After 354 days, after a long period of darkness, Abdul Shalamu returned to the field.
On December 25, 2019, it was already a year ago, Xinjiang away to Beijing, an ordinary regular season game, but in the opening minute attracted the attention of thousands of fans. Abdul Shalamu-Abdul Reshiti, the "CBA alphabet brother" whose names are not fully pronounced by most fans, the record of scoring double figures in 19 consecutive games ended because of a defensive fall, and the rising star was obscured by dark clouds.
ACL tear, also known as anterior cruciate (anterior cross) ligament tear, is a natural enemy of athletes.
The 23-year-old Abdul Salam did not escape this disaster, the ACL ligament tear does not know how many basketball players have been tortured, the former NBA talent Jabari Parker suffered such a major injury twice, and now wandering, all-around center DeMarcus Cousins fell in the clouds, and has never been brave again, this injury is one of the most terrible opponents in the athlete's career.
Soon after, Abdul Shalamu traveled to the United States for treatment, where he played the Summer League for the Golden State Warriors and met Klay Thompson, who was the chief surgeon who had recently operated on Thompson. At 6:00 a.m. on January 30, 2020, Abdul Salam surgery was successful, thus embarking on a difficult recovery time.
Now, Xinjiang's No. 23 jersey has appeared on the CBA field again, and he is already the new captain of this northwest powerhouse, and 24 years old is a good time. However, Abu's return to his debut was not amazing, 10 minutes, 7 shots all conceded, 0 points and 2 rebounds, not counting the injured game, this is the first time he has scored 0 points since February 1, 2018, 1046 days later.
Returning from a major injury is often not easy.
A teammate in Xinjiang who was not in the 18-19 season, big center Al Jefferson also suffered a major injury from a torn front cruciate ligament, that is, on February 9, 2009, against the Hornets, he scored 25 points and 14 rebounds, but unfortunately suffered the worst injury of his career. After the season was reimbursed, Jefferson only recovered from injuries for 8 months and 20 days to catch up with the new season opener.
On October 29, 2009, Jefferson returned to meet the Nets, a killer who averaged 23.1 points per game the previous season, and scored 9 points on 2-of-9 shooting in 25 minutes. Coincidentally, this ball opponent happens to have third-year Yi Jianlian, who has 17 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks on 5-of-10 shooting.
Jefferson's poor comeback debut did not let Jefferson get lost, and he recovered while playing, averaging at least 17 points and 9 rebounds per game for the next four seasons, achieving 14 years of NBA military career. By the way, he was 24 years old when he came back, just the same age as Ah Bu today.
Torn ligaments are the demons of the basketball world, and it takes a lot of time to fight them.
On February 7, 2018, new York Knicks' "unicorn" Christamps Porzingis also suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, when he was already a new star in the league, averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in the 17-18 season, while shooting 39.5% from three-point range, and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career that year.
Latvian star bad luck, the All-Star suffered a serious injury the week before, so talented, the then 23-year-old future star was then abandoned by the Knicks. Porzingis also missed all games of the 18-19 season after being reimbursed for the 17-18 season, and New York couldn't wait and traded him to Dallas on February 1, 19, a year after his injury.
Last season, Bo Shen averaged 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2 blocks per game, which can be said to be a recovery, at the same time, he broke into the playoffs for the first time in his career, and the youth storm of the Lone Ranger made the Clippers who aspired to win the championship suffer. Unfortunately, Bo Shen once again suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee, which is another matter of the story.
Also lacking in patience are the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On February 4, 2017, the year was already a two-time dunk contest champion, and the world-famous dunk king Zach Lavin accidentally injured his left knee, which was finally confirmed to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the season was reimbursed. Lavine, who averaged 18.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and three assists that year, was seen as the future of Minneapolis City along with two champions, Carl Anthony Downs and Andrew Wiggins, but the team changed the trajectory of the future after his injury.
More than four months after he was injured, in the 2017 draft, the Timberwolves traded Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls with Lavin and Chris Dunn and the no. 7 pick in that year's first round. While in the short term, the Timberwolves, led by Butler, ended a 14-year spell of not making the playoffs, it was clearly worth it.
Butler left after a season, however, and LaVine made a name for himself in the Bulls. Chicago was patient enough, LaVine only played 24 games in the entire game 17-18, averaging less than 17 points per game and shooting less than 40%, but the team signed him a four-year, 78 million long contract, they chose to believe, and then LaVine averaged 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the 18-19 season, and went one step further last season, averaging 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
The Dunk King was revived in blood, and in the first 60 games of last season, LaVine completed the 88 most intensive dunks of his career.
In the CBA, there are also players who have recovered from a previous cruciate ligament tear, Lu Wenbo of Zhejiang. In the summer of 2018, after returning from Du Feng's national team training, the 21-year-old Lu Wenbo wanted to show his skills, but unfortunately he was seriously injured at the China-US Invitational Tournament on National Day, and the new season was completely reimbursed.
Last season, Lu Wenbo made a comeback in the Zhejiang derby on November 23, 2019, and although he scored five points in 7 minutes, he actually couldn't keep up with the team very quickly. It was 7 months later, when it came to the CBA rematch, Lu Wenbo had already fully recovered at this time, and he became the team's defensive tip as a starting small forward.
This season, Lu Wenbo has become the representative of the league's elite 3D, shooting 44.3% from three-point range, 92.3% from the top free throws, and defending against key players in every game. In addition, like Zhao Jiwei of Liaoning, who returned from a serious injury, spent 10 games in the 18-19 season to find the state, and only recovered last season, and now, has begun to move towards a new peak in his career.
By the way, Zhao Jiwei lost all 4 shots in the first two games of his comeback, and the first 10 games shot 23.4%.
For these young stars, the wait is obviously worth it, but maybe the result will be beautiful in the end, but the process is still painful. Abu's comeback debut was obviously unsuccessful in the stadium data, 7 shots were lost, the score was zero, which is not a qualified data.
Ah Bu left the CBA professional arena for 354 days, when he was injured, the new and crown was a word that people liked, and now the combination of these two words has a plague-like lethality, when he was injured, Qi Lin was still just a team treasure, and now it has become the first gun in Xinjiang. A year of time, the vicissitudes of the sea, and the return to the stadium are all familiar and strange new beginnings.
The comeback of Abu is obviously thicker than in the past, the frequency and speed of the feet are a lot bloated, whether it is physical or psychological, the sequelae of trauma are always there, which is why there are many remarks after the game that are extremely contemptuous of him. Secondly, Xinjiang can produce many people, not to mention Tang Caiyu and Qi Lin, that is, Liu Lipeng has also felt hot recently, a comparison, the pressure after Ah Bu's comeback is naturally not small.
In addition to 0 points, Abu's debut is not useless.
7 shots, A is not in the first half of the 5, all 3 points, and all shots lost. However, when he came on the second half, he shot twice in 2 minutes, all under the basket, and turned around to hook after the confrontation. Trying to adapt to the confrontation is the most important step for him to get out of the shadow of injury, Ah Bu has been waiting for a year, but the more he comes back, the more he has to follow the steps and move forward slowly.
Young players don't adjust as quickly after a major injury, but when they slowly overcome the injury, they will start to grow again. This season' Lu Wenbo and Zhao Jiwei are entering the best period of their careers, watching them full of firepower on the field, those difficult comebacks and adaptation processes, it is like using both hands to open up thorns, painfully opening up a new world, blood and tears finally lived up.
Abdul Shalamu has returned, but the "CBA alphabet brother" who galloped across the field has not yet returned to the team, just wait a little longer, time will eventually give you an answer.