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Preface
When it comes to the NBA, everyone is often impressed by people like Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, but who will remember the first men's basketball player who was invited by the NBA?
The first person to eat crabs will either be immortalized after becoming famous, or they will "die without a whole body" and will not be able to make a little wave.
And Song Tao is such a person.
He was the first Chinese person to be invited to the NBA, but he failed to create brilliance by mistake.
He also left a strong mark in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team like an epiphany, but unfortunately his luck was not good.
The staggering of fates has made his basketball career rise and fall many times.
Fortunately, he has created a magnificent wave in business.
Young national player
Song Tao was born into a basketball family, and his father was a basketball coach.
And Song Tao inherited his father's basketball talent very well, and his height of more than 2 meters and amazing bounce power made him extremely attractive at a young age.
At that time, Song Tan's bounce power was better than that of professional bouncers at that time, and it also made the high jump coach and basketball coach fight for him.
But in the end, Song Tao still chose basketball.
After three years of training at Shandong Sports School, 17-year-old Song Tao was selected for the national team and became the youngest national player at that time.
Entering the national team for the first time made the young Song Tao full of motivation in his heart, he loved basketball even more, and hoped to show his strength in basketball.
After a period of more professional training, Song Tao received a notice that he wanted to participate in the Olympic Games, which made Song Tao very excited, and he was more meticulous about his usual training, and he was looking forward to showing his skills on a big stage like the Olympic Games.
But the result?
After Song Tao received all the representative costumes and submitted the list, but the day before the start of the game, the coach actually informed Song Tao that he didn't have to go.
The reason is that Song Tao is still very young, and there will be opportunities in the future, and the old players in the team are facing retirement immediately, and they will have no chance in the future.
A sentence to take care of the emotions of the old players squeezed Song Tao's opportunity.
This made Song Tao depressed, and it also became the regret of his life.
Perhaps it is this kind of suppression that makes Song Tao's skills in basketball more sophisticated.
一战成名
Although Song Tao missed the opportunity to play the Olympics, the team also invested heavily in his training.
In 1985, Song Tao traveled to the United States with the team for exchanges, and he exchanged with seven teams in the NBA.
Although the final score of the Chinese men's basketball team was not high, Song Tao was sharp in the game, he not only blocked several powerful basketball players, but also competed with Jordan, and was finally named the best player in the team.
After the game, Song Tao also took a photo with Jordan.
This exchange game also made the NBA pay attention to Song Tao for the first time.
Soon after returning to China, the National Slam Dunk Contest was ushered in.
For such a competition, Song Tao also actively participated.
In the game, he dunked perfectly many times and won the championship at the time, which caused quite a stir at the time.
There were even crazy female fans who were fascinated by him, and directly changed their name to "Song Tao", and printed all the clothes they wore with "No. 9" representing Song Tao.
But what really made Song Tao famous was the 1986 World Championships.
A big event like the World Championships is definitely a good opportunity for an athlete to "make a name for himself".
After being suppressed for two years, Song Tao seemed to want to vent all his strength on the field.
In the game, Song Tao was like a bamboo, helping the Chinese men's basketball team enter the top 12.
In the game, he dunked 7 times and 3 blocks, grabbed 9 rebounds and scored 28 points, ranking ninth among 24 teams, creating the best result in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team at that time.
Undoubtedly, Song Tao's achievements are eye-catching, just being able to dunk is incomparable to many athletes, even now, what can be done is rare, it can be seen how rare Song Tao's basketball talent is.
Song Tao is famous for Song Joong Ki, which makes the NBA more satisfied with Song Tao.
The following year, in the NBA draft, Song Tao was selected in the 67th place in the third round, and the Hawks gave Song Tao both the contract and the jersey, and Song Tao also signed.
This made Song Tao the first person in the NBA in China.
As an athlete, having a strong sense of competition is a good thing in itself, but it doesn't bode well if it's "competitive".
Fall off the altar
In 1986, when Song Tao was training with his teammates in the Venus Group Competition, he wanted to quickly crush the opponent, and after receiving a pass from his teammates, he directly pulled up and jumped, but the ball did not score, and the opponent directly grabbed the rebound and launched an attack.
It stands to reason that Song Tao, as a center, should not rush to shoot on the outside, but he did so and gave the opponent a chance to overtake.
In order to make up for his mistakes and desperately chase the defense, at the moment when the opponent made a layup, Song Tao rose to the ground and buckled the ball on the rebound with a big hat.
But in mid-air, he bumped into Sun Fengwu's body, the whole person lost his balance, and when he landed, his right leg knee directly poked the ground, and in an instant, his knee was shattered into more than a dozen petals, and the bones were nested into it, becoming a pit.
After that, he was treated in the Third Hospital of Beijing.
After the Eagles heard about it, they directly took Song Tao to the United States for treatment, and the injury is slowly improving.
But there are unforeseen circumstances.
