Chapter 34: The Selection Begins

At 3:00 PM on the 24th, after a five-and-a-half-hour flight, Tang Bei and his party arrived in Portland, Oregon. Accompanying him, besides Eric Fleisher, were John Liu and Xu Jicheng.

After resting briefly at the hotel and having dinner, Tang Bei changed into a bespoke men's suit provided by Eric Fleisher. The classic black color represented pure power, perfectly matching Tang Bei’s absolute strength. Fleisher had spared no expense, spending over two thousand dollars on the suit alone. With the addition of leather shoes, accessories, and a two-hundred-dollar haircut, the total cost exceeded three thousand dollars.

"How is it?" Tang Bei asked, feeling a bit unsure as he had never worn a suit before.

"Tang, your physique is very well-proportioned; it looks fantastic," Eric Fleisher said happily.

"Looks great," John Liu immediately echoed.

Xu Jicheng added with a smile, "Very handsome. No, actually, it's very handsome and cool." He picked up his camera and snapped a few photos.

"Come on, Mr. Xu, help me take a picture with Tang," Fleisher urged.

*Click, click...* Xu Jicheng snapped away, not worrying about the film at all.

"GO! GO! GO!" Fleisher excitedly pulled open the door and shouted, "Today is our lucky day; God will bless us."

At seven o'clock, Tang Bei arrived at the Memorial Coliseum. The arena was quite old; the Trail Blazers had just lost the Finals there. Team owner Paul Allen had already decided to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new arena, even settling on the name: the Rose Garden.

A significant number of fans had already arrived. The arena was filled with seats, and the front area was a special zone known as the "Green Room." The league invited a dozen prospects most likely to be selected in the lottery, along with their agents and families, to sit there. Tang Bei had received an invitation, and his seat was in the Green Room.

*Click, click...* His arrival drew the attention of the media.

Upon entering the Green Room, he saw other highly competitive prospects like Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning, as well as Christian Laettner. When O'Neal saw Tang Bei, his expression was somewhat unnatural. Laettner looked at Tang Bei with a murderous glint in his eyes; in previous team workouts, whenever Tang Bei was matched up against him, he would relentlessly dominate him, nearly breaking his bones and leaving him at a massive disadvantage. He couldn't even avoid it, as the teams inviting them for workouts specifically wanted to see their direct collisions to decide whom to draft.

Fortunately, many media members and NBA general managers were still backing him, believing he was stronger than Tang Bei and had a better draft outlook.

"Tang, let's sit over here," Eric Fleisher said, pulling Tang Bei to a spot far away from O'Neal and Laettner.

"Hey, Eric." A familiar voice sounded from behind. Eric Fleisher turned around to see his younger brother, Marc Fleisher.

"Marc, you're here." He wasn't surprised, as Marc also had a European player participating in the draft—a guard whose draft prospects were nowhere near Tang Bei’s, likely a second-round pick at best.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Marc Fleisher, Eric's brother," Marc said, beaming as he extended his right hand to Tang Bei.

"Hello, I'm Tang Bei," Tang Bei said in English.

"You know, Tang, I'm planning to head to China to strike gold," Marc Fleisher said, looking expectant.

"Strike gold?" John Liu was taken aback.

Marc Fleisher immediately explained, "I mean looking for the next Tang."

"Oh." John Liu understood immediately and was about to translate, but was interrupted by Eric Fleisher.

Eric Fleisher said to his brother, "Alright, Marc, go find a seat and don't bother us." Marc glared at his brother and left, looking somewhat helpless.

"I just heard him mention 'China'," Tang Bei said. After John Liu translated, Eric Fleisher quickly added, "Marc is my brother; he is planning to go to China for a vacation." John Liu was speechless but had no choice but to translate it that way.

Meanwhile, at the Orlando Arena, where the Magic's headquarters were located, the management team was in their final discussion.

"I still hope we choose O'Neal. He is the best big man," said Public Relations Director Alex Martins.

But someone immediately countered, "Everyone knows O'Neal doesn't want to play in Orlando; he wants to go to the Lakers. If we force his selection, it won't be a good thing for either party."

Another added, "I think both Mourning and Tang are excellent. We have to pick someone who actually wants to play for us, right? Otherwise, we won't be able to keep them after their rookie contracts expire."

"I think Mourning is better."

"But his post dominance isn't as good as Tang's; the workouts have already proven that."

The draft was about to begin, and no decision had been reached. General Manager Pat Williams, feeling irritable, loosened his tie, grabbed a glass of water, and gulped it down.

"Pat, what is your take?" someone asked.

After taking two deep breaths to force himself to calm down, Williams said, "While Tang is good, there is still some uncertainty about his future."

"True," others immediately agreed.

Williams continued, "Mourning is also very good, but with O'Neal and Tang in the mix, his height will be a weakness that cannot be ignored."

Everyone nodded. Someone remarked, "If only Mourning were a few centimeters taller, we wouldn't even have to consider Tang."

After another deep breath, Williams said, "So O'Neal is still the best option. I don't think we should give up on him because of things that haven't happened yet."

As the General Manager, he held the deciding vote, and with that statement, the management’s opinion was unified.

At eight o'clock, the draft began. After David Stern gave his opening remarks, he announced the start of the proceedings. The Magic had five minutes to make their selection. If they failed to choose within that time, they would, in principle, forfeit the first pick, which would pass to the second team. In other words, the Hornets behind them would receive the first overall pick. Of course, such a situation had never happened before.

The Magic official sat there, feeling nervous, staring at a landline phone and waiting for the call from Orlando.

"What's going on?" After two minutes had passed, the phone still hadn't rung. It only took a few seconds to make a call, which made him suspicious; sweat began to bead on his forehead, and he grew anxious. The league official waiting nearby was also confused—had the Magic team not made a decision yet?

At that moment, back at the Orlando Arena, Pat Williams and his management team were going crazy. The arena's phone lines had suffered a technical failure, and they couldn't get a call out. Two engineers were frantically trying to repair the lines, but two minutes passed, then three, and it remained broken. Williams tried using his Motorola cell phone, but the signal inside the arena was too weak to connect.

"There's no time left..." Public Relations Director Alex Martins grabbed his bulky, brick-sized Nokia mobile phone and rushed toward the exit, shouting, "I'm going outside to call!"

"Good, good, Alex, run faster!" Williams shouted from the doorway.

"OK." Martins broke into a hundred-meter sprint.