(Translator's note: The author of this article is Logan Murdock, and the views in this article do not represent the views of translators and platforms.) The data is as of March 31, Beijing time. ）
Kevin Durant originally thought he had escaped the chaos of the Golden State Warriors, but whether it was Irving's vaccination farce or the trade that brought Harden to the Nets, or the trade that sent Harden to the 76ers, Adu's Nets career is still full of chaos. However, when he had passed the age of establishment, the whole person became more Buddha than before. "In the past, I was always worried about what people expected of me, but now, I am more determined and confident in what I am doing," Adu said. ”
At the end of September 2019, Adu climbed onto the roof outside the Nets' training gym and gazed at the city that belonged to him. From the top of an eight-story building near Brooklyn Sunset Park, he can see One World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan. On his first media day, Adu wore a black no. 7 basketball tennis suit and felt like he was home.
He told me: "It's a fresh start. Playing in the city of New York as a basketball player, in a way, you'll have a sense of pride. ”
Two months ago, Adu joined the Nets, teaming up with good friend Irving. Adu helped perpetuate the Warriors dynasty, bringing 2 championships and 1 Finals to the team, but Adu's Warriors career ended a bit badly. Rumors that he would leave the Warriors kept looming during his final season with the Warriors, after which he tore his Achilles tendon apart and brought it all to an end. He thinks there can be a fresh start at the Nets.
But his Nets career was full of chaos from the start. In his first season, he was recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, after which the team traded james Harden, but they lost to the Bucks in the playoffs with a shoe size distance.
Last fall, New York City's vaccination policy prevented Irving from playing at home, and Irving subsequently left the team. In January, Irving returned, but soon after, Adu suffered a knee injury, and as a team with high hopes of winning the East Division, they can only rely on Harden and the team's bench depth now. Last month, Harden was no longer disillusioned about Irving's vaccination and the team's way forward, asking the team to trade him to the 76ers. In return, the Nets got Ben Simmons, who hasn't played this season, even after he ended a stalemate with the 76ers, now due to a back injury. Irving, on the other hand, just qualified for home games last week.
Despite all this, Adu has been calm, a little Buddhist. Nets coach Nash said: "It's really important for the team that Adu is calm in front of all this. ”
Of course, Adu would love to have Irving on the team early in the season, and he also hopes to have hardened the team's success. But Adu also said he wouldn't let other people's decisions interfere with him. "These are life experiences, man. If I'm upset or emotionally excited about something I can't control myself, the stress will only be greater. ”
Coming to the Nets meant both opportunities and challenges, but it also gave Adu a new perspective.
"Before, I was always worried about what people expected of me. But now, I'm as focused on myself as possible, and I feel firm and confident in what I'm doing. ”
The 33-year-old, Adu, who is already in his 15th season in the league, is still struggling to win championships and individual honors, but that's not all he's after.
"If we can win a championship, it's going to be incredible, incredible, but that's not the only reason I play basketball. I want to improve every day, I really love the sport, you know what I'm talking about? I like to wake up knowing I'm going to play, and that's really what happened to me. Championships, 30 points, and the level I expected to achieve, that's why I worked hard, but I really just love the sport. ”
Two days after the game against the Trail Blazers, a film crew arrived at Adu's home. From the outside, this rented house looks ordinary. But once you open the door, you can see a 5-story castle with a hall and a cellar full of wine. Microphones, lights and cameras were on the second floor, and more than an hour later, Adu came out of the 5th floor in the elevator, where he had just played the NBA2K game with the guys for a while.
The crew came to record "The ETCs" with Adu, a biweekly podcast show in which Adu talked about some of his own ideas.
Adu said: "As an individual, I am still fine-tuning my life. So, when there are other great people who want to sit down and chat and let me absorb some of their wisdom in life, I will. I appreciate what they bring to the world, and I hope to learn something from them. ”
Adu and his business partner, Richie Kleiman, released a video of the show in late 2020. Whether it's living as an athlete or as a commercial development of sports, the show opens a window for Adu. More importantly, it was an attempt.
"I can't control what people think of me. I know that when I go out and walk down the street, people will see me like a superhero. But I think it's like, 'Yo, I just want to fit in as a normal person.' I keep in touch with people and that's good for me. ”
When Adu came to the Warriors, he struggled to fit in. He wants to fit into the Warriors' offensive system, which emphasizes moving the ball and sharing the ball, and he doesn't want to be superior. However, he felt that the media was deliberately picking him out and describing the Warriors as "KD and warriors."
