I'm not a headliner, and the next sentence comes from player Sean Marion himself, who was in a normal state of mind when he spoke, saying: "I feel like I should be in that list, looking back at my career, considering the stats I can play with my height of 6 feet 7 inches (2 m 01), I didn't get enough attention and I felt like I should be in the top 75. Looking at the host's blank eyes when the live screen was taken, you can also feel their incredulity.
Marion, who was the ninth overall pick in the 1999 Draft, averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in his career. He was selected four Times as an All-Star, twice to the All-Team and won the NBA championship with the Mavericks in 2011. Such results can be called excellent, but it seems to be a little far from the big 75 (otherwise Howard and Klay Thompson are really unwilling). With the passage of time, many young fans no longer know what kind of character this guy with a "returning ancestor", a backbone, and a strange shooting posture is?!
I just misremembered the direction of the attack...
Born into a single-parent family, Sean Marion grew up loving basketball and began practicing dunks on spring mats at the age of 10. Marion said his mother, Elani, was the person she respected the most because she had raised herself and her three sisters in three jobs alone. As a child, the Marion family had a hard time, often wearing very tattered clothes and shoes.
(When I was a child, I was quite good-looking)
Marion Attended Clarksville High School in Tennessee and entered Vincennes University in Indiana after graduating from high school. Everyone in Indiana loves Reggie Miller, and Marion certainly fell in love with the sharpshooter. After entering the NBA, Marion wore the No. 31 jersey in order to pay tribute to his idol.
After entering the university and receiving media attention, everyone suddenly found that Marion's shooting posture was similar to the "three-eight style" (there was no discrimination, but this posture was more commonly found in women's basketball and got its name, because of the gender-induced strength difference), but Marion was not as weak as a women's basketball player. According to later recollections of Vincennes University coach Dan Sparks, marion entered college at the age of 17, and his shooting posture was roughly fixed. Marion declined to reveal to him how he had developed the pose, but given that Marion's shooting percentage was good, Sparques didn't ask him to correct it.
During the two seasons at Vincennes University, Marion set a number of all-time school records, but in order to get a better draft pick, Marion moved to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in his junior year, and in the 1998-99 season, Marion represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, contributing 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.9 blocks in an average of 32.9 minutes per game. With 2.5 steals and 1.2 assists, he was named to the second team of the All-American College Team.
In the end, the Suns chose Marion with the ninth pick in the first round, and the story behind this draft pick makes you really wonder if fate really has a script: in 1998, the Dallas Mavericks packed the 1999 first-round pick and a number of players to the Suns in exchange for Steve Nash; this first-round pick later became the current No. 9 show Sean Marion, and Marion's rookie teammate was Jason Kidd; later, Nash returned to the Suns in 2005. Joining forces with Marion ushered in a period of running and bombing; in the 2009-10 season, Marion returned to the Mavericks, and together with Jason Kidd, he assisted the King of Noor to win the only title of his career; if Marion always played for the Mavericks, what would history be like? This is all an afterthought.
In fact, the Suns also encountered many doubts when they chose Marion, especially after Marion, the more famous Artest and Margetti in college, but Danny Angie (yes, the later Kaizi supervisor) who was the Suns coach at the time said this sentence in the face of doubts: "Marion is everything we are looking for, if he has Dale Curry (Steven Curry's father) shooting, then he is Michael Jordan." Marion's NBA debut did prove that Angie's remarks had a certain degree of reliability: 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in the 35 minutes of the starting game, and the data was comprehensive and the attack and defense were integrated. In the end, with the data of averaging 10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1 block per game, he was selected for the best rookie team. But what makes Marion the most famous is a regular season game with the Rockets: when teammate Clifford Robinson and Big Dream jumped the ball after Marion got the ball, but he didn't want to run all the way to his basket with the ball, and after killing his own basket, he heard Hardaway's roar, he spread his hands and innocently said"What happened? Charles Barkley of the Rockets on the other side laughed and said, "You actually said that the template of this anti-bone boy is me?" ”
In an interview after the game, Marion said: "I just misremembered the direction of attack..."
