The Way of the Center

"Are you really not thinking about it anymore?" Before the dinner table, Ricard wiped his mouth and stared at the Chinese who was no longer young in front of him. Compared with the first time I saw him on the field, An Jie has changed too much.

He grew a beard and his hair grew long. And there are obviously more wrinkles on the face. Look at yourself again, isn't your hair starting to turn gray? Everyone, everything has changed...

"I can't move, boss. I know my body, and I used to be able to maintain my energy under high-intensity training. But now, my knees will break at any time. Every move on the court, every time Every jump is a test for my knees. I don’t want to end my career in a wheelchair. In the future, I want to play with An Xiang.” An Jie said, looking at his home through the French windows courtyard. An Xiang, who has grown up, is practicing on the basketball court in the yard. That guy's shooting percentage is already frighteningly high when warming up. It seems that he has really inherited An Jie's gentle touch.

"You only scored 28 points and 16 rebounds in the last game. This season, you still averaged 17.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Let me say that even though you are 36 years old, you are still the number one center in the league. At a time like this, are you sure you want to leave?" Of course Ricard was reluctant to let Anjie go, since the beginning of his career, he and Anjie have worked together. Now this good partner suddenly wants to leave the stadium, can Ricard be willing?

"What you said, I thought about it when I established the dynasty for the second time. It is because I can't bear it that I have been fighting until now. Catherine and An Xiang have waited for me for five years. I think it is It's time. Those who work in our business will eventually leave. LeBron, Dwyane, Cameron... the guys I know in the league have already left one by one. This year, the round It's my turn."

"The Blazers still need you." Ricard clenched his fist unwillingly.

"What the Trail Blazers need is a new era. It's over, boss. Our era is over. Even if I stay, how long can I stay? One year? Two years? Three years ? Instead of delaying the past few years, let the team look for the next leader. Without me, the team can free up more salary space." An Jie said, laughing.

"I know your character is safe. If you decide something, ten bulls will not be able to pull it back. When you decided to play in the NBA, you wreaked havoc in the NCAA. At the beginning you decided to show your strength, so the league has the Thunder Three Young Masters .At the beginning you decided to win the championship, so we won six together. I think nothing can change your mind now.” Ricard breathed a sigh of relief, but felt his whole body relaxed. Since An Jie has decided to leave, let's send him off in the final season.

"Retirement... I didn't expect it to be this day so soon." An Jie looked through the glass and looked at the city of Tear, which was also brightly lit at night. This time, we really have to say goodbye...

※※※

After Anjie broke out and defeated the Detroit Pistons,

The Trail Blazers are advancing all the way. They won five consecutive games in one breath, and Anjie's performance in these five games was also very eye-catching.

In five games, Anjie averaged 24.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. The data he played in these five games is almost infinitely close to his peak performance.

The 36-year-old legend began to re-occupy the headlines, and major sports channels began to discuss Anjie more and more. They all exclaimed, Anjie is about to start rebuilding his glory.

Wu Hua has been in an extremely happy mood these past few days. As An Jie's queen reporter, An Jie has performed well, so Wu Hua is naturally happy for him from the bottom of his heart.

In the next game, the Trail Blazers will face the rising star Philadelphia 76ers. Facing the 76ers team with two superstars Simmons and Embiid, the Trail Blazers' winning streak is being tested.

Embiid even spoke on Twitter. "Whether the opponent is a legend or anything else, I will knock him to the ground without mercy!"

There is no doubt that Embiid's remarks were quickly forwarded by various media around the world. People say that Embiid is a great disrespect to his predecessors, but Anjie, the person involved, just smiled slightly after seeing the relevant reports.

"Embiid, that brat, looks like me back then." That's right, Anjie didn't seem to respect anyone when he was young. For him, doing his best to fight against others on the court can be called respect.

This high-profile regular season was finally staged on time at the Anjie Center. Facing the aging Anjie, Embiid used his advantage in speed to break through a breakthrough as soon as he came up, and made an easy layup.

On the second goal, Ben Simmons of the 76ers forced a breakthrough, and Anjie jumped high to block the shot, but Simmons still scored the ball under interference.

Ricard couldn't help but sigh, the basket guarded by Anjie is no longer a no-fly zone. At most, it can only be called a restricted flight zone.

On the defensive end, Embiid pushed and collided with Anjie again and again. That action was a bit too defensive, and it was not even stopped by the referee.

In such a game rhythm, Anjie played very poorly in the first half of the game, and the Trail Blazers were also entered into the intermission with a 10-point disadvantage.

During the intermission, Ricard looked at An Jie. To his surprise, An Jie, who was about to retire, did not become calm because of this. Instead, he seemed to be filled with anger.

