Almighty Coach

In his office at the Ohio State University, a large man was sitting in front of his computer, working hard.

He was seven feet tall and broad shoulders. The desk in front of him looked tiny in comparison. A normal-sized mouse in his hand looked like like the size of an egg in an ordinary person’s hand.

“Gray, it’s time to leave.” His colleague had already decided to head out.

“I will go after finishing this form,” Gray said.

“Okay. I’m leaving now, though,” his colleague replied. “School hasn’t started yet, you don’t have to work so hard.”

“I want to get familiar with the work of assistant coaches as soon as possible. I have never been a coach before, I was just a player,” Gray said.

After the colleague left, Gray continued on with his work.

His cellphone started to ring. He saw from the caller ID it was a strange number.

I don’t know this number. Is it a telemarketer. Gray thought about it and chose to reject the call.

However, five minutes later, the man called again. Gray chose to answer this time.

“Hello, is this Mr. Gray? I am very sorry, I originally intended to contact you through an agent, but I heard that you had dismissed yours,” the person on the phone said.

“I am Gray. May I ask who you are?” Gray replied.

“My name is Johnson, the general manager of the Clippers. I am in Columbus now. I was hoping to meet with you…”

…

Johnson put down the phone and turned to Dai Li. “I made an appointment. We’ll meet him at the hotel restaurant tomorrow night.”

“We have a day left then. Let’s go sightseeing, I heard there are many places worth visiting in Columbus,” Dai Li said as he stood up.

Johnson changed the subject and asked, “Do you really want to choose Gray?”

“Of course. I remember, when he was drafted, he was hailed as a rare talent that only appeared once every 50 years. Some people said he could surpass Brown, the best in the NBA! He was named “Mr. Basketball USA” in high school. Besides Brown, the only other person who has done that is Gray.”

“It’s true that he’s an amazing talent, but his injury is equally astonishing. He only played 105 games in the NBA because he got injured so much. How can we make use of such a fragile person? We are a basketball team, not a nursing home,” Johnson said.

“Did you forget that I specialize in rehabilitation training? We all know that Gray’s main problem is leg length discrepancy and I have experience in this area. I trained Shawn Ford, the Olympic champion. He also has a leg length discrepancy,” Dai Li replied, a smile on his face.

“Basketball and sprinting are different. There is no contact in sprinting, but basketball has physical confrontations between players. This is especially true of players within the three-point line. They have to fight opponents and keep jumping to get rebounds.” Johnson shook his head. “As a seven-foot man, Gray’s weight is close to 290 pounds. This weight is a burden for his waist, knees, and ankles. Leg length discrepancy makes it even worse. In a fierce physical confrontation, there’s no way that he won’t get injured!”

“I know everything you just said. I have seen Gray’s medical report. I am confident that I can solve his leg length discrepancy issue. I can’t give up on his talent. I believe he can realize his potential on my team!”

Dai Li took out his phone. He found a picture and handed it to Johnson. He said, “This is the data on Gray from when he was in the NBA. He could do the lane agility drill in 11.67 seconds and sprint three-quarters of the court in 3.27 seconds. Can you imagine that this is a person who is seven feet tall and weighs 285 pounds? This kind of agility means he can switch from defense to offense very quickly. With him on the team, we can do what the Rockets do and keep employing the tactics of quickly switching from defense to offense.

“Gray’s great at both offense and defense. He can attack from the low post area, play under the basket, get rebounds, and block. Combine that with his agile pace, and he has all the qualities of a really good center player. In the Blazers’ last season, he scored 11 points, got eight rebounds, and got two blocks in only 24 minutes. He had a field goal percentage of 60%. If you extrapolated this data to encompass 36 minutes, it would be 16.7 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks. As long as he stays healthy, he might become a very good center. In the worst case scenario, he is a top defensive player.”

“Everyone in the NBA knows everything you just said. Before Gray entered the NBA, everyone thought he would be an amazing center player in the future. It is different now. The small ball style reigns supreme. There is no need for an amazing center player in small ball. Now the scoring paint protector strategy is the most popular,” Johnson said.

“Did the small ball style of playing that eliminated the need for good centers, or is it the lack of good centers that made people adopt a small ball style of playing?” Dai Li asked.

“Um…” Johnson found out that this was a question that was difficult to answer.

Very good centers dominated the NBA quite recently. Johnson experienced that era. He knew how terrifying an amazing center could be. The NBA now had many players who played very well within the three-point line but they were lacking in good centers.

Their ability to score aside, just their ability to attack from the low post area was terrifying. There were no solutions for defenders dealing with going head-to-head with good centers at the time. Centers who were able to play one-on-one in the low post area were all excellent. Now, barely any centers were able to attack from the low post area. There were definitely not any centers who made the defenders feel helpless.

Of course, having centers play in the low post area wasn’t popular anymore. The most popular method for players who usually played inside the three-point line was to shoot a three-pointer from the outside. They also might rush underneath the basket and score after getting a pass from a teammate. Those who were able to get rebounds were regarded as key players inside the three-point line.

