"Everyone's talent is limited, chasing dreams, you have to understand this truth."

When Dream Green was still in high school, he was a veritable star of the future.

Although the average of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks per game is not an eye-catching performance in the American basketball world, which has become too frequent. But leading the team to 27-1 and winning two state championships, the wonderful performance still made him rank as high as the fourth highest high school student in the United States.

At that time, it was the year when national high school basketball entered the "post-James era". Any all-round player will be compared to James, the pride of the sky.

And James, a once-in-50-year genius as a reference, naturally there are not many people who can really compare with it, and the results of the comparison are usually unfavorable to the players being compared, and Dream Green is no exception.

Because of such a genius as James, the media and ball critics across the United States have developed an irrepressible bearish mentality about high school basketball. There is no Carmelo Anthony, no Kevin Durant, no Chen Mu, and no Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, and Jordan.

Green's ascension to the fourth place in the nation was not as happy as expected.

Even though he competed with him back then, there were Cory Brewer, Chalmers, McGee, Anthony Davis (who was just a junior high school student at the time, but he had already shown infinite possibilities), Bradley Beal and other later NBA players.

But Green, who is fourth in the United States, can only sit on the cold bench after entering the NCAA.

"I know you want to do everything well, you want to go back to the omnipotence you had in high school, but I have to tell you, it's not realistic."

Entering Michigan State University, a team with a long tradition, a glorious history, and an unspeakably sad past, the varsity coach said this on the first day of Green's reporting when he tried to blow up the varsity team's draft players on the court alone.

"You can attack, you can shoot, you can hold the ball, you can dribble, you can penetrate, you can defend, you can pass, you can play, all of these are good, and each one of them can give you extra points. But you have to find the strongest point in it and zoom in. You have to understand one thing......"

To this day, Green can still remember the nonchalance in his coach's eyes when he said those words to himself.

"The NCAA is completely different from high school basketball, and the NBA is completely different from the NCAA. Your so-called invincibility in the world, after jumping out of the original pond, is nothing more than mediocrity. ”

Green, who was beaten up by the selected players, got lost on the bench in Michigan, and had doubts about everything he had done since he was a child.

In his freshman season, Green averaged only 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, and it is not difficult to see from this perfect three-point statistic that his playing time and number of games are quite rare. The aura of the former fourth-man in the United States has receded, and seeing his competitors in the same class have plenty of playing time one by one and become a stable rotation, Green has fallen into the lowest point of his life.

At least that's what he thought at the time.

Entering the tournament, Green had good luck, and a whole season of hard practice allowed coaches to start noticing his presence. With an increase in playing time and an average of 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, everything seems to be moving in a better direction.

Michigan reached the finals that season, and although he finally came home, Green's growth was watched by everyone. Green himself has regained his confidence, and next season, he feels that he can definitely improve more, and the main position is beckoning for him.

"Stealing chickens to score, protecting rebounds, is that all you can offer?"

But when the new season began, the coach's questions were too much for Green to answer.

"In that case, then the most suitable position for you is the sixth man."

There doesn't seem to be a mistake in the choice of coaches.

Green, who knows a little bit of everything, but doesn't have a top-level one, is really not suitable for playing with the main players. As the sixth man on the bench, he can help the team in all aspects when the main team is resting, which is his best home.

Undeterred, Green continued to work hard, averaging 9.9 points per game and a team-high 7.7 rebounds the following year, which not only put him in the spotlight again, but also earned him the Sixth Man of the Year in the Big Ten Region and the Sixth Man of the Year in the United States by Yahoo.

"Try harder!"

Dream chasing told myself, work harder, just like I have done in the past many years, as long as I work harder, maybe victory is waiting for me not far away!

Due to the uncertainty of the draft prospects, Dream decided to stay with the team and play for another year. With the guidance of his coach, Green began to develop his own unique positioning on the court:

A rebounder, a chicken stealer scorer, and later the marvelous identity that made him famous.

In his third college season, Dream continued to average 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and an amazing 4.1 assists per game in the NCAA, which is even more than many teams' starting point guards! The improvement of the basic data allowed Green to touch a kind of data that he had not thought of before:

Three pairs.

