The NBA does not have a banquet, all stars, regardless of strength, the final result is retirement, but retirement does not mean leaving, there are always some stars will remain in the memory forever, or rise in another field, Yao Ming's former Louis Scola is like this, when he withdrew from the NBA, we thought that we would never see the actor performing on the field again, but he will always surprise us in different places, such as killing all sides in the CBA, and running to the World Cup to beat a group of young people and then enter the final, For example, at the age of 41, he still wants it at the Olympics.
Scola may only be regarded as a passerby in the NBA, if it were not for Yao Ming, not many people would remember him, but he is like a god in the international arena, a proper superstar, today, let's talk about actor Scola's bumpy career.
The basic law of genius, one is genes, the other is diligence
In 1980, Luis Scola was born in a basketball family in Agen, and his father Mario Scola was the first basketball player in the family, and his father's strong bloodline power was naturally passed on to Scola Jr.
Because he was worried that Scola's basketball bloodline could not be awakened, the old Scola has devoted all the resources of his family to enlighten Scola since Scola was born, and after watching the game of Jordan, the world's number one master, Scola quickly found the faith of life, basketball.
In this way, he opened his own basketball training road, and he didn't care about anything else, repeating boring dribbling, shooting, and physical training every day, rain or shine, never stopping.
In 1993, Mario Scola, who had gone through vicissitudes, finally retired under the pressure of injury and age, so his unfulfilled dream naturally fell to Scola Jr.
Thanks to his father's bloodline, Scola quickly stood out from the Argentine basketball chaser, and in 1995, at the age of 15, Scola was selected for the Argentina U21 youth team, where Scola met the "demon knife" Ginobili, who was three years older than him, with long flowing hair, and even more coincidentally. The two were also separated in the same dormitory, and the two formed an indissoluble bond, who would have thought that these two little guys would become the cornerstones of Argentina's basketball and the heroes of international basketball in the future.
In 1998, at the age of 18, Scola went out to train, came to the Spanish league, joined the Gijón team, helped the team to upgrade from the second division to the first division in only one season, and then was favored by the giant Tau, signed Scola with a contract, and then leased Scola to the Gijón team for continued use, in that season he averaged 14.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
In the summer of 2000, Scola was recalled by Tau after his loan expired and then played with an average of 11.2 points per game to win the 00–01 Spanish League Rookie of the Year.
In the 01-02 season, Scola made a name for himself when he helped Tau win both the Spanish League and the Cup.
Mixed drafts, madness in the international arena
In the summer of 2002, the 22-year-old Scola automatically qualified for the NBA draft as an international player, and despite his reputation, Scola's physical talent was so unbelievable in the eyes of NBA scouts that if Popovich had not pulled out the 27th pick in the second round, he might have escaped.
It was both lucky and unfortunate, luckily he was not selected, and it was still a super team that selected him. Unfortunately, this team has Duncan and Robinson, two interior gods, leaving not many opportunities for Scola.
In 2002, the Indianapolis World Championships were hot, and although Argentina lost to the strong Yugoslav team in the final, Scola began to show his edge in this tournament, most notably in Argentina's 87-80 defeat of Noh Dream V in the group stage, which was the first defeat for the dream team, and Scola scored 13 points in that game, ranking second on the team.
This battle proved that American basketball is not invincible, and in the 04 Athens Olympics, Argentina continued its glory, defeating Dream Six led by Nerd and Iverson in the semifinals, becoming the first team to defeat the American Dream Team at the Olympics. In that year's final, Scola slashed 25 points and 11 rebounds to help the team defeat the big dark horse Italy, and came out of the circle with his strength.
Tau was reluctant to release him, and Scola's path to the NBA was fraught with difficulties
In the summer of 2004, Scola's teammate in the Taau club and Argentina national team teammate Nocioni jumped into the NBA with a peerless martial arts, which also aroused Scola's interest, to the point that he is different from Noschioni, the former is a non-draft player, love to go wherever he goes, but Scola can only wait for the life of Zhuge Vitch's prime minister.
But things are always unexpected, Scola finally waited for the call from the other side of the ocean, but was blocked by Tau, they did not intend to let go of this international basketball murder just like that, and then offered a high buyout fee of 10 million far beyond the upper limit of NBA buyout fees, which made Scola and the Spurs deterred and could only continue to fight in Spain, and the Spurs changed hands and signed Scola's interior partner in Argentina.
Forced to stay in the Spanish league, Scola did not change the super giant, in the Spanish league to take what is needed, in the next few years, led the team to successive successive results, personal honors to get soft, dominated the entire league, led the team to set a record of 26 consecutive home wins, the MVP of the Spanish league and the Super Cup, the all-time scoring champion of the Euroleague, the best team in Europe, all like prospecting things, rare opponents.
In the summer of 2006, seeing his national team teammates in the NBA, the actor could no longer hold back, he was determined to break the net, frequently pressured the Tau team, and even did not hesitate to take it to court, through step by step, finally let the Tau team give in, and the Tau club agreed to reduce the buyout amount to $3.5 million.
