Now I have a headache when I see the so-called "three guards" of the men's basketball team!
Not to mention in Asia, even in Europe and the United States, no one admires this style of play, even for teams like the Warriors.
Especially in Asia, whoever wins the center wins the world.
There are three "moving Great Walls" in Chinese basketball, they are Wang Zhizhi, Batel and Yao Ming.
Generations are all played by the center.
In recent years, the same has been true of the Philippines, Haddadi in Iran, Hasheng in South Korea, Thornmek in Australia, and so on.
I don't know why, from Li Nan to Du Feng, they are all obsessed with the style of playing three backs, is it blown up by the name of "Asia's No. 1 point guard"?
Today we will take a look at how the first Chinese player to enter the NBA gained a foothold on the inside line.
First, the wind chasing boy
Strictly speaking, Wang Zhizhi is the second player to be drafted by the NBA.
The first player to be drafted by the NBA was Song Tao, and unfortunately, as soon as he signed his contract, he suffered a crushing fracture.
And Wang Zhizhi is the first player to play in the NBA.
Wang Zhizhi was born in a basketball family in 1977.
Her mother, Ren Huanzhen, was the main player of the first generation of Beijing women's basketball after the reconstruction of women's basketball in the 70s.
During pregnancy, Ren Huanzhen retired from the army.
When Wang Zhizhi was an infant, his mother secretly vowed that he would play basketball in the future.
Wang Zhizhi's mother: In our time, playing basketball for a lifetime is unimaginable, and the next generation will definitely be able to complete it.
The height genes of his parents, coupled with Wang Zhizhi's love of sports since he was a child.
At the age of 7, he overtook Ju Jingyi, and his height reached 1.60 meters at the age of 8!
Wang Zhizhi entered Yucai Sports School in the fourth grade of primary school, when the basketball major was not taken seriously, and the school did not pay much attention to him.
But by the fifth grade, trouble came.
The bed in the school can no longer accommodate him, and he can only curl his legs when he sleeps roughly every day.
In middle school, in order to let Wang Zhizhi get better training, his parents went to great lengths to send him to the Bayi team.
At that time, Wang Zhizhi's team was a special body basketball team, relying on his height talent.
Wang Zhizhi has been introverted since he was a child, not good at talking, and deals with basketball every day, so he has laid a solid basic skill.
At the age of 17, the wind-chasing boy Wang Zhizhi was selected into the training list of the national youth team.
At the age of 18, he appeared in the World Youth Championships, Wang Zhizhi scored and rebounded second in the series, and was selected as the best team of the World Youth Championships that year.
In his debut in an international competition, Wang Zhizhi left the reputation of the king of caps in Greece, the holy place of the Olympic Games.
And raised the ranking of the Chinese team to the ninth position of the World Youth Championship, and almost entered the last 8.
Second, dream three, the first battle to become famous
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the U.S. men's basketball team sent the luxurious Dream Team Three, second only to the Dream Team led by Michael Jordan.
And this year's dream team is the strongest inside lineup in the world, with Olajuwon, Robinson, and O'Neal sitting on the three inside lines.
The forwards are Malone, Barkley, Pippen, Payton.
If the current men's basketball team meets the American team with this lineup, wouldn't it be tyrannical to kindergarten children?
However, 19-year-old Wang Zhizhi was unequivocal and came up to give Admiral Robinson a big hat to lead the Chinese men's basketball team to the quarterfinals for the first time.
Of course, in addition to Wang Zhizhi's contributions, Liu Yudong, Hu Weidong and others also showed extraordinary basketball talent.
The final score was 133:70, although he lost by 63 points, Wang Zhizhi's performance attracted widespread attention from the US media.
After the Olympics, Wang Zhizhi received invitations from six North American universities and offered him scholarships.
Wang Zhizhi shot 90.6% from the free throw line during the Olympic journey, which is enough to show how solid his basic skills are.
And now young players, in the World Cup, when the hand feels stable, is only 70%.
Once the world's top eight, now it is the Asian weak eight.
The men's basketball team, led by Wang Zhizhi and Hu Weidong, swept all the championships of the men's basketball program in Asia.
Third, Wang Zhizhi, and even the Chinese men's basketball team is one of the biggest regrets
Throughout his career, Wang Zhizhi's most regrettable series was the 1997 Men's Basketball Asian Championship.
This year is still the golden generation of Hu Weidong, Wang Zhizhi, Gong Xiaobin, Atijiang, Li Nan, Liu Yudong and so on, unfortunately lost to South Korea in the semifinals of abnormal performance.