"Dream Green has a triple-double! The third triple-double player in Michigan history, ahead of him was Charlie Bell, and the great Elvin Magic Johnson!! ”

"Tournament triple-double! With the 11th triple-double in NCAA tournament history, Dream Green transformed the team with his all-around and Michigan State went one step further!! ”

The beauty of the pass made Green experience completely different from before. When he happily began to study his draft prospects, the answer he received made him despair.

"I'm sorry, Dream Chaser...... You're great, you're good, you're doing a great job. But...... Now that there are LeBron and Chen in the NBA, the all-round forward will definitely be compared to them, what do you think is your advantage? The teams with the top picks are all underdogs with not very good records, and they have a lot of salary space. Why don't they just go after LeBron and Chen, or find a scoring machine like Carmelo to directly raise the team's offensive ceiling? What is the reason to sign you? ”

The brutal truth is in front of Green's eyes.

No matter how versatile he is, no matter how good he is at passing, he can't stand at the height of the NBA.

Because he is not "extreme" enough.

It's not impossible to insist on participating in the draft, but the agents contacted by Dream all said that they didn't have the confidence to let him be selected in the first round. There is a high probability that it will be in the second round, and it may even be lost.

"In this era, no one would want to let a guy whose highest honor is 'NCAA Best Sixth Man' be the bankrupt version of his team."

The name Chen Mu will always hang above Green's head, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't get rid of this huge shadow.

But giving up is not Green's motto.

In the fourth season, Green went one step further, and he thought about where the gap between himself and Chen Mu and LeBron was.

LeBron's flying away, I can't learn it.

Chen Mu's invincible rebounding, I can't learn it.

But their offense, I can always try my best, right?

Or am I working together on multiple fronts and starting to catch up with them at the same time?

Make your scoring stronger and your rebounding stronger?

No one wants a power forward who specializes in passing, but all teams want an interior who can score in the box and grab rebounds.

So in his fourth year of college, Green focused on these two areas.

His hard work paid off.

He averaged 16.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, both setting a new high for Green's NCAA career.

The number of assists has dropped instead of rising, falling to an average of 3.8 per game.

This data is not amazing.

Green, along with the Spartans of Michigan, won his third division title in four years. He was voted the best player in the region and was unanimously selected to the best first team. He won the third triple-double of his NCAA career, and became only the third star after Magic and Big O Robertson to score more than two triple-doubles in an NCAA tournament.

In terms of statistics, Green became the first player since Duncan to average 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game. His name has been given to all the All-American teams given by all the media, associations, magazines, and critics.

He became Michigan's all-time rebounding leader, second in steals and blocks, and finally had an absolutely brilliant NCAA career.

"Is that enough?!"

Before entering the draft, Green asked his agent.

“…… Perhaps. ”

The agent's answer made Green a little annoyed.

But the entire first-round draft passed, and Green, didn't hear his name.

With the 35th pick in the second round, Green was selected by the Warriors and officially entered the NBA stage.

And then, without a doubt, sat on the bench.

In his first season, Green had a stunner and had a highlight reel, but the coach put him on the court not because of the offense and rebounding he had spent countless years in the NCAA.

It's defense.

After that, Green continued to work hard until he was traded to the Kings, but he was still finding his place.

He began, somewhat resigned to his fate.

He thought, maybe the only reason for his existence in this alliance is that deadly defense, right?

This mentality did not change until the team changed and a man named Phil Jackson came to the team.

"Hehe, as a number four, your passing is really good."

After watching the first training session, Phil Jackson approached Green and gave this assessment: "With more practice, we already have too many attackers, and if you can contribute some perfect passes in addition to the defense and atmosphere, I believe you will be more comfortable in this league." ”

The new direction ignited the flame of hope for Green.

Perfect passes again and again finally appeared on Dream Chasing Green's body again.

When tactics and teammate awareness reach a certain level, the creativity of passing is not so important.

On the contrary, it is the basic technique, and the awareness of sharing the ball that goes deep into the bone marrow is the key.

"Whoosh!!"

So now, when Green delivers this perfect pass, his heart wants to sing a song with joy.

But the god who ruled all destroyed Green's dream with one hand.

“…… Syllable! ”

"Chen Mu steals! Green's pass was tackled! Chen Mu dribbled, Green was shaken away, and in the last 2 seconds of the frontcourt, Chen Mu made a three-point shot ......"

"Huh!"

"Hit !!"