The way of the center

Chapter 837 When I Was 36

Championship awards, locker room celebrations, championship parade. For the third straight year, the Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA Championship for the second time in three straight years.After Jordan, Anjie is the second player who can create two dynasties in the league.

Moreover, there is only two years between the two dynasties.It can be said that in the second decade of the 21st century, the basketball world is being ruled by Anjie.Even though there are many excellent players in this era, none of them can be greater than An Jie.

Jordan has become a thing of the past, and Anjie took over the title of "God of Basketball".From now on, Jordan is no longer the only legend, because a living legend has been written by Anjie and his Trail Blazers.

There is no doubt that in the summer of the end of this season, the Portland Trail Blazers officially announced that they will build a bronze statue of An Jie outside the Moda Center.Paul Allen even bought back the naming rights to the Trail Blazers' home court, making the name Moda Center a thing of the past.

Of course, Allen didn't want to bring back the name of Rose Garden.The reason why he is willing to invest a lot of money to regain the naming rights of the arena is because besides erecting a bronze statue for An Jie, Allen still feels that it is not enough.

He wants to name the home of the Portland Trail Blazers Anjay Center.In NBA history, Anjie is the first player to enjoy this honor.And most importantly, Anjie has not retired, he has become a living flag of Portland!
When it comes to retirement, An Jie promised Catherine back then that when he won three more championships, he would withdraw from the basketball court and spend time with his family wholeheartedly.

But when An Jie really won three championships again, he realized how difficult it is to let himself give up basketball.

Although Catherine didn't take the initiative to talk to him about retiring, An Jie felt that he should communicate his thoughts with his wife.

31 years old, this is not young for a professional athlete.But there is no doubt that this is far from retirement.

The Trail Blazers have only just created legends, and God knows what else they can do.If he chooses to retire at this time, An Jie himself will definitely be very unwilling.

So during dinner today, An Jie suddenly brought up this topic.He decided to confess to Catherine that he wanted to keep fighting!

"Hey baby, I still have a one-year contract with the Trail Blazers, so I have to retire." An Jie is not a person who does not keep his word, so it is not easy for him to break his original promise.

"Retire? Why are you retiring?" Catherine's reaction was beyond An Jie's expectations.

"That. We agreed at the beginning."

"Haha, I know you won't be willing to leave the basketball court, Ann. I know that even if your contract expires next year, you still have other excuses for not retiring. Actually, you don't need to make excuses, I won't force you to do that, Even if you continue to play, you can accompany me and Xiaoke very well. If you want to continue, then continue to fight on the basketball court. I will still support you. When you are tired, let’s talk about retirement , I will also respect your choice." Catherine's gentle eyes made An Jie feel warm.

That's right, living with this woman for so many years, could Catherine not know about An Jie's sloppy heart?
Although Anjie has greatly reduced his extra training time in recent years, he spends more time with his family.But this does not mean that Anjie's enthusiasm for basketball has diminished.If there is no basketball, An Jie's life may not be complete.
This summer, Anjie still spent a lot of time with his family.Even when he participated in the Olympics, he took Catherine and An Xiang with him.

In this Olympics, the Chinese team made a historic semi-final, but lost when they encountered the dream team.In the end, No.3 was obtained.No.3 in the Olympic Games, this is a result of Chinese basketball taking off.Yao Ming is the chairman of the Basketball Association, and An Jie is the captain of the basketball team.The unusual combination of these two giants in the Olympics really surprised everyone.

People even asserted that if it weren't for meeting the dream team in advance, the Chinese team might even reach the final.But there are no ifs in this world, let alone No.3, which is already a miraculous achievement.

While Yao Ming was enjoying the victory, he was also very envious of An Jie.I think when I was at his age, I couldn't play anymore.But Anjie can still lead the team to success.If he was a monument of Chinese basketball before, then Anjie is an insurmountable legend in the history of Chinese basketball.Yes, leading the Chinese team to the top three in the Olympic Games undoubtedly raised Anjie's historical status a lot.

An Jie has become a phenomenon. In the annual income list of athletes, An Jie beats all the others and ranks first.Every topic of his can always become news, even what color underwear he likes to wear can become a topic that fans talk about.

Anjie's training camp has become popular all over the world, and has even become a hotbed for some professional teams to find talents. The CBA players have had a lot of training in the summer, and their level is improving day by day.What Anjie brought to China is not only NBA championships, but also national pride.

