01 Entered the first division team at the age of 12
Shan Tao, 2.16 meters tall, born in 1970, from Tangshan, Hebei Province.
Shan Tao's parents are basketball players, respectively playing in the men's basketball and women's basketball teams of the Nanjing Military Region, because of this, Shan Tao grew up in Nanjing, fortunately avoided the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, in Shan Tao's impression, he has seven relatives lost their lives in the Tangshan earthquake, that is a sad memory that their family can never forget.
When Shan Tao was a child, he lived with his parents and brother in the compound of the Nanjing Military Region, and when his parents practiced, he and his brother helped pick up the ball, so he had a strong interest in basketball.
His father, who was born in the military, had a great influence on Shan Tao, especially in terms of personality, Shan Tao almost inherited his father's vigorous but iron-blooded character, playing ball with fire and not afraid of confrontation.
The Shan Tao brothers have shown good physical talent since they were children, and they were robbed by the track and field team and volleyball team when they were in elementary school, which made Shan Tao's father Shan Yuchen hesitate, so he asked him: "What do you like to practice? Do you want to play basketball?"
Shan Tao nodded heavily and said yes, so Shan Yuchen wrote a letter of recommendation to Wang Ruiqing, a comrade-in-arms who was serving in the Beijing Youth Team at the time, and invited the other party to see if his son was suitable for playing.
After Wang Ruiqing received the letter from his old comrades-in-arms, he did not slack off at all, and immediately rushed to Nanjing, when Shan Tao was 12 years old and his height had grown to 1.75 meters, which surprised Wang Ruiqing, so he took him to the military hospital to measure his bone age, and found that Shan Tao could grow to 2.17 meters in the future, such an outstanding height, Wang Ruiqing really couldn't find a reason to refuse.
Because he is the youngest son, Shan Tao has been spoiled by his parents and brother since he was a child, even if he is tall and big, he can't take care of himself in life, and he throws his clothes into the bucket, pours down the laundry detergent, and steps on his feet casually. So before going to Beijing, his parents gave him emergency training.
But even so, his parents were still not at ease, so they asked Shan Tao's brother Shan Bo, who practiced volleyball, to change his career to practice basketball, joined the Beijing Army men's basketball team, and took care of his younger brother in Beijing.
At the beginning of entering the Beijing youth team, Shan Tao became silent because he had not experienced professional basketball training and was afraid of an unfamiliar environment, and was not favored by other coaches for a while, but Wang Ruiqing overrode public opinion, thinking that Shan Tao had good physical conditions and good ball ability, and was a talent that could be created.
Graduation from primary school is the stage of children's height, Shan Tao is no exception, only half a year, the height has risen nearly 20cm, as Shan Tao gradually adapts to the new environment, technology has also made great progress, has become the focus of the team's training object.
At that time, the head coach of the Beijing men's basketball team was Ma Jiayi, he heard that there was a good seedling in the youth team, and immediately went to investigate, and was very satisfied with Shan Tao, and immediately decided to let him sign up in the first division, so the 12-year-old Shan Tao became the youngest member of the first division league.
Because his body has not grown, although Shan Tao entered the Beijing team, he did not play, but followed the training in the team, and made great progress in turning and shooting, hooking hands.
Shan Tao's first appearance in the league was in 1985, in the game against the Bayi men's basketball team, the Beijing team was beaten by Mu Tiezhu and Ma Zhanfu two seniors to leave the court, Shan Tao got the opportunity to match the most popular star Mu Tiezhu in the 80s, which is one of his most precious basketball memories.
In 1986, 16-year-old Shan Tao was selected for the national youth team, and he partnered with Ma Jian to help the national youth team win the Asian Youth Championship in the same year.
In 1988, 18-year-old Shan Tao has exceeded 2.10 meters tall, strength and basic skills have also been well improved, he participated in the National Basketball League as the main center on behalf of the Beijing men's basketball team, although only won the eighth place in the end, but Shan Tao played a brilliant performance against Wang Libin, Wang Zhishan and other famous centers, won praise.
02 The center of the golden generation
After the fiasco of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the men's national basketball team left the team due to personnel conflicts, and Sun Bang from the Shandong men's basketball team became the new head coach.
In the middle of the back row is Shan Tao
After Sun Bang took office, he decided to select several main players of the youth team, such as Shan Tao, Ma Jian, Gong Xiaobin, Zheng Wu (withdrew due to injury) and other people into the national team.
