On April 1, 2023, a precious image of Mu Tiezhu instantly occupied the hot spot on social media, which immediately aroused heated discussions and deep nostalgia among the majority of netizens.
In the video, a silver-haired elderly man affectionately recounts the years he spent with one of the most outstanding centers in the history of Chinese basketball, recalling those court times full of blood and passion, and his face shows endless remembrance and emotion.
Surprisingly, this elder turned out to be Mu Tiezhu's best friend and former teammate Kuang Lubin. As a comrade-in-arms who once fought side by side with Mu Tiezhu, Kuang Lubin knows the legend of this giant in the basketball world very well.
When we saw Kuang Lubin's slightly excited and choked voice in the video, it seemed that we could feel the magnificent picture of Mu Tiezhu struggling on the field and showing his heroic demeanor.
Time flies, and 15 years have passed in the blink of an eye. In 2008, the 2.28-meter-tall basketball giant Mu Tiezhu unfortunately passed away due to illness and left us forever.
As one of the greatest centers in the history of Chinese basketball, Mu Tiezhu has led the national team to win three Asian Championships with his outstanding physical fitness and extraordinary basketball talent.
Perhaps it is precisely because of the brilliant record that Mu Tiezhu once established that everyone's mourning for the deceased basketball superstar has become stronger.
From Kuang Lubin's unconcealable remembrance in the video, we can clearly feel that although many years have passed, Mu Tiezhu's heroic image in the hearts of fans and teammates has never faded in the slightest.
Looking back on Mu Tiezhu's legendary career, I am afraid few people would have thought that this basketball giant with an astonishing height of 2.28 meters was born in an ordinary and poor rural family.
Mu Tiezhu in childhood, although he was still young, his tall and immature body always attracted everyone's attention. In that era of hard life, the problem of food and clothing for a family has become a difficult challenge, let alone a "big stomach" like Mu Tiezhu, who needs a lot of food to maintain his life?
The family members often shook their heads and sighed helplessly, and they were helpless against this "big man" who was always hungry.
However, it was this tall figure that finally changed Mu Tiezhu's fate. In 1979, a chance opportunity came, and Mu Tiezhu's life has undergone earth-shaking changes since then.
That year, a well-known sports team came to the land where Mu Tiezhu was located, and their purpose was to select excellent athletes.
At that time, Mu Tiezhu was running around for life, and he would never have thought that a major turning point in his life was quietly coming.
The staff of the physical engineering brigade immediately took a fancy to the young man, who was almost 2.3 meters tall, and they did not hesitate to believe that his physical condition was undoubtedly naturally suitable for playing basketball.
It was such an unexpected discovery that Mu Tiezhu got the opportunity to enter the sports team, and since then he has embarked on a long and challenging road to basketball.
When he first set foot in this way, everything was so strange and difficult for him.
As a rural child who had never received systematic training, Mu Tiezhu's physical condition was really worrying, and sometimes he could not successfully complete even the most basic running around the field, and he was often tired and sweating profusely and panting.
Faced with such a predicament, the coaches are also worried about Mu Tiezhu's future development. As an athlete, if you can't even meet the basic physical reserves, how can you show your true strength in the fierce arena? However, Mu Tiezhu was not knocked down by these doubts, on the contrary, his fighting spirit burned even stronger.
He gritted his teeth and proved himself again and again with practical actions. From the initial stumbling to the gradual adaptation, Mu Tiezhu finally succeeded in embarking on the glorious road of his career with perseverance and perseverance.
Time flies, and after a year and a half of professional training, Mu Tiezhu has made significant progress in basketball skills. When the coaches saw that the once questionable tall figure had finally mastered the various techniques of basketball, they did not hesitate to decide to put him on the stage of the official game.
A game in Jiangsu Province became the starting point of Mu Tiezhu's career. With an extraordinary height of 2.28 meters, he is like a moving "Great Wall" on the court, which makes many opponents daunting.
