Brother Qiu's father was a basketball fan, and whenever he mentioned basketball to him, he would never forget to say a person's name to me - Shan Tao. When my father described Shan Tao, one of his favorite words was: "Have a pair of eyes that never seem to wake up." ”
But it is this Shan Tao, who seems to never wake up, before Yao Ming Battle Yi Jianlian, was the well-deserved First Center in Asia.
As we all know, Shan Tao was born into a basketball family, and his father, Shan Yuchen, was once a member of the basketball team of the Antarctic Military Region. Due to his excellent physical condition, Shan Tao was selected to the Beijing team at the age of 12. He also became a member of the Chinese basketball first division team at the youngest age. Due to his father's strict discipline and his words and deeds in basketball, Shan Tao formed a relatively distinctive personal characteristic, and his hook shot was a must in the Asian basketball world at that time. At the same time, his height of two meters and six meters and strong physique also give him a unique advantage in rebounding.
In the Chinese men's basketball national team, Shan Tao once led the team to create the best result of the Chinese men's basketball team (both the World Championships and the Olympic Games are the 8th); four Asian Championships, two Asian Games champions... It can be seen that in that era without Yao Ming Wang Zhizhi, Shan Tao had a strong strength.
However, in 1999, The 29-year-old Shan Tao, who has been playing for the Beijing men's basketball team, unexpectedly made the decision to "retire". After retiring from the military, he chose to work at the Beijing Capital Airport, a decision that was a surprise at the time. But it turns out that he is always inseparable from basketball.
In 2000, Shan Tao announced a comeback! But this time, unlike the Beijing men's basketball team that he had been playing for before, Shan Tao had traveled to as many as 9 basketball clubs in eight years and lived a life of upheaval and displacement, but as long as there was basketball, Shan Tao felt that he was happy and happy.
In 2008, the 38-year-old Shan Tao finally made up his mind to truly retire from professional basketball. But retiring doesn't mean his relationship with basketball is over!
Perhaps because of his father's influence, Shan Tao got the senior coaching certificate of Chinese basketball after retiring, and has officially become a Chinese basketball coach since then. He puts his passion into the cultivation of young talents. At the end of May this year, Shan Tao will turn 50 years old, close to half a hundred years old, he has no regrets about the choice he made, and is more willing to contribute to the Chinese men's basketball team!