The Way of the Center

The current situation of the Trail Blazers is not very good. Not all teams can complete the transition between old and new without knowing it like the San Antonio Spurs.

For a team with a severely aging structure, tearing down and rebuilding is almost a certainty. Especially...especially after that guy left.

This season after Anjie retired, the results of the Trail Blazers plummeted. This is actually what everyone expected. Without Anjie's pioneers, it is like having no soul. In the past 13 years, the Trail Blazers have never left Anjie. Now that they are suddenly asked to play without An Jie, it will indeed take some time to get used to it.

Although under the leadership of Lillard and George and the disobedient Morris, the Trail Blazers can barely squeeze into the top eight. But it seems that there is only so much they can do.

Today, the Trail Blazers will face their old rival Milwaukee Bucks. "Brother Antetokounmpo" will never forget the situation when he was defeated by the Blazers in the finals. Since then, whether it is the regular season or the playoffs, "Brother Antetokounmpo" will be very excited when facing the Blazers. Today , certainly no exception.

Before the start of the game, countless fans took photos with the bronze statue of the No. 00 center outside the Anjie Center. Although he has retired, the huge poster of Anjie still hangs outside the Anjie Center. The Way of the Center sneaker is still rolling out new models, and it's still selling as big as ever.

Wu Hua prepared his camera, looked at the people taking pictures with the bronze statue, and couldn't help taking a picture. Wu Hua didn't come here for the game today. Since An Jie retired, he is no longer a team reporter for the Trail Blazers. The reason why this guy chose to come back today is because other than that game, there are more important things that will happen later.

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"How about it, does this dress look good?" Standing in front of the mirror was a lovely woman with blond hair and blue pupils. Behind him, a tall and strong man hugged her.

"Aren't you kidding, are there any bad clothes on you?" The man admired the beautiful wife in the mirror. This woman seemed to never grow old.

"Cut, you're sweet. Go to the next door to see how Xiao Ke is getting ready. It's getting late." Under Catherine's urging, An Jie obediently walked out of the room. Seeing An Jie's excited expression, Catherine couldn't help smiling.

He must have been waiting for this day for a long time.

"Dad, your black suit is so vulgar. Didn't my mother buy you a purple suit during the Chinese New Year?" A young man with a frightening height looked at An Jie carefully. .

"It's not to go to the banquet,

What purple suit are you wearing? Besides..." An Jie suddenly paused. "The main colors of the Trail Blazers are black and dark red. I wear black and it's fine. "

"By the way, Dad, go to the scene today. Remember to tell Uncle Damien that he has time to guide me in dribbling." An Xiang tidied up his dark red suits. The father and son wore black and the other wore black. The dark red is really in line with the theme of the Trail Blazers.

"You still want to trouble your Uncle Damien with just a few catties? I'll tell him. When the time comes, don't even beat an old man."

"Don't worry, Dad, your son won't embarrass you."

"I told you two, let's talk on the way, you can't be late today!" Catherine's voice came from outside the room.

"Here we come!" The father and son smiled at each other, lightly bumped their fists, and stepped out of the room.

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Today, the attendance rate of Anjie Center hit a new season high. Not to mention ordinary fans, even many celebrities were present.

The game between the Blazers and the Bucks is naturally very eye-catching, but what really makes today special is not the game itself.

Before the start of the game, the on-site staff placed a temporary podium and several rows of small benches in the center of the court. On the bench are retired Trail Blazers veteran Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors legend Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder icon Russell Westbrook, The current three leading stars of the Trail Blazers are Lillard, George and Morris. Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, general manager Neil Orsi, head coach George Ricard, former Trail Blazers tactical consultant, now Kings general manager Vlad Divac, ESPN ace commentator Jay Husband Van Gundy and Anjie's parents, wife and children.

Putting up this formation before the game is destined to be not an ordinary thing. That's right, today, almost a year after Anjie retired. The Portland Trail Blazers will host Anjie's jersey retirement ceremony at the Anjie Center.

Amid the cheers of the fans, the lights on the scene gradually dimmed. The spotlight shone on the exit of the player tunnel, and a tall man with tied hair and a beard came out. Immediately, the Moda Center shook again. Anjie finally appeared!

The group of people sitting on the small benches in the center of the stadium, no matter how big their wealth or wrists, all gave a standing ovation without exception at this moment. Tonight, in the whole of Portland, only Anjie is the most important!

An Jie looked at the venue he was familiar with, and listened to the voice that made his blood boil. Go home feeling good.

