Slam Dunk: Muguro

Chapter 266: Force the King to Appear! Physical Test Data!
The other person looked to be in his early thirties and was wearing a pair of classic Converse Pro Star sneakers.

Murasaki knew that a superstar would come to the training camp, but he didn't expect it to be a superstar.

Even though this white superstar has retired, his influence remains huge.

In the NBA, he is synonymous with white players.

That’s right, he is none other than the ‘King of Forcing’ Larry Bird!
The Converse Pro Star shoes on his feet are basketball shoes jointly endorsed by him and Magic.

This is also the first time that the black and white duo have jointly endorsed sneakers.

There is no need to say much about the greatness of "Big Bird". He is not only the best white player in the NBA, but also the NBA Coach of the Year and NBA Manager of the Year.

In addition, there is the Bird Clause set for him and the "Godfather" of trash talk.

Others are just bragging, but he is really awesome!
Most importantly, Bird's trash talk was all realized, which is why he was nicknamed the King of Forcing.

If it weren't for injuries, Larry Bird's career would have been even more brilliant.

Of course, this injury was entirely self-inflicted.

As mentioned in the previous article, I will not elaborate on the King’s injuries here.

Although Larry Bird's strength has obviously declined due to injuries, he was still able to average 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists before retiring last year. His three-point shooting percentage was as high as 40.6%, still at the All-Star level.

In fact, with Bird's strength before retirement, he could still continue playing.

Unfortunately, Bird is not G0at, he still has to save face after all.

If Murasakibara had to choose, he would definitely vote for Larry Bird as the best small forward.

The Divine Emperor Buddha Demon Shark looks very strong, but one ball is not enough to score.

G0at will not play without the ball. In such a lineup, G0at without the ball is not as reliable as a role player who specializes in defense.

As for giving the ball to G0at, that is even more nonsense.

Compared with Magic Johnson, G0at's organization is undoubtedly much inferior, and the key is that he likes to pass the buck.

Instead of using the Divine Emperor Buddha Demon Shark, it is better to use the Divine Bird Buddha Demon Shark.

After Bird appeared, everyone present showed a look of surprise.

They also didn't expect that Bird would come to the training camp.

After realizing what was happening, most of the players surrounded him as if they had seen their idol.

Kobe didn't go up. He just held the basketball and looked at Bird with a strong desire to challenge.

At Kobe's memorial service, Jordan once recalled that the first thing Kobe said when he saw him was "Did you bring your sneakers?"

This is Kobe!
"Hello everyone, I believe I don't need to introduce myself."

Bird raised his right hand, motioning for everyone to stop, and then continued, "By the way, I will also be the coach of the training camp!"

The reason why he served as a coach in the training camp was because he had the idea of ​​trying to be a coach and was ready to try his hand in the training camp.

This is also Bird's plan for his future!
Not only that, he also plans to select the most promising rookies from this group of players to prepare them for coaching NBA teams in the future.

So, Bird and Nike hit it off and he became the coach of the training camp.

When they heard that Bird was the coach of the training camp, everyone became visibly more restrained.

"First, I want to test everyone's physical fitness!"

Coach Bird's voice echoed in the training hall.

The strength of a player is not only determined by their skills, but also by their physical fitness.

If your physical fitness is not up to standard, no matter how good your skills are, you will not be able to reach the threshold of the NBA.

Through these physical tests, Bird can not only better understand this group of players, but also make more reasonable plans for subsequent training.

At Bird's signal, several staff members immediately got busy.

In order to ensure the accuracy and scientific nature of the test, the training camp prepared world-class measuring tools and equipment to begin testing the players' physical fitness.

Among them, the test items for static talents are divided into height, arm span, weight, and standing reach.

There are five dynamic talent items, namely bench press, vertical jump, running jump, 3/4 court sprint and agility test.

There were thirty or forty players present. Under the arrangement of the staff, they were divided into several groups and their physical fitness was tested one by one.

While waiting, Mitsui pointed at two players not far away and said, "These American players are too tall, especially those two!"

Murasakibara looked in the direction Mitsui pointed and saw two players who stood out from the crowd.