Missed the best chance to win 10 consecutive Asian Championships.
In 2007, the second team men's basketball team led by Yang Ming and others set the worst record of losing to Jordan, the Philippines and Iran, losing 9 games.
If it weren't for the appearance of Yao Ming, since then, in fact, the Chinese men's basketball team has had a fault.
In 1997, Wang Zhizhi returned to the CBA league, at that time, he had no plans to stay abroad, and set an immortal record with the Bayi team.
It wasn't until 1999 that Wang Zhizhi entered the NBA draft and was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the seventh pick in the second round.
Before 1998, the NBA basically gave away program content and signals for free, only with advertisements in the program, and the domestic market was not fully opened.
The NBA at that time did not have the high-spirited side it is now, and even looked like "losing money and making money".
Therefore, in 1999, there were many changes in the landing of Wang Zhizhi in the NBA.
4. Bear infamy
Although Wang Zhizhi did not sign in 1999, it opened the situation for the "export" of excellent players, and later Batel, Yao Ming, Xue Yuyang and others had the determination to participate in the draft.
In 2002, the international sports sponsorship market was in good shape, and the sponsors of CBA clubs were constantly changing their faces.
Even abandoned local sports events and turned to foreign event resources such as NBA and F1.
With the addition of Yao Ming, many sponsors have landed in the NBA, such as Yanjing, Li Ning, and Mobile.
In addition to athletic talent, the promoters behind all leagues and clubs must be looking for business opportunities.
Wang Zhizhi's personal assistant of Chinese descent at the time was Chen Weiming, who was born and raised in New York, and he knew the wind at this moment.
He persuaded Dazhi to participate in the NBA summer league after the season, which was generally shaken, but Nelson Jr. signed a three-way contract with the basketball association and Bayi on behalf of the Mavericks, guaranteeing that when the national team or Bayi needed, he must return home immediately and unconditionally.
Wang Zhizhi has spent time in the Bayi team since his adolescence, how can he not be aware of his responsibilities and burdens.
In the 2000-2001 season, Wang Zhizhi played 10 games with the Mavericks, playing very little time, and returned to China to help Beijing bid for the Olympics as soon as the season ended, and then non-stop in the East Asian Games, men's basketball Asian Championships, and Beijing Universiade.
He devoted most of his youth to the team and earned the trust of the fans.
In March 2002, at the instigation of Chen Weiming, he roughly broke up with local agent Xia Song, and Chen Weiming simply quit his job at NBA Entertainment.
Instead, he became Dazhi's personal assistant and recommended NBA ace agent Jeff Schwartz to Dazhi.
Since then, Wang Zhizhi has carried the infamy of "treachery and traitor" and gritted his teeth to stay in the NBA.
Compared to Yao Ming, he is indeed too difficult.
If he was born a few years later and encountered the prime time for the NBA to open the market, Wang Zhizhi will definitely leave more wonderful pictures in the NBA.
After the news of Wang Zhizhi's departure spread, the basketball association and the Bayi team also reached a deadlock.
They lost direct dialogue with Wang Zhizhi, who did not have the courage and face to face them, especially his mentor Kuang Lubin.
Fifth, move the Great Wall to the other side of the ocean
Not only was the market opportunity poor, but the NBA's style of play at that time was not in line with Wang Zhizhi's style.
Wang Zhizhi is a defensive player who specializes in mid-range shooting, which is definitely the most popular center in today's small-ball era.
Therefore, after joining the Clippers, Wang Zhizhi can basically only get the opportunity to play in garbage time, and the league prefers traditional centers such as O'Neal and Yao Ming.
When they first entered the NBA, Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, although they also looked thin, Yao Ming's position playing board was more in line with the tone of the NBA than Wang Zhizhi.
Wang Zhizhi was a big man who was good at shooting from the outside, which was considered very soft by many NBA players at the time.
In his first season with the Clippers, Wang played in 41 games, averaging 4.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 10 minutes per game.
In 2003, the Clippers did not renew Wang Zhizhi's contract, he signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent, and the Heat head coach hoped that Wang Zhizhi could gain muscle and become a traditional center.
But Wang Zhizhi has a stubborn personality, is not proficient in English, is not good at talking, and does not have many friends in the United States.
Fortunately, his mentor Kuang Lubin and him have been in constant contact, and the two communicate frequently, and after playing the last game of the 2005 season, Wang Zhizhi decided to return to China.