"I'm looking forward to — maybe it's my fault — I'm looking forward to the coverage of the team's correspondents being able to incorporate me into the way the team behaves. Because I never jump out, make things bigger, and let everything revolve around me. I just want to be part of this team. But too many times, the media reported deliberately separating me from the team. ”
Of course, Adu is not blameless. Throughout his Warrior career, he signed a series of short contracts with player options to take advantage of the league's rising salary cap. But with no long-term commitments, his free agency prospects have been a hot topic. In his third season, the media kept building momentum that he was going to New York, and the Warriors were worried about that. In one game, Adu and Chao Meng's argument on the sidelines surfaced these long-simmering estrangements.
In fact, Adu does have a gap with the Warriors. A few months before his final year in the Warriors, he moved his home from the East Bay Area to a high-rise building in San Francisco, where most of his teammates lived. On road trips, teammates sometimes play cards, but Adu often sits alone in the back row of the plane listening to music and beats. But for that alone, Adu's behavior is not much different from other players.
"If someone looks at me and says I'm not happy with the status quo, grumbles, or doesn't fit in with my teammates and seems unhappy, I say: 'Do you see Clay every day?' Do you know how he walks? But that was his personal business. I love that and I'll learn from it, how they build teams, how to strengthen team bonds. It's more like my style, I'm just doing what the team is already doing. ”
"We all have our own lives. We all have our own families. Adu added: "The Bay Area is big, and the place where the dreamer lives is an hour and a half away from me, as is Curry, and Livingston." When do we stay together? We stayed together when we went away. I think it's good to have the right distance, and when you get home, you say, 'Okay, you guys do your thing, I'm going to do my own thing.' ’”
However, despite three years, Adu still believes that the news media has reported him unfairly.
Adu said: "I just feel like I deserve more respect. I came here, sacrificed money, tried to keep a low profile and not steal the limelight, and every night I did the best I could. I just want to get more respect and wait until the end of the season to ask me about free agents, instead of pestering me all season. The media keeps asking about some things that might happen in a year's time, and I think it's unfair to me and to the team. In my opinion, this is very unprofessional. ”
However, despite his frustrations with the media's approach, Adu was not completely cut off from the media. During the pandemic, the league has tightened restrictions on access to players and coaches, including banning journalists from entering the locker room. Last month, NBA President Adam Xiaohua proposed that the door to the team's locker room be closed to the media forever, based on privacy considerations. However, Adu was not in favour of the proposal.
"I think that would hurt the relationship between the media and the players." "I think this [getting the media into the locker room] is going to be an important way for you to connect with journalists who write stories," Adu said. ”
But he then offered a warning: "Those who come into the dressing room don't say anything, but they talk nonsense about what's going on inside the dressing room in their column." You have nothing to do with us players, you are just eavesdropping. That's where trust collapses, like, 'Okay, who are we going to let in the locker room?' ’”
When Adu doesn't appear on the podcast, he's also active on social media. He was also criticized for using too much internet and using trumpets. But Adu said he often goes to Twitter and doesn't plan to stop. "It's a community. I'm sure most of you have social media, and I use it to connect with people out there, tell jokes, and tweet. I've interacted with a lot of people on it, which wouldn't have been possible without social media. ”
Adu met his partner Eddie Gonzalez on social media. At the time, not long after he left the Warriors, Eddie Gonzalez said on the podcast that Adu's departure from the Warriors was very reasonable. "The point of this is that adults have the right to freely choose the way they want to live, and I understand the realistic dimension of this decision." Gonzalez said. Adu then paid attention to Gonzalez, and their relationship slowly developed. "We talked a lot about other things together," Gonzalez said, "we like the same music, we like the same shoes, we have a lot in common." It's like, 'Oh, meet and hate late!' ’”
When Adu was at home, Gonzalez would go over and discuss music, basketball, games, and so on with Adu. Some of the conversations between them will be broadcast in this episode. "It's important that people see the Adu I see." Gonzalez said.
In the backyard of Adu's house, they would discuss everything from how Adu was defended during the game, to Dirk Nowitzki's influence on Adu's game, to the latest episode of the American drama "Snowfall" that disappointed Adu. Then, Adu took the elevator to the game room to continue playing 2K, saying that he had finished everything he had to say today.
A few days later, Adu waited for the good news he had been waiting for, and the new mayor of New York City would revise the epidemic policy, which would allow Irving to play at home.
"The day has been waited for a long time, and it's an exciting time for Nets fans and New York fans. They can see Irving's game at their home stadium. ”
Owen said: "One of the things Adu told me was that 'hard work is more important than talent'. I wrote this sentence down in my notebook. Our relationship has never been so intimate. ”
In Irving's 6th season in the NBA, their relationship has become intimate and they have taken to the Bahamas for a vacation together. They reached an intention with Jordan Jr. to team up in the NBA during the 2016 Rio Olympics and publicly expressed the idea during the 2019 All-Star Game. In the summer of 2020, Irving helped Addu re-establish a relationship with former teammate James Harden.