At the end of the game, Mu Tiezhu's astonishing score of 80 points in a single game amazed the audience.
Since then, this poor rural boy has started a legendary chapter in his career. With a fiery heart and a heroic and fearless spirit, he composed gorgeous movements on the court, and eventually became an idol and pride in the hearts of a generation.
Before Mu Tiezhu entered a brilliant career, he was actually just a rural youth with no name. Born in a remote mountain village in China's Shandong Province, Mu Tiezhu's parents were unpretentious farmers who lived a self-reliant life.
At that time, the problem of lack of materials was widespread, and it was not easy to ensure the food and clothing of the whole family, not to mention a "special existence" like Mu Tiezhu, who had an extraordinary height and an amazing amount of food.
The family often sighs helplessly, both loving and hating this "big stomach king".
Mu Tiezhu's height is well known in the village, and his size makes the only 16-foot cloth ticket in his family every year barely make him a set of clothes and a pair of pants.
Whenever it was time to buy a new outfit, it was undoubtedly a huge challenge for the Mu family, fortunately, Mu Tiezhu's sister always stepped forward and tried to help her younger brother through the difficulties.
The harsh living environment inspired Mu Tiezhu's strong desire to change his fate. In order to survive, he left his homeland without hesitation and went to Xinjiang to take root.
Although life there is still poor, at least basic food and clothing are guaranteed, and some meager pocket money can be saved every month.
In this way, Mu Tiezhu worked hard in Xinjiang for a period of time. However, the family affection of his hometown has always lingered in his heart, so on a certain holiday, he packed his bags and returned to his hometown with homesickness.
It was this accidental trip back to his hometown that allowed Mu Tiezhu to get acquainted with the staff of the local sports committee, and was favored by them, so as to step into the world of basketball.
Since then, everything has changed dramatically. The staff of the sports committee were shocked by Mu Tiezhu's height of almost 2.3 meters, and they all decided that he was born to be an excellent candidate to play basketball.
In the face of such a rare opportunity, Mu Tiezhu naturally joined the physical engineering team with enthusiasm. Although the future path is uncertain, he knows that his life will be completely changed from now on.
A serendipitous trip to the countryside and a sacred baptism of fate instantly led this child from a poor peasant family to a road of no return to glory! Since then, a new and passionate chapter of life has slowly opened, and Mu Tiezhu galloped on the court with firm determination and perseverance, composing one amazing legend after another.
Later in his long career, Mu Tiezhu was honored to take on the responsibility of coaching the national team. As a former player, he has a unique and deep understanding of the essence of basketball.
With years of experience in the arena, Mu Tiezhu has not hesitated to teach his offensive skills to generations of players.
For example, in the key link of the inside singles single defense, Mu Tiezhu can always cleverly use his height advantage of 2.28 meters. With a single jump, the basketball will land firmly in the basket and leave your opponent in the dust.
As a center, the ability to score inside is undoubtedly crucial, and Mu Tiezhu's skills in this area can be called the pinnacle.
Another eye-catching skill is Mu Tiezhu's ability to anticipate on the defensive end. In one game against Japan, for example, there was a Japanese sharpshooter known as the "100-step shooter" who was known for his accurate outside shooting.
However, under Mu Tiezhu's tight defense, this marksman was unable to display his due strength.
It turned out that Mu Tiezhu had made a thorough defensive strategy against this player before the game. With his otherworldly height advantage, he managed to limit the range of movement of Japanese interior players, completely disrupting the coordination between the inside and outside lines.
In the end, the Japanese team's offense was completely paralyzed, and Mu Tiezhu scored 18 points alone, fully demonstrating his excellent strength in interior singles.
It's a pity that just when his career was booming, fate began to play a joke on Mu Tiezhu. After being diagnosed with a heart attack, he had to take a break from his beloved basketball court and resign as a coach.
For a professional athlete, this is like a bolt from the blue.
