Late at night on September 20, Beijing time, the agency of Chinese player Cui Yongxi officially confirmed that the 21-year-old Cui Yongxi signed a two-year two-way contract with the NBA Brooklyn Nets, and then the Nets' official social media update confirmed the news. According to the NBA contract code, a two-way contract is a contract that allows a team to add players outside of the regular season roster, and players who sign a two-way contract are called two-way players, two-way players are in principle development league players, but they can also play in the NBA (can only play for the parent team of the development league team), play up to 50 NBA regular season games in a season, and cannot play in the playoffs. However, it is possible to train with the team and travel away.
On the morning of the 21st, Beijing time, Cui Yongxi, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, shared his experience of chasing his dream this summer with a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News, and also disclosed more details behind the signing.
A two-way contract with several twists and turns
Although it can only be regarded as a "temporary worker" of the Nets, it is a big breakthrough for today's Chinese basketball to win a two-way contract, you know, Cui Yongxi is the first Chinese player to enter the NBA in five years, and the last time a Chinese player appeared in an official NBA game was back in the 2018-2019 season, when Zhou Qi played for the Houston Rockets. Li Qun, a famous basketball player in Guangdong and the principal of Dongguan Basketball School, who has coached Cui Yongxi for a long time and played a great role in the latter's growth, described the signing as a "big surprise": "I have experienced the draft of the United Arab Emirates, and I have lived with him in the United States for a long time, but this time it is the child we have cultivated since childhood to enter the NBA, which is something that no one expected." ”
Cui Yongxi seemed calm about this signing: "After seeing the official announcement of the Nets, my mood has not changed, just like when I was training in Brooklyn these days, but I may be more down-to-earth in my heart." Although Choi Yong-hee's expression was light-hearted, everyone knew the hardships and twists and turns of his dream journey this summer - first he went to the United States to train to prepare for the election, and after losing the selection, he tried out for multiple teams to win the opportunity to represent the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer league, and finally signed with the Nets, who were the first to try. But Choi Yong-hee looked particularly calm when looking back on the experience of this summer: "Since I went to United States, I just want to find a gap with them outside, and then improve myself." Being elected wasn't my goal at the beginning, it was enough to have the opportunity to improve in the summer league, and it was the best to be able to land successfully. ”
Before the official announcement of the signing of Cui Yongxi, the Nets only used up another two-way contract spot on Jalen · Martin a few days ago, talking about the days before the official announcement of the Nets, Cui Yongxi admitted that he had "no bottom" in his heart, and he also disclosed more details of the team's choice to sign two-way players to the Yangcheng Evening News reporter: "(Whether or not to sign in the end) is actually a two-way process, in addition to their own performance, it also depends on the communication between the team's senior management and the coach, first of all, I need to perform well in the trial and summer league, It also depends on whether the players can play a role in the squad, and I need to make sure that the coach and the management are satisfied, and that's the key to getting the contract in the end. ”
After the NBA2024 draft, Choi Yong-hee immediately began to try out for a number of teams to participate in the summer league, among which the Nets were its first trial team, and the performance of Choi Yong-hee in that trial impressed the team's general manager Sean · Marx, and the former's performance and personality were also initially recognized by the team. In fact, after returning to China (some time ago), I was waiting for news from the Trail Blazers, but I didn't expect the news from the Nets to come first, so I made a little trade-off, and finally decided to sign with the Nets. ”
This summer, Jeremy Lin, who set off the "Lin Madness" craze in New York 12 years ago, also gave Choi Yongxi a lot of targeted advice, "Brother Hao told me that the yellow race will be prejudiced here, and I will be ruthless in training and games, and they don't like players who don't behave tough in conflicts. If you want to compete with hundreds of the best players in the world on the same field, you first need to stabilize your mentality and play consistently in the face of trash talk. In addition, Brother Hao also told me to integrate into the team in terms of personality, live with my teammates, and try to be as outgoing as possible. Choi Yong-hee said.