There was no way, they were simply too tall. Sugiyama Shota, who was just over two meters tall, stood right in front of them, and was visibly half a head shorter than them.

The two players were one white and one black. Mugure estimated that they were probably about 220 cm tall.

"Hey, isn't this Big Z?"

When he saw the white player, Murasakibara was slightly stunned.

Big Z refers to Ilgauskas, who is 221 cm tall, an All-Star player and future G0at's main helper on the Cavaliers. After his retirement, the Cavaliers held a jersey retirement ceremony for him.

Big Z and Kobe entered the NBA in the same year and are both important members of the 96 golden generation!
As for the other Nico player, Mu Mu felt vaguely familiar with him, but couldn't remember where he was.

"Prester Lauderdale!"

It wasn't until the staff called Niko's name that Murasaki finally remembered.

Prester Lauderdale, also a member of the 96th draft, was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 1996th pick in the first round of the 28 NBA Draft.

This is a 224 cm giant, but unfortunately he is weak in confrontation and his shooting touch is average. He has been in the NBA for two seasons and averaged no more than 2 points per game.

The reason why Murasakibara had an impression of him was mainly because he was once signed by the Shandong Men's Basketball Team.

Soon, Murasakibara took the physical examination one by one.

The entire physical examination process was intense and orderly, and the players gave their all to show their best.

Among them, Murasakibara performed particularly well in physical tests, which was not inferior to American players at all, and could even be ranked at the top.

In the bench press test, although he did not do the most reps, he was still in the top ten, demonstrating a good strength foundation.

It was his arm span that held him back, otherwise Murasakibara would have had a chance to enter the top five.

In terms of bench press, inside players naturally have the advantage.

Among them, the one with the best bench press result is Eric Dampier, who will call himself the "second center in the West" in the future!
Dampier is also a member of the 96 golden generation. He was the 10th pick in the first round and reached his peak with the Dallas Mavericks. His personal bench press record is second only to O'Neal and Ben Wallace.

In the jumping test, Murasakibara ranked among the top five.

Unlike other players, he stays in the air longer during his run-up and jump, and is no less impressive than Kobe.

But in terms of jumping height, Murasakibara is slightly inferior to Kobe.

Kobe also has the best jumping ability among this group of players.

Kobe's physical fitness is top-notch even in the NBA, but it is much inferior to Jordan, which gives some fans the illusion that he is mediocre. In terms of jumping, Kobe and Jordan are quite close.

He participated in the dunk contest in 97 and became the youngest "dunk champion" in the history of the dunk contest!
G0at did not do this.

No, it should be said that he didn't even try. He often kept the media and the audience in suspense, but in the end he never participated.

In the 3/4 sprint test, Murasakibara came in third place. The first place was an unknown short player whose speed was even faster than Miyagi's.

As for the final agility test, Murasakibara finally ranked first, and the one behind him was Kobe.

By the time Murasakibara and others went to the cafeteria to eat, Bird finally got the physical test data.

It was also at this time that a middle-aged man walked into Bird's office.

He is Sonny Vaccaro, the head of Nike basketball, and it was he who took the initiative to contact McDonald's to promote the island market.

The reason why Nike can stand out in the fierce market competition and firmly sit on the top spot of global basketball shoes is closely related to Sonny Vaccaro.

Before Jordan officially joined the NBA Bulls in 1984, few people within Nike paid attention to him. However, Sonny was one of the exceptions. He firmly believed that Jordan had the potential to bring value to Nike and actively sought internal support.

In the biographical film "Nike Marketing Genius", Sonny Vaccaro at the time regarded Jordan as his hope to change his destiny. He took a gamble and closely linked his personal career prospects with Jordan's basketball career.

Sonny once proposed a radical plan to Nike's senior leadership to invest all of the budget in Michael Jordan.

At that time, Sonny was the only one in Nike who insisted on working hard to sign Jordan. He even broke the established rules and tried his best to persuade Nike founder Phil Knight to increase the signing budget and firmly supported this decision.

This also laid a solid foundation for Nike's rise and paved the way for its subsequent brilliant achievements.