So no one knew whether the small ball style eliminated the need for good centers or if it was a lck of centers that started the small ball style. If an amazing center appeared, then people would see whether a good center could break a team that utilized small ball tactics or if the small ball style could overcome the center.

…

Gray was confused about Dai Li’s offer. He had long been regarded as a fragile man who couldn’t play in the NBA. That was why he came to the university to be an assistant coach. Who would’ve thought that, just as he was hired, he would receive an offer from the Clippers?

The next night, Dai Li meet with Gray. As Dai Li expected, Gray was an S+ athlete. If he wasn’t injured, he could’ve become a dominant player in his generation.

“Coach Li, are you guys serious about this? Don’t you care about my history of injuries? I may get injured again after playing just a few games,” Gray asked with a sullen look.

“It seems that you are very concerned about your injuries.” Dai Li looked very relaxed. “If you join us, your injuries will be handled by our coaching staff. All you have to do is to make use of your talent!”

The word “talent” struck Gray’s ears. This changed his expression slightly.

When Gray was in high school, he was hailed as the most talented player. He was called the best high school player of the year and was even named “Mr. Basketball USA.” At the time, Gray had shown absolute dominance and was even nicknamed “the Great.” The nickname of the number one ranked player in the NBA was only “Emperor,” but Gray was able to be nicknamed “the Great.” This highlighted how optimistic everyone was about his chances of dominating the NBA.

After entering college, Gray’s name was synonymous with “natural talent.” When people talked about him, they talked about his talent. Everyone believed that when he fulfilled his potential, he would dominate the NBA.

Before the NBA draft, both the talent scouts and media praised him. They said that he possessed all the skills of the outstanding centers in history. Even the most critical of scouts praised his talent. At the time, he not only had an imposing stature, but he was able to jump as well. His speed and flexibility were not inferior to smaller athletes. Finally, he entered the NBA.

Before he was able to make use of his talents, his leg length discrepancy coupled with the intensity of the physical confrontations within the three-point line caused him frequent injuries. His leg length discrepancy did not impact him in high school or college. He was injured for two of his four season. In the other two seasons, he only played 105 games.

Gray became a fragile man in the eyes of many. He was regarded as the “possible champion.” Ever since then, whenever someone mentioned the word “talent,” Gray thought they were ridiculing him! It became a very harsh word.

Because of his talent, Gray had once been lifted up into heaven. The, because of his talent, he became the target of others’ ridicule. His previous nickname, “the Great.” had become a joke that others talked about after a meal.

When Gray heard the word “talent” from Dai Li, he felt an indescribable sense of sorrow and grief. He was not able to face this word.

Gray was silent for a long time. After a while, he said, “Coach Li, can you let me think about it?”

Dai Li could feel Gray’s insecurity in his answer.

He had fallen from the heavens to the pits of hell. Now, no one cared about him. Anyone Gray’s position would feel insecure.

Dai Li shook his head. “I want you to make a decision now. If you overthink this, it will just make you hesitate! If you want to return to the court and fulfill your potential, then the only thing you can do is rush forward courageously. Once you have the think of backing down, you have already failed!”

Dai Li’s words enflamed Gray. This gave Gray the wrong impression. He felt that he was standing on a tall ladder and the steps beneath him were collapsing. He couldn’t move backward, so he could only move forward constantly.

Dai Li then said, “In my eyes, you are still the talented Gray, but you have not fulfilled your potential. I don’t think you are willing to leave the court to just be an assistant coach in college. You are destined to become a superstar. You should not wither away here! The opportunity is in front of you. Seize the opportunity to fulfill your potential and you can still become an NBA superstar!”

…

Gray eventually stopped resisting his desire to be a superstar. He agreed to join the Clippers and Dai Li left Columbus satisfied.

In the airport lounge, Dai Li wrote several names in his notebook.

“Center: Gray, power forward: Noel, small forward: Raymond, shooting guard: Hall, point guard: Wood. What do you think of our starting lineup?” Dai Li asked.

“If they are all healthy, this is an all-star starting lineup,” Johnson said.

“In addition, we have the best sixth men. Osef, the talented rookie Kumar, and the inconsistent Naismith…” Dai Li continued.

“Don’t forget Ronny. We can renew his contract,” Johnson reminded him.

“Get rid of Ronny!” Dai Li said, shaking his head.

“What are you talking about?” Johnson thought he had heard him wrong.

“We have Raymond, Hall, and Osef. If they are healthy, then do you think we have to let Ronny stay?” Dai Li asked with a smile.

“I understand, but you need to prove to me that Raymond can play in a normal NBA game. Otherwise, Ronny is our best choice on the front line,” Johnson said.

“You can rest assured.” Dai Li voiced changed. “I am not very sure about the players inside the three-point line. Although Gray is outstanding, he has only played in 105 NBA games. He isn’t very experienced. We still need to find an experienced alternative for players inside the line. You can help me pay attention to the market or find other teams to make a deal with.”