When he retired, the greatest point guard ever, Magic Johnson, once praised him as one of the top ten superstars of all time, he had a resounding nickname, maybe he was always shrouded in the light of others, but that didn't hinder his greatness, he was Cobra Worthy.
When James Worthy announced his retirement in 1994, his old partner, Magic Johnson, called him "one of the top 10 players in playoff history." It's hard to argue against him on this point, because in the Showtime era of the Lakers, Worthy was mostly only the third in line behind the Magic and Abdhabal, but he was always able to step up and save the team on some key occasions. Like Vacinara's classic nickname, the Cobra, he was very good at hiding behind the light of other people and striking suddenly, with a fatal blow. But before that, Worthy was always crowned the title of the second oldest of the millennium, and these objectively became the reason why the fans underestimated him later.
As early as when Worthy was in high school, he was already a household name in the United States. In his final year at Ashbrook High School, Worthy was naturally named to the All-American Team with 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, but unfortunately, Worthy's team lost the North Carolina Championship Game, and this was not Worthy's last "second-in-command."
After graduating from high school, the ambitious Worthy joined the university of North Carolina, a basketball school, but another "tragedy" of his was about to be born. After a freshman season with a serious injury reimbursement, the North Carolina Varsity team welcomed another heavyweight young man, later jordan, the god of basketball. At the time, North Carolina, with talented youngsters like Worthy, Jordan and Perkins, was the biggest hit in the NCAA Championship, and they competed for the final title at Georgetown University, led by Ewing, the future king of New York.
In that meaningful game, Worthy played well from the beginning, constantly breaking through the opponent's defenses and scoring at various positions, but Georgetown was also strong. Led by Ewing, the race went into a tug-of-war. The game went into a white-hot state in the first minute of the final game, after Ewing and Vaughsie scored consecutive points, North Carolina was still one point behind, Georgetown decisively sacrificed the bag-and-clip tactic, and Wasimo, who had already scored 28 points before, said that dribbling or turning around, it was difficult to connect the ball.
At this critical moment, Jordan, who was in an empty position, became that hero, and he accurately killed his opponent with a mid-shot five seconds before the final, North Carolina won the championship in a thrilling way, and the god of basketball showed its magic for the first time. Despite Worthy's undisputed best player award, almost all the applause was reserved for Jordan, and just because of a goal, Worthy once again unexpectedly lost the opportunity to be the biggest hero.
But Worthy's college career was generally satisfactory, and a photo of him dunking on Ewing's head became the cover of Sports Illustrated, without any suspense, and Worthy was signed by the Lakers at the subsequent draft. For the Lakers fans at that time, they must have been very happy, but not necessarily for Worthy, it was very stressful to join the championship team directly as a rookie, not to mention, when the Lakers had Jamal Wilkes on the small forward, the league's star small forward, Lang Worthy would face cruel competition.
In his first season, his performance was remarkable, and he was selected to the Rookie All-Rookie Team with an average of 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and a shooting rate of 57.9%. But Worthy took another hit, and after attending 77 games, he simply missed all the playoffs because of a tibia fracture, and could only watch the Lakers being swept by the 76ers in the Finals.
But the goddess of destiny began to smile at Worthy. In the summer of 1983, the Lakers firmly believed in the idea of Makingvous as one of the core of the team, and they traded Wilkes, who was still alive, to help Worthy. The Framework for the Lakers' five-year triple crown was formed.
After another loss in the Finals, Worthy followed the Lakers to become the league overlord in the 84-85 season, which was a pivotal season for Worthy, and he played a real-time performance, averaging 17.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to become the third scorer and second rebounder on the team. It's commendable that his shooting percentage is still a staggering 57.2 percent; he's officially included in the league's A-list discussion, and in fact, he's been named an All-Star for seven consecutive seasons starting next season; this year, Worthy and the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals to win their first career title, and it was this season's eye injury against the Jazz that forced him to wear glasses.
