The Whip of the God of Basketball

Bynum wondered how Leon knew that his mother was not in good health, and her kidneys were not good. Recently, Bynum was worrying about this. The doctor told him that his mother was at risk of diabetes, but in order to take care of the family, she completely No consideration was given to stopping work.

He has a deep affection for Bynum, the mother who brought him up by himself. Like those black players who were born in the slums, his dream now is to play hard to enter the NBA, and then let his mother live a good life.

Now, his mother's physical condition is like a rock in his heart. The reason why he chose the University of Arizona is not only the team's performance and his own preferences, but also the Arizona Wildcats coach Olsen's training of newcomers, especially guards. great reputation.

Since leading the Arizona team in 1983, Olsen led the team that was in a trough to come out of the abyss step by step. His talented guards continued to enter the NBA, including Henry Bibby's son Mike Bibby, There are also players such as Damon Stoudemire, Jason Terry and Gilbert Arenas, who was just picked by the Celtics this year.

This undoubtedly attracted Will Bynum, who is eager to enter the NBA. He expects to get enough training at the University of Arizona and grow into an eye-catching guard, and then he can follow in the footsteps of many Arizona predecessors to enter the NBA. Turning around, he also imagined that he would move to the city where he played with his mother, father, brothers and sisters at that time, and his family would come to watch him perform every night at home games.

Therefore, even though Henry Bibby showed great friendliness and was willing to do a lot of things for him, Bynum still prefers Arizona, not to mention that he has already signed a letter of intent, and breaking the contract is not just talking about him thing. Of course, he did not completely reject Bibby, and he still participated in the training camp opened in Los Angeles. This is a good opportunity to compete with basketball players from all over the United States, and Bynum did not want to miss it.

Under such circumstances, Bynum, who was full of guilt, had no choice but to eat steak with his head covered, but he didn't expect that Fox-Leon's words hit his heart, and he began to be willing to listen to Leon's suggestions.

Leon saw Bynum raised his head and showed a gesture of willingness to communicate, so he said in a soft tone: "When you were eating just now, I noticed the necklace on your neck. It's been a long time. There are two names on it, 'William' and 'Ross'. William should be your name. Ross, I don't think this is a girl who is in love with you. I guess it is your mother. As for her Body, I read a report about you in Chicago last year, which mentioned your family and your mother's illness. Of course, I am sorry to mention things that made you sad."

Henry Bibby was right to ask Leon to be his lobbyist, his penetrating powers of observation and his prodigious memory also played a role. The silver heart-shaped necklace on Bynum's neck looks weather-beaten at first glance, and it has been worn and shiny after wearing it for a long time. The word Rose is engraved on it, which is already somewhat blurred, while the word Wiliam on the side is slightly clearer.

Leon guessed that William should be Will Bynum, and Rose is the original owner of the necklace, most likely it is Bynum's mother, combined with the news about Bynum's family situation that he saw a year ago It was only through the introduction that Leon boldly started with the topic of family, and finally hit Bynum's heart.

Facing Leon's frank and meticulous confession, the somewhat dull Bynum opened the conversation box. He told Leon that before giving birth to Leon, his mother Rose had a kidney removed because of kidney disease, and the child William who was born later also died young. Doctors thought he would never be able to have children again. But two years later, Rose gave birth to a healthy little Bynum, and named him William in memory of the child who had died before.

When Bynum was born, his parents were not married, but unlike those bad fathers who abandoned their mother and child after giving birth, Bynum's father Robinson finally chose to marry Rose, so Will Bynum With a poor but warm family, there are eleven members in their family.

In order to support this big family, Rose, who was in poor health, never stopped working hard. This also made her physical condition worse and worse. Bynum realized that he must have a source of income as soon as possible, so as to reduce the pressure on his parents. , but also prepare for the treatment of the mother's disease. This is one of the biggest motivations for him to play, so that before he graduated from high school and the first half of the semester was not over, he hastily signed a letter of intent and chose to play at the University of Arizona.

"Arizona is not for you, William. I'm not speaking for Henry from USC's position. Although he invited me to come and persuade you to join the Trojans, it doesn't mean that I can blind my eyes and talk nonsense. If Going to Arizona can make your dreams come true and your life happy, so I won’t tell you a word today, just let Henry waste his time and go.”

Leon speaks with a strong Boston accent. Bostonians often do not pronounce the letter "R" when they speak, so their pronunciation is very "hard", and they are often laughed at. But in Leon's mouth, this kind of pronunciation seemed sonorous and powerful, and Bynum listened with pricked ears, as if he was afraid of missing a word.

