On June 18th, the day before the pilot episode aired, filming for the next phase of the show officially began.
In a conference room at the retirement center, Durant was being interviewed by a reporter.
Arizona is divided into 15 counties.
According to the show’s rules, each county and city would host two teams.
In the previous lottery, Durant, one of the team captains, had drawn Safford City for his team.
The other team also in Safford was led by DeRozan from California.
And from now on, they would have to face the media like real stars.
"Kevin, have you ever heard of Safford?" asked Collier, the reporter sitting across from Durant. She wore a light-blue skirt suit, had wavy brown hair, and possessed somewhat Latina features as she smiled warmly.
Durant looked up.
There were fill lights and mounted cameras all around. The cameramen were hiding behind them, watching him through their lenses.
Durant quickly averted his gaze.
Collier was beautiful, in her early thirties, and had the aura of a mature professional woman that made Durant’s heart race.
He’d looked up information on Safford online earlier and had seen Collier’s profile. It said she was the most famous reporter for the largest local newspaper, the *East Arizona Messenger*.
He also heard she was single.
"I’ve heard of it," Durant began.
In truth, he’d never heard of Safford. It was a small city, part of Graham County.
How small was it? The entire city only had a population of ten thousand and some odd hundred people.
It was practically a small town.
However, in the words of his team’s general manager, Sam Presti, this was a good thing. If they had actually drawn Phoenix, it wouldn’t have been a blessing at all.
The city was too big, the population too large. Nobody would care about a basketball team made up of teenagers.
In contrast, in a small city where a fart on the west side would have the east side pinching their noses, the population was small. If Durant had the time, he could probably go door-to-door and get to know everyone in the city in three months.
Facing the camera and the reporter, Durant was still incredibly nervous, even though Presti had rehearsed with him several times in private. His nervousness was especially bad whenever Collier flashed an understanding, kind smile or quickly crossed her legs, which always managed to distract him.
He stumbled through his words, mentioning Graham Mountain, the local abundance of meteorites, and the massive astronomical telescope at the summit.
"So, before the mock draft, do you already have any teammates in mind?" Collier asked after Durant finished his encyclopedia-like recitation.
Durant nodded.
In reality, he hadn’t thought about it at all.
Chen Yu had given them a week—in fact, more than a week—to get to know each other.
But Durant was introverted and wasn’t good at interacting with people. He hadn’t even socialized much with the few players from his hometown of Washington, let alone the kids from all over the country.
Except for those who actively tried to befriend him.
So, Durant really had no idea who to pick. There was one person he’d wanted to choose, but unfortunately, that player had been eliminated.
But according to Presti, he couldn’t show any weakness in front of reporters. He had to be good at hiding his emotions and give smarter answers.
"They’re all outstanding—the best high school students in the country. But, you know, we have a salary cap, so it’ll really take some luck to see who we can get."
Before the show began filming, some details had already been announced.
Such as the salary cap.
The team salary cap was 20 million.
The 30 players who became captains had a fixed value of ten million each, immediately taking up half the cap.
Of the remaining 96 players, fifty percent had a value of over five million.
Even the lowest was valued at two million.
Under these rules, a team was guaranteed at least one player valued at over five million, but it would take luck to pick two.
Furthermore, the top-ranked players among the 96 could have values as high as eight or nine million. If you picked one of them, you could only choose from the lowest-tier players for your remaining spots.
Until the specific rules of the draft were announced, it was just as Durant said: picking who you wanted really would take some luck.
Collier nodded and asked a few more questions.
Things like how he would manage the team and connect with the fans.
Durant answered them all honestly.
Presti had gone over all these questions in their previous rehearsals.
"Thank you for the interview. I wish you the best of luck." After more than half an hour, the interview concluded. Collier stood up and extended her hand with a smile.
Durant gave her hand a brief, dragonfly-like shake. His face grew hot, and not daring to linger, he quickly excused himself and left.
Outside the door, a bespectacled Sam Presti immediately came over and quietly asked Durant how the interview went.
Durant nodded slightly. He felt he had done fine.
"That’s good." Presti nodded, then said with a smile, "This is a rare experience for you. It’s not just about when you get into the NBA; even now, as you gain more and more attention, more reporters will want to interview you."