I never doubt my shooting posture, I can throw the ball in
I have to admit that Marion was actually lucky.
Marion's dynamic and static talents are all top-notch, can run and jump and the arm span is extremely long, the fast attack is always in the front, the defensive coverage area is wide, the auxiliary defense consciousness is active and the single defense moves fast, and the rebound is grabbed with the arm span and bounce. Because of this, when TNT commentator Kenny Smith, while commenting on the Suns game after watching the movie "Hacker Empire", marveled at Marion's versatility on the court as Neo in the movie, and gave him the nickname "The Matrix", which became Marion's nickname ever since. But when the game fell into the position, Marion did not have a stable offensive means, except for some awkward little hookers who only had three seconds in front of the three-point zone with strange postures, and the mediocre offensive ability to hold the ball made Marion particularly dependent on the passing of his teammates.
And it was precisely in the early days of Marion's career that there was no shortage of teammates who could pass the ball.
Rookie year into the team coincided with the Suns to form the "BackCourt 2000" - league assist Wang Kidd and still have the courage of the penny Hardaway teamed up to form the NBA's strongest backcourt, Marion is not afraid of not getting a pass behind these two big brothers, rookie year followed the big brothers into the playoffs, the first round eliminated the core Duncan injured defending champion Spurs, opening the curtain on the two teams of twenty-first century playoff feuds.
However, this great backcourt combination still lost its future due to the poor injury of Pence, once again suffered a knee injury of the penny season only played 4 times, Kidd can only lead the team independently, Marion also got more performance opportunities, the data increased to 17.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, more frightening is the average of 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, Marion also began from this season to score 10 + rebounds 8 + steals 1 + block 1+ against the sky record. The excellent performance gave Marion the player of the week for the first time, and under the combination of Kidd and Marion, the Suns advanced to the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. However, in the playoffs, the Suns were out of the first round.
Several consecutive seasons of poor playoff performances led Kidd to apply for a trade to leave the team, and the Suns sent Kidd to the Nets, which had made his career, in exchange for "lone wolf" Marbury. Although Marbury is nicknamed "Lone Wolf", but mostly because the style of the ball is more inclined to individual offense, his passing skills are very strong, and he is also the second largest assist master in the 96 generation after Nash (Kobe Iverson is not as good as Marbury' assists), which also allows Marion to continue to improve on the court, averaging 19.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, and the three-point shooting rate has increased to a career-high 39.3%. Previously, many media would deliberately edit Marion's shooting actions as funny highlights, but with the improvement of Marion's shooting percentage, these media are no longer so arrogant, and Marion also responded firmly in an interview: "I never doubt my shooting posture, I can shoot the ball is enough; you don't doubt that Reggie Miller's shooting posture is not because he can shoot the ball?" While Marion grew more confident on the court, the Suns missed the playoffs for the first time since 1988. However, the Suns once again got the 9th pick, and finally chose the future interior core "Little Bully" Amaresta Dameier.
In the 203 season, Marion was selected as an All-Star for the first time with an all-around statistic of averaging 21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocks and 38.7% shooting per game, and was able to participate in Jordan's All-Star farewell game. However, Marion, who was selected as an All-Star for the first time, was extremely excited, he was unconvinced to defend Joe the god of the whole time, at this moment he regarded himself as a template Barkley or idol Reggie Miller, before the first overtime of the game, he jumped up to prepare for the forty-year-old Jordan, forcing the old man to make a long-distance retreat jump shot against the age of the body and throw it in, and the young Marion became the background board of this great moment. However, Bryant then made a foul and used free throws to obliterate Joe's quasi-kill, and finally won in the West. The Suns eventually made it to the playoffs with eighth place in the West, but were easily eliminated by the Spurs 4-1, and Marion, who averaged 18.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game against the Spurs Twin Towers, has tried his best.
