Chapter 1

The sky was filled with a rosy glow as the sun slowly rose from the sea, gradually illuminating Los Angeles at 4 a.m.

On the I-10 freeway, Su Yang drove his Mazda at high speed, with songs from the radio filling the car.

"Speeding at seventy miles an hour, my heart is free and easy, hoping the destination is the sea of love, running full speed, the dream is on the other side..."

He hummed along with the song by Yu Quan, and when he sang the words "the dream is on the other side," he couldn't help but ponder.

Last night, he received a reply from the Clippers, and this morning, he set out from San Gabriel, a Chinese community in the eastern part of the city, planning to spend two hours crossing most of Southern California to reach the Clippers' base on the western coast for an unpaid scout position interview.

The traffic in Los Angeles was terrible, so to avoid rush hour, he had to get up early in the cold.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." A cold wind blew into the car, instantly taking away much of the warmth from his neck.

Su Yang shivered and sighed, "Finding a job is really hard. I have the advantage of being reborn..."

If it weren't for his personal experience, he wouldn't have believed that the past two months would be so exhausting.

Before his rebirth, he was an ordinary young man from China, who graduated with a degree in computer science and worked as a game designer. In his free time, he managed a basketball forum and produced basketball tactical analysis videos on a video website.

He did this for nine years, but his dream of developing a game on par with "Genshin Impact" remained unfulfilled.

However, outside his main job, he gained a lot of fans' attention through his accurate predictions of NBA championship winners and numerous basketball tactical explanations. He even received multiple invitations to commentate on basketball games, proving his capabilities.

Life was supposed to continue in a mundane way, but suddenly, he found himself transported to March 2007 in the United States. His last memory was working overtime until 1 a.m., driving home in a Tesla, which suddenly lost control.

After his rebirth, he was briefly shocked and then wanted to use his advantage to become a billionaire.

He wanted to fund the production of excellent TV series like "Day and Night Pursuit" to make up for the disappointment of not seeing the sequel.

He also wanted to invest in the development of major Chinese games like "Black Myth: Wukong," ensuring they wouldn't suffer from quality issues due to lack of funds or manpower, and even achieve a higher standard, releasing them faster.

He wanted to acquire entertainment companies like Wajiji Entertainment to watch the Rocket Girls dance every day.

He also wanted to mess with the U.S. stock market, making Warren Buffett experience more circuit breakers.

He wanted to buy an NBA team to play around, preventing Zion Williamson from dunking so much...

In short, he wanted everything that money could buy.

Unfortunately, in 2007, companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter had already completed multiple rounds of financing, leaving no room for investment. Products like Instagram and WhatsApp lacked a mobile internet foundation, and neither 4G networks nor high-end smartphones had been widely commercialized, making it impossible to start a company for development.

He couldn't write songs or make movies, and even if he took classes to learn, it would take a lot of time. He didn't remember many songs or movie plots, so learning would be futile, at best providing some creative ideas.

Even buying Apple stocks would have to wait until the iPhone 4 was released to make a profit. As for opportunities like Germany's 7-1 win over Brazil, Leicester City's Premier League title, and Bayern Munich's 8-2 victory over Barcelona, they were far off.

Even betting on the Spurs sweeping the Cavaliers in the finals would have to wait a while.

The key was that after his rebirth, he was a college graduate with only a few thousand dollars in his account, needing to repay student loans monthly. He was raised in an orphanage and had no close friends, so he urgently needed to make money.

Fortunately, the NCAA March Madness tournament was underway, and he remembered some game results from his years of managing a basketball forum, such as Oden's one-handed defense against Horford and Noah, UCLA's loss in the Final Four, and Georgetown's victory over North Carolina. He could predict many game outcomes based on this information.

He initially planned to gain tens of thousands of followers through these successful predictions, then appear on ESPN and other TV stations to predict NBA playoff results, becoming a famous commentator in North America. He would then be invited to become an assistant general manager for a team, making several successful trades and draft picks, gradually reaching the peak of his career...

However, his predictions on Twitter and Facebook received little attention, and his account was locked out the next day after successful bets on a gambling website.

After cursing the website owner, he began to seriously consider finding a job.

After much thought, he decided to pursue a career related to basketball, both a long-term hobby and a way to earn money and prevent some tragedies.

He first applied for assistant coaching positions with various teams but received mostly rejections due to his lack of relevant experience, no connections, and recent graduation, as he was not considered credible by the players.

Some teams didn't even respond, so he had to settle for applying as a scout or video analyst, including his insights and suggestions for the 2007 draft, but most teams still rejected him, not even giving him an interview.

He didn't get discouraged and didn't stop. If all else failed, he could return to his homeland.

But it would be better to earn more money from American conglomerates, develop products to sell to them, and create new and upgraded products.

After two months of trying, the Clippers finally offered him an interview for an unpaid scout position.

An unpaid scout doesn't receive a salary from the team, has no health insurance or social security benefits, and only enjoys some travel allowances. They can also use the team's name to enjoy media privileges in certain places and conduct various evaluations.

The most successful unpaid scout is Masai Ujiri, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors.

Ujiri initially accompanied an African player to the Orlando Magic for a tryout. The player failed, but Ujiri was noticed by then-Magic head coach Doug Rivers. He worked as an unpaid scout for the Magic for many years, was introduced to the Denver Nuggets as a scout, and later succeeded Van Gundy as general manager, orchestrating trades like sending Carmelo Anthony to New York. After joining the Raptors, he made a bold move to trade for Kawhi Leonard, becoming a legendary figure with the right timing and support.

Su Yang planned to use Ujiri as a reference, leveraging his foresight to shorten the path to becoming a general manager. But now, he had to focus on passing the Clippers' interview, so he spent a late night studying the team's salary cap and tactical system.

He also considered the risks of working for Donald Sterling, such as unreimbursed travel expenses, but his primary goal was to gain a foothold in the NBA, meet more people, and create more opportunities.

As long as he stayed focused and developed steadily, he would eventually become a billionaire and surprise everyone.

While deep in thought, Su Yang continued to hum along with the song.

"Fly with the wind, with dreams as wings, dare to love and dare to explore, even if you encounter great risks, great waves..."

Another cold wind blew into the car, but he raised his head, facing the sunlight, and stepped on the gas, speeding toward the West Coast.