Basketball Terminal

Chapter 7 List
The streetscape of Flushing is not much different from that of a small county town in fourth or fifth tier cities in China, and in some places it is even slightly worse, such as narrow roads and dilapidated buildings.

Almost all the shop signs along the roadside are in Chinese, such as Yang Guofu Malatang, Haidilao, Chongqing Laozhao Hot Pot, Nanxiang Xiaolongbao, etc. Walking here, it is hard to imagine that this is New York, which is known as the world's largest city.

Li Wei felt familiar and comfortable with everything here until he boarded the subway light rail to Long Island, when everything outside the glass window began to resemble America and New York more.

Not having your own car in the United States is indeed quite painful. Although New York has a well-developed subway network, the subway only has main lines, and you need to transfer to buses to get to many places.

The fastest public transportation from Flushing to Nassau Stadium takes 1 hour and 50 minutes, and New York's terrible subway system makes the journey even more painful.

However, due to the impact of the virus, the subway system has been undergoing a major hygiene inspection, and people are wearing masks, which has improved the subway environment considerably.

Li Wei was wearing a black down jacket and khaki pants, a beanie, a black mask, headphones, and a brown canvas bag. His massive 2-meter frame revealed only a pair of deep black eyes, making him look like a ruthless bandit or terrorist.

When he entered the carriage, the other passengers were visibly startled and moved away, especially away from his canvas bag. This ensured that Li Wei always had a spacious place to sit, making the journey much more comfortable.

Scrolling through the news on my phone these past two days, the news of James Harden being traded to the Brooklyn Nets has ignited the basketball world, with related tweets and discussions everywhere. Harden, Durant, and Kyrie Irving will form a Big Three to contend for the championship.

Looking at the related reports and comments, Li Wei felt that all of this was both very close and very far away from him. The NBA, Harden, Durant, Irving—they were all figures standing at the pinnacle of the basketball world.

And what about himself? He had to work hard for a tryout opportunity in the Development League that he had fought so hard to obtain. Turning off his phone, Li Wei stopped worrying about things that were too far away; the tryout at ten o'clock was more important.

At 8:30 a.m., the bus stopped at a small bus stop on Hempstead Avenue, and Levi got off. The Black driver opened the door and said to Levi, "Dude, dress more casually next time. I thought this was the last bus ride I'd ever take." Levi laughed and said, "You missed a chance to make the headlines."

The area around the platform was open and spacious, with wide roads and low, sparse buildings. Looking up, you could see the Nassau Veterans Memorial Stadium in the distance, which shimmered silver in the sunlight.

After being modernized, this old stadium, which has a history of more than 40 years, is covered with a layer of scale-like metal grid, and looks like a large stainless steel bowl from a distance.

At the registration desk in the arena lobby, Li Wei paid the $150 registration fee and handed over a resume. His basketball experience was unremarkable; he was a center for a community college basketball team, had played in NCAA Division III, with mediocre statistics and no individual or team honors.

He applied for tryouts with several lower-level teams, but was rejected by all of them, not even receiving an invitation. One of the rejection emails was quite helpful, advising him, "Don't waste your application fee, go find a job."

The competition in American professional basketball is extremely fierce; countless top players don't even have the chance to secure a place on a professional team.

Li Wei, who was very confident in himself but had never had the opportunity to showcase his abilities, came up with the idea of ​​using the internet to build his reputation and attract the attention of scouts.

Incidentally, becoming a basketball influencer was also an option. Unexpectedly, everything went quite smoothly; he connected with Luo Ping, and then used Luo Ping to connect with McCallien.

A staff member checked the information, shook his head, and said, "Your name is not on the trial list. We'll refund your money later."

“Brett-Brilliamer sent me; I have the text messages he sent me,” Levi explained.

“I only look at the list.” The staff member’s voice was cold and hard, indicating that the name Brett-Brillimayer wasn’t going to be very effective.

There was nothing Li Wei could do. From what he understood, Brett was a newly appointed head coach of the Long Island Nets, the Brooklyn Nets' G League affiliate. He took out his phone and tried to call Brett, but the call wouldn't go through.

