After winning three consecutive championships for the team in 2006, Zhang Quanyi participated in the NBA draft and entered the NBA with the 40th pick in the second round, once scoring 29 points and 10 assists in a single game in the NBA. But after moving to Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. As I got older, I didn't get more opportunities with the coach. After that, there was no news of Zhang Quanyi for quite some time.

A few days ago, Zhou Junyi told Li Xin on WeChat that Zhang Quanyi had returned to China and was ready to retire. The age of almost 33 is indeed almost the age of retirement for yellow basketball players, and the basketball career of more than 20 years has also fallen into an injury. He was tired and should have a good rest. And he doesn't seem to be married yet, so a player like this is enough to be a role model for a domestic player.

However, the bitterness of such a life is only known to Zhang Quanyi himself. Thinking of this, Li Xin's mobile phone suddenly rang, and when he opened it, it turned out to be a photo sent by Zhou Junyi, which was a group photo of Zhou Junyi and Zhang Quanyi in a bar.

This photo is really surprising.

"Zhang Quanyi and you are drinking?" Li Xin said.

"Well, I just sent him back after drinking last night!"

"How could he be looking for you? Or are you looking for him? ”

"He came to me and said that he had just returned to China and had decided to retire, but there was no retirement ceremony. Disappeared in the NBA for a while and no one remembers. If it were in China, the retirement of a player of his level would definitely hold a grand ceremony. But in the past 10 years, he has not continued to play in the domestic team, and naturally no team will hold a retirement ceremony for him, and he suddenly felt a little desolate! ”

"I see, what else did you talk about?"

He said that it was better to come back, there are dishes he likes to eat, there are beautiful girls who are pleasing to the eye, there are buddies who can drink together, and there is a familiar environment. Even after leaving China for so many years, there are still fans who recognize him when walking on the street and ask for autographs and group photos. This is not available in the United States, and it is very difficult to travel alone in the United States, which looks beautiful on the surface. Only I know the bitterness in it, and I swallow my teeth when I knock out my teeth and swallow it in my stomach. ”

Zhang Quanyi and Zhou Junyi met at a bar in Tianzifang.

Chatting and chatting, it had been an hour, Zhang Quanyi raised the bottle and poured a blue cocktail into his glass.

"Quan Yi, you can't drink anymore, it's about to get high!" Zhou Junyi dissuaded.

"It's okay! Now that I'm not playing, I'm retired! Isn't it okay to have some wine? Zhang Quanyi picked up the wine glass and drank it all again.

Everyone else in the bar was busy chatting with themselves, and no one noticed that the man was actually the former No. 1 guard in Asia and a basketball star in the NBA for ten years. Now drinking in such a small bar, no one would have thought of it.

It's like one day when you're drinking in a bar and suddenly you find Yao Ming behind you, can you believe it?

"Be careful! Although we don't play, we can't drink like this, we mean it, drink slowly, take a sip and talk slowly. How long can you drink like this, you can't lie down immediately, what are you talking to your brother? Are you right?" Zhou Junyi was so talkative that he persuaded Zhang Quanyi's wine glass.

"Brother! You don't know the bitterness in my heart! ”

"Brother knows that it's not easy for you to wander outside! You speak slowly! ”

"I've been playing in the U.S. for 10 years, and I've made a lot of money, tens of millions of dollars! But look at me now, I'm still alone! ”

"You're not married?"

"No! In the United States, there are only agents and assistants, who train for competitions every day, how can there be girls? ”

"As an NBA player, aren't there any female fans who show you love?"

"Can you take the fans' show of affection seriously? For example, those foreign players who are playing in the CBA now, maybe when they perform well on the court, the fans will give you a lot of encouragement and a lot of support! But when I got to the scene, I immediately went to the bus and sat back to the hotel and back to the apartment. How many opportunities you can get in touch with the fans. Even if there is contact, it is difficult to make real progress in that kind of differentiated cultural context. ”

"For example, a CBA's foreign aid black block, is there really a domestic female fan willing to marry him? Would you like to stop playing in the future and leave your homeland with him to go to his country? I don't think it's very rare to see such cases, and the same goes for me when I play abroad. What's more, we can't understand our words, and we Chinese express ourselves more subtly. can not meet the aesthetic standards of American girls, even if it is Chinese, it is unlikely that they will leave the current living environment for you. ”