In 1989, Shan Tao ushered in his national team debut at the Asian Championships, and in the confrontation with Japanese center Akishi Yamazaki, Shan Tao could only commit frequent fouls because of his lack of strength, and he was beaten off the field by his opponent not long after, and since then, he has made up his mind to practice strength and confrontation.
In the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, Shan Tao has made great progress after a year of hard training, and he played with ease in the face of other Asian insiders, and sat firmly in the position of the main center of the national team in one fell swoop, and has since entered the highlight period of his career.
In the early to mid-90s, basically no one could shake Shan Tao's position as the No. 1 center forward in Asia, he participated in the 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 Asian Championships four times in a row, all of them won the championship, and also participated in two Olympic Games, two World Championships, and two Asian Games.
Among them, the most impressive is the 94 World Championships and the 96 Olympic Games, in both games, the Chinese men's basketball team reached the quarterfinals, creating a record that cannot be broken in team history, both of which are called the "Golden Generation", in both lists, we can see Shan Tao's name.
In the 1992 Olympic Games against Puerto Rico, Shan Tao scored 22 points and 7 rebounds in a single game, and in the 1994 World Championships, Shan Tao scored the second-highest 13 points in the team in the key game against Spain, helping the team to win 78-76.
Of course, the most impressive is the scene against the United States men's basketball team in the 1996 Olympic Games, when Shan Tao and O'Neal jumped the ball, Shan Tao did not jump because of his slow reaction, and directly said his classic four-character quote, "scared" O'Neal in the air messy, and dialed the ball to the Chinese players, this dramatic scene is still impressive.
During his time with the national team, Shan Tao made great contributions to the team and helped the team create a "golden era" for the Chinese men's basketball team, which can be said to be smooth sailing.
Shan Tao's performance in the domestic arena is also amazing, he and Battle formed a powerful twin tower combination, although Beijing has never been able to reach the top because of the lack of strength in the guard line, but in 1990-95, the Beijing men's basketball team has been firmly in the quarterfinals, in 1991 and 1995 have reached the semifinals, in the Bayi men's basketball team and Liaoning men's basketball team in the era of competition, this record is not bad.
03 CBA "Evergreen"
Shan Tao is righteous, humorous, and loves to chat, and can talk to anyone he meets, so he is called "Kanye".
The famous center Bartel is a loyal fan of Shan Tao, both of them are very popular, very compatible, and formed a deep brotherhood during the Beijing team.
The 1995-96 season was the first season of the CBA, Shan Tao handed over an average of 21 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Battle brought the team to the fourth position, and the three teams in front of them, Bayi men's basketball has Liu Yudong, Wang Zhizhi, A Dijiang, Li Nan, Zhang Jinsong five national players, Liaoning men's basketball has Wu Qinglong, Wu Naiqun, Li Xiaoyong and other national players, Guangdong Hongyuan Although there are no active national players, but gathered Daniel Zhang, Li Chunjiang and a large number of "old national players" who do not obey the old.
Seeing these names, you can probably imagine the gold content of Shan Tao and Battle's fourth place.
But Shan Tao's fiery personality has become a roadblock in his career, in the 3-4 place battle, Beijing away to challenge Liaoning, Shan Tao and Liaoning men's basketball team's Wang Shouqiang clashed, and fought, which eventually led to the two being banned for most of the season, Shan Tao was also fined 10,000 yuan, which was equivalent to Shan Tao's salary for one year at that time.
In the 1996-97 season, Shan Tao was almost unable to play because of the ban, and Battle was unable to support himself, and Beijing Shougang once fell to the brink of relegation, but after Shan Tao returned, the team quickly returned to the top four.
However, the good times did not last long, and the hot-tempered Shan Tao soon made a lot of big moves, first clashing with reporters in the derby battle with Beijing Aoshen, so he was banned for one game and fined 1,000 yuan.
Soon after, Shan Tao clashed with Beijing Marshal Min Lulei, coupled with dissatisfaction with the salary, Shan Tao and the Beijing team had irreconcilable contradictions, and in a fit of anger, he directly announced his retirement, leaving his good brother Battle to work as a security guard at the airport.
The days of being a security guard were very leisurely, but they were so boring that they didn't even have the opportunity to say their classic quotes, and Shan Tao quickly got tired of this life and couldn't wait to return to the court to have a happy revenge.
In April 2000, Shan Tao was invited by the old national player Guo Yonglin to make a comeback in the Shenzhen Runxun team (A B), but because the life of a security guard at the airport was too comfortable, Shan Tao's physical fitness declined, and he could not pass the team's physical training, and he practiced for several months before returning to the court.