What he brought to China is also hope for the future.

Now, more and more Chinese kids are showing up at the Nike summit.More and more Chinese teenagers are beginning to be called geniuses by American scouts.

Yellow people can't play basketball?Please, that is the ignorant perception of the past.Because the greatest player of this era is a guy with yellow skin and black hair.

An Jie's beard grew more and more, and the wrinkles on his face began to appear slowly.Now when An Jie sees the old photos of the Cyclone team in the Bearded Restaurant, he will envy his youthful appearance back then.

The season starts again and the season ends again.Parents are aging slowly like myself, while An Xiang is thriving day by day.

The season after the second three-peat, the Trail Blazers did not go on to win.Antetokounmpo, a monster, successfully completed his revenge on An Jie in the finals.What he did made another great small forward who had always wanted to avenge An Jie but never succeeded was envious.

An Jie's knees began to become more and more inconvenient, and the injuries left in his youth began to flare up at this time.The doctor said back then that An Jie's knee might not last long.It is not easy for him to continue playing until now.

That year, the 32-year-old Anjie completed the five-year 2.02 million largest contract in NBA history.But after that, Orsi quickly announced that he would continue to renew his contract with Anjie at a super high price of 4000 million a year.As for why the contract was only renewed for one year, this was actually An Jie's request.Because he told Orsi jokingly: "Maybe some year, I suddenly don't want to fight anymore?"

In the season after the second three consecutive championships, Anjie still averaged 24.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.8 blocks per game.But An Jie knew that his data might start to decline year by year.

In the third year, Anjie averaged 21 points per game, and the Trail Blazers have gradually been controlled by George and Lillard.That year, Anjie broke out with a knee injury in the middle of the playoffs and was reimbursed for the season.The Trail Blazers' journey to the playoffs was also ruined.

Even so, Anjie was still reluctant to retire.He smiled and said to Catherine: "Let's fight for another year." At that year, Anjie was already 34 years old.

In the fourth year, Orsi renewed his contract with Anjie for 3900 million a year.People say that this general manager is crazy.An Jie, who is already so old and has experienced injuries, is not worth the price at all.But Orsi didn't care about these, he also said to the reporters: "As long as Anjie wants to play, I can offer the next high-value contract at any time!"

That's right, how could Anjie's value be measurable by a few figures?
This year, the 35-year-old Anjie miraculously played all 82 regular season games and played all the playoffs.It's just that his knees are riddled with holes, and he can only score 18.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.But at the age of 34, how many centers can still hit such statistics?Even so, Angie is still the best inside player in the league.

An Jie felt that it was becoming more and more difficult for him to play the game, and the Trail Blazers had not won any honors for four years.Maybe this is God telling me that it's time.

At the age of 36, Anjie accepted Orsi's one-year contract of 3700 million.After signing his name on the contract, An Jie smiled.

"What's the matter, Ann? Why are you smirking at the contract?" Orsi withdrew the contract. He thought it was An Jie who was happy about the transaction veto right in the contract.After all, although An Jie is not as vigorous as before, and although he is already too old, there are a lot of teams rushing to get him.As long as Orsi is willing, he can trade Anjie when he gets old at any time, and then exchange for many outstanding guys in an instant to complete the rebuilding of the team.But he didn't do that.In order to reassure An Jie, he even added the right of transaction veto to the contract.

"It's nothing, I just want to tell you." An Jie's smile suddenly disappeared and became serious.

"This is very likely. This is the last time I will sign the contract you offered." The 36-year-old Anjie stared at Orsi, who was also no longer young. Anjie did not want to accept the veteran when he was at his worst. With a basic salary, you can eat and die in the league.This is unacceptable to an extremely competitive guy like An Jie.

He has won all the honors he can, and he feels very tired right now.While he was still able to exert his last remaining heat, he just wanted to leave with honor.

Orsi's mouth twitched. The day had come after all.He couldn't even imagine what the whole world would look like when An Jie officially announced his retirement.

"When are you going to tell everyone about this?" Orsi tried to keep his tone calm.

"Who knows? Anyway, let me finish my last season first." After An Jie finished speaking, he turned and walked out of Orsi's general manager's office.

This turning around, in Orsi's eyes, represents too many things.
Is it the last season?Turns out, it's been so many years.
(End of this chapter)