"Boss, give me more playing time in the second half of the game. Embiid, I'm determined!" Anjie finished speaking and turned to look at Nurkic.

"Yousuf, this may take up some of your playing time. But don't be unhappy."

"No, no! Everything is about winning!" Nurkic quickly waved his hand. In Anjie's last season, who else would dare to confront Anjie?

An Jie exercised his muscles, since the referee's scale was so loose in the first half of the game. In the second half of the match, don't blame An Jie for bullying the younger.

In the second half, Embiid, who was full of confidence, leaned on Anjie for the ball and prepared for singles as soon as he came up. But this guy just took a small step back, and An Jie fell down.

An Jie's performance was so realistic that even the referee didn't notice it at all. I don't know if Divac will feel proud when he sees this scene?

Embiid was fouled by Anjie's flop, but he didn't take it seriously. In his opinion, now An Jie can only use this kind of dirty way to survive.

But soon, Embiid discovered that Anjie seemed to be playing with himself for real!

On the offensive end, Anjie made a secret effort in the process of turning around, causing Embiid to take a dark elbow.

After being elbowed, Embiid had no time to react, so he could only watch Anjie pass him with a beautiful turn, and then took off on the spot and dunked successfully!

"Monster dunk! Never, never underestimate this guy. Even when he is in a slump, absolutely not!" O'Neal looked at the court with a smile, Embiid, Embiid, let's take a good lesson today.

After Anjie completed the dunk, Embiid was obviously anxious. Being defeated by a 36-year-old "old man", if it spreads, people will laugh out loud?

Embiid admits that Anjie is great, but it doesn't mean that he can fail casually because of this. Eager to prove himself, he broke the coach's tactics in the last attack and took the ball by himself to go it alone. After all, in the first half of the game, he had won one-on-one with An Jie many times.

But this time, the impetuous Embiid was full of flaws. This guy had just turned to the frame after holding the ball with his back, and the experienced Anjie suddenly made a shot, cutting the basketball away from Embiid's hand.

Not only did Embiid not score, but he also made a mistake. What about Anjie? Anjie smiled smugly at Embiid and shook his finger.

Some things, no matter what age An Jie is, will never change. Arrogant? An Jie will be more arrogant than you!

After Embiid experienced a series of failures, his mentality collapsed. In the following games, he failed to continue his excellent performance in the first half. On the contrary, it was An Jie who found his rhythm in a steady pace.

But fortunately, Ben Simmons continued to play well and beat the Trail Blazers' weak third position to nothing. The 76ers also relied on Simmons' performance and continued to maintain a slight advantage.

In the last 22 seconds of the game, Simmons passed the defender with a beautiful behind-the-back dribble and then broke through directly. He did not choose one-on-one with the 36-year-old Anjie, but used an emergency stop jumper to end the offense.

Hand up, knife down. Simmons made a steady shot at the critical moment, allowing the 76ers to overtake by one point. The fans at the Anjie Center put their heads in their hands, with 18 seconds left in the game. If the Blazers' next attack fails, the 76ers, who hate this game, will really succeed.

Ricard nervously arranged tactics, and the camera swept over An Jie, but his expression was so calm that it made people's spines shudder.

After the game restarted, Lillard kept the ball on the perimeter, buying time. It seems that the Trail Blazers are ready to put all their eggs in one basket.

In the last 5.2 seconds of the game, Lillard broke through and scored, and George made a three-pointer. However, under the interference of Ben Simmons, George missed a three-pointer.

Just when everyone thought the game was over, the familiar figure of No. 00 jumped high and scored offensive rebounds on the heads of Embiid and other popular stars in the league. After that, the guy faces Embiid's defense, takes a step back, jumps back, and shoots.

Under Embiid's pressure, Anjie lost his balance and fell to the ground. But the orange-red basketball fell into the net under the attention of everyone.

"Go in!?" Mike Brin adjusted his glasses.

"Get in!" Jeff Van Gundy had already started yelling into the microphone.

The lore ball, another great lore was born.

The next second, everything came back. The excited cheers of the fans, the ecstatic hugs of teammates, the heart-piercing shouts of the commentators, and the unbelievable expressions of the opponents... Time seemed to come back at that moment.

An Jie raised his arms high in the middle of the crowd and did not put them down for a long time. His ferocious expression is as terrifying as when he was young!

He is old, but not useless. His desire for victory has never diminished!

Ricard saw what had just happened, and secretly wiped the corners of his eyes. Victory is not the most important thing for Ricard at this moment, the most important thing is that he is lucky enough to see Anjie do the impossible again. I really hope this guy can stay, even for one more season.

Such a scene is really seen once less...

An Jie stood in the middle of the court under the embrace of his teammates, enjoying the few moments that belonged to him.

Time seemed to come back at that moment, but An Jie knew very well that his time had actually come.