They nearly met before, this unlikeliest of couples. They were in Los Angeles then, the two of them. Dorell Wright was four years old, with visions of baseball stardom just beginning to bloom in his head. Pat Riley was in his last year as coach of the Lakers, where he crafted his image and captured four World Championships before moving on to New York and, later, Miami. So when The Kid would spot The Legend after a Lakers practice at Loyola Marymount University, he would do what most kids would do when an adult icon appeared before him. He would run and hide, his curiosity overwhelmed by insecurity. “I’d be like, ‘Mom, there’s Pat Riley. There’s Pat Riley,’” remembers Wright. “And she’d be like, ‘Say something to him.’ And I was like, ‘No.’ He’d walk away, and she’d say, ‘See? You should have said something to him.’ ” “Dorell would just be in awe when he would see Pat Riley,” says his mother, Stacy. “And he’d just sit there, and when he would see him walk out the gym, he would say, ‘Mom, Pat Riley is gone.’ And I’d say, ‘Well, you should have said something to him.’” The two will have plenty of opportunities to talk now. Riley is settling comfortably into a superstar executive role now, carefully constructing a HEAT team that is as long on youth and athletic ability as it is , well, long. And in the 18-year-old, 6-foot-7 package of skills and speed named Dorell Wright, the HEAT President saw exactly what he felt his team needed with the No. 19 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. “We feel that Dorell is somebody that, through all the scouting and thinking and talking about what it is we wanted and how we wanted to build this team, that he was ideal,” says Riley. “He has something that’s very intriguing from a talent standpoint, and we just feel very fortunate that we were able to get him.” While Riley felt fortunate on the evening of June 24, HEAT fans and league observers alike felt other emotions. Like surprise. Confusion. Shock. And, in some cases, outright anger. Much of the surprise came because Riley, who authored his aura by masterfully motivating men, had selected a high school kid – a first in HEAT history. But the anger? The anger came because Riley made the surprising selection at the expense of a man named Jameer. Jameer Nelson, the tiny All-American point guard who made tinier St. Joseph’s matter last season, was surprisingly available at No. 19. Nelson stands 5-foot- 11 on a good day, but his toughness, vision, leadership and scoring ability earned him the Wooden and Naismith Awards as college basketball’s premier player. So when the HEAT bypassed the four-year college star in favor of a little-known prep star, it naturally caught people off guard. Riley understands this. But he also insists that, before too long, it is Wright who will catch people sleeping. “We had some mixed emotions, only from the standpoint that I had great, great, great respect for what Jameer did,” says Riley. “Four years toiling away, doing it the right way. College Player of the Year. Team was 27-0. Class, quality kid and, you know, one of the very best at his position. “But we had Dorell on the board ahead of him. And we took him. “Being the first player in the history of the HEAT to be a high school player is irrelevant to me. He’s a basketball player. He’s got great skills. And he’s going to have to develop those skills. We will work very hard in trying to do that. Wright insists that he is willing to put in that hard work. And he naturally shrugs off any talk of having to escape Nelson’s surprisingly long shadow. “In my house, I didn’t hear not one boo,” says Wright. “I guess they were looking for someone who could fit into their program.” Wright already appears to be emotionally mature beyond his years. He insists a fifth year of high school at South Kent (CT) Prep “matured me as a person and a player.” “I think that year away helped him a lot,” says Wright’s father, Ray. “From the time he left the house last year until now, he matured a lot. I even noticed that in some of his games. He just looked a lot more ready.” He sure did. Utilizing his sublime blend of ball-handling skills, leaping ability and quickness, Wright dominated the country’s toughest prep school league last season. Alternating at point guard, shooting guard and small forward for South Kent, Wright averaged 29.