Despite a championship in hand and a booming career, Worthy remains hungry, especially after losing to their nemesis Celtic in the '86 Finals. In the 1987 Finals, the Lakers once again stood on the stage of the Finals of Destiny with the Celtics, and this time it was finally the Lakers who laughed to the end. In this series, the Cobra not only has a continuous excellent performance on the offensive end, but also becomes the pillar of the whole team on the defensive end.
If you think that's all cobras do, you're dead wrong, the Lakers, after defeating the Green Army, completed the "one more time" in Pat Riley's mouth the following year, this time they defeated the Pistons not by the aging Dragon Clock's Abdul-Jabbar, nor by the magician whose state began to decline, but by the "Millennium Second" Worthy who has been hiding behind the scenes. Any player with glasses for a Finals trip is enough to be called great.
In the 1987-88 season, the real strength of the Showtime Lakers had actually been greatly reduced, Abdul-Jabbar was really dying, the Magic's flaws in the defensive end began to be magnified; and Worthy himself began to suffer from injuries, this year, Worthy did not even enter the league's regular season third team, from the middle of the season, Hu Ren was no longer listed as an absolute favorite to win the championship.
'We were really burning ourselves that year, and there were injuries big and small all over the team, so I can understand why after defending the title, Karim would cover Pat's mouth for fear of what he would say, but the important thing is that we finally did it. Worthy re-evaluates that season many years later, "And the Pistons played too tenaciously, they were actually like us before, desperate for the championship, you can see their strong desire to win." 」 The aging Lakers faltered in the playoffs, with their first two rounds playing seven game-to-lose games, eliminating the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks before advancing to the finals against the Detroit Pistons. In 24 playoff games, Worthy averaged 21.1 points, 4.4 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. In the final confrontation with the rising Pistons, This time, Vassie, who has been the three masters, finally took over the banner of Tiangou and the Magician, and he carried the girder alone. For most of the time, Worthy was played against piston star player Adrian Dantley, but after spending two games familiarizing himself with Dantley's rhythm, Varcy contributed the strongest level of defense, and he completely suppressed his opponents offensively; not only personal scoring, but also the peak of his career in the 1988 Finals, which was related to the fact that he took on many organizational tasks that were originally the responsibility of the magician.
By the time it came time to grab the seventh, the Lakers had reached their limit, but as Worthy said, "In the locker room, everyone thinks we can win, and the momentum is already here." In the end, in the final seven, Cobra Worthy staged the deadliest performance - he scored 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists alone, and helped the Lakers beat the Pistons 108-105 with his first career Finals big three yuan to win the cup at the Forum Stadium. As a result, Varcy became the MVP of the Finals that year, and this championship was also the best song of the Lakers showtime era, and the nickname of The Worthy Big Game lived up to its name.
In the 88-89 season, Abdul-Jabbar's last season, Worthy became the Most Time-Spent Player for the Lakers, averaging 36.5 minutes per game and 20.5 points. The Lakers encountered the Pistons again. But magic Johnson and Byron Scott missed three games due to injury, and the Lakers were swept after four games. Worthy still averaged 25.5 points per game in the Finals, including a playoff career-high 44 in Game 4. In 1989–90, Worthy played his best season in statistics, averaging 21.2 points per game and a career-high six rebounds. He averaged 24 points per game in the 1989 and 1990 playoffs and was named to the NBA's All-Third Team for the first time in 1990. The Lakers were eliminated in 1990 by the Western Conference Suns.
In 1994, Worthy announced his retirement. In 1996, Worthy was named one of the NBA's Top 50 Superstars. In 2003, James Worthy was inducted into the Nye Smith Basketball Hall of Fame. On September 28, 2015, Worthy became an assistant coach for the Lakers. Riley commented: "In the position of small forward, there has never been, and will never be, a genius like Vasy. Worthy was always a silent man, and in his best form of youth, I can guarantee that no one could hold him back. ”
After retiring from the army, Vassie's life is still wonderful, he is not only the image ambassador of the Lakers, but also a little famous in the charity world. Worthy said of me: "There have been many setbacks, but as long as you stick to the end, you can always find meaning." ”
After so many failures and taking a back seat in the light of so many people, Worthy still has a perfect career because he deeply understands the principle of perseverance.