The following 0304 season, the Suns missed the playoffs, Marion continued to maintain close to 20+10 statistics, the Suns' record made the management realize that Marbury could not lead the team to victory. So in the summer of 2004, the players replaced the coach with the moustache D'Antoni, and the boss Savo and general manager Clangelo took D'Antoni, Marion and Xiaosi to Canada, and they came to Steve Nash's home to convince him to join the Suns. At this time, Nash was in a stalemate with the Mavericks and Cuban because of salary problems, and finally the strong sincerity touched Nash, and the Son of the Wind returned to the starting point of his career, Phoenix, to start the peak of his career, which was also the peak of Marion.
As soon as I run out of the empty space, Steve will pass the ball to me as soon as possible
The next three years were the Suns' wonderful three years, the three years at nash's peak, and marion's three at its peak.
In the 0405 season, the Whirlwind of The Quick Break swept the league, Nash was already an All-Star point guard under the tutelage of Nelson Sr., and became an MVP point guard under D'Antoni's big guard offensive system, as long as Nash held the ball through halfway, he could first judge where his teammates had run and send the ball to them. Marion was successful in such a system, averaging 19.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, becoming the second player in the league to rank in the league's top five in both statistics since 1973 began to count rebounds and steals, the first being Spurs legend David Robinson. In an interview with the media in the middle of the season, Marion praised Nash more than once: "Steve made the game easy, I have never been so easy, as long as I run out of the empty seat, Steve will pass the ball to me as soon as possible, he is the MVP." ”
In the end, the Suns achieved the first record in the league with 62 wins, Nash also successfully won the MVP, Nash Marion Jr. and even three people were selected as All-Stars, and the name of the MSN group resounded throughout the league. In the playoffs, the Suns also made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, meeting the Spurs for the third time. At this time, Duncan was at his peak, Parker Ginobili had grown up, and the Suns lost an injured Joe Johnson in the semifinals. Although the West decided to play the limelight is the small 37 points per game, but Marion is the most important part of the Suns, whether it is Smalls or Nash or even Joe Johnson, is not a defensive player on the average, which also led to Marion becoming a ubiquitous firefighter in defense, unfortunately the Suns only have one Marion, and finally the Suns lost to the Spurs in 5 games.
The 0506 Season Suns are a lot of disasters, first because of the renewal problem had to replace Joe Johnson, who has shown All-Star strength (but also got Boris Dior), and then Xiao si suffered a knee injury and only played three games in the season, the team needed Marion to step up again, Marion averaged 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals 1.7 blocks in the season, and the Suns entered the playoffs as the second in the West. The playoffs were preceded by seven bitter battles to reverse the elimination of Kobe Bryant in the killing mode after falling behind 1:3, and then eliminated the Clippers led by Brand in seven bitter games in the semifinals, and met the Mavericks looking forward to revenge in the Western Conference Finals. The reason for the two consecutive rounds of stealing seven and D'Antoni's high-intensity use of the starter in the playoffs has made Nash, Marion, Dior and others already at the end of the crossbow, and finally the Suns fell in the Western Conference Finals again.
The 0607 season welcomed back the Suns of Xiaosi once again impacted the championship, 61 wins over the second place in the West, Nash Marion Jr. three were once again selected as All-Stars, and the first round of the playoffs Black Eight Miracle made the Mavericks unexpectedly out, which also made the Suns see their best chance to win the championship. In the Western Conference semifinals, the fourth playoff match against the Spurs in the new century, the Suns were full of strength to pass the Spurs, but the accident happened in the fourth game: at the end of the game, the Suns won the game, and when Nash quickly held the ball through the half, Horry suddenly slammed into Nash, almost causing Nash to be seriously injured, the Suns were indignant, and Xiao Si, Dior, who had been replaced, even left the bench to rush to Horry for an explanation. It was this act that led to the ban of the duo, and although Horry was also banned, how could Xiaosi and Dior be important to the Suns. The Suns could not push Marion into the starting center in game 5, and although Marion performed well in this game, scoring 24 points and 17 blue plates, the Suns still lost to the Spurs. Two days later, with the game over, the Suns' season was over. Throughout the series against the Spurs, Marion remained well-rounded, contributing 15.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, but against the Spurs, he was still powerless. For Marion, what he couldn't control was not only the game, but also his unknown fate.
