Neymar — full name Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. — was born in Brazil on February 5, 1992.
Seven weeks later, on March 23, Kyrie Owen was born in Australia.
Neymar's father, Santos, is a former professional footballer. According to Neymar's exact words: "When I was very young, my father taught me. He took care of everything, when I was my agent, and took care of the family. "He taught Neymar the skills of the players and made him precocious.
Owen's dad, Dredrick Owen, is a professional basketball player. Owen's mother died when he was 4 years old, and his father played basketball and raised his children with the help of four sisters. "Many single moms don't get married again. I don't want to continue the string either. I had to do my duty as a father. ”
Neymar was taught footwork, techniques, Brazilian players who grew up savagely, and played street soccer. He knew everything fancy very early on, joining Santos at the age of 11.
Owen grew up playing one-on-one with his father and was taught by his father: "Never be afraid of anyone, and don't be afraid of failure." ”
At the age of 16, in 2008, Neymar earned 25,000 reais a year by playing football.
It was also this year that Irving experienced his "greatest moment of life": going head-to-head with his 42-year-old former professional dad, who won 15-0. One more game, 15 to 0.
At the age of 16, they stood at the level of the professional stage.
In 2011, Neymar led the team to the Copa Libertadores, scoring six goals, including a goal in the decider, giving Santos the copa Libertadores for the first time in 48 years. He was 19 years old and won the South American Footballer of the Year.
That was the year Irving became the NBA's Champion of the Year.
Dribbling in the world of football and dribbling in the world of basketball can use the word dribble in English.
Both Neymar and Owen were young, the world's top dribblers.
Even the style is a bit like that.
They were both dexterous, gorgeous, and magical. They don't necessarily have the fastest straight-line speed or explosiveness, but because of their coordination, flexibility, and balance, they are both good at getting rid of small ranges and suddenly changing speeds in large areas. They both have a good enough sense of space. Neymar's rainbow pass, pulling the ball and volleying, Irving's breakthrough high to find a playing point to lay down. Neither of them is a commander with a big picture view, but they are both top one-on-one talents. Both of them have enough desire to perform, and if they can, they may as well play their opponents.
They are all wayward geniuses.
Neymar arrived in Barcelona. Irving arrived in the NBA. Start their careers individually.
In 2014, Suarez arrived in Barcelona to form MSN with Messi and Neymar. In the summer of the same year, LeBron returned to Cleveland and formed a trident with Owen and Loew.
In the summer of 2015, Neymar won the Champions League with Barca. He scored 10 goals in the Champions League, tied with Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi as the top scorer. At the Golden Globes that year, he came in third.
As we all know, because of the absolute double pride, after 2008, the third in the world can be regarded as an honor.
In the summer of 2015, after the first game of the finals, Irving was injured.
The following summer, Irving scored 41 points in Game 5 of the Finals and a three-pointer in Game 7, and the Cavaliers completed an incredible comeback to beat the Warriors 73 times and win the only championship in team history. As we all know, LeBron won all the single statistics of the Cavaliers in that series, including 208 points in 292 minutes; at the same time, in that series, Irving exploded 190 points in 273 minutes, overpowering Curry.
Neymar, 23, is third in the world. Irving, 24, was able to press Curry across the face.
If they try a little harder, how high can they get?
In 2017, Barca completed their biggest comeback in history in the Champions League. After losing 4-0 to Paris in the first set, the second set was turned over 6-1, with Neymar scoring two goals and assisting in the deadlock.
That summer, the Cavaliers lost 4-1 to the Warriors in the Finals. Irving scored 40 points in the fourth game of the win.
In the autumn, Neymar left Messi, the first man at the time, for Paris Saint-Germain. Paris, meanwhile, got Killian Mbappe, who was born in 1998.
Owen left LeBron, the first man at the time, to go to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics, meanwhile, got Jason Tatum, who was born in 1998.
In the spring of 2018, Neymar was injured and ended the season early. Paris lost to Real Madrid.
Irving was injured and ended the season early. The Celtics lost to LeBron's Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. It was also Tatum's first quenching test.
In 2019 Owen went to the Brooklyn net. In the 2019-20 season, he played only the lowest 20 regular season games of his career due to injury.
In the same season, Neymar played the lowest 15 league games of his career due to injury.
Last season, in the 2020-21 season, Neymar played just 18 league games. The Champions League was once absent due to injury, and Mbappe led the team to kill Barca. In the end, Paris was settled by Manchester City.
Irving has played only 54 regular season games. He was injured in the playoffs with Harden, and Durant lost seven games with Giannis with the net.
Now in 2021, Neymar is 29 and Owen is 29.
Both of them became famous at a young age in 2011: The South American Footballer of the Year and the NBA Champion.
Neymar's best season was 39 goals in a single year in 2014-15, the Champions League and the Third Ballon d'Or. Irving's best season was the 2015-16 championship.
They are all famous at the age of 24, but over the years, they are always a little worse.
Neither of them has historical data, but just watching their game, naturally knows their talent.
They are both like that, "There is no shortage of technology at all, it is still a little bit, as long as you open a little trick, as long as you ..."
The good thing is that they still seem to appreciate each other...
So they turned 29.
In Paris, Neymar, along with Kylian Mbappe and Messi, is the scariest big three in the world of football.
In Brooklyn, Irving, along with Harden and Durant, is the most amazing big three in the basketball world.
It was supposed to be the time to make a big show.
Then the other day Neymar said the 2022 World Cup would be his last. He doesn't know if he still has enough energy to deal with football.
He'll be 30 at next year's World Cup. In the football world of this era, it is really not old. Not even mentioning the double pride, Benzema and Levan are 33 years old this year, Mueller is 32 years old this year, and Kante is 30 years old, all at the most successful age of their careers; Salah, who is in great form this season, is the same year as Neymar.
Then these days, the new NBA season is about to start, and the team wins the championship. Durant is 33 years old, Harden is 32 years old — and Irving is constantly arguing.
They both have had career success moments, and they have both won championships, so they can't be called shooting stars.
But to say that they both reached their respective peaks is reassuring.
Of course, life is very wide, not just the individual sports themselves so single. They may have their own ideas and their own lives.
It's just that probably the more we watch the ball, the more we understand how rare such a genius is.
Watching so many players climb with diligence and hard work, we always have some hope: people with talents can cherish a little of their talents and do their best to reach the limit.
Therefore, looking at the birth in 1992, young fame, gorgeous, proof of their talent, but because of injuries or other ghost reasons are always close to the peak, now 29 years old should be the golden age of their careers, each of them dangling leisurely, will always feel:
pity.
Obviously this is their golden age, obviously they all have the ability to work harder and create great things.
In particular, they both had teammates of the rank of world who were clearly older than them and successful than them, but who were still competitive.
Comparing the two photos, there is always a feeling.
It's like looking at the children next door when I was a child, taking a leather basketball and throwing it in the backyard waste heap, looking at the plastic basketball in my hand, hating to open my mouth and say:
"Dude, if you don't play, why don't you give it to us?" You know you don't care, how many people want to play and can't play! ”