Badinger (right) won the American Beach Volleyball Professional League (AVP).
What does it mean to be abandoned by the NBA? Different players will give different answers, such as continuing to wait for contracts, such as going overseas to pan for gold, such as transforming into a coach. The answer given by 31-year-old Chase Badinger is to prove talent by winning a championship in another sport.
In the past two days, the rocket's veteran Badinger, which has long been forgotten by most people, has returned to the american media, because he and his partner Kathy Patterson defeated their opponents 25-23, 19-21, 15-7 to win the first American Beach Volleyball Professional League (AVP) championship of their careers.
"After ending his NBA career, he moved to the sand volleyball court, it was really incredible, nice guy!" NBA star Steve Nash, as a sand row enthusiast, sent his blessings for the first time.
The "white flyer" who was once on par with Durant as a student finally proved himself - being abandoned by the NBA is not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new journey.
Bartinger played for the Rockets in 2009. Visual China figure
Giving up basketball, he chose to switch to sand volleyball
In the eyes of ordinary people, winning the first professional league championship at the age of 31 is considered to be a late success. For Badinger, his honor came too quickly, because it was only his second year in the sand row.
As early as 10 years ago, when the Pistons selected Badinger with the 44th pick in the second round, almost no one noticed that he was actually a sand row master.
Throughout his NBA career, Badinger played for the Rockets, Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns, but after 7 years of wandering life, he was eventually abandoned by the NBA.
Leaving the NBA, Badinger did not directly choose to leave the basketball circle, and he went to the Spanish league for another season. But it was the life of the overseas gold panning that year that made him begin to waver, "I really won't play overseas, a long season of 9 months, different time zones, no friends around." 」 ”
Looking back on those years, Badinger himself sighed, "I decided to stop a sport that I had been doing all my life, and it was very difficult. ”
Bardinger and Durant were among the best high school students in the nation.
It was then that two-time Olympian Sean Rosenthal asked Bardinger if he would like to play beach volleyball together, and he hesitated for a month to finally give a positive answer.
One of the reasons why he was willing to complete the crossover challenge was because of the successful experience of his predecessors — Wilt Chamberlain and Keith Erikson were both inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association's Hall of Fame.
Many fans may not know that beach volleyball is popular among NBA stars, such as Luke Walton, Richard Jefferson, Steve Nash and Griffin, all of whom are avid fans of sand volleyball.
However, As soon as Badinger transformed, he completely surpassed his predecessors and became the first player in NBA history to participate in two consecutive professional beach volleyball tour games.
After standing on the sand volleyball field, Badinger quickly came to prominence. Last year, as a rookie, Badinger teamed up with Rosenthal to finish second at the AVP San Francisco Open; in May, Bartinger and Patterson finished fifth on the FIVB International Tour in Brazil; and he also finished in the top three on the U.S. Tour twice.
'He has experience playing indoors and his skills help him become a very influential player.' Even Sand rower Kathy Patterson, who competed in the 2016 Olympics, praised Badinger after he became a teammate of Badinger.
In the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Dunk Contest, Bartinger blindfolded dunk. Visual China Infographic
My dunk can fly past Yao Ming
In fact, Badinger was able to make a splash in the sand row competition, and in addition to his excellent talent, his family's hearing was also crucial.
Badinger came from a family of volleyball players, and many members of the family were involved in volleyball: her sister Played for the University of San Francisco volleyball team during her university years at Britany, went to Europe after graduation to become a professional player, and was once known as a legend in volleyball; her brother Duncan Badinger also became a professional volleyball player.
In 2006, Bardinger was selected for the U.S. Volleyball Nations Junior Team and was elected U.S. Volleyball U.S. Most Valuable Player at the time. Of course, at that time, his achievements in basketball were no different from volleyball, and even more dazzling.
Among the McDonald's All-Stars, the nation's most famous high school basketball tournament, Bartinger played extremely well and shared the MVP trophy with teammate kevin Durant at the time, and they defeated the opponents of the 2007 draft pick Auden and later Nuggets guard Ty Lawson.
"Basketball will always be my first love." Apparently, Badinger loved basketball even more at the time, "My mentality was for us to see how far basketball could take me." I will be 100% engrossed and fully committed to basketball. ”
Unfortunately, basketball did not bring him championships and honors, but only made him a familiar "patch brother" for Chinese fans. Also thanks to the aura of Yao Ming's teammates, Badinger was once very popular in The Chinese fan circle.
Yao Ming and Badinger talked on the sidelines. Visual China Infographic
After retiring, Yao Ming also remembered this former teammate with excellent physical talent, "I am very happy that my former teammate Badinger participated in the dunk contest, I have seen, he can fly." ”
Interestingly, Yao Ming has not only seen it, but may have also personally experienced it.
In 2013, when Badinger, who had already been traded to the Timberwolves, interacted with fans on social media and was asked who was the tallest person he had ever withheld, Badinger replied, "The player who was the tallest player I deducted was Yao Ming, but in training." ”
Although this passage has not been corroborated by Yao Ming, the video materials he flew from the head of the "bragging father" in the 2012 Orlando All-Star Dunk Contest are still circulating on the Internet.
Before participating in the dunk contest that year, Badinger thought of a "leap Yao Ming" idea: in a training session, Badinger put a 1:1 ratio portrait of Yao Ming in the box, he dribbled the ball to the inside line, jumped high in front of Yao Ming's portrait, and dunked the ball into the basket.
In 2010, Badinger participated in the Yao Foundation Basketball Charity Tournament. Visual China Infographic
Aiming for the Olympic Games, 31 years old is just the beginning
Today, Badinger is fully committed to the career of beach volleyball, and for him, winning a sand volleyball championship is only the starting point, not the end.
"We knew it was going to be a tough road," Mr. Badinger said, "to be sure, the Olympics are definitely our goal." It was my ultimate goal, from the time I switched to beach volleyball, I wanted to compete in the Olympics at some point in my life. “
The 31-year-old is already the beginning of a "downward spiral" for many competitive sports, while the New York Times is still discussing whether the 31-year-old Bardinger can become the "future of American sand pai."
In fact, thanks to the characteristics of the sand row, Badinger really has the potential to pick up the girder. Unlike other adversarial sports, the golden age of beach volleyball players can last a long time.
Badinger in the sand volleyball arena.
"NBA careers rarely last longer than 10 or 12 years. Even if I retire in my early 30s, I can still spend 10 golden years in a professional beach scene. Badinger was very confident in his body, "the sand is softer than falling on hardwood." Your body doesn't have as much wear and tear, especially on the joints. ”
Remember, when Phil Dalhouser and Jack Gibb won the Olympic sand volleyball gold medal in 2008, they were 28 and 32 years old, respectively. Next year, they will also represent the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as one of the world's best sand volleyball players.
Because of this, Badinger's sand row life can be said to have just started on the road.
However, fans may not be able to see Badinger in Tokyo next year, "given the strength of American athletes and the restriction that each country can only have two teams to compete, it is unlikely to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics." ”
But U.S. Volleyball Beach Coach Taylor Hildebrand also said, "His beach volleyball IQ may exceed 80% of our veteran players." Bardinger is expected to qualify for the competition in 2024 and 2028. ”
Yes, without the NBA, life can still be infinitely exciting.