Li Wei cursed, "Shit! Some people's phone numbers are harder to get through to than the mayor's hotline. It's probably because my number isn't on Brett's whitelist."

Left with no other option, Li Wei waited in the lobby, taking out a basketball and practicing his fingertip dribbling. In his previous life, as a guard, his ball-handling was excellent; after all, at 174cm, one couldn't survive in professional sports without some special skills. Surprisingly, these skills and reflexes hadn't disappeared after coming to this body.

Therefore, Levi, a 2-meter tall man, possessed exceptional ball-handling skills. However, this was America, where there were many tall men with outstanding ball-handling abilities. Levi knew that this wasn't his true strength; his real strength lay in defense, a special ability bestowed upon him by nature.

People lined up and signed in at the stadium lobby, and more and more burly men gathered around the staff's desks. Those on the list went inside to change and warm up. Someone accidentally bumped into a staff member's glass water cup, which fell to the ground. Just as everyone was about to gasp, Li Wei, who was squatting nearby, reached out and caught the cup, which was only a few centimeters off the ground.

Li Wei carefully placed the cup back on the table and wiped his hands. Everyone stared curiously at the yellow-skinned boy; his skin color was quite a rarity here.

The man who had just knocked over the cup was an elderly black man with a bald forehead. He came up to Li Wei, looked him up and down, and said, "Impressive skills. Are you here for the trial?"

Li Wei assumed he was a team staff member. He looked to be in his forties or fifties? Anyway, Black people don't tend to look young or old, making it hard to guess their age. Judging from his hairstyle alone, he was definitely not young.

"Yes, but not on the list."

"Think of a way, good luck, kid."

The elderly Black man offered Li Wei a word of encouragement, then turned and signed the papers at the worktable, paid the fee, and went into the gymnasium with his bag. Li Wei was surprised. Was this old man also here for a tryout? How old was he? If an old man could come to train, why wasn't he on the list?

Noticing Li Wei's surprise, the staff member in charge of registration explained, "Kelvin Davis, 62 years old, from New Jersey, is the oldest among the trial participants."

Li Wei was greatly surprised and said, "WTF, a 62-year-old man can participate in the trial? Anyone can pay to participate in the trial, right? Why am I not on the list?"

The staff member explained, "Reporters will be coming to interview him later. The topics will be basketball, dreams, and age. He is the oldest tryout rookie in history."

Li Wei suddenly realized: "News exposure has publicity value." The staff member shrugged, tacitly agreeing with Li Wei's statement.

Whether it's the NBA or the G League, any commercial league will value hype and needs newsworthy moments, preferably positive and inspirational—that's the nature of the sports industry.

The Development League already has very low media exposure; its selection and tryouts don't even make the news. Aside from a lucky few who make it to the NBA and sign short-term contracts, the vast majority won't leave a single word in the media.

The gimmick of "a 62-year-old tryout rookie" is worthy of a special report, so it's only natural that Kelvin Davis is on the list.

"Didn't you burn your hand? The water in the cup was just poured."

"Oh? Uh... a little, but I'm fine, I've practiced."

"What have you practiced? Kung Fu? I knew it, the speed at which you caught the cup, wow, it was like something out of a movie."

The previously indifferent staff member gradually became acquainted with Li Wei, and the two started chatting. His name was Carlos, he was of Latina, and he worked in field administration for the team.

He told Levi that Brett-Brillimayer had just taken office and had gathered an unusually large number of people for this trial, more than forty in total. But he estimated that only two or three, or even one or two, would ultimately be selected.

Li Wei introduced himself and shared his Twitter account with Carlos. After watching the video he posted, Carlos exclaimed, "Your defense is really good, you should be on the roster!"

"Can you add me to the list?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. But you have Brett's text messages; you can contact him directly."

After a while, Carlos patted Levi on the shoulder, pointed to a tall, thin white man walking straight towards them, and said, "Brett's here, go ahead."

(End of this chapter)