Chapter Five: The Invitation of the Lake People

  Yue Feng asked if Baynam had a chance to join the Lakers.

  Baynam is very realistic, asking what he answers. He thinks this is likely, but a bit adventurous, Ye Feng's shooting is really bad, and the attack area only has the basket, which must be face-to-face and not back-to-back. This makes it difficult to get a guaranteed contract. The only thing that can be relied upon is his defense, in one-on-one defense, his strength will make many inside players feel uncomfortable, if the opponent uses block-and-tackle cooperation, after switching defenses, Ye Feng's speed will definitely keep up with most of the guards, as long as he trains for a while, his defensive coordination ability will not be bad either.

  Ye Feng also knows that purely defensive players are hard to get high salaries, but he is now more inclined to non-draft into the NBA, and plans to slowly improve his attacking level after entering the league. Joining the UCLA basketball team for a year of training and getting more attention before participating in the draft would be safe, but it would take up a year of time, and most importantly, if he participates in the draft, it will be difficult for him to join the Lakers. Unlike many young players who joined the NBA too early, he is not tempted by money, but wants to win a championship ring. He doesn't care much about money, even if he signs for the minimum salary, he will still have tens of millions of dollars. This is already a lot of money for him, who has been poor for a long time.

  Even if it's the first round, what if I'm selected by the Timberwolves or Raptors and have to go to a cold place that's depressing? Yefeng made up his mind and asked again: "An Zhu, can you recommend me like the draft group? If I participate in the preseason, I hope to try out for the Lakers."

  "Ha! You really want to switch to basketball? If you sign with the Lakers, we'd be teammates. That's awesome, I'll get a scout to take a look at you and see if it's still no problem. I think you're stronger than Mirotic, probably staying."

  Yue Feng knew who he was talking about, Chris Mihm, 213CM tall, created the school's block shot record during his time at the University of Texas, and ranked second in total rebounds and double-doubles in the history of the University of Texas. He was also selected to the All-American First Team in his junior year. He wasn't a weak player, he was picked 7th overall by the Bulls in the first round of the 2000 draft and immediately traded to the Cavaliers. Unfortunately, he got injured three times in his rookie season and had injuries throughout his career. In 2004, he joined the Lakers and started for them in their first two seasons, averaging 10.2 points per game with a 50% shooting percentage in his second season. He was supposed to be a solid role player, but last year his season was ruined due to surgery on his right ankle. This season Mihm is already a free agent and his condition is an unknown. The Lakers are likely to sign him, he's Yue Feng's main competitor.

  Thinking of Mim's injury nearing retirement, Ye Feng also had some confidence and smiled: "You help me ask. If I enter the NBA, I only want to play in Los Angeles. Going somewhere else is unhappy. If not, I'll go back to school and join the basketball team for a year to participate in the draft. In short, I'm ready to switch to playing basketball."

  Baynam was excited and immediately took out his phone. "Okay, I'll help you ask, but why did you suddenly want to play basketball?"

  Yefeng had already thought of a reason. "Because the basketball game is indoors, I now have some reservations about outdoor courts. What if one day I get struck by lightning again, I may not be able to wake up."

  "...Bynum was speechless for a moment at this reason. He admired Ye Feng's super physical quality and immediately called the Lakers scout."

  The Lakers are not short of inside players. The center has Bynum, Kwame Brown and Mihm; the power forward position has Odom, Turiaf and Brian Cook, and the competition for playing time is very fierce. Ye also knew that the Lakers would trade with the Grizzlies in mid-season and introduce Pau Gasol, this all-star power forward came, he was even harder to get a chance to play. But he had to try, into the Lakers, maybe the first season can win the championship by defeating the Celtics!

  The next day, the Lakers sent out their best scout. She was a stunning woman in a red dress with a killer figure, her name was Bonnie Jill Laflin.

  Lavrin was born in 1976, her father has German and Irish ancestry, while her mother has Apache, Spanish and Hawaiian ancestry. Her father is a famous NBA guard and close friend of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who treats Lavrin like his own daughter. She used to be the captain of the Los Angeles Lakers cheerleading squad, acted in films and TV shows, and is not only a sports scout but also an entertainment star.

  NBA bosses all want to increase the commercial value of their teams, Ye Feng is a former football player who switched to basketball, which is a great gimmick. Moreover, he is Chinese, and Chinese people are very eye-catching, otherwise the Lakers would not have selected Sun Yue with the 40th pick in the draft. Sun Yue's popularity in China is far less than that of Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming, but if there were two Chinese players on the team, the Lakers could become a home team in China.

  Lavrin walked up to Ye Feng, shook hands with him and smiled: "Hi, I'm Bonnie Jill Lavrin, Lakers scout, nice to meet you."

