The Way of the Center

Outside, everyone is paying attention to the Trail Blazers' first loss. This season, every move of Anjie and the team will become the focus of attention of all media and fans.

Even which store An Jie went to buy a pair of pants would become popular news. The Trail Blazers finally experienced such a loss, and it even occupied the front page headlines of various websites and newspapers.

"The undefeated gold is finally broken, and the Trail Blazers stopped at 26 consecutive victories."

"Kevin Love: Anjie is not without flaws."

"Failed but still great? Count the historical records broken by the Trail Blazers!"

Although they lost a game, as the newspaper said, the greatness of the Trail Blazers still cannot be concealed. 26 wins and 1 loss, looking at the entire NBA history, no team can make such a start. Even the invincible Dynasty Bulls were never so good.

This Trail Blazers team is very reasonable from the starter to the bench, from the bench to the coaching staff. In terms of personal ability, Anjie, Lillard, Aldridge and others are also all-star players.

Although the Trail Blazers' emphasis on team play did not allow them to be dubbed the "giant", but if it is true, the Trail Blazers are a standard "Big Four" configuration.

Especially Anjie and Ricard, the tacit cooperation between these two generals has made many media include them in the scope of the next legendary combination.

"One day, the combination of Anjie and Ricard may be comparable to Phil Jackson and Jordan, Kobe, or even Popovich and Duncan!" Wu Hua even put forward such a hypothesis in his column, when Anjie When Wu Hua and Ricard were just two unknown guys in Iowa State University, Wu Hua had a deep contact with them.

He knew these two people well, so he also believed that the glory of these two "monsters" would not stop there.

In short, if the Trail Blazers finally won the championship last season, it surprised people. Then the series of performances of the Trail Blazers this season completely pushed the Trail Blazers to the altar.

But at this moment, Anjie and Ricard had no time to celebrate. Ever since Ricard's extremely abnormal cough last night, An Jie has been worried.

Unexpectedly, after returning home, Ricard's cough became more serious. Ricard's wife had no choice but to ask An Jie for help.

※※※

The white walls, the white ceiling, and even the floor tiles have been mopped spotless by the cleaners.

An Jie is quite familiar with this kind of place, he doesn't know how many times he has been sent to this kind of place. Especially when he was in the Thunder, Van Gundy would immediately ask him to come to this kind of place for inspection as soon as he found that something was wrong with Anjie.

A hospital is such a place where the environment is absolutely comfortable, but no one wants to live there. Although An Jie's various injuries were cured through hospital treatment, An Jie really didn't like this clean environment.

An Jie was admitted to the hospital again. If it was normal, this would definitely be big news. Only this time, the person receiving the examination and treatment was no longer An Jie.

Ricard, who is usually worried about the players, has become the object of the players' worries today.

Fans tend to pay more attention to player injuries, because players are the center of the NBA, and player injuries also affect the team's record. Therefore, people are familiar with Iverson's more than 30 injuries, large and small, worried about LeBron James' anti-inflammatory injection, and kept a high degree of concern about Anjie's broken finger last year. In fact, fans often ignore the group of coaches. Although it's not like the players will cut off their limbs, the profession of coaching is definitely a high-risk profession with huge risks.

The pressure on NBA coaches is beyond imagination, and it can even be said that it is no less than that of players. Whether the team's record requirements, whether the coaching style is in line with the boss's taste, and whether the relationship with the team's star players is good or not, these factors can lead to the coach's dismissal every minute.

NBA head coaches need to work overtime to formulate tactics, do everything possible to improve the team's record, and more importantly, need to handle the relationship with the boss and star players. It can be said that they are walking on eggshells almost all the time. In fact, from 2008 to the present, only Popovich of the Spurs, Carlisle of the Mavericks and Spoelstra of the Heat can still sit firmly as coaches. Even legends like George Karl, Don Nelson and Jerry Sloan couldn't hold on to this position.