Presti hadn’t been in the league for long.
He had only graduated from college in 2000. Despite being a top student, he had always loved basketball. And though he was a member of the Emerson University team, he only managed to play in the NCAA Division III and ultimately never knocked on the NBA’s door.
But soon after, a chance encounter with RC Buford allowed him to enter the NBA in a different capacity, starting as a video analyst before becoming a scout.
He started as an international scout and was the one who first discovered Tony Parker. When Parker’s first tryout didn’t impress Popovich, it was Presti who ultimately convinced Popovich to give Parker a second chance.
His persistence back then proved his keen eye. Now, in the Spurs’ post-Twin Towers era, the San Antonio fans affectionately refer to Parker as one of the "Big Three."
So, just as he had seen the potential in Parker back then, he believed Durant was exceptionally talented after seeing him in the initial auditions and hoped he would adapt more quickly.
Glancing at his watch, Presti said, "Go get something to eat. This afternoon, we’ll discuss tonight’s filming."
Durant nodded and headed toward the cafeteria.
The retirement center had a fairly large cafeteria that served a wide variety of food.
During their stay, they also had occasional classes where a professional nutritionist taught them how to eat a healthy, scientific diet like a pro athlete.
Durant picked up a tray and helped himself to a lot of salmon, then grabbed a large piece of seared steak.
Not only was the food plentiful, but the quality was also excellent. To be honest, coming from a poor family, he could never have afforded to eat things like this before.
As a result, Durant felt like he’d even put on some weight recently.
He sat down with his tray, and after just a few bites, a chubby kid sat down across from him.
Harden pushed a bottle of Physical Fitness No. 2 across the table to Durant and said with a smile, "Kevin, I know you train really hard. You should have this."
Durant hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Every day at lunch, the cafeteria provided one bottle of Physical Fitness No. 2.
It was an upgraded version of Eli Lilly Company’s Physical Fitness No. 1, launched just at the beginning of the year. Thanks to endorsements from Hill and Chen Yu, it had become a must-have for sports and fitness enthusiasts.
Durant knew about it. Some guys on his school team drank it and said it worked great, helping to restore stamina and boost energy levels.
Unfortunately, it was too expensive for him to afford. He never imagined that after coming to the training camp, he’d be able to drink it every day.
A few days ago, Harden had suddenly started trying to get on his good side. He would not only initiate conversations but also give him his bottle of Physical Fitness No. 2.
He’d heard that drinking more of it enhanced the effects.
The two sat together, but Harden wasn’t much of a talker either. After a few lukewarm exchanges amidst an awkward atmosphere, he quickly got up and left.
He returned to his own table and, meeting DeRozan’s questioning gaze, shook his head. "I didn’t have the nerve to ask."
Beside them, Holiday rolled his eyes at Harden and said exasperatedly, "What’s there to be embarrassed about? You already apologized to him, and you’ve been talking for days. Is it really that hard to just casually ask if he’s thought about who he’s going to pick?"
Harden gave a wry smile. For him, it was.
"It’s fine." DeRozan, knowing Harden’s personality, said, "I’ve been watching him. He basically doesn’t have any friends and never starts conversations, so he probably doesn’t have a target in mind to pick. You’ve been talking to him for days and even giving him your drinks, so you’ve at least left a good impression. Your value is only 3 million, and you even got George Gervin’s ’spotlight’ pick, so it should be no problem."
Westbrook had been eliminated.
Holiday hadn’t made the final list of 30 captains and was valued at 4 million.
Their other friend, Brandon Jennings, had become one of the captains, so they didn’t have to worry about him.
That just left the two good friends, Harden and Holiday.
Initially, DeRozan had wanted to draft both of them for his own team, as he had enough salary cap space.
But Holiday later argued against it. Since value was determined by skill, and the two of them weren’t that strong, DeRozan would need powerful teammates if he wanted to go far in the competition.
He suggested DeRozan pick one of them, and the other would have to find a way onto another team.
At that point, Harden volunteered to be the one left out, believing he was the weaker player.
After the three of them discussed it, they set their sights on Durant.
Durant’s team was also in Safford. If Harden could get close to Durant and get onto his team, the three of them could all be striving together in the same city again.
Besides, they’d fought before—that practically made them classmates, right?

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