"The coach is warming up" is often a ridicule of a team with a poor record and a coaching team with retired players who were once strong. And this scene is really played out in today's Houston Rockets - Gerald Green, who announced his retirement from the NBA on October 23, 2021 and joined the Rockets coaching staff as a player development coach, chose to make a comeback less than three months after returning from liberation.
The son of Hugh City is not in a hurry to return to the league, but intends to join the G League first, starting from the development of the league. Born in January 1986, Gerald Green is about to turn 36 years old, no longer young, as a veteran who has played in the league for 14 seasons and has been away from the stage for more than 2 seasons, he needs a process of adaptation to avoid injuries in high-intensity confrontations. Second, after all, the last time he appeared on the court was back on May 11, 2019, in the Game of the Rockets and the Warriors' Western Conference Semifinals G5, showing his face in the G League to check the goods, or to find his next home faster.
Although Green's career began with the Green Army, the 1.98-meter, amazing bouncing ability of the forward swing man joined Boston in the 2005 draft, and completed the highest moment of his career here - crowned the All-Star Weekend dunk king in the 2006-07 season, but fans familiar with him know that the nine-finger dunk king is always worried about his hometown Space City, and his real desire to play is the Houston Rockets.
After returning to his hometown in the 2007-08 season, he was cut after only one game in order to make room for the new signings. Frustrated, Green immediately chose to give up the rest of the season, and in a state of rest, he stayed in Houston and did not go anywhere and trained with former NBA coach John Lucas to maintain his form.
After that, Gerald Green began a turbulent career, not only to the Lone Rangers, Nets, Pacers, Suns, Heat, Bucks and other NBA teams, but also to the European arena, and even briefly came to the CBA in 2011, wearing the Foshan Dragon and Lions jersey to play in 4 games.
It wasn't until the 2017-18 season that Gerald Green really played the main rotation position in his hometown team as he wished, when the nine-finger dunk king had long lost his former outstanding explosiveness and physical fitness, but the one-handed three-point projection that had been tempered through ups and downs made him stand firm on the NBA stage. After returning to the Rockets on an unsafe contract, green won D'Antoni's trust with a strong performance of at least seven three-pointers in two consecutive games and was able to stay when the team was short of manpower and was employed.
In the playoffs that year, Green's performance perfectly fit the "magic ball theory" followed by the Rockets and also convinced the opponent. When the Timberwolves threw a two-year contract that was better than the base salary to recruit Gerald Green, the latter resolutely refused and returned to the Rockets with only one year short contract. Without him, Hugh's son only wants to play for his hometown team.
As he grew older, his form declined, and the impact of injuries, Gerald Green did not shine back and gradually faded from the public eye after being laid off by the team several times. Originally, he was able to stay in the Rockets to complete the identity transformation perfectly, and he could sit in the coach's seat and engage in the basketball career he loved. However, at present, the league is hit by the epidemic, and many teams are in a dilemma of overstaffing because a large number of rotating players trigger health and safety agreements. Under such circumstances, Thomas Jr., Stephenson and many other names that were once incomparably familiar but had long been in the past have comeback and shined.
Witnessing this scene, Gerald Green, who loves basketball, naturally also ignited the hope of returning to the game in his heart, after all, this is probably the best and last chance. Can the Nine-Finger Dunk King get back to competitive form? With this return, can he get a contract from an NBA team as he wishes? Can we see him and the Rockets on the front rim?