Chapter 1 When Kobe and his agent, Tellem, arrived in Los Angeles, the fledgling Black Mamba wasn't in a hurry to see the sights of the "City of Angels."

He was busy swallowing his saliva while opening a lunchbox.

"Burp~!"

After quickly devouring the sandwich Su Feng had prepared for him, Kobe felt his entire body instantly filled with energy.

"I'm ready," Kobe said to his agent, Tellem.

At that moment, a murderous aura emanated from the Black Mamba's eyes.

According to the upcoming schedule, Kobe would first participate in a Clippers' workout, and then a Lakers' workout.

...

After resting for a day in Los Angeles, Kobe's workout with the Clippers went very smoothly. His outstanding performance even stunned the Clippers' staff on the scene.

But...

In Su Feng's previous life, many people suspected that Baylor was a spy sent by the Lakers to the Clippers.

Well...

To be fair, this conspiracy theory actually has some basis.

Because after Kobe's workout, the Clippers' front office told him, "In our opinion, your workout performance is the best of all the players."

Hearing his performance praised, the naive Kobe immediately asked, "Then will you pick me?"

"No, we won't pick you because we need immediate combat power to reverse our poor record.

If we choose a 17-year-old boy, the people of Los Angeles will think we're a joke, so we can't choose you."

It must be said that the Clippers' front office's answer was truly Clippers-esque (quick to sink).

Don't ask why the Clippers' operations were so magical.

Because in the future, the Clippers would use even more practical actions to prove what it means to perform "operations that even cloud fans couldn't come up with."

In his previous life, many basketball fans liked to use "You can you up" to argue with each other.

But honestly, doing other things might not work, but for being the Clippers' front office during this period, keyboard warriors shouldn't underestimate themselves too much.

Kobe's young mind instantly suffered 100 million points of damage...

Even when he walked out of the training hall, he looked at his agent, Tellem, with grievance and asked, "Am I really that bad?"

Seeing the dejected Kobe, Tellem stroked his head and comforted him, "No, believe me, you're the best high school student in America."

...

Next, after regrouping his mindset, Kobe went to another Los Angeles team two days later—

The Lakers.

Regarding the Lakers' team history, we'll talk about it later, because someone couldn't wait to meet Kobe.

Unlike the Clippers, who had him go through all sorts of workout content, after looking at Kobe's physical test data, Jerry West directly had Kobe and Mississippi University's star, Dontae' Jones, go head-to-head.

As a result, after Kobe utterly destroyed Jones, West, in his excitement, raised the difficulty for Kobe.

Lakers' coaching staff member, former NBA player, Larry Drew, came on the court.

However, this former NBA player was still no match for Kobe.

The Lakers' front office could almost feel West's excitement from across half the court.

So, Lakers legend, Michael Cooper, the 1987 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and current member of the Lakers' front office, drew his sword and went into battle.

Although Cooper had already retired for six years at this time, in the eyes of the Lakers' staff, West was bullying Kobe too much.

After all, how could a high school student possibly...

He actually really won!

After Kobe defeated Cooper, West told his assistant, "No need to watch anymore, I can confirm that this kid is the best player in this draft."

Then, West walked up to Kobe's agent, Tellem, "We'll do everything we can to get him."

Tellem was a little confused, but as he wanted to continue questioning West, West had already left his side.

In Tellem's opinion, this was perhaps just a compliment from West to Kobe.

After all, the Lakers at this time were full of talent on the wing, in addition to All-Star player, Ceballos, they also had talents like Eddie Jones.

The Lakers at this time were on the road to revival, and no asset was superfluous.

Just as Tellem was wondering whether to tell Kobe this news, on the court, West had already walked up to Kobe.

"So, how does it feel to spar with NBA-level players?"

After defeating Cooper, Kobe was currently feeling proud. Listening to West's question, Kobe thought for a moment and replied, "I think Su's defense is better than his."

"Oh?"

In fact, West didn't take Kobe's words too seriously...

But out of confidence in protecting young players, West patiently waited for Kobe's next answer.

"Although Su's defensive skills aren't as good as his, if it were Su, he would definitely fight me to the very end," Kobe replied.

West smiled, his gentle smile leaving a deep impression on the young Kobe.

And perhaps because West was too approachable, Kobe had actually forgotten at this moment that the person standing in front of him—

Was the Lakers' franchise legend, the undisputed leader of the current Lakers team, the NBA's Logo, Jerry West.

"Sir, may I ask, if the Lakers choose me, what would you need me to do?" Kobe plucked up his courage and continued to talk to West.

"Why do you ask that question?" West asked curiously.

"Because many people think I'm just a high school student, and after entering the NBA, I should change my current style of play..." Kobe replied.

"No, I don't need you to make any changes, remember kid, I just need you to be yourself," West said, patting Kobe on the shoulder.

Thus, Kobe's Los Angeles trip ended.

Next, he would also participate in workouts with teams like the Bulls and Celtics.

In Los Angeles, the Logo Man's plan began.

Looking at scout Martin, who had come to report to him, West asked, "What are your thoughts on Kobe?"