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocks to earn Ocean League Player of the Year honors. He scored 53 points and pulled down 20 rebounds in South Kent’s 106-94 win over Lafayette College’s JV team on Nov. 15, 2003, and was tabbed as the top prep school player in the nation by Basketball Times. “We feel very excited that we have somebody who has a multi-faceted game,” says Riley. “And [somebody] that can be honed into the type of player that we envision.” With his California-cool demeanor and infectious smile, Wright comes across as anything but the stereotypical selfish, self-absorbed teenage star. But ask him to cite his strengths as a basketball player, and he responds confidently and immediately. “Probably running the floor, using my athletic ability and finishing at the rim, things like that,” says Wright. “I can handle the ball real well, bring up the ball. We’ll see. It’s a different game [in the NBA], so I’m gonna see what I can bring.” Before he can bring anything to the HEAT, the rail-thin Wright will have to prove that he is strong enough to withstand the mental and physical rigors of the NBA. Nobody is under the illusion that this transition will be easy. But all parties seem confident that it will indeed occur. And that Wright will fit into the HEAT program just fine. “Our philosophy, first and foremost, is conditioning,” explains Riley. “We know he has the athletic ability and skills, but you’ve got to be able to endure. He’s very willing, and from what we understand, he’s like a sponge. He takes everything in, and he has a good demeanor about it. He’s a young man who I think is going to understand what it takes to be a professional.” “I think too much is made of just his age and everything, the high school thing,” insists HEAT head coach Stan Van Gundy. “He’s going to be like anyone else coming in. We’ve always tried to develop our players as quick as we can. “He’s got to get stronger. That’s going to be a long process. But that doesn’t mean that in that process, while he’s still getting stronger, he’s not going to be ready to play at some point. He’s going to try to get in the rotation as quickly as he can. When he’s ready, he’ll play.” “Whatever it is I have to do to prepare my body for me to get out there on the court, that’s what I’m going to do,” promises Wright. “I’m willing to be patient. To take on whatever I have to in practice, off the court. If I just work hard and try to get in that rotation, everything will be good.” Given his recent meteoric rise up the basketball ranks, Wright is likely to stay true to his word and practice patience. After harboring dreams of playing professional baseball since about the time he was hiding from Riley out in L.A., the sweet-swinging first baseman/right fielder began to get serious about basketball during his junior year at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, Calif. “I was getting all the attention from the college coaches,” remembers Wright. “And I was like, ‘Man, I must be good at basketball.’ There were a couple of [Major League Baseball] teams that came out to see me for baseball. But it got to a point where I had to put all my eggs in one basket. So I chose basketball.” And, before long, Wright also chose to dominate basketball. After averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocks as a junior, Wright upped his averages to 24.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 4.1 blocks as a senior. Then, he decided to head east for a year at South Kent. And that decision ended up making all the difference in the world. “I would recommend that for any young player that’s trying to be somebody in life,” says Wright. “It helped me so much. Getting away in a different atmosphere. Deep in Connecticut. About an hour-and-a-half from everyone. It was just a good experience for me. I’m glad my mom and dad let me go, because they weren’t going to let me go.” Wright initially thought his next step would be to Chicago, where DePaul University was eagerly awaiting his arrival. But he had dreams of a leap into the NBA, and as his sensational season at South Kent continued to unfold, his confidence continued to grow. Wright says he began to really believe in his NBA dream after showcasing his all-around game in the three-day War on the Shore tournament in Delaware last November. His 108-point, MVP performance at February’s three-game National Prep School Invitational in Rhode Island opened a lot of other eyes. And a 17- point performance at Chicago’s EA Sports Roundball Classic in March and a 24- point, seven-rebound showing at the D.C.-area Jordan Capital Classic in April awoke anyone who was still sleeping. So Wright put aside his plans to enroll at DePaul, and declared confidently for the NBA Drat. When Miami called his name at No. 19 – ahead of more public suitors like Boston and Utah – he was just happy to have put the whole process behind him. “I just knew it was gonna be in the first round,” says Wright, who was one of eight high school players drafted in the Top 20. “But I didn’t know where. I had no clue where I was going. Man, I was so nervous that day. I don’t think words can explain how nervous I was.” Now, the nerves have been calmed. Now, he knows where he will call home. Now, he finds himself a fast favorite of the man he once was too shy to speak to. “We brought him back twice [for private pre-draft workouts],” admits Riley. “I sort of actually fell in love with him.” Sounds crazy, right? Well, maybe it is. “It’s still all crazy,” says Wright. “It still hasn’t hit me yet. I’m still real calm and cool about everything. I had no idea that I would be in this position a couple of years ago. I’m just real happy, and I know my parents are. That’s all I was really trying to do – make my parents proud.” -- 婚姻、愛情、朋友、性； 夢想、自由、生命 --

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