Kuang Lubin, the mentor and leader of the men's basketball team, personally went to the United States to pick up Wang Zhizhi and go home, and also let the media see Wang Zhizhi's relationship with the basketball association and the Bayi team, and no one accused him of being a traitor.
In 2012, 35-year-old Wang Zhizhi, with Yi Jianlian, Zhu Fangyu and other stalwarts, as well as rising star Guo Allen, prepared for the London Olympics, this time the men's basketball team lost five games and ranked 12th.
After Wang Zhizhi retired, the Chinese men's basketball team has missed the top 20, or even the top 30.
6. Off-site life
The key figure in Wang Zhizhi's decision to stay in the United States in 2002, besides Chen Weiming, is his wife Song Yang.
Song Yang is a rich family, his hometown is in Haicheng, his family is rich, and he can be regarded as the richest man in the county.
The acquaintance of the two is like a movie, lightning and romantic.
During a trip in 2000, he met Wang Zhizhi while waiting for a flight.
At that time, Wang Zhizhi's mobile phone ran out of battery, so he borrowed Song Yang's mobile phone to make a call.
Song Yang was attracted by the mysterious big man in front of him, although he was born in the north, but the big man of more than two meters is indeed rare.
After falling in love, Song Yang flew from the northeast to Beijing and lived with Wang Zhizhi.
Song Yang is three years older than Wang Zhizhi, divorced, and has a child.
Wang Zhizhi is a traditional, responsible introverted boy, with the controversy of being accused by friends and family of dragging oil bottles, and the two married after 3 months of love.
After marriage, Song Yang also persuaded Wang Zhizhi to play in the United States, and after the two went to the United States, Song Yang persuaded him to buy a property in Los Angeles for about $2.7 million.
It was not until after settling down in the United States that Song Yang and Wang Zhizhi gave birth to a child belonging to the general part.
The brilliance of the Bayi team is brilliant, Wang Zhizhi's basketball career is respectable, and his life is closely linked to the Bayi team, which is more like a task of the times.
Therefore, during his retirement in 2015, Wang Zhizhi directly took off his player clothes and put on a coach's uniform.
Continue to shine on the basketball court instead of lying flat to dry management.
When I became a coach, I found that I was more anxious on the sidelines than on the field.
And looking at the new generation of players who are not connected, Wang Zhizhi can only be anxious, and his brows are furrowed with anger.
Seeing that his subordinate Guo Haowen and other beloved generals, not only did the international competition record be dismal, but the chaos of private life was repeatedly exposed.
There are even players who directly confront head coach Wang Zhizhi on the field!
A clown who goes up a mountain, why bother with a god who goes down ...
Back and forth, Wang Zhizhi's mood was completely destroyed, and his life gradually changed.
The two couples got together less and separated more, and quarreled as soon as they met, so Wang Zhizhi, who had not long been retired, separated from his wife Song Yang.
7. Remarry and marry a wife 14 years younger
In 2018, when Wang Zhizhi attended an event, he met the on-site host Zhou Lei.
Zhou Lei is the host of Guangxi Variety Channel, also served as a host on Sichuan Satellite TV, and also hosted the collection program "Collection Ma Weidu" with Ma Weidu.
Wang Zhizhi is also a collector, although the age difference is more than a decade, but there are many common languages.
Wang Zhizhi, who has a clumsy heart, has become a gushing sunny man in front of this Sichuan hot girl.
Over time, the two sides developed a relationship.
Zhou Lei has been versatile since childhood, and has a solid hosting background, is the pillar of Guangxi Satellite TV, and has also served as the host of the Spring Festival Gala of Guangxi Satellite TV for many years.
With her excellent hosting ability, she has gone further and further on this road, and she has a bright star and has been lit with a torch in her heart.
Both of them are dedicated and loving middle-aged and young generation elites, and their responsibilities and positive energy have become the charm of attracting each other.
During Labor Day 2019, the two completed their wedding in a low-key manner, and neither dragged each other's work down.
After the holidays, one returned to the TV station and the other returned to the field, which did not affect the work in the slightest.
Excellent people always shine, and during marriage, Zhou Lei was also admitted to the graduate school of Peking University!
In the 2022 graduation season, Zhou Lei also posted her graduation photos.
A young and beautiful master's degree student, host, an athlete and coach who won glory for the country.
The life of the two is plain and warm, without any scandals.
How can such a fairy couple not be envied.
Compared to the entertainment industry of paper drunk gold fans, this is a model couple, right?
This article was originally edited by Art Rabbit Sports
Statement: The picture comes from the Internet, please contact the author for infringement