Adu and Harden grew up together with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and in their 20s they took the team to the only Trip to the Finals in team history. After Harden was traded to the Rockets, there was no more talk between them. However, when the Rockets made another disappointing exit in the playoffs, Harden returned to Los Angeles, training locally and thinking about his future, at which point their friendship was rekindled. At the time, Adu and Irving were also in Los Angeles, and toward the end of the offseason, they agreed to play together.
Adu and Harden's relationship began to recover. They went to Greece together last summer, and Harden twice promised Adu a contract extension with the Nets and stay with the team for a long time.
In October, Owen refused to be vaccinated for personal reasons. That means he will miss at least the first two months of games, which throws Adu, Harden and head coach Nash to the media to answer questions about his absence.
"People will say it's easy to get vaccinated, but if I don't believe it at all, I certainly won't agree." It's not that I don't believe in vaccines, I don't believe in science or anything, it's that it's against my beliefs. ”
Owen would still go to see Adu, joking with him after the team had lost: "If I'm there, we'll win." Adu also has to strike a balance between his duty as team leader to keep Irving in high spirits and anger at his teammates for not being vaccinated.
"I know he's frustrated. We talked about it. Owen said.
Harden's arrival could have given Adu a super team, comparable to that Warriors. However, after Adou was injured in January this year, communication between them was interrupted again. Harden grew increasingly frustrated with Irving's part-time status and the team's loss, and he began looking for a new home. As Harden and Adu drift apart, Irving and Adu's relationship is getting better and better.
Owen said: "We made a connection that went far beyond basketball, like family. I have children and hopefully he will one day have children of his own, and we are really preparing for the transition in our lives in the future. ”
Adu said, "What you see is the real Owen. He doesn't have to hide anything, he just be himself. This is also his valuable point, he will openly express his views on the world. There's nothing to hide, you've pretty much seen the real him. I think that's the problem, there are a lot of people who can't accept him as a person. ”
When Adu returned from his injuries, Harden was gone. A month later, when talking about Harden's deal, Adu was calm, admitting that he couldn't do anything about it. "It's not the gap between the two of us, I think we both like each other. But at the time I was focused on rehabilitation, he was focused on the team. Of course, I'm not in the team, and I can't control what other people think about their situation. All I can do is play my best every night. If that helps some people, that's cool; if not, it's nothing. But I don't force myself to think about how others feel in this situation. ”
Less than a month after the deal, Addu, Irving and Harden were on the same court again, except that Harden stood opposite. The Nets' game with the 76ers ended two minutes later, when Adu came with a dunk and then rubbish on the 76ers' bench.
"It's incredible, since the trade, everyone has circled this game in the calendar and I'm not bringing that emotion to play this game. I saw the lights, the spectators and the ball, and I was in shape. ”
Adu is happy to end the 76ers fans' meanness to their new teammate Ben Simmons with a big win, and he has already called Simmons a "brother", even though they have only been teammates for less than a month. He didn't interfere with Ben Simmons at all, giving him plenty of room to get him ready.
"When I was a leader on the Thunder in 2012-13, I was very young, twenty-four years old, but I felt like the most experienced person on the team. I began to understand what it meant to have a real relationship with my teammates and how I could influence them on the pitch. Hopefully, I can really have some influence on them. I just do my job well, play my role well, and realize that I can't control everything. That's the hardest thing I've learned as a team leader. What you can control, you have to learn to adapt. ”
The Nets entered the new year with a second-place finish in the East, but soon suffered an 11-game losing streak, with the winning percentage falling below 50 percent. Simmons' return is still far away, but the recent efficient play of Adu and Irving has helped the team's winning percentage return to more than 50%. The Nets seem to be playing a playoff, and they have to win 1 or 2 games to make the playoffs. But Adu and Owen had a bigger goal in mind.
In the hours after the game against the Grizzlies, both Adu and Irving could not hide their excitement, because New York City issued a new epidemic policy, and Irving will be able to play at home. Irving has been waiting in the players' tunnel for Adu to end his media interview. In a few hours, it will be Irving's 30th birthday. The team charter is waiting for them just around the corner, and they will head to Miami to play against the Heat, and before that, they will have a day off.
When I chatted with Owen, I wondered how long the honeymoon period would last for both of them. So I asked Owen, "How long do you want to play together?" ”
When I threw the question out, Adu just ended his media interview, and Owen repeated the question to Adu: "How long are we going to fight together?" ”
"Forever?" I interjected.
