Chapter 53: The Eve
After the physical measurements, technique segments, and the live scrimmage with Eddie Jones were all completed, Jerry West did not call a stop. He stepped forward and proposed the final segment: an interview.
NBA interviews are typically used to assess a player’s basketball IQ and tactical understanding, but a subtle fact made this invitation different— the Memphis Grizzlies at this time had no head coach.
West seemed to see through the other’s doubts and calmly added: “Please rest assured, most of what I want to ask is about things outside of basketball.”
Agent Leon Rose subconsciously frowned and was about to politely decline when Xu Ling nodded decisively: “No problem.”
The interview was indeed quick.
West’s questions were direct and clear, indeed far from the tactical board and court strategies, touching more on mindset, decisions, and off-court adaptation. Xu Ling answered them all honestly, with almost no pauses in the question-and-answer.
Finally, West leaned forward slightly, his hands clasped on the table, his tone still without much warmth, yet he threw out an unexpected invitation: “I’m not clear on your next arrangements yet, but if time allows, I very much hope to have dinner with you and Mr. Rose tonight. At least, let me do my duty as a host.”
Hearing this, Xu Ling’s mouth curved up slightly, and he responded jokingly: “Of course, Mr. West. Just don’t suddenly make me play one-on-one with the server at the dinner table.”
A rare smile appeared on Jerry West’s face.
That smile was not out of perfunctory courtesy, nor like the mechanical and distant politeness at first meeting. It was subtle, genuine, even pulling faint lines at the corners of his sharp eyes.
On that constantly refined “Xu Ling personality profile” in his mind, he quickly added a note: possesses natural sense of humor, relaxed demeanor, easy to get along with.
Immediately after, almost subconsciously, he added a sharp contrast: the complete opposite of Rudy Gay.
The meeting ended, Xu Ling and Leon Rose temporarily took their leave to head to a pre-booked hotel in the city center, preparing to stay overnight in Memphis tonight. The training hall was left with only West and Eddie Jones, who had just wiped off his sweat and changed into a clean T-shirt.
West turned to him, his tone as calm as ever: “Eddie, what do you think of Eli?”
Jones barely thought, the words spilling out: “That kid is amazing, Jerry. I’m absolutely not saying this just because he blew me out. His technique is too well-rounded, doesn’t look like a rookie at all, and his fundamentals are solidly scary. Not to mention his talent, very quick first step, the fast-slow rhythm before acceleration, the shooting release point—every one is top-tier!”
“Do you think we should draft him?” West asked again.
“To be honest, if I were the SuperSonics’ general manager, I’d use the second pick on him.” Jones was extremely decisive, then solemnly added, “But if he really falls to the third pick, we absolutely, absolutely cannot miss him.”
After saying that, pausing for a moment, Jones seemed to suddenly think of something, his voice lowering with a hint of complexity: “However, if we really draft him… I might have to worry about Rudy.”
West listened quietly, his face showing no expression, neither agreeing nor refuting.
Jones said no more. He picked up a bottle of water, unscrewed it and took a sip, his gaze on the empty court, but his thoughts pulled back to many years ago. He seemed to see again that figure in the Los Angeles training hall, bandaged and practicing non-dominant hand shooting, that impersonal yet overwhelmingly dominant teen who step by step devoured all room and ultimately completely replaced him.
That evening, West formally made a draft commitment to Xu Ling on behalf of the Grizzlies. They would select Xu Ling with the third pick of the first round.
Xu Ling gave thanks, but Leon Rose said: “The third pick is very high, but I don’t think you can securely pick Eli at that position.”
West replied: “We will do all the necessary work.”
Thus, when Xu Ling’s team suddenly announced the day after ending the Grizzlies tryout that they would enter closed training from now on and no longer accept any tryout invitations, everyone familiar with the draft process knew this often meant he had received a draft commitment from a team.
Looking back at his tryout trajectory: first to the Trail Blazers and SuperSonics, ultimately stopping the entire process suddenly after the Memphis tryout. Anyone with eyes could infer that the commitment most likely came from the Grizzlies.
The Hawks keenly caught this signal and promptly instructed the media to release word that team head coach Mike Woodson greatly admired Xu Ling. Considering Woodson was a coach from the Bob Knight school, even without Xu Ling coming for a tryout, the Hawks still wanted to explore every possible option to get him.
