stars, he had never played any serious competition.

And yet, someone is thinking about picking him in the lottery area.

It’s simply unthinkable.

You see, at that time, international players were automatically entered into the draft at age 18.

So, Nowitzki had not even considered the draft himself; he lacked confidence.

But someone just had to pick him.

Well, if two people make an unthinkable decision at the same time, maybe Nowitzki really did have something special.

As Pete Babcock knew, Old Nelson from the Mavericks had also gone crazy, being very optimistic about this German lad.

He had even flown to Wurzburg personally to recruit Nowitzki.

However, most people just took it as a smokescreen.

No one knew if the Mavericks truly intended to draft the German.

Pete Babcock confirmed again, “Really?

Dirk Nowitzki?

What’s the reason?”

“He will be one of the strongest power forwards on offense in the future league; it’s as simple as that.”

“Everyone knows that the 52 points Dirk hung on Scott’s head don’t count.”

Roger laughed, “Pete, if a high schooler blew me away, I’d also say I wasn’t playing defense seriously.

By the way, don’t tell Scott!”

“Alright, alright, let’s assume Dirk is a genius.

But if Old Nelson snatches him before us, we need a second choice; give me another name.”

“Come on, who’s going to snatch a German high school kid?

That won’t happen, go with peace of mind, Pete.”

In Roger’s memory, Nowitzki seemed to have been selected at the ninth pick.

The Hawks were at the eighth pick, and Nowitzki wasn’t a hot prospect in the draft.

So, he wouldn’t be intercepted.

Well, he shouldn’t be, right?

The next day, the 1998 NBA Draft was held in the General Motors Place in Vancouver, Canada.

For the second time in four years, the NBA Draft came to the North.

This year’s number one pick, selected by the great Elgin Baylor.

He unhesitatingly took that number 34 from Nigeria, standing at 213 cm tall with a wingspan of 233 cm.

Because he wore jersey number 34, and his name also started with an ‘O’ and followed with a long string of letters, at a glance, you might really think you were watching Olajuwon play.

Although his basketball experience was brief, Elgin Baylor believed it was the least likely choice to be wrong.

How could Baylor know that, years later, team analysts would show him reports on Olowokandi and Olajuwon, and Baylor would immediately discern that the higher numbers were of the younger Olowokandi.

The analyst then told him, “The one with the higher numbers is the older Dream, and the one with lower numbers is the prime Kandi Man.”

But at least for now, Baylor was happy.

In the world of basketball, choosing a tall center with a long reach almost couldn’t be wrong.

Even though the Kandi Man’s skills were still quite raw, Baylor believed that skills could be practiced.

The truly precious thing was the physical aspect.

No matter how much O’Neal practiced, his poor reach wouldn’t increase even slightly.

Elgin Baylor was quite proud, did people say he was a disaster as a general manager?

Ha, this time I’ll smash your faces!

What Baylor didn’t know was that the Kandi Man couldn’t save him.

The only one who could save him was the Baby-Faced Assassin, the general manager.

Compared to the Baby-Faced Assassin, Baylor might not seem so bad.

The second pick, Vancouver Grizzlies chose Mike Bibby, a white guard from a sports family.

The third pick, the Nuggets chose the “Gentleman Thug” from the University of Kansas, a big center who loved classical music but enjoyed blocking every opponent’s layup, Raef LaFrentz.

Roger, watching these top three draft picks, shook his head.

Not to mention Bibby, after all, he was a player whose capabilities exceeded his statistics.

But LaFrentz and the Kandi Man…

Roger felt just like when you see a friend select a hideously wrinkled fruit in KTV, and you can’t help but murmur to yourself, “Isn’t there anyone who knows how to play?”