"There are a couple of downsides to going to Arizona, you know this year we drafted Arenas from Arizona with the Celtics, I wrote his scouting report, I know the University of Arizona well. Olson Good coach, he loves attacking guards, but let me be blunt, he won't use you, not only because they have Jason Gardner, but because your style is not to Olson's liking. Trust me , Think carefully about those Arizona guards." Leon took a sip of coffee and paused for a while to let Bynum digest.

Leon is right. Those famous defenders under Olson, such as Stoudemire, Bibby, Terry and Arenas, all have a characteristic, that is, their shooting ability is extremely strong, and they are relatively good at handling the ball. , breaking through, and playing tricks are not what they are good at. And these are the skills that Bynum is famous for. On the streets of Chicago and in the IT league, he was nicknamed "Will the Thriller" because of his super direction and breakthrough skills.

Looking at Bynum's shaken eyes, Leon continued: "There is another problem, and that is the immigration problem in Arizona. I think you must hope that your family can accompany you, especially your mother, who needs to be taken care of, but Both Arizona and Los Angeles are too far away from Chicago. If you have to make a choice, Los Angeles is undoubtedly better. You know that Tucson is far from Los Angeles. The medical care here is more developed, and the environment near the sea is also great. Arizona is too dry to treat joints Inflammation. And you know, Arizona has always been unfriendly to immigrants, Los Angeles has no such problem at all, here is the most open city in the United States.. Come here, your family and you will be very happy and satisfied, not to mention USC will provide you with more generous scholarships. These are the ones you need."

By the time Leon finished speaking, Bynum had changed from a somewhat shaken look to one of compromise. He raised his head and looked at the ceiling with a look of inner struggle, but Leon knew that this guy was already moved. Pushing him to take the last step-terminating the contract with Arizona, this is still a bit difficult for a kid like Bynum, but it is too easy for Henry Bibby to help him take this step.

In this way, Leon settled Bynum in a few words. Obviously, traveling around the United States for more than a year is not a waste of time. Players like Bynum, Leon has contacted countless players, especially black players. Having a similar upbringing, single parent family or slums, growing up in a violent, drug-infested area, with a good mother who loves them and gives everything for them. No matter what they play for, one thing is for sure, that is to give back to their mothers and their families.

Leon took advantage of this cleverly, and he didn't lie, Bynum going to Arizona to play is really not a good choice.

Bibby was extremely grateful for Leon's help. He was fortunate to have met such a shrewd scout to help him as a lobbyist, and was also amazed at Leon's amazing observation and outstanding eloquence. When he first met Leon, he I thought this guy was not good at words, he was hoping to use Leon's identity as a Boston scout to bluff Bynum, and then rely on his own rhetoric to convince Bynum, but he didn't expect him to have any effect at all .

In the next few days, the Arizona Wildcats began their official training camp, and Leon also entered the team as an assistant coach. Bibby did not use any tricks to embarrass Leon, but as a university head coach, he guided Leon hand in hand. What a head coach should do.

Compared with NBA head coaches, college basketball head coaches will put more energy on the basketball itself, so Bibby is not a good lobbyist, he can't even convince his own son, but he is a good coach with a complete With rich coaching experience, he knows every detail of commanding the team, training players, and scheduling training plans. Every morning from entering the training hall to convene the players for a pre-training meeting, Bibby began to let Leon pay attention to observe how the coach arranges the training plan for the players, and he asked Leon to guide the players in group practice during training. Although the training of the college team has many basic items, it also has very complicated tactical exercises. For Leon, who has not been exposed to tactics for a long time, this is not a small challenge.

Time passed quickly, and Leon's intern teaching assistant life at the University of Southern California has passed for a week. Because of the foundation of working in the Celtics, Leon got started very quickly. Bibby was amazed by his learning ability. In just one day, he memorized the names, nicknames, positions and technical characteristics of every player on the team. On the seventh day, Leon was able to organize a small confrontation in a decent manner. trained.

On the morning of the eighth day, Bill Sharman appeared in the parking lot near the Memorial Stadium again. He didn't come alone, but brought another gray-haired old man. Leon saw the two at the entrance of the gymnasium, and Sharman waved to Leon, and then shouted: "Boy, I brought the acceptance officer sent by Arnold."

Leon recognized it, and the old man who came with Sharman was the assistant coach of the Lakers, the old coach Tex Winter who became famous because of the triangle offense. What Leon didn't know was that Winter was also a graduate of the University of Southern California. He was Sharman's senior. It was here that he experienced the mystery of the triangle offense for the first time.