China, QHD Men’s Basketball Training Base.

In preparation for this year’s FIBA World Championship, the National Team had officially assembled in early May.

The National Team players were all housed in Building Five, in double-occupancy rooms.

At six in the morning, Liu Wei was woken by a rustling sound. Groggy, he poked his head out and saw that his roommate, Yao Ming, was already up.

"What are you doing up so early?" Liu Wei mumbled, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Couldn’t sleep."

Yao Ming gave a bashful smile. He was holding a washbasin, having already finished washing up. It was late May, and the weather in QHD was starting to get hot and muggy; you could break a sweat without even moving.

Wearing a tank top and baggy shorts, Yao Ming sat down at the desk and opened his laptop.

"Don’t wake me up, I’m still tired. We have practice later," Liu Wei muttered, turning over to go back to sleep.

The sun rose early, and so did their training sessions.

They had to assemble for morning drills a little after seven.

But as he lay there, he didn’t hear the familiar sounds of Counter-Strike.

"Damn, you really weren’t going to wake me?" Liu Wei asked, rolling over.

A short distance away, Yao Ming had his back to him. There was no game on his computer screen.

Without turning around, Yao Ming said, "I’m not playing games. Go back to sleep, I’ll wake you in a bit."

But Liu Wei was already sitting up, fumbling for his phone. "Obviously. I’m already awake, how can I go back to sleep? What are you up to?"

He got up and, scratching his messy bedhead, glanced at the computer screen.

He was just surfing the internet. The webpage open was Sina Sports, filled with reports about the NBA draft lottery.

"Oh right, the lottery is today in the United States, isn’t it?" Liu Wei realized, then grinned. "You’re not taking interviews from reporters, and you told us not to talk about the draft. I almost thought you really didn’t care."

He pulled over a chair and sat down, asking if the results were out yet.

Yao Ming gave an awkward laugh. ’Of course I care.’

The draft itself was still a ways off, but since the media in the United States was predicting he’d be a top-three pick, the lottery results would likely tell him which team he’d be joining.

You could say that today would, in all likelihood, decide his future.

"It hasn’t started yet. Anyway, there’s a live stream online, so we’ll know soon." Sina Sports had a text-based live feed that would update with news from the United States as it happened.

Of course, his agent team, far away in the United States, would also tell him the results immediately.

Liu Wei said, "Oh," and leaned in to glance at some reports and comments. Then he said, "You know, it’d be great if you went to the Bulls. The Bulls! Jordan’s team."

"The Warriors would be good too. I remember you said when you went to Chicago, you met Mulin, right? And Chamberlain, and Rick Barry. So badass."

Yao Ming sighed. ’The Bulls are probably a long shot.’ When he was in the United States, he had read the media analysis. They said that even if the Bulls got the number one pick, they would most likely choose Jay Williams. They just didn’t need a center.

’Besides, Jordan is with the Wizards now.’

As for the Warriors, they also had a bunch of centers and probably wouldn’t pick him either.

"Then the Grizzlies," Liu Wei said.

Yao Ming shook his head again. The Grizzlies had just drafted Pau Gasol last year, so it was unlikely they’d pick another big man.

Liu Wei pursed his lips. "So none of the top three? Doesn’t that mean you’ll slide to fourth? And here I thought you were a lock for the number one pick."

He didn’t know about the foreign media, but back home, the Chinese media reports generally said Yao Ming could be the number one pick. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Who told you I was a lock for number one?" Yao Ming said, startled. He quickly shook his head in denial and told Liu Wei not to go around saying such things.

"I know, I know." Liu Wei waved his hand impatiently. Yao Ming had said this more than once. "Well, in that case, it has to be the Suns."

The Suns have the Cavaliers’ first-round pick, the fourth pick.

"That’s not certain either." Yao Ming shook his head. ’When it comes to probabilities, you can never be sure. No one knows what will happen until the final results are out.’

Liu Wei shook his head and pursed his lips. "The troubles of the rich. I read a report that said if you’re the number one pick, you can get a contract worth 4 million US dollars in your first year. A year! Four million US dollars! That’s almost thirty million yuan."

He counted on his fingers, his face full of envy.

If he had that much money, he wouldn’t even know how to spend it.

"Feels like you could buy the entire Bund," Liu Wei said with a grin.

Yao Ming shot Liu Wei a speechless look and rolled his eyes. ’Buy the Bund? You couldn’t even afford Pudong. And what kind of math is that? Some generous rounding you’re doing, huh?’

"It’s not that much. You have to pay taxes, and then there’s the buyout fee."

At the mention of the buyout fee, Yao Ming’s voice suddenly grew heavy.

The Eastern Team hadn’t agreed to a final number yet. They were probably waiting for the draft results to see what they could demand. But the thought of giving the Eastern Team so much money was painful.

’Real silver and gold.’

Add to that the agent’s fees... sometimes when Yao Ming calculated it all, he realized that no matter how high his salary was, there wouldn’t be much left over.

’Of course,’ he thought, ’it’s still countless times more than what I earn now.’

Liu Wei tactfully changed the subject away from the buyout fee. After a moment’s thought, he asked, "What about you? Where do you want to go? The Suns? I heard them say that General Manager Li really wants you to go to the Suns."