Under the double torture of heavy pressure and exhaustion, the health of NBA coaches is naturally worrying. Whether it's Phil Jackson or Philip Sanders, these guys have more or less flaws of one kind or another.

While comforting Ricard's wife and young daughter, An Jie waited anxiously outside the doctor's office.

Looking at the cold neighborhood outside the window, An Jie didn't want the Trail Blazers to cool down just like that.

"Tap!" The wooden door of the doctor's office was opened, and Ricard shook hands with the doctor with a smile on his face. It seemed that there was no big problem.

"How about it, doctor, what's the matter with my husband?" Ricard's wife took the lead to get closer.

"The results of the examination are very clear, chronic bronchitis. High incidence in winter, easy to cough, and blood in the sputum." The doctor talked about the symptoms one by one. Unfortunately, Ricard fit all of them.

"So how will this disease affect him?" An Jie now finally understands the feelings of Van Gundy and Ricard when he was injured.

"For now, he just coughs. But the damage to the throat caused by long-term coughing will definitely be quite serious. You know, Coach Ricard is a hot coach. I heard Mr. Ricard yelling from the stands. His occupation determines that his throat will definitely be injured more easily than others. Secondly, if chronic bronchitis is not well controlled, it will develop into emphysema. And if As the condition deteriorates further, I do not rule out the possibility of lung cancer."

"Cancer!" For some reason, George Karl and Philip Sanders, who were suffering from cancer, suddenly appeared in An Jie's mind. These two guys had to leave their beloved team precisely because of physical reasons.

An Jie doesn't want Ricard to leave, the pioneer without Ricard is absolutely incomplete!

"It's not that serious. Didn't you hear the doctor say that it's the worst case? Don't worry, although I'm a bastard, I've always been favored by God." Ricard still smiled optimistically, coughing, but still not scared Down with this "rogue" coach.

"Indeed, cancer is the worst possible situation. If Mr. Ricard actively accepted the treatment, he would definitely not have reached that point. But our conversation just now does not seem to be a victory..." The doctor said, with eager He glanced at An Jie and Ricard's wife Peggy.

"The doctor wanted me to be hospitalized, of course, I refused." Ricard spread his hands indifferently.

"It will indeed delay your time for two or three months, but believe me, I am doing it for your own good."

"It's not that I don't think about the doctor for my own body, but I think you're making a big deal out of a molehill." The argument between Ricard and the doctor repeated itself.

"I don't want to quarrel with you, Mr. Ricard. I think you have to discuss it with your wife. I respect and am willing to implement your personal decision." After speaking, the distraught doctor walked into the office.

"This group of people in white coats is like this. Even if it is a small cold, they will recommend you to be hospitalized. I am fine, and I promise that I will be fine in the future." Ricard's last sentence, obviously It was for Peggy and his young daughter Abigail.

"You know George, I support your cause no matter what, but you also have to be responsible to me and Abigail." Peggy did not persuade Ricard to be hospitalized as she imagined, because she also knew that the current development The Raiders will become unstable without anyone. And now, it's time for the Trail Blazers to take off. Even a little bit of twists and turns may make the Trail Blazers miss the best.

Ricard didn't answer his wife's question, he just stretched his arms, and the happy family of three hugged each other tightly.

An Jie looked at this warm picture with a smile. In the cruel NBA season, this is a rare experience.

Think about it, An Jie himself will soon have a family of three...

"Ann." After embracing his family, Ricard turned his head and saw it.

"Um?"

"Tomorrow's training, you are not allowed to be late."

An Jie deliberately stood up straight. "yes!"

Success can never fall on your head by itself, only if you pay something equivalent, success will complete the deal with you.

To become the best existence in history, everyone in the Trail Blazers must make more sacrifices than their opponents.

Ricard has made his choice, he chooses to continue to fight for honor.

An Jie also secretly made up his mind on the way home, that he would never let Ricard regret his choice!

The road of the strong, they have been walking...