  "It's great to meet you, Miss Lavin. I have to say, you're even more beautiful in person than on TV or in magazines!" Ye Feng exclaimed.

  "Really? Thank you." American women like being complimented, like "You have a great body", no one will feel offended.

  Lavine is not a vase for the Lakers, she has high efficiency, and after chatting for a few sentences, she entered the topic and conducted a thorough physical examination of Ye Feng. After finishing each item, she almost always said - "OH, MY GOD!"

  Yue Feng's height is 201 cm, with shoes on it reaches 203 cm, arm span up to 214 cm, weight 108 kg, body fat percentage only 6.2%, standing reach 273 cm, vertical jump 85 cm, maximum jump 92 cm.

  All of the above are just minor, 3/4 court sprint in 3.15 seconds, shuttle run test 10.87 seconds, such data is comparable to James. The NBA bench press standard is 84 kg, Ye Feng's weight is too small, he changed to 180 kg and pressed 7 times.

  Lavlin unhesitatingly gave Ye Feng an S+ rating on the form, which belongs to the unlimited potential type in player evaluation. Putting aside her skills, Ye Feng's physical abilities are too good, she can't believe this is a Chinese person's physical data. When asked about her ancestry, Ye Feng couldn't answer, he himself didn't know either.

  Lavrin immediately reported the situation to Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, and the Lakers' uniform group decided to invite Ye Feng to participate in the preseason training camp, representing the Lakers in the preseason games. And he has a great chance of staying, no one will easily give up on someone with physical abilities comparable to those of a champion.

  Ye Feng readily accepted the Lakers' invitation, while declining the Hawks' offer to attend their training camp. Zaza Pachulia wasn't a Hawk at that time, so he didn't feel disappointed and wished Ye Feng well, supporting his decision.

  After finishing the physical test, Lafleur looked at Ye Feng's eyes and changed. "My god, you may be the best physically qualified Chinese player, Yi Jianlian is also good, but your comprehensive quality is stronger than his. I think if we release the physical test data, you will definitely get more attention."

  Bayern thought he was like a legendary Bo Le, holding his chest with both hands and proudly saying: "I told you he's awesome."

  Ravlin laughed and said: "Andrew, you should be grateful that his height is only 201cm, not 210cm. Otherwise, the uniform group would have let him replace you."

  "…Baynam suddenly remembered that Ye Feng could also play as a 5th position player, and might have to reduce his playing time."

  Next, in addition to helping Bynum train, Ye Feng also strengthened his basketball foundation training. When Bynum practiced free throws and shooting, he no longer helped pass the ball, but instead tapped the ball on the side, getting familiar with the feeling of dribbling. As for shooting, although his hit rate was low, at least his movements were standard, but dribbling was a mess. Don't mention breaking through, he couldn't even run around the court with the ball smoothly, and his fake moves when breaking through were even more clumsy. He learned from Bynum, mastering a few low-post turning techniques and squeezing under the opponent's basket to shoot, which added some attacking moves.

  Bayern felt a bit helpless about this, feeling more like a sparring partner. Ye Feng was very good at socializing and would invite Bayern to dinner and chat every night to improve their friendship. Thinking that Ye Feng's progress was fast because of his low starting point, Bayern also psychologically balanced himself.

  Baynes also made progress, he played more fiercely. The two men wrestled under the basket, their muscles almost sparking. Zaza said that their confrontations during training were like playoff games.

  One day, Lakers general manager Kupchak personally came to the training court to watch Ye Feng and Bynum practice. He also thought highly of Ye Feng, feeling that he was stronger than another Chinese player, Sun Yue.

  Standing at the second-floor window, Kupchak asked Lavin: "What position do you think he's suitable for? Is he a bit short to play inside?"

  "Lavrin thought for a moment and said, 'His offense is too poor, he can only play inside temporarily, but his defense is fine. I think in the league, except for O'Neal, there's no one he can't guard against. Even Kobe in his golden age couldn't compare to his physical ability. If his defensive awareness improves, he should be able to become a star player in the future. This time we've picked up a treasure.'"

  Kupchak smiled and said, "Don't get too excited, it's just a possibility. We also thought Waverly had good quality back then, but that guy couldn't do anything except break through. I think basketball IQ is more important than physical quality. Can't Larry Bird jump? Let's observe him well during training camp, if he can adapt to the rhythm, we'll keep him."

  In August, the news that Ye Feng would represent the Lakers in the preseason games caused a stir. All major media paid more attention to him, and compared with other Chinese players, he was an enigmatic figure.

  Ye Feng's rugby teammates saw the news and also called to ask about the situation, with Toba advising him to return to play rugby. At UCLA, Ye Feng was a very important member of the team.

  Ye Feng made up a good excuse to get rid of these people, he wanted to play basketball!