On the way back to the mansion, Kobe suddenly asked, "Lin, are you an American citizen?"
Um?
Lin Feng was stunned when Kobe's words rang in his ears, but he still answered truthfully, "Yes, Kobe, I am an American citizen now, what's wrong?"
"Yeah." Kobe nodded slightly, "That's no problem. I want to invite you to join the Dream Team for the Men's Basketball America's Cup next year. What do you think?"
At this point, Kobe paused for a moment and continued, "Shit, you should know that in recent years, the world basketball community has been denouncing our American men's basketball team for being in decline. The Dream Team 6 and the Dream Team 7 were defeated one after another, and we missed the championship!"
"This is the greatest humiliation the Dream Team has suffered in the international arena since its establishment. I can't watch this happen, so I decided to participate in next year's America's Cup!"
Lin Feng realized that Kobe was going to participate in the 2007 Men's Basketball America's Cup.
Lin Feng was very clear about this. The Dream Team 6 was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Athens Olympics and lost shamefully to Argentina.
In the end, they managed to save a little face by defeating Lithuania 104-96 and only won the bronze medal.
As for the Dream Team 7, the Waterloo they suffered was similar to that of the Dream Team 6.
This year, they lost to the grassroots Greek team in the semi-finals of the Tokyo World Championships, were slapped in the face, and missed the gold medal again.
The Dream Team 7 was actually stronger than the Dream Team 6.
The Dream Team 7 was mainly composed of the 2003 golden generation, the strongest new generation force in the league!
The lineup included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Anthony, and Bosh.
Plus the young Howard and Chris Paul, and All-Star players like Jamison and Brand.
It could be said to be a combination of old, middle-aged, and young players, and the configuration was quite reasonable.
Just looking at the roster, the Dream Team 7 was no worse than any other Dream Team.
However—
Such a luxurious team actually lost to the grassroots Greek team?
When the news reached the United States, the whole world seemed to be collapsing.
The American men's basketball team was invincible. This was something Americans had always prided themselves on.
The Dream Team VI and Dream Team VII failed one after another and were slapped in the face in the international arena. Many people were getting restless, including Kobe Bryant.
Next year, in 2007, the Dream Team 8 would be formed, and Kobe would participate. This was something he had planned for a long time.
The reason they invited Lin Feng was that they wanted him to achieve good results in international competitions, and they hoped that the US men's basketball team would still have an invincible influence!
Lin Feng thought about it and shook his head slightly.
Seeing Lin Feng shaking his head, Kobe was stunned for a moment and asked in surprise, "Lin! You are not going to the international arena?"
"Go!" Lin Feng said.
"Since you're going, why are you shaking your head?"
Kobe was puzzled and a little confused.
Lin Feng smiled and said apologetically, "Kobe, I'm sorry, in international competitions, we may not be teammates, but opponents! Even if I participate in international competitions, I will wear the jersey of the Chinese team instead of the American team, because in my soul, the five-star red flag is always engraved, not the Stars and Stripes."
Kobe: "…"
He was speechless. It turned out that Lin Feng refused to join the Dream Team 8 in order to wear the Chinese team's jersey?
"Lin, are you kidding me? You are a citizen of our country now, why are you wearing the Chinese team's jersey?"
"I will find a way to solve this problem." Lin Feng said, "Actually, I don't want American citizenship, but there is no other way. The Beijing Olympics will be held in 2008. On that day, I will definitely change my nationality. I will represent the Chinese team, and we will be opponents by then. You better be careful!"
"Ha ha!"
Kobe was amused by Lin Feng. He admitted that Lin Feng was very strong.
But wasn't it a bit too arrogant for Lin Feng to want to defeat the powerful Dream Team 8 by himself?
"Lin, you are too conceited. I admit that you are strong, but we have the entire Dream Eight. Do you want to defeat us alone?"
"You are wrong, Kobe. Our Chinese men's basketball team is not just me. We also have Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Da Da Ge, Du Feng, and many other outstanding players in our country."
"Oh my God! If you think so, I can't do anything about it. Let's see for ourselves at the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
Kobe no longer forced Lin Feng to be selected for the Dream Team 8. This guy was preparing to become his opponent in the Beijing Olympics.
"OK, let's see what happens. You guys should be prepared. Our Chinese men's basketball team won't be defeated by you so easily."
Kobe smiled and didn't say anything.
He didn't take it seriously. No matter how strong Lin Feng was, he was still just a human being.
Kobe also recognized Yao Ming's strength.
Kobe didn't care much about the rest of the people.
In terms of overall strength, there was still a big gap between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Dream Team 8.
Back at the mansion, Natalia and Gigi Gianna had both gone to bed.
Su Muqing was chatting with Vanessa. Seeing that it was getting late, Lin Feng prepared to say goodbye.
After leaving Kobe's mansion, Lin Feng looked at Su Muqing and said, "Is there any way to get Brother Yao's phone number?"
"Baby, do you want Yao Ming's phone number?"
"Yes, I do."
"What do you want Yao Ming's phone number for?"
Su Muqing was quite suspicious.
"The Beijing Olympics are coming soon. I want to change my nationality. I know it will be troublesome to change to Chinese nationality, but if Yao Ming talks to the Chinese Basketball Association, the Basketball Association will help me change my nationality. It is not a difficult thing."
Lin Feng knew that before traveling through time, the lone wolf Marbury came to Beijing Shougang to play basketball, and later this guy became a Chinese citizen.
This guy was able to obtain Chinese citizenship through the Basketball Association, not to mention that he was Chinese.
Just tell Yao Ming and let him negotiate with the domestic basketball association, saying that he changed his nationality in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Yao Ming and the basketball association would definitely agree.
Because Yao Ming was a very responsible person, and he was very patriotic. Over the years, Yao Ming could be seen in international competitions, no matter how big or small the battle was.
And he himself had such explosive performance in the NBA. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he would fight together with Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhizhi, Du Feng, Zhu Fangyu, and others. The Chinese Basketball Association and Yao Ming had no reason to disagree.
Su Muqing looked at Lin Feng with a serious expression and said, "Baby, how about this: you wait a moment, I will go back to the company tomorrow morning and see if I can help you find Yao Ming's phone number."
"Okay, thank you, Mu Qing."
Su Muqing worked for ESPN, and ESPN specialized in interviewing NBA players.
It should be easy to find out Yao Ming's mobile phone number within the company.
The next day, Su Muqing went to the company to help Lin Feng find Yao Ming's cell phone number.
The result did not disappoint Lin Feng. In the afternoon, Su Muqing called and said that she had found out Yao Ming's mobile phone number through a white reporter.
Looking at the number Su Muqing sent in the text message, Lin Feng dialed it without hesitation.
…