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peninsula omnimedia chief reporter du jincheng

chinese player choi young-hee's dream of playing in the nba has finally come to fruition. on september 21, beijing time, the brooklyn nets officially announced that the team had signed chinese player choi young-hee with a two-way contract. the player's agency said that choi young-hee's outstanding performance in the nets' tryout and his shining points on and off the court during the summer league made the nets offer him a two-year two-way contract. during this year's nba summer league, choi young-hee played in three games for the trail blazers, played a total of 21 minutes, and scored 9 points. after comparing with other nba teams' contract offers and considering his own development prospects, choi young-hee finally chose to sign with the nets.

it’s not easy to reach your “dream”

the last chinese player to play in the nba was zhou qi, who currently plays for the beijing men's basketball team, but he left the rockets and returned to china in 2019. over the past five years, chinese fans have been eager for chinese players to stand in the highest hall of professional basketball again, and young players including zhang zhenlin, guo haowen, zeng fanbo and others have also tried, but all ended in failure.

until choi young-hee appeared, chinese fans finally rekindled their hopes. soon after the young man debuted in the cba, he became a core player of the guangzhou men's basketball team and was soon selected for the national team to participate in last year's world cup and asian games. in the past offseason, he made a bold move to the nba. in order to be able to step onto this stage, he crossed four time zones and flew nearly 18,000 kilometers to complete the tryouts of six nba teams, including the nets, grizzlies, jazz, pacers, trail blazers, and knicks. his full commitment on the court and his quick integration with his teammates off the court left a deep impression on many teams, and he was able to get the opportunity to represent the portland trail blazers in the nba summer league without being directly selected in the draft.

it is not surprising that choi young-hee was finally recognized by the nets and got a two-way contract. his talent and hard work deserve to be discovered. in the new season, choi young-hee will wear the no. 8 jersey for the nets, but this does not mean that he will get the opportunity to represent the nets in the nba. on the contrary, there are many unknowns as to whether choi young-hee's two-way contract can be "regularized".

the so-called "two-way contract" means that the player holding the contract is both a player in the development league and an nba player. such players spend most of their time in the development league. to become a regular player in the first team, they need to work hard and have the favor of the goddess of luck. judging from the 15 regular contract members of the nets, choi young-hee's chances of becoming a regular player in the new season are slim, which means that if he does not encounter special circumstances in the first year, he will most likely spend the entire year in the development league.

of course, getting a two-way contract also means that choi young-hee has touched his nba dream, but there is still a distance to fully realize it. although the future is still full of challenges, the young man is not afraid: "a stonemason knocks a stone 101 times, and succeeds on the last time, but he will not attribute success to the last time. if i were a stonemason, i might need to use all my strength to knock 200 times or 201 times before i can crack the stone. if i give up halfway, i will never crack the stone. no matter what happens in the future, i will move towards this goal (entering the nba)," choi young-hee said in an interview.

giving up high salary is expected to make history

if choi young-hee can play in the nba, he will become the seventh chinese player to ever play in the nba. from a positional perspective, as a forward, it will be more difficult for him to realize his dream than for "giants" like yao ming, wang zhizhi, and battelle.

choi young-hee is 2.03 meters tall, with a wingspan of 2.06 meters and a vertical jump height of 0.86 meters. his physical fitness and explosive power are very outstanding. of course, such "suddenness" is limited to the chinese arena. almost all the players at the third and fourth positions in the nba are full of talent, and the competition faced by choi young-hee is quite cruel. this is also the reason why everyone likes and admires choi young-hee. he dares to jump out of his comfort zone and "pursue his dreams" on a bigger stage. even if the road ahead is difficult, he still moves forward without regrets.

choi young-hee has made a lot of sacrifices in his personal treatment in his bid for the nba. he could earn a maximum of $580,000 playing in the development league, but given his value in the cba, he has every chance of getting the top salary. even if he doesn't make 6 million rmb, it's at least more than what he earns in the united states, and with commercial endorsements, he will definitely have better financial returns. it is rumored that other cba clubs have inquired about choi young-hee's price this summer, but the latter still firmly chose to go to the nba.

in a recent video interview, choi young-hee also talked about his personal income. he believes that he is still young and has not reached the age to consider how much money he can make. "in fact, if you calculate playing basketball in the united states, you can earn at least one or two million a year, and it is a very good thing to be able to play basketball at such a high platform." choi young-hee said.

after choi young-hee got the two-way contract from the nets, some people speculated that the nets' introduction of choi young-hee might be related to the team owner tsai chongxin. but in fact, choi young-hee's ability and potential are the key to his getting the contract. local media in the united states revealed that many nba insiders highly recognized choi young-hee's ability, especially this summer, in addition to showing his shooting ability, he is also very good at defense and has the potential to become an excellent 3d player. in addition, choi young-hee's good english expression ability and outgoing personality add a lot of points to him, which makes him win the trust of coaches and teammates.

after the nets officially announced the signing, choi young-hee's parent team, the cba guangzhou men's basketball team, also posted a message on their social media account to support him, "young people have great ambitions and are fearless in pursuing their dreams. i believe that everyone feels as reluctant as we do, but we also believe that this dream-chasing journey will make the young choi young-hee more outstanding, more mature, and more responsible!"