The Adidas Training Camp is held in San Francisco this year, while the McDonald's High School All-Star Weekend is hosted in Los Angeles.
For the McDonald's All-Star Weekend, players report to the designated hotel on the 24th, and on the 25th-26th, there are selection matches for the game, including preliminaries for the slam dunk contest. The McDonald's High School All-Star mimics the rules of the NBA All-Star, but with a selection process. The first two days are selections, the 27th is the high school All-Star game, and the 28th is the three-point contest and slam dunk contest.
The most important and the only event nationally broadcast is the slam dunk contest. The three-point contest previously gained national broadcast opportunities because of the slam dunk contest, but it's likely not many people are interested.
In terms of the All-Star game, Zhang Hao didn't receive an invitation, but over the past few days, he learned that the selection process for this high school All-Star is quite quirky. Experts choose one player from each state league champion team that falls into either the East or West, so sometimes the best players don't get the chance to participate.
Pierce also received an invitation but declined because it wasn't necessary.
The Adidas Training Camp is different, where Zhang Hao's case is an exception. Most of the participating players are juniors or seniors. It begins with a week-long training camp, hosting various selection matches. Finally, an All-Star lineup is determined for an event organized like the NBA All-Star between the NBA regular season and playoffs, with teams made up of high schoolers from the East and West.
After Zhang Hao took an interest in this event, he saw the promotional poster for the Adidas High School Basketball Training Camp featuring Farague High School's top nationwide high school player Kevin Garnett on the cover. After paying attention to Garnett, Zhang Hao understood why he skipped college to go directly to the NBA. His grades were terrible. What kind of motivation could lead a senior student to score only slightly more than 300 on the SAT?
At the end of April, there was an ACT exam, and in early May, another SAT exam. Yet Garnett, who struggled with exams, wasn't studying hard to get into college. Instead, he was participating in this event, perhaps he never even considered going to college... nor did he have the chance.
The Adidas Training Camp isn't broadcast, but it garners more attention compared to the McDonald's camp and All-Star game! Almost every MVP of this event has eventually entered the NBA. The final event's 18-man roster almost every year entirely joins NCAA Division I teams.
The McDonald's High School All-Star game is almost like a formality. The slam dunk contest merely showcases physical attributes and dunk creativity, whereas the final match of the Adidas Training Camp genuinely evaluates skills and basketball talent.
While Pierce was eating pizza, Zhang Hao searched the detailed information of this Adidas Training Camp competition using a computer.
Using a computer in those days required a lot of patience...
"Yohoo!"
As Zhang Hao looked through the list of participants, he quickly recognized some familiar names. It's not that they're mutually familiar, just that he knew of those individuals.
Garnett, Kobe, Hamilton, Bibi, Jermaine O'Neal... but the majority were unfamiliar, over a hundred people in total.
Zhang Hao thought about his own progress with mid-range shots... Initially, he didn't have much anticipation for the Adidas Training Camp, but now he does. He excels at moving off the ball to shoot. If he has a teammate who can pass well and they build a good rapport, he might stand a chance to get into the final 18-man roster!
That would greatly increase the chances of joining a NCAA Division I school team!