For today’s tryouts, aside from the players who had already been eliminated and sent home, everyone who passed the initial selection was present. They gathered on one side of the venue to watch the final day of open tryouts on the big screen.
Oden’s tryout, naturally, was the center of attention.
Curry and Rose sat together.
The two young men hadn’t known each other, but since they both knew Chen Yu, they quickly became good friends.
As Oden spun around at incredible speed, caught up to Milicic, and contested his shot, Rose grimaced and muttered, "Fuck, that guy’s a beast."
Beside him, Curry nodded in deep agreement.
That spin speed, the athleticism to get his head level with the rim on a one-step jump... his talent was simply explosive.
Inevitably, Curry started thinking about himself.
’Although I’ve known for a long time that my talent isn’t enough, and I’ve always consoled myself with the idea of making up for it with hard work, seeing so many top-tier talents my age from all over the country these past three days... I can’t help but feel defeated.’
’Even now, I can’t even dunk.’
’Some guys my height can dunk, which just goes to show how bad my athleticism is.’
On the screen, the second play quickly began.
Still surprised from the previous play, Milicic now had a much deeper respect for Oden’s ability. He backed him down in the low post, pulled back in an instant, and sank a clean fadeaway jumper.
"It’s over. He probably only managed to block that one shot. Once these guys get serious, we don’t stand a chance at all." Seeing this, Rose couldn’t help but sigh.
After watching for the past three days, he had truly seen how monstrous NBA-level players were.
Curry nodded in agreement.
Throughout the entire open tryouts, the few baskets that were scored were all flukes, catching James and his four teammates off guard.
In other words, they were just pure luck.
There probably wasn’t a single person who had scored through pure skill.
"By the way, Steve, do you know how the rest of the show is going to be filmed? I mean the competition format. Or are we just going to be training with Mr. Chen and the others?"
There was no point in watching the next three plays; Oden had no chance of stopping them. Rose was more curious about how the rest of the show would be filmed.
’If it’s just training,’ he thought, ’that doesn’t seem very interesting.’
After all, this was a television show.
Since Curry was often with Chen Yu, he might know something.
Curry shook his head. "I have no idea about that. But I do know one thing: in the end, only 30 of us will make the cut."
He glanced around.
Oden was number 264, basically the final act.
So the open tryouts were almost over.
And the number of people who passed the initial selection, including those who received a golden buzzer, was just over a hundred.
More than half had already been eliminated.
But if only 30 people were going to make it in the end, there would have to be more eliminations.
Rose frowned. "Then I’m done for. I have a feeling I’m definitely going to be eliminated."
’Thirty people... From what I’ve seen these past three days, I can think of way more than thirty players with explosive talent.’
Curry sighed as well.
’Rose’s athleticism is way better than mine,’ he thought. ’If even he’s going to be eliminated, then I’m definitely on the chopping block.’
’It doesn’t matter that I know Chen Yu. Before the tryouts even started, he told me he would be holding me to a higher standard.’
While the two young men were talking, Oden’s tryout came to an end.
Unsurprisingly, he passed with a unanimous vote.
The judges’ evaluations praised Oden to the heavens.
Even Milicic, as he returned to his seat, had a look of lingering fear on his face.
He had genuinely felt the pressure from Oden.
’Luckily, he’s still young, and his skills are too raw.’
’If he hones his skills for a few more years and gets into the NBA, it won’t be as simple as me just getting one shot blocked.’
"I read in the media that he has one leg longer than the other. I don’t know if it’s true or not," Bosh asked in a low voice.
Chen Yu’s show—or rather, Chen Yu himself—commanded a high level of attention in the sports world. So when Oden was confirmed to be participating, he started getting a lot of attention too.
Then, some relentless reporters dug up a story about Oden having surgery as a child, which supposedly resulted in his legs being different lengths.
It was unclear if the story was true, as reporters weren’t exactly known for their integrity.
But based on his performance just now, Bosh felt it was most likely fake news.
Even if he really did have legs of different lengths, it probably wasn’t a severe case.
There were players in the NBA with the same condition, but they had long since adapted, and it didn’t affect their play.
"Really? I didn’t notice," Milicic said, surprised. He glanced at Oden running off the court, amazed.
’Probably not. If he really does have legs of different lengths, doesn’t that make me look even worse?’
"By the way, how are they going to film what comes next?" Wade asked curiously, making small talk again. "I heard that ultimately, only 30 people will be selected."
After watching the open tryouts for the past three days, he had grown interested in the futures of these young kids.
After all, if a show like this had existed a few years ago, he probably would have been one of these kids.
"No idea."
Several of them shook their heads. The show’s specific competition format was kept completely under wraps; likely only Chen Yu and the show’s director knew the details.
「An hour later」 The open tryouts officially came to an end.
Chen Yu gathered all the players who had passed the initial selection and gave a brief summary.
There were 126 people in total.
Then, Chen Yu announced their dismissal for the day.
Chen Yu didn’t announce how the next stage would be filmed or what the plan was for the following day.
"Chen, what’s next?" Owen asked.
Not even the six judges knew the filming schedule for the next phase.
Chen Yu smiled and beckoned for Jordan and the other judges, along with Negro and the large group of scouts, to join him in a large conference room.
On the whiteboards on both sides of the conference table were photos of every player who had passed the initial selection.
"Everyone, the first thing we need to do today is select the final roster of 30 from among these players," Chen Yu said, pointing to the photos on the whiteboard.
Brian, who had tagged along to see the excitement and had just taken a seat, was stunned. "We’re just picking them directly?" he asked, puzzled. "Isn’t there going to be another round of selections?"