After his condition stabilized, Song Tao returned to China again, but he accidentally fell in the bathroom, causing the recurrence of the knee injury.
This fall directly ruined his NBA career.
The Eagles saw that Song Tao had a series of accidents, and his physical condition was also worrying, so they decided to join him.
I thought that after this injury, Song Tao would retire directly, but I didn't expect to see him again at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but this time he did not appear as an athlete, but as the Chinese flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Because of Song Tao's knees, he can no longer represent the Chinese men's basketball team in the game, but considering that Song Tao was deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games once, this flag bearer can be regarded as a kind of spiritual compensation for Song Tao.
After this time, Song Tao retired from the Chinese men's basketball team.
After retiring, Song Tao moved to the business world.
Although the business is doing well, basketball has also become a difficult thing in his heart.
Soon after, he received an invitation from the Taiwanese team, Song Tao put down his business, and chose basketball again, and also had good results in the subsequent league, until 2000 when he retired, ending his bumpy basketball career.
Song Tao's career is full of twists and turns, but his relationship is very happy.
Basketball couples
There are many couples in the sports circle, and everyone comes together because of a common hobby.
Song Tao is no exception, and his wife Peng Ping is also a basketball player.
When Song Tao first joined the men's basketball team, he met Peng Ping.
Peng Ping is a national player in the women's basketball team and has a good record throughout the season.
At that time, when the men's basketball team and the women's basketball team were training, they often looked up and looked down, which was also very eye-catching for a tall young man like Song Tao.
And Peng Ping is the age when she first came to love, and she is also very excited about such a tall and handsome boy, but she is a girl after all, and she did not speak.
On the left, Peng Ping
Later, Song Tao was squeezed out of the Olympic Games, and he was in a lost mood, but Peng Ping had a chance to get closer.
At that time, Song Tao was in a bad mood, so Peng Ping accompanied him to relieve him, make him happy, and play music for him, so that Song Tao slowly cheered up.
With continuous in-depth understanding, Song Tao also fell in love with this beautiful and kind-hearted girl, and then the two confirmed their relationship.
And their love has also withstood various tests.
When Song Tao won the championship for the first time and won a bonus of 3,000 yuan, he did not buy a dime for his girlfriend, but gave all the money to his grandparents in the countryside to help them build a new house and buy daily necessities.
Peng Ping was not angry at Song Tao's behavior, which made Song Tao cherish Peng Ping even more.
At that time, many girls were dissatisfied with their boyfriends spending a lot of money on others even if they were not married.
It can be seen that Peng Ping is a girl with filial piety.
Whether it was in Song Tao's peak or Song Tao's injury, the two supported each other.
At that time, Song Tao went to the United States for treatment, while Peng Ping could only stay in China to continue training.
Although the two were separated from each other, it did not stop their relationship.
Once, when Peng Ping went to the United States to play a game, she had the opportunity to sneak a look at Song Tao, and after that, the two of them would make a private phone call.
At that time, the phone bill was expensive, but the two still insisted, just during the treatment in the United States, the phone bill of the two spent more than 10,000 yuan, what a terrifying figure.
Fortunately, the two finally ushered in their own happiness.
In 1993, the two entered the marriage hall.
After marriage, Peng Ping retired after participating in the 16th Asian Women's Basketball Championship.
After retiring, Peng Ping went to the United States for further study, and after returning to China, she refused to be arranged by the government, and went directly to Taiwan to find Song Tao and coach with him.
The reunited couple gave birth to a daughter shortly after.
The husband and wife have different feelings for basketball, especially Song Tao has regrets in basketball, and they look forward to the children making up for this regret.
It's a pity that the first child is a daughter, but the child has inherited the height of the couple, only a three-year-old girl, the height is 1.1 meters, such an innate advantage can be said to be a good seedling to play basketball.
Later, his wife also gave birth to a second and third child, but they were all daughters.
This is undoubtedly the regret in the hearts of the couple.
status quo
It is said that the fallen leaves return to the roots.
Now the couple has chosen to settle down and live in Dongguan, Guangdong.
The reason is simple, there is a deep basketball foundation and atmosphere there.
The couple not only vigorously promoted basketball, but also paid attention to charity projects.
Song Tao has been in a bad family since he was a child, and now that he has the ability, he wants to help those who are struggling in hardship, as long as they tide over the difficulties, maybe life is a different scene.
In addition, Song Tao has also become an advisor to the Dongguan Municipal Government, the president of the Dongguan Biotechnology Industry Association, and the chairman of the Dongguan Biotechnology Development Co., Ltd.
Counting Song Tao's journey, he has completed many turns in his life and encountered many crossroads.
Although life is confusing, Song Tao has finally walked out of a prosperous avenue.
Resources:
Song Tao, Baidu Encyclopedia
Peng Ping, Baidu Encyclopedia
Sohu Sports: Once China's No. 1 center