In the summer of 2004, people's eyes were focused on Athens.

The slogan for this Olympics is simple: "Welcome home."

The Olympics has returned to its birthplace.

At this time, with the Olympic fever spreading around the world, no one would care about the basketball game going on in a small basketball stadium in the Rocky Mountain area of ​​Salt Lake City.

But for a small group of people, the game is more attractive than the Olympics.

On July 17, in the opening game of the Rocky Mountain Summer League, the Utah Jazz faced the Indiana Pacers.

When Chris Humphries, the Jazz's 14th pick in the first round, came on the court, he found that the response from the fans was not too enthusiastic.

And dozens of seconds later, when the Pacers' Wayne came on the court, the fans at the scene became restless.

Humphries curled his lips. After all, this is considered a home game for the Jazz...

As a result, Wayne's popularity was completely blown away!

As the MOP of the Final Four, Wayne's fan base in the United States is indeed stronger than when Chairman Yao first came.

Well, it's better than most rookies in the same class.

Although Humphries is this year's lottery goalkeeper, few Salt Lake City fans have watched him play before.

On the contrary, it is Wayne, who has already made a name for himself in the two games of the Final Four that were broadcast nationally.

I have never seen the scene of Wayne hitting the key ball while leaning back over Okafor, so I am embarrassed to say that I am a real fan.

Besides, when watching summer league, fans are watching the players, not the teams.

Therefore, although most of the people present were Salt Lake City locals, they still favored Wayne more.

"I really envy you, Wei." Behind Wayne, an undrafted center named John Edwards looked at the restless crowd around him and sighed.

"It's nothing, it's a small scene." Wayne shrugged. This small gymnasium, with just a thousand people, couldn't make any waves in Wayne's heart.

I remember when Awei was playing elite basketball in Minnesota...

Ahem, that’s an exaggeration. It happened two months ago.

Wayne felt very relaxed after playing, not only that the scene was not big, but also because Wayne had already made full preparations for the summer league!

After finalizing the sneaker contract with Nike, Wayne devoted himself to training.

Mancias, who was recruited by Wayne, has also been implementing Wayne's weight gain plan.

A few days ago, when Wayne went to Salt Lake City to practice with the team, he did not forget to take Mancias with him.

Well, other people were jealous after seeing that.

At a young age, I have a personal trainer!

Of course, what most people are more jealous of is Wayne's $28 million sneaker contract.

As the media said, 90% of these players who play in the summer league will never make so much money in their lifetime.

There is no doubt that Wayne is the biggest player in this game.

At this time, Mike Brown, the Pacers assistant coach and the head coach of this summer league, who would later work as a nanny for Mousse in Cleveland, was pretentiously writing and drawing on a tactical board.

It looks like his painting is very complicated, but in fact he only says: "When you can't open the situation, give the ball to Wayne."

As for how to give the ball to Wayne and how Wayne plays with the ball after getting it, that is none of his business.

Well, there is no doubt that the offensive tactics of Mike Brown, the defensive coach, are so simple and crude, and they are similar to those of coach Lu in the future.

Give the ball to the strongest person, that's not shabby!

And the summer league is really not very tactical.

Just look at the summer league rules.

A player will not be off the field until he receives 10 fouls, just to allow the players to perform as much as possible.

Of course, this also means summer league can be pretty rough.

The cost of fouling has been reduced, and no one will be polite.

In this way, Wayne officially entered the NBA Summer League.

Strictly speaking, this is not an NBA game. Because at this time, the Rocky Mountain Summer League is not officially recognized by the NBA.

Although 11 teams participated, it could only be regarded as a training match organized by these teams themselves.

It wasn't until 2007, when the NBA introduced the Las Vegas Summer League, that the Summer League could truly be regarded as one of the official NBA events.

And in terms of player strength, this game is also far from the NBA.

Most positions are filled with undrafted players and fringe players, and the level is not very high.

So after taking the field, Wayne was extremely calm.

The tension and excitement I imagined were completely absent...

He doesn't know most of the people on the court anyway, and he doesn't have to cooperate with or build relationships with his summer league teammates.

Wayne's goal is simple - just work hard to play his own game.

Wayne, wearing jersey No. 99, put his hands on his hips and looked at Humphries across from him.

The young man is still young and looks promising for the future.

Hey, why do you think such a young man has to get married to the Kardashians?

As for Wayne's number 99, it actually doesn't have any special meaning, he just wants to be unique.

At first, Wayne thought about wearing his father's number. Later, Tony suggested exchanging college numbers with Wayne.

Wayne thought about it and finally chose 99, which he liked.

99 is so easy to remember, and you are not afraid of "colliding" with others. It can become one of your own special symbols in the future.

If Wayne were forced to give an explanation of the number, then it would be this number that turned six.

Besides, George McCann, the first-generation NBA superstar, also wore No. 99.

In this era where everyone loves number 23, it is this ancient beast that I, Wayne, imitate.

This B style that didn’t follow the trend suddenly became different.

After the referee threw the ball into the air, the Pacers' 2-meter-13 John Edwards won the ball.

Wayne hurriedly ran forward, but stopped when he was outside the three-point line, with no intention of going inside to gain position.

In addition to Wayne really liking to position himself outside the three-point line, the Pacers also have requirements for Wayne.

After discussing with Bird, Carlisle decided to develop Wayne's ability to play the three position starting from the summer league.

So, they told Mike Brown to let Wayne attack from beyond the arc.

Mike Brown also faithfully conveyed this idea to Wayne yesterday.

Wayne is so happy, now he can legitimately shoot three-pointers to gain points!

But in the first round, Wayne did not receive the ball.

Because the point guard on the Pacers' side is an unknown guy.

During yesterday's confrontation training, he had a team-high record of three blocks in 10 minutes by Wayne.

Today he still does not believe in evil and continues to make breakthroughs.

As a result, Jazz's No. 16 rookie Kirk Snyder received the first big gift of the game.

A big risk completed the defense.

"Hey, what's wrong with today's point guards?" Mike Brown sighed. He couldn't even watch the ball.

Therefore, in the summer league, how to balance personal performance and team performance is also an art.

Sometimes, being too humble will not allow you to express yourself, but being too independent will actually lower your self-worth.

The Jazz immediately counterattacked, and they were determined to regain their home court advantage.

As a result, when the Jazz guard was about to lay up, the basketball in his hand was mercilessly slapped from behind.

Suddenly, the small arena exploded. Fans came just to watch Wayne perform!

"Wocao, we actually caught him!" Seeing Wayne's desperate pursuit and success, Mike Brown shouted to Ward.

This speed of movement is nothing like that of a serious power forward!

He seemed to see Artest chasing others on the court.

Wayne chased the ball so aggressively that after landing, he fell directly into the audience due to too much inertia.

What a fight!

Since getting the "Man of Steel" badge, Wayne is now not afraid of falling at all.

As long as he could risk it, he didn't have to worry about whether it was safe when he landed.

Just push hard and it's over!
To be continued...