Came to the Shenzhen team, Shan Tao achieved a dimensionality reduction strike, leading Shenzhen Runxun to easily rush to A success, just promoted to the Jibu men's basketball team saw Shan Tao 31 years old and so fast, so he dug him to Jibu, 2000-01 season, Shan Tao regained his form, and played an average of 15.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in Jibu.
At this time, another ruthless man in the Chinese basketball world, Li Su, the maverick and golden-rich owner of the Beijing Aoshen team, found Shan Tao and offered him a contract that he couldn't refuse, bringing Shan Tao to the Beijing Aoshen team.
Shan Tao is refreshing, and the boss of Aoshen sympathizes, the two hit it off and are ready to make some big moves, plus Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Battle's three major inside lines have gone to the NBA, Shan Tao has become the first center in China for a while, and he has played an average of 21.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the 2002-03 season, helping Aoshen to enter the playoffs in a row.
However, in 2004, because the boss of Aoshen refused the request of the national team to recruit Sun Yue, the defender of the Aoshen team, Aoshen was banned for one year.
Young people go to study, but the old hero can't go, so he can only obediently stay at home for a year, this leisure, directly the state of Shan Tao is idle, but even so, Shan Tao did not choose to retire, but to play for Dongguan New Century, Shanxi Zhongyu, Shandong Gold and other teams, until the age of 39, it is really impossible to run, before leaving the court.
In his 26-year career, Shan Tao has played for a total of 8 CBA teams, plus he has played for Guangdong and Hubei National Games, playing for a total of 10 teams, when asked why he would rather struggle on the court than retire, Shan Tao said: I love basketball because it is simple and brings me joy.
He also said: "Look at what I have now? Why can I still hold on to the field? What advantages do I have besides my height? If I didn't like this project and like this league, I would have retired a long time ago." ”
04 "The horse does not unsaddle, and the armor does not leave the side"
Although Shan Tao has caused a lot of trouble in his career, but in fact, in addition to his upright temperament, he has always been an easy-going and kind person, Yi Jianlian once used "also a teacher and friend" to describe Shan Tao, he said: Shan Tao treats people sincerely and selflessly, and will always be my strongest opponent in the CBA arena, and is the key person on the field.
Shan Tao is both a loving father and a filial son in life, because of his career, Shan Tao rarely accompanies his parents, so after retiring in 2009, he specially returned to his hometown to celebrate the Spring Festival with his old father, he knelt on the ground and said to his father: Dad, thank you for raising me and giving me the opportunity to grow.
Because of the perennial war, Shan Tao cherishes the opportunity to get together with his wife and son, and every time he comes home, he will shave his beard very cleanly, for fear of stabbing his face when kissing his son (when he was a child), he will always say to his son in a soft voice: Kiss Dad! Dad will take you to the zoo tomorrow, so that you can see who is taller than Dad and elephants.
After retiring, Shan Tao obtained a senior coach certificate, but he did not enter the first team to coach, but chose to take root in the front line of youth training and send excellent young players to the country, CBA and WCBA.
In 2012, the Basketball Association established the Miao Miao Training Camp, with Shan Tao as the coach, specifically responsible for selecting good seedlings aged 9-14 from the descendants of athletes and coaches, among which the children of Li Nan, Zhang Jinsong, and Ji Minshang have all participated in the training camp.
In 2013, Shan Taohai also contributed his son Shan Zeyu to the training camp, and found that Xiao Shan could grow to 2.03 meters in the future, but Xiao Shan only likes football, not basketball, but Shan Tao still let his son participate, he said: "Xiao Shan doesn't like basketball, I can't help it, this time let him participate in the Miao Miao training camp, just hope to cultivate his interest in this area, but I won't interfere too much." ”
It is worth mentioning that Han Xu, the main center of the Chinese women's basketball team, also participated in the Miao Miao training camp.
Since retiring, Shan Tao has been on the front line of youth training, serving as a youth training recommendation officer and CBA draft training camp coach many times.
"The horse does not unsadd, and the armor does not leave the side. This is a true portrayal of Shan Tao's life today, and it is also the lifelong pursuit of the older generation of basketball people. The teammates said: "Rich practical experience, excellent and solid technical characteristics and coaching ability will definitely make Shan Tao's basketball career go out of a new world." ”
Now Shan Tao is 54 years old, he is very low-key, almost does not accept interviews, he said: I am so old, everyone writes about me again, and then promotes me, I am still like this, and there will be no big improvement. Media friends should focus on the younger players, promote them more, and once they see the reports about themselves, they must be very happy and will definitely work harder.