After his retirement, Mr. Mu Tiezhu is still active in the field of basketball in China, and is committed to promoting the development and growth of basketball in mainland China with his unique strategic vision and rich court experience.
He left the dazzling stage of the arena, however, he contributed his strength to the cause of Chinese basketball with his excellent professional quality and excellent mentorship.
In 2008, when we learned of the tragic death of this once-dominant basketball legend due to illness, the whole country was shaken.
The heroes of an era have fallen, and the Chinese basketball world has lost a bright light to guide the way forward.
For Mu Tiezhu's family, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow. The husband and father who had been heroic and extraordinary left them forever.
The wife and two children were overwhelmed with grief and could not hide their grief.
In fact, since Mu Tiezhu's retirement, the family has rarely appeared in the public eye. For many years, it has been difficult for the media and people from all walks of life to find their whereabouts.
Even on social networking platforms, it is impossible to find any account information for Mu Tiezhu and his family.
It was not until the celebration ceremony of the 2022 Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame that Mu Tiezhu's son made a brief appearance, attracting the attention of the outside world.
However, it wasn't long before the son returned to a low profile and disappeared from sight again.
Looking back on the life of Mu Tiezhu's family, it was not all smooth sailing. At first, his marriage to his wife was met with strong opposition from both families. His wife, who was only 1.76 meters tall, was already considered "tall" at the time, and the combination of the two naturally attracted questions from his family.
However, fortunately, over time, through his unremitting efforts, Mu Tiezhu finally succeeded in convincing his family to change his original intention. When the couple gradually accumulated a certain wealth base, their marriage was finally recognized by their families.
Today, the two children left behind by Mu Tiezhu are adults. Although the eldest daughter Mu Rong is 1.73 meters tall, there is still a big gap compared to her father. The youngest son, Mu Tong, is about 1.8 meters tall, and it seems that he has not fully inherited his father's amazing height gene.
However, they have chosen to live an ordinary life away from sports competition. The eldest daughter works in a bank, while the younger son focuses on studying foreign languages.
Perhaps in their minds, basketball is no longer the goal they pursue in life, let alone follow in their father's footsteps, which is undoubtedly an overly grand dream.
However, although Mu Tiezhu's two children failed to inherit their father's basketball glory, the former top superstar sacrificed his life to perform an eternal spiritual ode - perseverance and hard work.
In the past, from a lonely and unknown young man from a poor peasant family, to a thunderclap on the ground, shining on the stage, becoming a miracle on the court; from being ridiculed and despised for his tall stature, to relying on indomitable perseverance and surging ambition to create countless miracles, Mu Tiezhu used the bits and pieces of his life to leave endless inspiration and strength for the world.
In this era of material abundance, it may be difficult for us to feel the tremendous pressure from the family environment that Mu Tiezhu endured in his childhood.
It is precisely because of the poverty of his family that Mu Tiezhu deeply understands how precious virtues are hard work and perseverance.
The course of his life is like a poem in adversity, a hymn in distress.
Today, although the hero is no longer with us, his spirit will live on forever. Every year, the National Basketball Management Center celebrates the legend on social media platforms, inspiring a new generation of athletes to strive for excellence with Mu Tiezhu's story.
Even those old colleagues who once fought side by side with Mu Tiezhu now often reminisce with deep nostalgia and reminisce about those challenging and glorious years.
In their memories, vivid pictures can always emerge: either Mu Tiezhu sweated on the field and showed his heroic demeanor, or he was strict on the training ground and inspired his juniors, or he was humble and approachable in daily life...... All of this has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of those who have spent years with him.
As the pride and model of a generation, Mu Tiezhu left to future generations not only a championship trophy symbolizing honor, but more importantly, a kind of spiritual strength that never gives up and fights to the end.
It is this spirit that has inspired the enthusiasm of countless dreamers, and it will surely thrive in the fertile soil of the new era.
Perhaps in the next 15 years, there will be a blazing fire rekindled in the hearts of the younger generation.