More intense intra-team competition after signing
The Nets are indeed a better choice than the Trail Blazers: although they are both "fish belly", the Nets have better management and rebuilding goals than the Trail Blazers, but the competition within the team is also very fierce, after Choi Yong-hee signed, the Nets have a surplus of personnel on the front line, becoming a veritable "front team" - in addition to All-Star player Ben · Simmons, the team also has Cameron· Johnson, Bojan· Bogdanovic, Finney· Smith and other forwards with starting strength, in addition, Choi Young-hee will also need to compete for playing time with Jalen· Wilson, Zayle· Williams, Trendon· Watford, Whitehead, Noah · Clowney. "The living environment in the NBA is actually more difficult than in China, and the difficulties of living and language barriers require Cui Yongxi to bear additional pressure after training and games, and this kind of competition is often very fierce." However, Li Qun also maintains a great optimism about Choi's prospects: "Choi Yongxi has lived and trained in Australia, and has adapted quickly in language and culture. In addition to physical ability and technical ability, NBA selection also attaches great importance to the player's on-the-spot adaptability, and in terms of on-the-spot response, Cui Yongxi may be the best player in China, and Cui Yongxi has a very clear and definite goal for himself, when he sets a goal, he will go all out to strive for it, which is a characteristic that many of our Chinese players do not have, when I asked Cui Yongxi before leaving for United States, did he have a psychological preset about the difficulties he was about to face, and his answer was 'very difficult' and' I'm sure I can', and I sincerely wish Choi Yong-hee to seize every opportunity. ”
However, for now, the size of 201 cm and 97 kg is not enough to help him gain a firm foothold in the position of No. 3 (small forward), so in the upcoming new season, Choi Yong-hee may also appear more in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, which is also the consensus of Choi Yongxi's team and Li Qun's guidance, when it comes to the upcoming team positioning, Choi Yong-hee has clear expectations and preparations, and he admits that he needs to start seriously from the "3D player" (that is, the role player who is responsible for catching and shooting three-pointers and defending on the court): 'On the pitch I have to do what I can do well, I can't play with the top five players on the pitch, the first thing the young players do is to defend and the second thing is to take all the chances that the stars of the team create and take advantage of them. At all times, I have to do a good job of execution and concentration on the court. Cui Yongxi also has a very clear understanding of the change in the basketball environment and position: "In the 'small ball' era, there is no clear division of positions on the court, and a person may need to switch back and forth between different positions. ”
The toughest route to NBA development
Compared with Battle, Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, Zhou Qi and other predecessors, Cui Yongxi's road to the NBA may be the most difficult, neither through the draft directly landed, nor in the mature period through the performance on the international stage to gain favor, some commented that Cui Yongxi's choice of the path is the most reluctant to try the development route of many Chinese players, after losing the selection through trials and summer league to win two-way contract opportunities, This means that Choi Yong-hee will have to face the fiercest competition in the early days of his landing in the NBA without any team resources tilted. Choi Yong-hee said that he is trying to "go through a road": "Players like Chairman Yao and Brother Lian may only appear in decades or nearly a hundred years, and players like us may only have a little bit of talent and need to climb up a little bit, this road may be very difficult, but it can be very promising, if I can try to succeed, I believe my experience can also help all players like me to pursue their dreams bravely." ”
In the process of trying to "go through a road", perhaps only Cui Yongxi understands how much effort he has put in, and Li Qun's comments on Cui Yongxi's words may be able to prove it a little: "I was very touched by some of his qualities, he once said that going to the United States to train this summer is 'spending money to find gaps', he is willing to give his body, his time and his money for his dreams, he can give everything for basketball, and try to seize every opportunity little by little, In the end, you can turn yourself into a character who can continue to compete on this platform. This may not be something that many young basketball players in China can do today. ”
"I don't know how many years I can stay here, how far I can play, how much help I can provide for Chinese basketball, but I just know that the longer I stay here, the more I will help the team." Cui Yongxi said frankly that he didn't dare to say that entering the NBA can have any special significance for Chinese basketball, "I can't do it alone, I hope that more Chinese players of the same age and with the same talent level as me can come out more, so that everyone's experience and ability in the national team can be more comprehensive, which can help Chinese basketball more than I personally." ”
Source: Yangcheng Evening News