Actually, I don't want to go
In the 0708 season, Horry's collision also seems to have knocked out the hearts of the Suns, the Suns have not been able to come up with the previous three seasons of records, the ranking slipped to the second half of the playoffs, and the Suns, who were repeatedly suppressed by the Spurs in the playoffs, moved to want to trade, and the main body of the transaction is Marion, whose contract is about to expire. A six-year, $79 million contract between the Suns and Marion expired in 2002, and Marion had player options in the summer of 2008. With the strength of Xiaosi, Marion's tactical position is declining, Marion has begun to be dissatisfied, coupled with his attachment to large contracts, the two sides are arguing over the renewal of contracts, and many Sun players feel that the team may have to change. Marion's state on the field, which was delayed in the contract, declined, which also led to the decline in the team's record, and finally the management decided to trade Marion to Miami in exchange for O'Neal, who could compete with Duncan, which also determined that the Suns needed to give up their run to sweep the league, doomed to fail in the future.
Marion, who got the news of the deal, looked frustrated, it had been almost a decade since he came to Phoenix in 1999, and he wanted to play here until he retired. "I don't think the contract I want is sorry for my value, my efforts and my ability to match the big contract, but this is how the deal happened, in fact, I don't want to go, I want to bring a championship for Phoenix, but unfortunately there is no chance."
Marion, who was traded to Miami, needs to accept the reality that no one can pass the ball for him, Wade injured O'Neal and was traded, this Heat is not the Heat that won the championship two years ago, Marion got the tactical position he wanted but could not support it, after all, if he really has excellent offensive ability with the ball, maybe the Suns have already passed the Spurs level... After coming to the Heat, his average score per game slipped to the lowest outside of his rookie year, but he still maintained the defensive end stats of 11.2 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1 block. Worse, Marion, known for his ironman for many years, began to be approached by injuries as Marion missed the Heat's final 16 games due to back and foot injuries.
In the 08-09 season, Wade made a bloody comeback, and the team's poor record last season led them to choose the talented striker Michael Beasley, which was not a good thing for Marion. The same inconsistent forward play, but the advantage of age made Marion the one who was sacrificed by the team, and finally in order to get a more suitable interior line and help Beasley, the Heat traded Marion to the Raptors for O'Neal Jr. before the 2009 trade deadline. Marion, who has experienced two trades in two years, has lost his heart, and with the invasion of injuries, he has not been able to regain his former form with the Raptors. After another season that failed to make it to the playoffs, Marion ended his big contract and his last rebounding 8 + steal 1 + block 1+ season.
Five. I'm going to do everything I can to do what they need me to do and help them get back to the Finals
The uncertain Marion felt that his career might be coming to an end, and even had the idea of joining the Magic "holding his thigh" to retire with a championship, but at this time, the Mavericks saved him.
The original 1999 draft pick was the Mavericks, and they may be sorry that they didn't pick Marion. Now this regret can finally be lifted. In the summer of 2009, the Mavericks traded through four teams, first signed and then exchanged for Marion, giving Marion a five-year, $39 million contract, which was full of recognition for Marion.
Marion, who came to the Mavericks, once again came to a team with a good tradition of point guards, and this point guard is his rookie teammate Kidd, eight years later, the old people are reunited. Kidd knows all too well how to rejuvenate this old friend, and even in the home game against the Rockets, Kidd passed the ball from Yao Ming's head to Marion on the sideline, completing the "miracle" of 0.4 seconds of aerial relay to complete the kill.
