NBA: My Manager Role Came to Life

The night before the 2009 draft, Xu Chuan opened a basketball management game and chose David Kahn, the Minnesota Timberwolves general manager whose decisions had been the subject of endless debate.

He knew Curry would change the league. He knew who would become MVPs and superstars, and how countless famous trades would turn out.

He thought he was replaying a game with all the answers.

Until Kahn on the screen suddenly looked up.

“You say Stephen Curry will become a superstar.”

“Then tell me: after you steal him from his original team, what makes you so sure he’ll still become that Curry?”

From that moment on, the game became reality.

Drafts, trades, injuries, owners, coaches, stars, agents: everyone had their own interests, and every championship came at a price.

From Minnesota to Cleveland, and then to New York.

Some called them architects of champions.

Others hated them for changing the entire league.

Only in the end did Xu Chuan understand:

Knowing who will succeed is the cheapest kind of future.

The real challenge is

building a world where they can succeed.