Everything was settled, but Zhuge Vecchi's vision suddenly became inaccurate, and he rejected Scola's request for a three-year, $9 million contract, believing that it was more than Scola was worth, and in the end, Scola still failed to go to the Spurs. In 2007, the Spurs hit it off with the Rockets, who were severely short of insiders, and the Spurs traded the signing rights of Jezzie Butler and Scola to the Rockets.
After the Rockets got the signing rights, they immediately negotiated with the Tau team and finally agreed to reduce the buyout fee to $2 million, and the Rockets were a model for the Spurs in terms of bargaining, although Scola still had to pay millions of dollars in buyout fees, he did not hesitate, because this is the dream he has been pursuing, and at the moment of 27, he has finally come true.
Strong adaptability, super high ball quotient
On July 18, 2007, the 27-year-old rookie Scola finally arrived in the coveted NBA, however, after many years in FIBA, he first had to face a completely different NBA game rules, and his tactical position was no longer the core of the team that pointed the way, where Scola was just a supporting role, a supporting role next to the super-popular players Yao Ming and Maddie.
Like his teammate Yao Ming's first game, he didn't know how to play when he first entered the NBA, Scola played 8 minutes and 57 seconds in his debut, with a 0-point 3 foul answer, the sad end, Scola, who never accepted defeat, decided to follow the example of Goujian Lying Pay, so he collected the game ball, in order to remember the shame of that game forever.
Due to the rich experience of playing in the European League, Scola quickly became familiar with the rules of the NBA, although his physical talent was useless, but his ball intelligence and skills were unfathomable, and his interior steps were unpredictable, even Yao Ming was ashamed of himself, in the 2007-2008 season, Scola played 82 games. He averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game, which is not surprising in the league, but it is already good for someone who has just entered the NBA.
The Rockets are the most familiar team to fans, and everyone knows that Yao Ming's NBA career Li's biggest regret is that he does not have a good interior partner, from the empty talent but can't cash out Eddie Curry to Taylor who just takes money and doesn't do anything, from the faltering Uncle Huo to the Hai Ye who ends the urine basin, there is no serious power forward, which also makes Yao Ming's career never go further.
However, after Scola's arrival, the Rockets' power forward position due to the power of the first battle, a precise mid-range jump shot combined with flexible interior footwork allowed him to play comfortably against any type of defensive player, when Yao Ming is present, he is a spatial inside, Yao Ming is not on the floor, he is the trumpet Yao Ming.
The pinnacle of a belated career
Immediately after his rookie season, Scola returned to the national team to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, because of playing with the Rockets, Scola is familiar to Chinese fans, allowing Scola to enjoy the call of home when visiting in China.
Scola, who was already on the international stage, was still spoiled when China enjoyed the roar of the tsunami, showing the strength of his international giants to the fullest, and throughout the Olympic Games, he could average 18.9 points per game, afraid of the third place in the world, only the other two big insiders, Spain's sister-in-law and China's Yao Ming.
Playing against European champion Russia, Scola shot 12-of-16 from the field, slashing 37 points and 8 rebounds. The beaters defeated the American team, the bald man left the game due to injury before the first quarter, facing the encirclement of a group of All-Star forwards in the United States, Scola slashed 28 points and 11 rebounds, keeping the suspense to the end, if it were not for the bald man's injury, the American Dream Team would probably hate it on the spot.
In the 08-09 season, Scola ushered in the second season of his career, due to his excellent ball intelligence and flexible footsteps, Scola was quickly reused by Adelman and played an important role in the Princeton system, this season the Rockets can be said to be heavy, Yao Ming and Maddie have been plagued by injuries, Maddie only played 35 games throughout the season, at the moment of crisis, Scola stepped up and became the third scoring point after Yao Ming and Artest, in that season, Scola played in another 82 games, averaging 12.7 games and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field, making him a qualified starting power forward.
The madness of the post-Yao era, the ninth in the West every year, Scola finally left the rocket
In the 09-10 season, the big man Yao Ming was reimbursed again for the season, and Maddie was no longer in a state of recurrence due to a back injury, and the Yao Mai combination that the Rockets had been operating for many years finally ushered in a disintegration, belonging to the memory of a generation of Chinese fans, and gradually pulled the curtain down.
Rockets, which entered the post-Yao era, did not completely degenerate. Despite completely losing its superstar aura and becoming an obscure civilian team, Scola rose to the top and played 82 games again, scoring double-digit points more than 70 times in the season and 20+ times 26, becoming the Rockets' last fig leaf.
On March 14, 2010, Scola was like a god in the Rockets' home challenge against the Nets, shooting 20 of 25 and 4 of 6 free throws, playing the most representative game of his career, 44 points and 12 rebounds, breaking the career record for scoring, shooting, and shooting.
In 2010, Scola competed in the World Championships in Turkey, and continued his excellent performance in the Olympic Games, once again on the altar, cutting 30+ points in five games, and the highest one was 37 points, leaving everyone stunned, and Scola who stood in his thirties finally became the god of war in the international arena.