Yao Ming crossed his arms and thought seriously for a moment before saying, "Actually, I’d really like to go to the Suns myself."

"Why?" Liu Wei was taken aback.

Yao Ming said, "The Suns are pretty strong, a playoff-caliber team. And they have J Kidd and Hardaway, who can pass me the ball."

At the mention of J Kidd and Hardaway, an excited expression appeared on Liu Wei’s face. "Penny! If you really go to the Suns, you have to get me Hardaway’s autograph."

As a guard, a point guard no less, he had almost no resistance to a player like Hardaway—a tall point guard with magical passing, the heir apparent to Jordan, with all the buffs stacked.

Yao Ming smiled and nodded. "That’s one thing. And they also have Olajuwon and Ewing."

Although his own idol was Sabonis, as a center, it was just like how any guard would want to play with Jordan—who wouldn’t want to play with a center of Olajuwon’s caliber?

"Most importantly, you know their team doctor, right?" Yao Ming’s lips curved into a slight smile. "He’s Chinese-American. I just feel that going all the way to the United States... it would be much better to have a fellow countryman on the team. Oh, and his Chinese is really good."

In a foreign land, meeting someone from your homeland who looks like you always feels much more comforting.

Liu Wei nodded in agreement. "You’re right. When you lay it all out like that, the Suns are definitely the best choice. But they’re projected for the fourth pick, so the odds aren’t high. But it’s fine. Like you just said, the Bulls and Warriors won’t pick you, and the Grizzlies probably won’t either. So if it goes in that order, the Suns can just take you with the fourth pick."

Yao Ming shook his head. ’It’s all a matter of probability. You can never be sure about these things.’

Seeing that it would still be a while before the results were out, Liu Wei got up to wash his face in the bathroom.

Yao Ming kept his eyes glued to the screen, waiting for an update.

In the text live-feed chat, many users were also discussing the draft results.

The phone on the desk vibrated.

Yao Ming picked it up. It was a familiar reporter, wanting to ask his thoughts.

Yao Ming definitely wasn’t going to reveal his thoughts to the public. As he held his phone, thinking about how to reply, he refreshed the comment section. Suddenly, someone posted a new comment.

"The results are in from the United States! The Suns got the number one pick!"

Immediately, a flood of replies followed, asking if it was true.

A jolt went through Yao Ming, and he immediately sat up straight.

If he could choose, all other things being equal, Yao Ming would much rather pick the Suns.

Although analysis suggested that the Suns would have a high probability of picking him even if the draft order held, to be safe, Yao Ming still hoped the Suns would be lucky enough to get the number one pick.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to be the number one pick in the NBA?

But after posting that one message, the person went silent.

Sina Sports hadn’t updated either, so Yao Ming couldn’t be sure if the news was real or fake.

Just as the comment section exploded into chaos, two minutes later, the live feed updated.

"It’s confirmed! The Suns have won the number one pick with a 12% chance! The results for the second pick will be announced shortly."

Yao Ming’s eyes flew wide open.

’They actually got it!’

"Liu Wei!" Yao Ming shouted excitedly toward the bathroom.

"What is it?"

Liu Wei rushed out of the bathroom with a head full of foam, urgently asking if the results were in.

Yao Ming nodded. "They’re in. It’s the Suns. The Suns got the number one pick."

Liu Wei quickly rushed over to glance at the computer screen and exclaimed, "Holy crap, are the Suns really that lucky?"

A 12% chance wasn’t tiny, but it definitely wasn’t large either.

Especially with the Bulls and Warriors ahead of them, both with 22% odds.

Yao Ming clenched his fists and pumped them in excitement. He wanted to shout to release his joy, but his shy nature held him back. All he could do was stomp his feet on the spot, bursting with pent-up emotion.

Just then, Liu Wei suddenly turned his head. "Wait, what if the Suns don’t pick you?"

With the number one pick, they could choose anyone they wanted. There were dozens of players to pick from; they weren’t guaranteed to choose Yao Ming.

At the peak of his excitement, Yao Ming froze.

"Oh... right." Yao Ming slumped back into his chair, deflated. It had to be a mutual decision. He wanted to go to the Suns, but they also had to want him.

He thought back to his two-day workout in Chicago. Because of the tight schedule, he hadn’t actually spoken much with Brian or Chen Yu.

And ever since Chen Yu and his group came to Shanghai in February, the Suns had never once explicitly said they would pick him.

That trip was purely for scouting.

’Now that they’ve unexpectedly gotten the number one pick, they might not choose me after all.’

’They could even trade the pick.’

The chances of that were low, but you could never be sure.

Liu Wei realized his words had hit a little too hard and quickly backtracked. "Don’t worry! They came all this way to scout you, how could they not pick you? Just relax, it’s a sure thing. They’ll definitely pick you."

Yao Ming gave a bitter smile and sat back down.

Liu Wei’s comment had completely killed his mood.

Just then, the live feed updated with a few screenshots from the live television broadcast.

Chen Yu was there representing the Suns, sitting at the final lottery ceremony.

It seemed the lottery result had also taken Chen Yu by surprise; he was staring at the camera with a completely blank look on his face.