Interview, author: Shen Yang
On January 11, 2021, Zeng Fanbo's 19th birthday.
The past year has been too extraordinary for him, and this young man, who has just entered the first stage of adulthood, has experienced the "most dramatic" and "most beautiful" year, as he puts it.
At the age of 18, he turned the page and stepped into 19 years old, and the goal set by Zeng Fanbo was clear and clear.
Zeng Fanbo said: "I will look forward to every game, to truly cherish, and even more look forward to the day of the real draft, no matter the result." ”
He added: "I was looking forward to the day I would return home, and I don't know what it would be like then. ”
18 years old, fame and doubt
The name Zeng Fanbo really entered the public eye, and it was this year that happened.
Before the age of 18, only basketball circles knew that this was a child who was sent to the United States to train basketball skills because of Shougang's Young Eagle Program.
At the age of 15, Zeng Fanbo came to the United States, first training at the basketball training base in Oregon, and then to a high school in Florida while playing while attending school. There, he began to really get exposed to the education of American basketball, and because of his extraordinary talent and ability, he gradually emerged in a group of super athletic American children, and a yellow-skinned player became the core and leader of the varsity team, leading the team to the second place in the state.
As a result, he became the first and only Chinese to be scored four stars by ESPN's high school student scoring system and ranked 33rd in the United States. After that, he received an invitation from Gonzaga University as he wished. Being invited by the University of Gonzaga, which is ranked first in the United States and has a lot of experience in developing international players in the No. 4 position, is a matter of pride for Zeng Fanbo in itself. Even when Gonzaga went to the official announcement that Zeng was about to join, the relevant reports would say that this was China's next hope after Yao Ming.
Everything is different.
In 2020, when you search for his name on Baidu, the first page has not yet ended and you have already read all his records, and even searching on Google on the internet is much more than the content obtained on Baidu.
However, after 2021, there are more and more entries and news about Zeng Fanbo on Baidu. For example, he made a big splash in various small domestic tournaments among players of the same age, and he joined the national training team at such a young age. While he doesn't have as many face-to-face opportunities as other players who can play in professional leagues, he still can't stop the young man from continuing to receive attention.
After returning to China because of the epidemic, Zeng Fanbo's world was surrounded by basketball. As long as there is a time gap, after participating in the training of the Shougang team, he will take the subway in Beijing alone from Dadongtou to Daxitou to find his own trainer to conduct personal special training, even if the trainer has felt enough, he still has to keep asking for additional training.
In the eyes of agent Liu Jiacheng, Zeng Fanbo's hard work is the most appreciated and cherished by him, leaving aside the relationship between his agent, simply from the perspective of an industry insider looking at a basketball player, this hard work is not something that anyone can do, "He will not post every late night training to social networks, will not send three exercises a day, four exercises to the Internet, even if there are more voices in the outside world, his most sincere love for basketball has never changed." It's very, very rare. ”
Although Zeng Fanbo almost surrounded his entire world with basketball, the sounds outside the basketball began to become more and more noisy.
For a time, the young Zeng Fanbo was caught up in the center of an unusually complex storm. In a young man who has not yet had the opportunity to show his full strength on the field and let more people know what kind of young man he really is, he is immediately labeled with a lot of false and negative labels.
He panicked, and he wandered. "This year, I have heard a lot of ugly words. In the era of self-media, a few words can easily change the perception of a person, not to mention a young player like me. Whenever this happens, I tell myself to put down my phone, block out these sounds, and think for myself. ”
But he also never discussed this with his family, because he didn't want them to be affected and disturbed.
Ultimately, everything needs to be self-digested, to experience, to think, to solve, and then to learn to accept. "At that time, I did see people's various opinions about me on the Internet, and I had never received so much attention before, but after that, what made me learn more was to cherish." For a young player like me, the so-called maturity is whether it is the grasp of opportunities on the field, or the cherishing of people and things around the field. ”
This is not an idea that an 18-year-old child usually has, his maturity always surprises the people around him, "In the face of various problems, I think Van Bo showed a maturity and mind that did not match his age, the two of us often talked until late at night, talked about basketball, talked about life and talked about the future, and what he often felt was luck." Agent Liu Jiacheng said.
He, eventually, came over.
Until the moment the plane landed in the United States, Zeng Fanbo had an unbelievable feeling. When he left more than a year ago, he didn't think about how long it would take to get back here, and the recurrence of the epidemic and the turmoil once made him feel that everything was out of reach.
The last time he was here, he was still a high school senior who did not understand the world, a year of cold and summer, spring and autumn, and then he was already a professional player with expectations.
After coming to the United States, the real challenge really begins. "Everything is unknown to me." Zeng Fanbo said that he did not know what challenges he would face next, what the league would look like, and what kind of help and changes the team he joined could bring to himself, and in what way to meet him in the next few years.
The only thing he can be sure of is his own heart that he must persevere.
After coming here, Zeng Fanbo realized the level of this NBA's second-level league, "This is a real high-level league, and even the imagination here before coming here was blank, because I had not been exposed." The team that joined the ignition team lived up to the title of "NBA Draft Reserve Team", and the only purpose from top to bottom was to adjust and train this group of ultra-talented young people after graduating from high school in accordance with the NBA's selection standards.
To put it bluntly, this is the direct training team that has developed under the eyes of the NBA. The head coach is former NBA veteran Hart, assistant coaches have all served in the NBA, and team doctors have previously served on the Kings for more than 30 years. Even the members of the team are veterans such as Amir Johnson and Jeter, who have played in the NBA and even the CBA for many years, in order to lead these young people to adapt to the environment and rhythm of the NBA as soon as possible on and off the court.