Zhou Junyi nodded and asked, "So the girl you didn't like when you were in China?" ”

"Yes! But 10 years have passed, and the girl's children are probably able to make soy sauce! ”

"Who? Talk to my brother? ”

"This, forget it, it's all in the past, it's someone else's daughter-in-law, what's there to say!" A hot young girl walked past Quan Yi, Quan Yi glanced at it and then looked back and continued:

"At that time, I just went to the United States, there were only three agents and assistants, and I slept with the old men at night, and when I slept until midnight, I remembered that I had an early flight tomorrow, and he had to book a plane ticket. I packed my things and left the next day. Zhang Quanyi picked up the wine glass and took another sip of wine.

"Being alone in an apartment most of the time is quite unbearable. At first, I would go crazy, because I was a more active person, and when I suddenly became quiet in an environment, I would go crazy, because I didn't know what I was thinking, my brain would be very messy, and then I couldn't do it, I couldn't control it. And sometimes even scratching the wall, kicking the door and so on. ”

"So exaggerated?" Jun Yi asked.

"Well, it's not nonsense at all, but after a while, you will find that that environment can really make you quiet down and think about a lot of problems, and later it will become a very enjoyable time."

"The NBA is not just a halo for me, it's more of a learning process for me to learn how to be a more professional player, including a more responsible person." Zhang Quanyi summed up his gains in the NBA league like this.

"Is the training in the NBA hard, and is it not used to it?"

"In fact, the daily training content is not very different, basically some shooting and dribbling basic exercises. Including when you arrive at the professional team, you may have to do some tactical drills. ”

"Can bitterness not be bitter? After joining the professional team, the training is more demanding, and this is done to live up to the trust of the coach and teammates, and to come back in better condition, you have to practice more tired. I often vomit myself, so I don't dare to eat when I practice later, in fact, I get used to it when I vomit" When Zhang Quanyi talked about his feelings about training, although the listener was shocked, his personal expression seemed calm.

He talked about his experience chasing his dream in an NBA tryout. After going through such a difficult period, Zhang Qiyi finally realized his dream of joining the Lakers, once gaining a firm foothold in the NBA, and realizing his original dream.

After playing in the NBA for two years, he had a shoulder surgery and subsequent injury experience, Zhang Quanyi regretted missing the summer national team training camp and the Beijing Olympics, but his view that "training can only be improved when training is at the limit" still coincides with the current national team head coach's view.

"It's been more than 20 years since I started playing basketball, and it's not easy to do anything for 20 years. I'm so proud of myself! I didn't disgrace the Chinese in the United States, at least! But the audience can only see your glamorous side, how much suffering is behind it, and not many people will experience it spiritually, physically, and spiritually! ”

At 1:30 a.m., the two left the bar after a three-hour chat. Looking at the back of this man, Zhou Junyi was full of emotion, the successful basketball player in front of him came back from the United States, but he did not get the applause he imagined. Instead, he came back to life from the ring in such a low-key way that no one even recognized him in the bar one night. He didn't get a heroic welcome, and he was so calm about it all. What are his plans for the future? Who is the girl in his heart? Where is she now?

The road to the NBA for Chinese players has never been so smooth, and they may have to endure far more than most people think. Are the teens who want to step into the NBA really ready?

Zhou Junyi remembered their time in college more than ten years ago, playing without a way out, enjoying the happiness that basketball brought them. At that time, it was so simple, so innocent. At that time, I had inexhaustible physical strength and energy that would never run out. I was still excited to death after a game, and I couldn't sleep at night and chatted with my teammates all night. Play games together, play Warcraft, play NBA, play interstellar. Nostalgia for having a beautiful girl hand them towels, bring them drinks, and bring the brightest smiles. Just like Li Xin and them now, they really miss the time at that time.

He thought of Zheng Pengfei again, the brother who was expelled from school because of a fight with him, and he didn't have a good chat when he met during the Chinese New Year. The old disputes, unruly, and bohemian, have now gone with time and never returned, leaving only memories and the most sincere brotherhood.

Zhou Junyi drank the last sip of wine in the bottle, looked up at the bright moonlight, and today's moon presented as an arc of the first quarter moon, like a beautiful girl's smile. He thought of a girl again, a girl who had always lived in his heart, and silently prayed in his heart: Where are you now? How are you doing? Let me see you again soon, Ruan Xinqi! (To be continued.) )