He knew the final roster would be 30 people, but he had assumed there would be another round of tryouts after this initial phase.
Chen Yu nodded and gave Ernest a look. "Steven, why don’t you give everyone the rundown?"
On the entire production team, only Chen Yu, Ernest, and ABC’s production department knew the show’s complete format.
It was a format that Chen Yu, Ernest, and a team of television producers had spent a long time developing, one they felt struck the perfect balance and would create the most entertaining show.
Ernest nodded and walked to a whiteboard in the center of the room.
The whiteboard was covered with a black cloth.
Ernest yanked off the black cloth. Everyone present stared, momentarily stunned by what was on the whiteboard.
"Huh, is that a playoff bracket?" Jordan asked, raising an eyebrow.
It was divided into East and West, with 30 black boxes on either side, presumably representing 30 teams.
A thought suddenly struck Brian. He said in astonishment, "Chen, with a final selection of 30 people... you’re not planning to have them form teams and compete in an NBA-style league, are you?"
Chen Yu nodded, then shook his head. "Not exactly. Just listen."
Brian suppressed his confusion. He felt that if it were just a matter of forming teams and competing in an NBA-style format, it would be pretty boring.
Besides, it didn’t seem to fit the show’s theme.
The show was called *How to Get into the NBA*.
Ernest stopped dawdling and began to explain the plan for the show.
First, Chen Yu and the panel would use their professional judgment to select 30 people. These 30 would become team captains, each forming a three-person team.
The first task these captains would face would be drafting their teammates.
In addition to picking 30 captains from the 126 players, Chen Yu and the panel would also have to assign an initial "salary value" to every single player.
Then, the newly formed teams would be subject to a salary cap.
"A salary cap?" Brian exclaimed.
Jordan and the others’ eyes went wide.
"Chen, are you playing a game? An NBA simulation?" Earvin Johnson said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Jordan blinked. "Then what about the owners? Who gets to be the owners?"
Chen Yu waved his hand, motioning for them to keep listening.
’Johnson’s description is pretty accurate, though,’ Chen Yu thought. ’It really is an NBA simulation.’
’This way, they’ll gain a deep understanding of how the NBA operates, which fits the show’s title perfectly.’
Ernest continued his explanation.
"Because of the salary cap, captains will have to be selective when choosing the players they want and think are a good fit."
"Of course, just like in the NBA, there will be ways to go over the cap."
"They can participate in various challenges on the show to earn special bonuses that will increase their salary cap."
"What’s more, we’ll also allow player trades and will even set a trade deadline." Ernest wrote the word "Trade" on the whiteboard.
Everyone in the room grinned. This was a complete copy of the real thing.
"And as for you," Ernest added, pointing to Negro and the other scouts, "each team will select one of you to serve as their coach and general manager."
There were over thirty of them, which was the perfect number.
"At that point, you won’t just be head coaches providing tactical support."
"You’re all professional scouts. You’ve seen and watched countless games. Many of you are former players and coaches. You might not know complex tactical systems, but you’ll have no problem with the fundamentals."
"You will also act as the team’s general manager, using your professional eye as scouts to provide expert advice on team-building, suggest trade options, and ultimately, facilitate those trades."
"We will emulate the NBA as closely as possible. For instance, each team will have its own home court, meaning we’ll be renting out venues for them in various cities across Arizona."
"They’ll have to play away games, attend post-game press conferences, participate in community events, and cultivate a fanbase to increase their team’s influence. The hope is that fans will buy tickets to watch their games, allowing the teams to generate revenue and profit."
"We may take a portion of that revenue to give back to the local communities, and the rest will be distributed to the players as a bonus. The team that generates the most profit will also receive a special prize."
"Through this entire process, we want them to gain a complete understanding of how the NBA operates. This model will also teach them how to coexist with teammates, how to compete with one another, and yet still unite and strive for a common goal."
The NBA isn’t like a school team where everyone is just happy to be there. In this simulated NBA, the existence of salary values, trades, and prize money will naturally create competition.
Even the captain’s role won’t be permanent. If you play well and increase your salary value, you become the star, the leader of the team.
"Thirty teams, split into East and West conferences. A single round-robin regular season with home and away games. It will officially kick off in July. The schedule will be two games every three days, including back-to-backs, with the season finishing in 90 days. Teams will be ranked by their records, with the top eight from each conference advancing to the playoffs. The playoffs will be a best-of-five format, culminating in a champion. There will be a trophy, and the three members of the championship team will share a one-million-dollar prize."
"Furthermore, the Finals MVP will receive a one-year, three-million-dollar endorsement deal from Nike."
The sponsoring sports brand was once again Nike.
"The specific game rules will differ slightly from the FIBA 3x3 format. We’re going with a target score: the first team to 50 points wins. There will be a 14-second shot clock. When the first team reaches 25 points, we’ll have a 10-minute halftime break."
After all, with only three players and no substitutes, the game time has to be reduced.
But we can’t just have 10-minute games like in FIBA.
It would be too difficult to convince local audiences to buy tickets for a 10-minute game.
Playing to 50 points keeps the game around 30 minutes long, which is roughly the same amount of playing time an NBA starter gets in a real game.
"As for the rules on fouls, the three-second violation, the three-point line distance, and hand-checking—all of it will be identical to the NBA’s."
At this point, Ernest paused. "There are many more specific details and settings, but I won’t go into all of them now," he said. "Any questions?"
He looked around at everyone present.
Jordan and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads.
They had understood the gist of it. To put it bluntly, this was simply a miniaturized NBA Alliance.
But on second thought, a simulated draft, trades, team management... watching a group of kids play like they were in the NBA and run their own franchises actually sounded pretty interesting.

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