Sonny Vaccaro immediately asked Bird, "Larry, have you found any good seedlings?"

The reason why Nike holds training camps, in addition to promotion, is also to discover good talents as soon as possible.

"I haven't finished watching it yet, but I found a few good ones, especially this one!"

Bird handed one of the physical examination lists to Sonny Cavallo and pointed to one of the names.

This list records the physical test data of American players.

The name Bird pointed to was Kobe.

Kobe's physical test data is quite good, and the key is that he is only 16 years old, so there is still plenty of room for growth in the future.

After seeing Kobe's physical test data, Sonny Cavallo was excited and thought that this was a young player worth further observation.

At this time, Bird picked up another one.

This list naturally includes the physical test data of the island country's players.

Compared to the American player list, Bird obviously underestimated a lot.

This is also common sense. After all, the island country in this era is almost a basketball desert.

He first paused on the physical tests of Zebei Rongji and Kashima Kaede Shuang, and then continued watching.

For Bird, Zebei Rongji and Kaede Shimo Kashima look good, but if they are compared with this group of American players, they are only above average.

Especially their bench press data, which is quite far from the qualified level.

Soon, Bird's eyes fell on Murasakibara's physical test data.

"what!"

When he saw this, he was shocked and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Bird didn't expect that the island country, which he regarded as a basketball desert, actually had such talents.

Murasakibara's physical test data is very strong.

In terms of static talent, Murasakibara's arm span is 17 centimeters longer than his height.

Not to mention his dynamic talent, all five physical test data ranked in the top ten, and he was first in the agility test.

Sonny Cavallo asked quickly, "What? Have you found another good seedling?"

"This player's physical test is not inferior to Kobe at all!"

Bird pointed at Mu Mu's name.

Sonny Cavallo snatched the list directly from Bird and couldn't wait to look at it.

"Shit!"

Bird cursed, but did not try to grab it back.

After watching the video, Sonny Cavallo couldn't help but exclaimed: "I didn't expect there are talents of this level in Asia. It seems that we need to pay more attention to Asian basketball players in the future."

Sonny Vaccaro smiled with satisfaction. This trip was really worthwhile!

In addition to Murasakibara and Kobe, he also remembered the names of several backcourt players.

Since ancient times, centers don’t buy shoes, unless his name is Jokic!
The NBA has had a tradition since ancient times that centers do not sell shoes. No matter how well a center performs, he is far less likely to receive shoe contracts than a guard or a swingman.

Until Jokic came out of nowhere and broke this curse.

Of course, Jokic is just an example.

"Larry, let's prepare for a competition first, so I can see what these little guys are like."

Sonny Cavallo suggested.

He is very clear that physical tests do not fully represent actual strength. He has seen many players with excellent physical fitness who were unable to perform well.

Larry Bird did not refuse, he was preparing to further understand the strength of this group of players.

At Bird's call, the players who were originally resting in the dormitory had to go to the stadium.

They lined up consciously, but because they came from two different places, the two sides were clearly divided.

"In order to enhance mutual understanding, I will arrange a competition next. Players from the same region will be on the same team! As for the starting lineups of each team, it is up to you to decide!"

Bird did not take on too much and immediately handed over the rest of the work to the assistant coach.

As soon as Bird finished speaking, the players began to talk and the court suddenly became noisy.

Because all the players present wanted to start, especially with Bird in front of them, they were naturally full of desire to perform.

Given Bird's influence in the NBA, if Bird values ​​him, good things might happen.

In addition, Nike executive Sonny Cavallo is also their target of attention, but they have not yet entered the professional league and cannot sign a shoe contract for the time being.

Compared to the American team, the island team is much simpler.

They did not immediately select the starting lineup, but instead first elected the captain, who was none other than Shota Sugiyama from Fukasawa Sports University.

Shota Sugiyama is not only the oldest player among them, but also the only one to join the national team. He is undoubtedly the most reasonable choice.

Who else but him can be the captain?
In addition to the captain, there was naturally also a vice-captain, but in the end he was unexpectedly defeated by Murasakibara.

(End of this chapter)