The people who appear on the sidelines every day are the general managers of each team or scouts, or well-known media people who participate in the draft scoring. This is a big searchlight that can never be removed, and the players live in attention and evaluation all the time.
And Zeng Fanbo's teammates, that is, the young people who are really preparing for next year's draft with him, each of them is the top figure of high school students in the United States, Hardy, Daniels and so on. Each of these children is born like a proud child of heaven, and in their growth process, they have always been the stars and the moon, so no one will be willing or have such awareness and habits to play a supporting role for any person.
After Zeng Fanbo came here, he felt this more deeply. "In high school, even though I was at the heart of the team, I had to accept a change of role when I came here." Xiao Zeng had to accept the positioning of his role player, not getting the ball most of the time, and the non-core playing style that he was not very accustomed to, as well as the huge change in the speed of attack and defense conversion.
Head coach Hart said: "What Van Bo really has to learn is how to play in a more accelerated game, and if he can adapt, he can prepare for the NBA." ”
"Sometimes it's much harder to survive in the development league than in the NBA, just imagine that you are surrounded by young and strong people, like a full-powered train, they don't consider cooperation, they don't have tactics, they are full of young calves who can get this ball in their own hands to have a chance to enter the NBA." 」 A veteran NBA scout put it this way, "It's a lot harder to mix here than people think, but if you can survive, it will definitely be of great benefit." ”
Late autumn in Minnesota is already very cold, that was the first time Thatnbal Zeng followed the team to the away game, and the first time he played for the Ignition Team. The moment he stood on the field, he really felt what kind of league he was in.
"The first time I felt the difficulty of basketball was when my dad let me catch the ball alone when I was a child, and the last time I felt the difficulty of basketball was the first half where I stood on the court." In an interview in November, Xiao Zeng described to reporters how he felt at that time.
In that first half, Zeng Fanbo did not score in the account, and accompanied by two mistakes, but in the second half, he began to slowly come back to his senses, and several eye-catching performances were impressive.
18 years old, hard work and expectation coexist
In addition to the challenges on the field, Zeng Fanbo has also suffered some minor injuries since he came to the United States, and due to the extra caution and protection of the veteran team doctors, he even needs to sit on the bench for several games after the vaccination. Coupled with the back-and-forth of the epidemic in the United States, the G-League is often forced to interrupt because players are transferred to the NBA to work temporarily. Therefore, Zeng Fanbo's game was intermittent, and the state also fluctuated.
But for Zeng Fanbo, everything felt was cherished. Whenever he felt the difficulty of basketball again, he always remembered several pictures.
"When I first stood on the floor in the center of Chase and looked at the warriors' championship flags hanging from the ceiling, I felt very strongly, and this is the floor that the Dynasty team warriors also use. That was the first time I felt like I could really feel the NBA. Zeng Fanbo said.
More than that, Zeng Fanbo said: "Even in a remote place like Minnesota, I can still see Chinese fans waving five-star red flags to cheer me up on the court, and I always have a strong force derived from my heart." I told myself that winning glory for the country and serving the country is my greatest motivation. So I am content to have the opportunity to stand on the field like this. ”
Liu Jiacheng, the agent who has been following Zeng Fanbo's side, remembers this time and also sighs very much, "Under such a high level of confrontation every day, he will only get better and better." Teammates are effective NBA veterans for more than ten years, opponents are either NBA players or quasi-NBA players, there are new stars such as Cu Mingjia, there are also veterans such as Stephenson, often have a confrontation the next day is called up to the NBA. A valuable experience that is difficult to obtain anywhere during high-level training and competition day in and day out, and being able to stabilize at 20+ playing time when healthy is a rarity in any league. ”
Liu Jiacheng said that the most common sentence that Zeng Fanbo said to him was, "I will do my best and leave no regrets." ”
Sometimes, the young Zeng Fanbo will also feel anxious, feel that there is not enough time, his strength is sometimes unable to play freely, he is not sure whether everything he is showing now can be favored in the draft market in the future, and he knows that he still has a lot of work to do, but for Liu Jiacheng, he sees the progress of this young man.
"The NBA is more about potential than about immediate combat, and a lot of the feedback from now, at least so far, is very positive." You can see that from the initial discomfort with defense, foul trouble, to the recent effective defense, the offensive end gradually finds the shooting rhythm and begins to gradually adapt. Liu Jiacheng also saw the outside world's evaluation of Xiao Zeng, he said: "Give him some time, patience, this is our own Chinese player, give him some tolerance, play well, don't step on the difference, let him grow, I believe he will be able to do it." ”
But no matter what the final result is, Liu Jiacheng still hopes to see this young man who has never given up his dream, and in the process of pursuing his dream, do not forget to enjoy the fun brought by basketball.
epilogue
18 years old is different.
"In fact, when I was the happiest when I was 18 years old, it was the three days after the end of the first reserve league, I was with two friends almost 24 hours a day, and the most troublesome problem for me every day was what to eat every day, there was no so-called worry and pressure, it was the happiest day of my year.
His 18-year-old has a lot more than just being happy. Zeng Fanbo said that he experienced the most abundant year, "Whether it is a very good year for my basketball career or for the rest of my life." As I look back on the whole year, I find that what happened at each time period, I also had complaints and bad feelings, and if I did something at that time or how I did it, there might be more results... So I hope that tomorrow and in the future I can enjoy the process of each stage more, and I hope that when I look back next year, I can achieve the goals and words I have set. ”
Zeng Fanbo, 19 years old.