Due to Scola's excellent performance in the NBA and the international arena that year, the Rockets did not hesitate to offer a 5-year 47 million contract, in the era of a top salary of only 5 years and 80 million, Scola's 47 million is already a big contract, and it was known that when Curry renewed his contract later. It's just a 4-year, $44 million contract.
Yao's NBA career came to an end in 2010-11, playing the last five games of his career that season before announcing his retirement shortly after.
But despite this, the Houston Rockets are still the favorite team of Chinese fans, and the new Kevin Martin carries the banner of the Rockets' offense and shoulders the heavy responsibility of the post-Yao era with Scola, and Scola's continuous full attendance record is also unavoidable, and finally handed over a data of 18.3 points per game, which is also his career average per game.
In the 2011-12 season, although Kevin Martin's offensive ability was good enough, his performance in other aspects could not support the Rockets to become a strong team, with the departure of Adelman, McHale took office, the Rockets ushered in a sea change, rebuilding, has been their last choice.
Scola, although still able to contribute 15+6 per game, in the eyes of the rebuilding Rockets, his 8.5 million annual salary contract is like a burden, after the season, the Rockets amnesty Scola, Scola eventually joined the Suns on a three-year, $13 million contract, and the Rockets career ended.
The last year of his wandering career
In the 12-13 season, the 32-year-old Scola can bring little contribution to the fish-belly team Suns, and despite his physical fitness, he has little talent, and under the pressure of age, his form began to decline, and although he averaged 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, his true shooting percentage of 51.6% was really low.
In the summer of 2013, the Pacers even had to break the Heat's grip in the East by starting from their weak interior line, and with limited salary space, Scolar, experienced and with first-class offensive skills, became a target for the Pacers.
Larry Bird ordered, the Pacers with center Myles Plumley, forward Gerard Green and 2014 lottery protected first-round pick to bring the actor from the Suns to Indiana, after coming to the Pacers, Scola's role is a bench bandit, falling off a cliff during his appearance, averaging 17 minutes per game and contributing 7.6 points, but this time, Scola followed the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, which was the farthest he went in his NBA career, the one for Yao Ming Hibbert to kill all sides inside the Heat.
However, after the season, the Pacers soon ushered in bad news, their star George, during training, experienced a horrific leg breaking incident, Scola also got more opportunities and once again played good efficiency.
In July 2015, Scola came to the Toronto Raptors with a $3 million one-year contract and became a powerful helper for the "trash brothers", averaging 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game at the age of 35, shooting 50.4% from the field, showing the characteristics of the technical flow inside.
Scola once again reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to James again.
After the end of the season, Scola joined the Nets on a contract of five million a year, but after playing more than 30 games, he was told that he was unemployed, officially ending his NBA career, never climbing the peak, but never falling to the bottom, I am ordinary, I am ordinary, I play seriously, this is Louis Scola.
The final feast
20 Because of Yao Ming, Scola also has some different feelings for China, so in 2017, he came to Shanxi, China to play his residual heat, under the encouragement of Fenjiu, Scola regained his glory, played 37 games, averaging 27.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, 37-year-old he used textbook steps to give those young lads a military training, although he failed to lead the team to the playoffs, but everyone knows that this guy, when playing, really has something in his head.
It is worth mentioning that Scola has shown extreme self-discipline in his personal life, and there is no negative news throughout his career, and at the same time, in terms of personal diet and rest, he must strictly follow the planned situation, and never eat more and occupy more, which is why he keeps his secret.
In the 18-19 season, the 38-year-old Scola came to Shanghai, as the same state as always, as a technical flow insider, did not decline because of age, averaged 20+10 per game to lead Shanghai to the playoffs, and finally lost to the strong Beijing, and left the game sadly.
In the summer of 2019, the 40-year-old husband Skola talked about the boyhood, and once again came to China with the team to participate in the basketball World Cup, the 40-year-old old man, his dominance in the international arena to the end, representing Argentina in eight games, averaging 29.5 minutes per game, scoring close to 17+7 data, first scoring 20 points to eliminate Serbia, and then scoring 28 points to kill France, and finally although he lost in the final, the legendary name still stands.
After that, Scola moved to Italian giants Milan for Olympia Milan for a season, completing his last basketball league trip, and his career began in Europe and ended in Europe. Of course, his national team career is not over.
The last glory,
In the summer of 2021, the 41-year-old Scola once again appeared on the Olympic field, this is his fifth time representing Argentina in the Olympics, back and forth, it is 21 years, this time, the superstar of international basketball has finally declined, he averaged 16.5 points and 5 rebounds per game in four games, although it declined, but it also lived up to the name of the god of war.
After the end of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Serie A basketball club officially announced that Scola will serve as the general manager of the team, and there is also news that Scola has become one of the owners of this team, and the career of the actor began with basketball and ended with basketball, although he failed to reach the top of the NBA, but the glory in the international tournament made him enough to stand at the top of basketball.
Do not compete with hypocrites for fame, do not compete with real villains, do not argue with stubborn people, do not fight with puppets, do not compete with sour confucians, do not show grace to stupid people, I am me, I am the actor, Scola.
His dreams are his and his father's, so when asked why he loves the number 4 shirt, he says: