Chapter 31: The End of Adam Silver's NBA Career

Over the next few days, Tang Bei continued meeting and communicating one-on-one with several other teams until the joint rookie training camp came to an end.

During those days, numerous media outlets reassessed the prospects of the rookies based on their performances at the camp.

Although Shaquille O’Neal had suffered a few setbacks when matched up against Tang Bei and had attended only two days of the rookie camp, it made little difference. Nearly every major media outlet predicted that he would become this year’s first overall pick.

With his outstanding balance between offense and defense, Alonzo Mourning was expected by most major media outlets to be selected second overall in the first round.

Thanks to his popularity and his performances in the NCAA, where he had repeatedly outshone O’Neal, Christian Laettner was projected by some major media outlets to be selected third overall.

Others, however, believed that Jim Jackson would go third. A few major outlets even thought Ellis and Gugiota had a chance of being selected with the third pick.

The highest projection Tang Bei received was seventh overall, according to ESPN.

ESPN believed that although he had performed well at the rookie camp, he had no NCAA experience and lacked fundamental skills and technique. While his talent was visible to the naked eye, his future remained uncertain.

ESPN’s most likely assessment was that Tang Bei would become a larger version of Shawn Kemp. Kemp had been selected seventeenth overall in the first round, so a selection somewhere between seventh and tenth overall was considered most consistent with Tang Bei’s value.

Eric Fleisher had been paying close attention to the media coverage. When he saw ESPN’s report, he was not disappointed. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tang, ESPN believes you’re most likely to be selected somewhere between seventh and tenth overall. That’s not low at all, especially since we still have opportunities to raise your projection, so don’t be discouraged.”

“Next, you’re going to begin the real workouts. This is your chance.”

“With your talent, I believe you deserve to be selected even with the first pick.”

“I’m confident that after the next few workouts, we can absolutely push your draft prospects upward by several positions.”

“Work hard, young man. No one can truly hold you down. Use your talent to conquer those picky general managers.”

After the draft lottery results were announced, Eric Fleisher finalized the eight teams Tang Bei would work out for.

The Magic and the Hornets, who held the first and second picks; the Timberwolves, with the third pick; the Mavericks, with the fourth; the Nuggets, with the fifth; the Washington Bullets, with the sixth; and the Rockets and Heat.

The first six of those eight teams held high picks and were all from small or mid-sized markets. The Rockets and Heat held the eleventh and twelfth picks respectively, and both were from major markets.

He had deliberately not chosen the four teams picking between seventh and tenth because he genuinely believed Tang Bei could raise his draft prospects through the workouts. Besides, if those four teams truly wanted Tang Bei, they would select him even without bringing him in for a workout.

New York, NBA headquarters.

“Adam, tell me about your achievements.”

“Yes, Commissioner.”

Adam Silver stood before David Stern’s desk, feeling extremely pleased.

Through a series of maneuvers, he had used the NBA’s influence and resources to persuade many major media outlets to reduce their coverage of Tang Bei.

At the same time, the rookie camp had cut back Tang Bei’s playing time and stopped arranging matchups between him and O’Neal or the other highly touted rookies.

Tang Bei’s popularity and public attention had now fallen sharply, while the negative news had disappeared as well. Silver believed his plan had worked.

“…”

After listening to his special assistant’s report, David Stern was momentarily speechless.

“What is it, Mr. Stern?” Adam Silver asked blankly when he noticed something was wrong.

“My God, what the hell was he thinking?”

David Stern gave a bitter smile. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his right hand, then rubbed his temples. He was deeply disappointed in the special assistant he had only recently hired.

Fortunately, Silver’s actions had not caused too much damage. Tang Bei, the Chinese player, had still earned recognition from the media, with his highest projection reaching seventh overall in the first round.

There were also team workouts yet to come. If Tang Bei truly possessed the talent and ability, it was not impossible to undo the negative impact caused by Silver.

“Mr. Silver, you may leave now.”

He waved a hand, dismissing Adam Silver.

Silver had botched the very first task assigned to him and had nearly affected the NBA’s development strategy in China. Stern was profoundly disappointed.

Five minutes later, Adam Silver received a notice from the commissioner’s office.

He was no longer the commissioner’s special assistant. Instead, he had been transferred to the commissioner’s office as an ordinary clerk.

His salary and benefits had also been drastically reduced to just one-third of what they had been before, and he was no longer entitled to the generous allowances given to senior executives.

“Why?”

He could not understand it. What had he done wrong?

He had applied for the position of special assistant to the commissioner, not this damned clerical job.

He had studied law, and a single law textbook could cost several hundred dollars. With hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans weighing on him, an ordinary clerk’s salary was nowhere near enough to repay them. He would need three clerical jobs merely to maintain a basic life and keep up with the interest that increased every day.

With no other option, he chose to return to the legal profession, submitted his resignation, and hastily brought his NBA career to an end.

On the seventeenth, Liu Yumin arrived at the office of her superior, Yang Boyong, carrying the information she had gathered about Tang Bei.

“A native of Tianjing, trained in martial arts since childhood, and not a professional basketball player? Yumin, is this information accurate?” Yang Boyong asked doubtfully.

“It’s accurate. The Tianjing Sports Commission sent someone to investigate. They even went to his home.”

“Oh.”

“He left for the United States on March eighteenth of this year. He went to teach martial arts at a Chinese martial arts school in New York, but the owner died and he lost his job. As luck would have it, an NBA agent happened to take an interest in him. He played for half a month in an American CBA league and then sent ten thousand dollars home.”

“Ten thousand dollars?”

Yang Boyong sighed. The entire Second Competitive Sports Division had a budget of only eighty thousand yuan for the whole year—less than fifteen thousand dollars.

“That really is excellent luck,” he continued.

Liu Yumin went on, “He never attended a sports school. After graduating from junior high, he stopped studying and trained in martial arts in the countryside. His basketball fundamentals are probably very poor. Perhaps he simply has a strong physique.”

“Then continue keeping an eye on him,” Yang Boyong said.

Liu Yumin offered a suggestion. “Director, Zhang Heli is already in the United States. I heard he’s selling beer in Los Angeles. Why not have him go take a look? Tang Bei’s family says he’s currently in New York.”

Yang Boyong immediately shook his head. “A trip from Los Angeles to New York would cost quite a bit. How would we solve the funding problem?”

“That…”

The moment Liu Yumin heard the word “funding,” she felt a headache coming on.

Yang Boyong thought for a moment before saying, “How about this? The news about Tang Bei came from the Xinhua News Agency. I’ll ask the Sports Commission to contact them and see whether one of their correspondents stationed in the United States can help us gather information about Tang Bei.”

“That sounds good,” Liu Yumin said.