"I would say come back for 22 years," Adu replied.
"Then we'll have to play in the fitness center in Los Angeles, in leagues where we're 38 and up until we're 50." Owen added.
For now, what Irving can promise is the next 5 years if he refuses to execute on the player option in his contract this summer. While in Miami, Owen told reporters, "I want to make my own legacy with the Nets. I know that when summer comes, there will be some conversations between us. But I wouldn't leave Adu no matter what. ”
Adu also said he couldn't imagine what a Nets would look like without Irving.
"We're doing some cool things here and Owen is a big, important part of that. Despite his suspension this season, he remains a very important part of this great cause. Honestly, that's one of the interesting hurdles to overcome. ”
Last month, the NBA hosted an awards ceremony for all-time 75 superstars during the Cleveland All-Star Game. Adu was one of them, but was unable to attend the meeting because of the death of his grandmother.
"One of the big 75, it really impressed me, it's a huge achievement in my career." Adu said.
It's also a reminder that Adu may not be running out of time on the pitch. Adu, who has been in the NBA for 15 years, said he often wonders when to end his NBA career.
"I've been thinking about it. From Hall of Fame speeches to jersey retirement ceremonies, to seeing my teammates' kids slowly enter the NBA, hopefully one day my own kids will be able to get into the NBA as well. I looked at all this and thought, when I don't play anymore, what can I do? I'm my life! ”
The honor also reminds him of his poor life in Maryland as a child, dreaming of getting ahead. He said he considered "the journey, and all the people who have helped me get there, and the decisions I've made along the way." You start thinking about these things and have fun with them. You see all these great athletes for over 70 years, and now you're in it, and it's really a dream come true. ”
Adu was clearly touched by the recognition, but he also wanted to stand out on a number of other selected lists. He may not have as many trophies as James and Jordan, but he knows he can compare with them.
"Well, if James and Jordan had to pick someone for a 5-for-5 game, they would definitely pick me. I'm definitely going to play against those 10 guys and that's how I feel. ”
But James and Adu's legacy in the league may be more complicated than their predecessors. Their multiple changes of team make it all seem a bit awkward. When Adu left the Thunder, Oklahoma City fans burned his jersey, and the Warriors were still trying to figure out why Adu was leaving them. For Adu, he still uses each team as a stopover for his career.
"All the places I've played are my home. I can imagine that when I end my career, I don't think the team I've been with will be like this , 'No, KD, you're not part of our team's history.' When I retire, I'll be a Hall of Famer, one of the greatest athletes in the sport. When I retire you, you say I'm not part of your history, that's a personal vendetta. ”
"The Thunder have to retire my jersey, and if they hadn't done that, it would have been a hurt to the basketball to move far. The Warriors are no different. I'm still playing at the Nets, and if I continue to do what I do for four or five years, then the Nets should retire my jersey as well. I'd better have a home because I feel like basketball. I breathe on it. It's been deeply engraved in my DNA. I put in the time, respect and love of basketball as a sport, hoping to be recognized, and if not, it's a personal vendetta. ”
In August last year, Adu signed a four-year contract extension with the Nets, which allowed him to play with the Nets until he turned 37. That's the longest commitment to the team since his rookie season. When Jean signed, he said he felt an emotion he had never felt before, and that all these years of championships and praise could not be exchanged.
"I settled down. I don't need to look back, I don't have to worry about the next season or the next two years. Knowing that the next three or four years are locked in, I will feel relaxed on the pitch or off the pitch. It's a good place. ”
Despite missing an entire season, recovering, adjusting, and adapting to different rotations, Adu played a great basketball game at the Nets. Last season, as Irving and Harden faltered, Adu played the best playoff performance in recent years, averaging 35.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists per game, and finally lost to the final championship Bucks in seven games. In the regular season, he averaged 29.7 points per game, the highest average since he won the MVP in 2013-14. But he says that achieving big things brings him less satisfaction than accomplishing small goals day after day.
'When I play, I don't just want to win the championship or beat James or be the best player. He said: "I feel like I'm playing against the sport, no matter what the game was that night, that's my goal, no matter who I'm playing against, I respect every opponent, but it's more important than them. ”
The Nets have a lot to figure out, and this season and beyond, so will Adu, especially in his 30s. But he's thankful for the process, and he has a sense of peace about his current situation.
Adu said: "Anyway, each of us is evolving and changing. As a person, I still have a lot to improve, but I am satisfied with my current situation. ”
Originally written by Logan Murdock
Compilation: Nanshan