"I'm very happy that I can stand here again." As soon as An Jie spoke, the entire arena seemed to tremble.

"Coming here makes me feel as comfortable as coming home!" While Anjie was speaking, the live camera showed the already gray-haired Ricard's face.

Ricard's face was expressionless, his eyes were very empty. This guy, maybe seeing this tall center forward standing on the field again, he hasn't recovered yet.

After losing Anjie, Ricard was like losing his own child. He even had an impulse at one point: I might as well retire.

An Jie's speech was uneventful. He didn't have a sense of humor like Yao Ming, and he didn't tell some bad jokes like Duncan. The word that appeared the most in Anjie's speech was thanks.

Even so, the fans at the scene were still crying. And the guests sitting in the center of the venue also had rosy eye sockets.

Afterwards, the guests present gave speeches one by one. When it was Lillard's turn, he was the first to take out an old red envelope from his pocket.

"During Chinese New Year, you gave it to us in the locker room. Dude, I have always kept this red envelope." Lillard's actions made Anjie choke up. Those good times are gone forever.

Everyone told the story between them and An Jie. Everyone makes Anjie's career flash back quickly in people's minds.

Image of Ainger yelling at Shannon Brown in his first playoff game and Durant dissuading him.

An Jie fell to the ground, and the players on the bench filed out to help him.

The moment when An Jie pinched Ricard's shoulders with both hands and yelled "I can still fight" at him.

Of course, there are six more memories of Anjie standing on top of the world and lifting the O'Brien Cup.

These things are vividly reproduced in people's minds through the text narration of the guests.

Finally, after everyone finished speaking, there were already two obvious tear stains on An Jie's cheeks.

The spotlight was projected onto the dome of Anjie Center, and beside the six championship pennants, a piece of black cloth was slowly pulled away.

Anjie's No. 00 Trail Blazers jersey once again appeared in this arena. It will fly here forever, as the flag of the Trail Blazers and the city of Portland, forever in the world!

From now on, Portland will only have one No. 00. An Jie became the most special one.

Later that night, Lillard and George combined for 57 points in a grueling overtime victory for the Blazers.

After the game, Lillard was the first to rush into the player channel and hugged An Jie who was waiting in the locker room.

"Here's a present for you, man."

In the summer at the end of this season, An Jie was officially selected into the nba hall of fame, becoming the second Chinese person to receive this honor. And compared with Yao Ming, this time, Chinese fans can confidently say that Anjie was selected into the Hall of Fame because of his solid honor.

9 times the best defensive player in the NBA, 15 times selected to the NBA All-Star team, 12 times the best defensive first team, 11 times the best NBA first team, the first consecutive double-double record holder in nba history, nba playoff history Holder of the most blocked shots in a single game, one scoring champion, six regular season mvp awards, and six fmvp award winners. Of course, the most important thing is that Anjie won 6 NBA championship trophies in his 16-year career, created two incredible dynasties, and became a basketball god on an equal footing with Jordan.

People are amazed at Anjie's star-studded career, but from now on, people can only find the back of that legend on the NBA stage...

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The big3 league established by Allen Iverson and others has been flourishing in recent years. More and more retired NBA stars are joining, which has attracted great attention to this interesting 3-on-3 basketball league.

"It's been 10 years since I retired, and your son has become an All-Star starter in the NBA. You guys still want to play basketball." Westbrook laughed happily as he looked at the old guy in front of him.

"We agreed to win the championship together. We haven't realized this dream yet." The 46-year-old An Jie put on the equipment seriously. After holding back for so long, An Jie found that he still couldn't resist the impact of basketball temptation.

When Westbrook and Durant both sent out invitations to Anjie, Anjie considered it for a long time. He is 46 years old, what kind of basketball can he still play? But An Jie thought again, why not! ?

Knowing that An Jie is going to play, the attendance rate of today's big3 league game day is a record high since the league was established. The former three young men of the Thunder, and now the three old men, walked out of the player tunnel under the spotlight and the cheers of the fans.

An Jie jumped twice, and the camera was also aimed at the father of the NBA All-Star player An Xiang. Can this guy's legend continue in the big3 league?

Anjie wears his No. 00 jersey, although this jersey no longer belongs to the city of tearing. But as long as No. 00 plays, it is bound to kill the Quartet!

An Jie closed his eyes, feeling the temperature, sound, and air of the stadium after a long absence. Then, he snapped his eyes open again. In the stands, Catherine was waving to him enthusiastically.

An Jie responded with a slight smile, and lightly bumped fists with Westbrook and Durant beside him.

Basketball, I'm back!