Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the first overall pick in Bucks history, spent a total of six years with the Bucks, bringing Milwaukee his only championship trophy to date in the second season of his career, and left the Bucks in '75, but that didn't stop him from becoming the first player in Bucks history, after all, he was involved in one of the few bright moments in Milwaukee.

Whether it's Ray Allen or now Michael Reed, it's hard to be qualified to compare him with him - as can be seen from the fact that the Bucks management has not retired the jerseys of these two men since then.

Respect is mutual, and Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks broke up peacefully, and it was also because of this relationship that Huddam was able to invite Abdul-Jabbar so smoothly to guide Yi Jianlian to practice Tiangou.

A die-hard Bucks fan left a message under the video posted by Abdul-Jabbar about Yi Jianlian's training: "Mr. MVP, do you think Yi can bring a championship to Milwaukee?" ”

"I can't really say it, but he's really talented!" Abdul-Jabbar taught Yi Jianlian for less than a month, and the latter was able to use hook hands in the field at the end of January and almost February, which is a terrifying talent for learning skills.

Especially after comparing the learning speed of the Lakers' supposedly promising little shark, Abdul-Jabbar feels that Yi Jianlian's talent is extraordinary.

"However, the Bucks did have the best chance to win the championship since '74!"

That was the last sentence of Abdul-Jabbar's reply.

Yi Jianlian, who performed so well in the first year, plus Michael Reid and Mo Williams who are at their peak, such a core trio is worth looking forward to.

***

"Hey, easy? OMG's, kid, you're really, you're so amazing to me, why didn't you tell me you could play small forward earlier! ”

The day after the game, Yi Jianlian received a call from Dan Fagan, and his tone was very excited, well, it seems that this guy has not been calm since the All-Star Game came back to him.

"Can you talk to Larry and let you play small forward in the future!"

Yi Jianlian frowned slightly: "What do you want to say?" ”

"Sneakers! Nike is looking for me and wants to sign you, as well as Adidas, Reebok's representatives, all called, and they are all about to burst! Dan Fagan's voice was subconsciously lowered, as if he was afraid that someone would hear it, "As long as you can continue to play small forward, I can help you sign a contract that is not lower than that of LeBron, what's wrong?" If you can't open your mouth, then I'll help you contact and negotiate, God, we're developed this time! ”

LeBron originally signed with Nike for 7 years and 90 million.

"Besides, let's not talk about that for now, I need to focus on preparing for the playoffs!" Without a trace, Yi Jianlian rejected Dan Fagan's request.

Just kidding, just your current fiery appearance, let you talk? You're going to have to kill the Bucks management, so let's stop! In this life, I finally got along well with the management, and I must not let you mess with it anymore!

Dan Feigen heard the meaning of Yi Jianlian's words, but he was still not at ease, and reminded again: "Okay, then let's wait until you finish the playoffs!" However, you must strive for more opportunities to play small forward! ”

It's no wonder that he reminded Yi Jianlian so noisily to play small forward, there is no way! The environment is here! is also Yi Jianlian, if he plays a big forward, those sneaker manufacturers will be 30 million in 5 years at most, which is good! I can't get 25 million in almost 5 years.

Think about Karl Malone back then, a pair of iron elbows and elbows out of the league's first name, the result? It took only a few years to get 200,000 yuan, let me add some more money, and terminate the contract immediately, that is called an unpopular one!

Now, although there is a big shark in front of him and Howard in the back, they all have their own endorsement shoes, but the law of "big men don't sell shoes" has always existed.

I don't believe that looking back, in 18 years, there are so many beasts inside, but the one who has signed shoes is still "Warcraft" Howard!

This is also the reason why Dan Fagan was ecstatic to see Yi Jianlian play such a performance in the small forward position, although he is still a forward, but the small forward is an outside player, and the standard sneaker sales are guaranteed, look at LeBron, look at Anthony, and then look at Josh Smith, and get a sneaker contract that is called a big.

Yi Jianlian's rookie season was not lost to these three guys at all, the history he created along the way, the popularity he attracted, and he was the next superstar in the league.

Not to mention that there is a huge Huaxia market behind him!

As soon as these aspects are added, what is there to say about the influence, otherwise Dan Fagan can be so confident in guaranteeing to help Yi Jianlian sign a contract endorsement that is not inferior to LeBron?

However, no matter what Dan Fagan thinks, Yi Jianlian still wants to wait, first, he does want to talk to Xiao K again, about his playing style, if he really transforms into a small forward, then the ball play is bound to change, Xiao K can arrange his style of play and establish a new offensive and defensive system, in addition, Michael Reed can accept him to take more balls on the outside, or even more than his ball, this is on the one hand, if he really breaks with Michael Reed at that time, Yi Jianlian is a little unbearable, Anyway, when he first joined the team, Michael Reid took care of and helped him a lot, and in the end, if he ended up in a split up, it would be a little too ugly.

More importantly, and the root cause of his reluctance to change his style of play now, he has a fatal weakness at the small forward position......

***

It's just that Yi Jianlian hesitated, but God played a joke with him, in the second game of the playoffs, Michael Reed was forced too tight by Morris Evans, and in desperation, he chose to break through to the basket, this sudden did not matter, he was seriously injured in the knee, he couldn't stand up at that time, and was carried off the court, although Yi Jianlian re-played as a small forward in the second half of the third quarter and helped the Bucks win this second game, but he also exposed the fatal problem he was worried about - his current physical fitness is not enough to support his playing style at the small forward position!

Van Gundy aimed at this, and used a wheel battle to consume Yi Jianlian's physical energy from the third game, which made Yi Jianlian, who was already physically insufficient, even more tired and out of breath, coupled with the huge scoring hole left by Michael Reed's injury, the Bucks lost four games in a row with a big 2-0 lead, and unfortunately fell in the first round of the playoffs.

It's just that Milwaukee fans don't feel much regret, because the future of Milwaukee is bright.

After Yi Jianlian scored a quasi-triple-double of 30 in the first game, he also scored 26 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the second game.

In the four games that Yi Jianlian led alone after Michael Reed's injury, his performance did not decline, averaging 27.75 points, 8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.25 steals per game.

The performance is still perfect!

But from some small statistics, it can also be seen that Michael Reed's absence has affected him, and the average number of turnovers per game has increased from 3.5 in the previous two games to 5.5!

However, even so, Yi Jianlian's playoff debut was perfect enough.

Two days after the end of the first round of the series, Yi Jianlian won the best rookie award in the 07~08 season as he wished, and as some experts predicted before the game, 118 famous reporters and authoritative experts who participated in the voting voted for Yi Jianlian in the first vote.

This is an affirmation of Yi Jianlian's strong performance in the first round of the playoffs in six games!

Yi Jianlian became another rookie after David Robinson who was unanimously voted Rookie of the Year, and at the same time, it also made Milwaukee's embarrassing record of not having the best rookie for 38 years obsolete.

"In any case, from this moment on, the name Yi Jianlian has been associated with the history of Milwaukee and the Bucks!"