"I think Kobe might be better than we imagined, especially in his senior year, his organization ability..."

West didn't let Martin finish his sentence, directly interrupting him, "Don't be fooled by the data.

His organization ability is still very immature.

However, his desire to pass the ball makes me think that he will grow into an all-around, hard-to-defend star player," West said.

"But boss, Kobe's current draft ranking, I'm worried that we..." Martin looked at West with a worried expression.

"I know, cancel the previous plan.

After the draft order comes out, let's see which team is lacking in the paint," West said.

"But boss, if you're also optimistic about Kobe, then he's going to the Celtics next..."

Martin's implication was that the Celtics weren't the Clippers, and since you can be optimistic about Kobe, then the Celtics would naturally also be optimistic about Kobe.

"Let me think, this is a bit of a headache.

After all, Arnold (Auerbach) isn't Elgin (Baylor)," West rubbed his forehead.

"Which other outstanding perimeter players have declared for this draft?" West asked.

"Connecticut's Ray Allen is currently the most recognized shooting guard in the NCAA;

Villanova's Kerry Kittles is currently considered the second-ranked shooting guard in this draft;

And then there's Kentucky's Antoine Walker, a versatile power forward with a height of 206 centimeters..."

Martin looked at the information he had previously prepared and reported.

"Then let the word out that we will do everything we can to get Kentucky's Antoine Walker!

Also, tell the media that it was me who said it, Walker, in my opinion, will become the successor to 'Magic'!" West said, patting Martin on the shoulder.

"Then help me compile a list of teams that are likely to get the 8th to 10th picks."

"I understand, boss!"

...

Phoenix, just as Kobe's Los Angeles trip came to an end, Su Feng was happily and cheerfully enjoying the feeding from Steve Nash.

Originally, Su Feng had recently learned a lot of low-post, back-to-the-basket offensive skills with Frazier's help.

Because "dribbling deficiency" doesn't mean he has no one-on-one offensive ability.

Moreover, Su Feng's "dribbling deficiency" also depends on who he's being compared to.

But...

In this workout in Phoenix, Nash simply didn't give Su Feng the opportunity to show off his one-on-one skills.

Don't ask, he was feeding him so many assists that he was about to throw up.

Under the joint efforts of these two 96' draftees, the Suns' benchwarmers were completely crushed.

There was no way around it, in this era of heavily relying on starters, the difference in strength between the starters and substitutes was already very large.

What's more, Su Feng and Nash's opponents were just a few fringe players from the Suns?

In particular, in order to balance the gap between the rookies and the NBA players, the Suns' front office even had AC Green and Elliott Perry, two key reserves, join Su Feng's rookie team?

In the 20-minute five-on-five full-court game, Su Feng scored 22 points, while Nash had 6 points and 9 assists. Both of their performances were unanimously praised by the Suns' front office.

Because Su Feng and Nash's agent was Bill Duffy, the two met at the training camp today and immediately started chatting.

Also worth mentioning is that during the physical test in the morning, Su Feng also lent his socks and insoles to Nash, allowing Nash's height to successfully reach 191 centimeters.

This "socks and insoles" diplomatic event further warmed up the relationship between the two.

Nash envied Su Feng's muscles, while Su Feng coveted Nash's incredible speed and incredibly smooth dribbling skills.

"Steve, tell me honestly, what is your actual height?" Su Feng asked Nash curiously.

"1... 190 centimeters!" Nash replied, his face flushed.

"If you keep lying to me like this, then we can't be friends," Su Feng said, looking at Nash with an expression that said, "Keep lying to me."

"1... 188 centimeters!" Nash's tone was much firmer this time, but Su Feng was still shaking his head.

"Okay, 186 centimeters, just measured last week," Nash replied weakly.

Sure enough...

NBA players' height is just like actresses' weight, it's all a lie.

In his previous life, Su Feng had seen an interesting photo, which was that Nash, standing straight, was actually about the same height as Curry, who was leaning forward with his back bent.

If Nash was really 191 centimeters, then Curry would be a 198-centimeter giant.

But then again, Nash's defense was even worse than Su Feng had imagined.

During the physical test, Nash only weighed 73 kilograms, with small arms and legs that would disappear if someone bumped into him.

But to be fair, it was precisely because Nash couldn't defend that Su Feng was so present on both ends of the court in this workout.

Even the Suns' front office began to suspect that some media outlets were trying to smear him just for the sake of smearing.

Because with Su Feng's workout performance, there was still talk of a worst-case scenario of being a second-round pick?

"He can definitely be a first-round pick in this draft!

But... Steve and Su, if only we had one more first-round pick," the Suns' front office lamented.

At this time in the 95/96 season, Kidd was still a Cowboy in Dallas. The current Suns were very short of a point guard, and this was one of the main reasons why Nash was selected by the Suns in his previous life.

The current Suns already had Michael Finley, so they weren't in a very urgent need for wings.

But here comes the problem...

Su Feng's workout performance was just too good.

With Nash's assists on both ends of the court, the Suns' front office only saw Su Feng's strengths.

So, the Suns' front office was torn...

...