In the 10-11 season, this group of old guys in Dallas had the brightest moment of their careers, and they were like paving the way for this season. After a season of running-in, Carlisle made Marion change the offensive style of jump shots and downs in the Suns, and gradually changed to scoring from the inside and playing back. In the playoffs, Marion played out all the characteristics of his defensive end. Facing the Blazers in the first round, Marion faced Brandon Roy, and except for the god-like "Roy moment" in the fourth game, he suppressed Roy steadily. In the second round, Marion faced the defending champion star Kobe Bryant, the result of Which Kobe Bryant scored more than 23 points in the next 3 games except for the first game, and the final game shooting rate was only 18 shots and 7 of 18, and only 23.3 points were scored in the entire series, and the Mavericks swept the Lakers to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Sending away Kobe, Marion ushered in the new scoring king Durant, although facing Durant, Marion's height and arm span are no longer an advantage, but he still uses his experience to bring Durant a lot of trouble, the entire series down, Durant's shooting rate is only 42.9%, and the last three games are around 40%, especially outside the three-point line, Durant averaged 6 three-point shots per game, but only hit 1.4, shooting rate of only 23.3% Marion's defensive role was best played in the fourth game of the Western Conference Finals, where he managed to block Durant with 0.7 seconds left in regular time to help the team drag the game into overtime and ultimately win.
"Because they need someone to do that, and I've been doing a good job. I'm going to do everything I can to do what they need me to do and help them get back to the Finals. It's not easy, but at the same time, you have to do it to get to what you want. This is what Marion told reporters before the finals started. Marion, 33, has gradually lost the ability to run and jump that he was proud of, and he still struggles to keep up with Durant, who is nearly ten years younger than himself, only for the dream in his heart.
In the six games between the Finals and the Heat, Marion not only stubbornly resisted James's strong attack defensively, but also constantly used low singles to consume James on the offensive end, and in the crucial second game, he scored 20 points and 8 rebounds, which was the second scorer in the team after Nowitzki.
In the six games of the Finals, Marion averaged 13.6 points per game, which is not much different from the regular season score, but if you see the arrogant expression he had when he forced James to score, with his extremely irregular posture to shoot one shot after another, then you will sigh that the reborn Marion is so intimidating.
Facing the previously omnipotent little emperor in the Finals, Marion's defense was played to the extreme, limiting James' average of 17.8 points per game in the Finals, and scoring less than 20 points in 3 games. In mavericks' sixth game, Marion grabbed eight rebounds, including three in the frontcourt, despite scoring 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting. James scored 21 points, four rebounds and six assists, but he made as many as six personal turnovers under Marion's defense, and his efficiency was the Heat's lowest -24 in the team.
"We're all getting old and it's been a long season. If we have someone who is not injured or hurt now, it is certainly not on the field. It's part of the game, we're their competitors and we're going to keep up with them. That's what Marion said before game five of the Finals against the Heat.
He fulfilled his promise with action, and finally laughed to the end. The Mavericks, under his guard, had become so indestructible. Not only do we have to remember the driver's golden rooster independence, Kidd's strategizing, the classic moment of Puerto Rico's "One Mountain" in Baria, Chandler's scramble to grab rebounds, Terry's murderous three-pointers, and Marion's ubiquitous defense, who together completed the most amazing championship of the twenty-first century, and the veterans are not dead.
Six. Yes, it's time for me to retire
Nine years at the Suns were Marion's exciting youth years, while five years in Dallas were a bumper time for Marion's mature life. The championship-winning Mavericks began to rebuild, and the defending season was directly swept by last year's opponent, the Thunder, and this time Marion was completely unable to stop Durant's progress. The mavericks' failure to rebuild led to a deterioration in the team, and even in the 12-13 season, for the first time in 13 years, Marion still tried his best to contribute 10+ points and 7+ rebounds and 1+ steals on the court, and the increase in age has made it impossible for fans to ask For Marion more. By the time Marion finished his contract, he had already retreated, but his old rival James's offer had him to fight for another year in order to win another championship. He did accompany James to the Finals, but he did not get a chance to play in the Finals. At this time, Marion looked at Curry and remembered the sons of the brother Wind who had fought together, and couldn't help but sigh softly, the era that belonged to them had really passed.
Compared with his old partners Nash and Stoudemire, Marion is undoubtedly lucky - he has a ring that countless people have pursued for a lifetime, but his failure to practice excellent offensive means of possession and high shooting posture has led to his need for a good organizational defender to play to his advantage, becoming the 75 is Marion overconfident, but on December 22, 2021, Marion has been named to the Naismith Hall of Fame 2022 candidate list, which is already the biggest praise for his career. But if Marion were in this day and age, would he have a chance to become a 75?