Immediately after, general manager Billy Knight also publicly expressed his favor for Xu Ling and once again issued a tryout invitation. Xu Ling’s team decisively refused again.
The undercurrents before the draft did not stop, with each team’s management phone lines constantly busy. Besides the probing between the Grizzlies and Hawks, several teams in the league were actively seeking trade possibilities.
The Boston Celtics held the fifth pick, but general manager Danny Ainge could no longer hold back. He was convinced Xu Ling had the potential to be the next Kobe Bryant, successively calling the Hawks and Grizzlies to actively explore the possibility of trading up for draft picks, intending to intercept this future superstar in his eyes.
The Bobcats’ small owner and actual team operator Jordan had also personally witnessed Xu Ling’s strength during March Madness. Despite the team’s low pick position, “Air Jordan’s” admiration for Xu Ling gave him the idea of trading up.
However, not everyone could smoothly join this game. New York Knicks’ Isiah Thomas had taken a liking to Xu Ling as early as the Big 12 league championship, when Xu Ling had at most lottery prospects, and the Knicks at that time could still go all-in to get a 2007 lottery pick. But when March Madness ended, Xu Ling firmly anchored his draft market value in the top three, and in a universally acknowledged super draft year like this one, top-three draft picks were basically non-tradable assets. Except for the Trail Blazers and SuperSonics, Thomas called every team office with picks three to six. The result: no one seriously negotiated with him, as the Knicks had no chips that moved hearts.
Meanwhile, the movements of other hot rookies were equally noteworthy.
The most shocking news was that Kevin Durant failed to complete a single NBA-standard bench press weight in the strength test, causing some teams to question his physical maturity.
While top number one pick contender Greg Oden only accepted a tryout with the Trail Blazers, he showed astonishing agility there disproportionate to his massive frame. Despite his obvious injury risks—even the physical measurements showing unequal leg lengths—the outside world, especially the Trail Blazers management firmly choosing him, seemed not to see these as insurmountable problems.
Worth mentioning is that North Carolina inside player Brandon Wright, originally a top-six pick hot prospect, had publicly dissed Texas Tech University during March Madness and proactively provoked Xu Ling through the media. Some scouts thought this might be a “Jordan-style” display of competitiveness. However, after Xu Ling completely blew out North Carolina in the Elite Eight, especially achieving overwhelming victory in direct matchups with Wright, the latter’s draft market value plummeted sharply. More fatally, his poor performance in this key battle also cost him the favor of “alumnus” Michael Jordan.
At this time, a few days before the NBA draft, Xu Ling and his team arrived in New York to get custom suits.
Meanwhile, his core team also underwent a new round of expansion. With commercial invitations, media contacts, and potential collaborations pouring in, just Leon Rose and Roderick Craig could no longer handle the increasingly heavy affairs. For this, the team first hired Sean Rogers—a tough, experienced retired veteran—to serve as Xu Ling’s personal security and schedule manager, ensuring his safety and order during the intense exposure period.
Immediately after, they formally signed with Chinese-American lawyer Lin Zhijie from a well-known Wall Street law firm, who would fully handle Xu Ling’s legal affairs in contract review, commercial rights protection, and intellectual property management.
In the final days before the draft, Xu Ling’s schedule in New York was filled with a crucial commercial negotiation—the endorsement contract signing with a shoe brand.
As early as the initial tryout stage, the domestic sports brand LN was the first to throw out sincerity, offering a 4-year, $50 million total value endorsement contract, showing great importance. However, Xu Ling’s team was then fully focused on team tryouts and competitive state adjustments, not rushing commercial cooperation, and temporarily shelved the related negotiations.
Now, with the draft position becoming clearer and Xu Ling’s market value and market perception clear, they finally had time to seriously address this key issue. And not just him—the entire shoe market entered the final sprint before the draft, with major brands ramping up efforts to lock in their desired rookies before draft night.
Word was that top number one pick contender Greg Oden had quickly reached a multi-year massive endorsement deal with Nike, finalizing cooperation soon after meeting in Portland. Oden being locked in early also directed more attention and chips from other brands toward Xu Ling, who similarly had huge market potential.
LN, Nike, Adidas all dispatched teams to prepare formal negotiations with Xu Ling.
PS: Finally wriggled to here, tomorrow is the draft.
