Bater revealed the truth about joining Xinjiang and admitted that the annual salary is not the key issue.
Time in Xinjiang is a very interesting concept. Beijing time is on the clock, and people live in the Xinjiang scale two hours later. Urumqi at the end of September, at 8 o’clock in the morning, it was just dawn. The city is moving slowly, and the temperature is less than 10 degrees. Students wear school uniforms, sit in some shabby buses, and walk on the road in twos and threes. It seems that they are not so willing to go to school.
At this time, a big man also sat bleary-eyed at the small table. I didn’t want to eat anything, but my mother brought a bowl of milk tea and two boiled eggs. "Eat a little more naan, eat a little more," she told me again and again, even smacking of coercion. But in the end, he only ate such a small piece. Put on your schoolbag, lowered your head and got out of the house.
That LV bag tells you that Monk Bater is not a student. He is as tall as the two of them. He got into his own black Lincoln navigator with Beijing J license plate, and after ten minutes’ journey eastward, he came to a place called Shuimogou in the eastern suburb of Urumqi. He saw a tiger sign on a road leading to Tianshan Mountain, turned right, climbed a small slope, and arrived at his destination: Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tiger Basketball Club.
It’s 9 am Beijing time, and the big boy’s day has just begun. Two hours of strength training will start in 30 minutes. You can’t see how much he is looking forward to it, and you can’t see any burnout. For more than 20 years, he has been very calm. Go upstairs and put down your bag, put on your training suit, slowly descend to the basement, dive into the strength room and spend two hours with the barbell until you sweat profusely.
"I have been training with the team for more than 20 days and I am still recovering. After all, I haven’t played for more than a year." Bater’s opening remarks made people almost forget this irritable summer that just passed.
Since returning to Beijing from the United States in early April, and officially making an appearance in Guanghui, Xinjiang in mid-September, Bater is a figure on the cusp of basketball in China this summer. After this "bitter battle for Pakistan" involving Beijing Shougang, Shandong Gold, Zhejiang Guangsha, Fujian Xunxing, Liaoning Panpan and Xinjiang Guanghui, Bater became the first club signature player to successfully transfer since the CBA League was founded in 1995. In the upcoming 2007-2008 season, in his 10th year in CBA, he will appear on the court for the first time as an opponent of Beijing Shougang.
"I am very grateful to the Beijing team. I have been groping for so many years and have deep feelings with them." But why Xinjiang, not Shandong, Zhejiang or Fujian? "I want to change the environment, and belonging is very important to me. My wife is from Xinjiang, and many of my relatives and friends are here. Although I have lived in Beijing for many years, most of my friends are here. For me, now that I have come to the end of my career, I may have to consider more of my own things. "
For example, it is rumored that Xinjiang offers an annual salary of up to 4 million RMB? "I don’t know where this number came from. But I can tell you that Xinjiang gives the least. "
? ? ? ?
"This is your elder sister Deming. I can’t take your call now. Please leave a message if you have anything. If you have nothing, please hang up." The first time I heard a phone message from Bater’s lover Deming, you were so nervous that you wanted to hang up. Many people said that the bus drove into Xinjiang and the driver was the "big sister".
However, Bater said that during his visit to Xinjiang, his wife did do a lot of work in the middle, but the final decision was still in his own hands. Deming also said, "It is he who makes the final decision. Of course, we all feel that Xinjiang is definitely the best choice to leave Beijing. The old people are there. I think this is a good thing that God has done for our family. "
Deming on the other end of the phone is at the airport, preparing to fly from new york to Houston. She was in Chicago the other day. In recent weeks in America, I have been busy with children. The eldest daughter, Difilana, is 20 years old and a sophomore majoring in sports marketing at the University of Illinois. The second daughter, Barena, is 13 years old and is in the eighth grade in Houston. The youngest son, Banze, is 6 years old and will return to Urumqi with Deming in early November.
Bater made the American home in Houston in early 2004. This time I moved to Xinjiang, and it was also the first time that my family separated in this way. "I used to take my whole family with me wherever I went. Playing in the NBA, going to various cities, they all followed me. This is the first time, (everyone) is so open. "
A home in Houston, a home in Beijing, a home in Inner Mongolia and a home in Xinjiang. Where is Bater’s home? "Home is where you have relatives," Deming explained. "I have a deep Beijing complex myself. I was born and raised in Beijing, but up to now, these places are all my home. No matter where you leave, it won’t be long before you miss it. "
Thousands of miles away, Bater’s answer is: "nomadic people, then swim?" ?”
? ? ? ?
On November 20th, 1975, an ordinary family in Sumu Township, Baiyin Prague, Hangjinqi, Ordos Plateau, Inner Mongolia, gave birth to a baby boy weighing 14 kg. His parents named him "Monk Bater", which means "forever hero" in Mongolian. The little hero grows at an amazing speed. At the age of seven, he is already 1.70 meters tall.
In the first grade of primary school, the county education director visited the school, and Bater on the playground followed his classmates to do the same action. The director asked, "Do you need two PE teachers in physical education class?" The headmaster replied that it was a student. At the age of 11, the Inner Mongolia Sports Team named him to join the team. Since then, Bater has left home and started his basketball career.
Two years later, the Inner Mongolia team announced its dissolution, and Bater was recommended to the Beijing Youth Team.
When he first arrived in Beijing in 1988, he couldn’t even speak Mandarin. He was homesick, so he "ran away" more than once in the next few years. Mom recalled: "At that time, he came back and complained to us that he couldn’t get used to the food there, and there were no chunks of beef and mutton. He was too tired and hard, and he was homesick."
"May be related to the nation, I don’t like being bound since I was a child. In 1994, I left the national team. The national team didn’t play that year. Went home for 10 months. Later, Yuan Chao (the leader of the Beijing team) took three players to Inner Mongolia by train and took me back together. "
In 1995, the legendary 1995, two things happened. One day, Bater said to a familiar reporter with his own "Rebound King" trophy: "Brother, I don’t have a home in Beijing. Let’s put this cup in your home first and get it back when I have a home."
Soon, he met Deming. "Her sister, Deli, was a basketball reporter from Beijing TV. She took her to watch the ball that day. She was wearing a pair of fancy pants, which was too fancy." On that occasion, Bater only gave a "stare ceremony" to Deming, who was tall and dazzling. Later, Deming often came to watch the ball and shouted "Come on, Bater!" in the stands. My sister asked her, why did so many players cheer for Bater? Deming replied: "He is a minority." Sometimes Deming is absent, and Bater will ask Deli, "Why didn’t your sister come today?" Deli asked, "I have so many friends, why do you remember her?" "She is a minority."
Deming was born and raised in Beijing and didn’t return to Xinjiang until he went to college. After graduating from the Law Department of Xinjiang University, she was assigned to work in the Public Security Department of the Autonomous Region. Soon she had a marriage, but it broke her heart. In 1995, after the divorce, she returned to Beijing. When I met Bater, she was 30 years old and Bater was 20 years old. She also has two daughters, the eldest of whom is only 12 years younger than Bater.
She hesitated, but she liked Bater. Bater liked her, too, and he didn’t hesitate. When I was a child, I was able to escape thousands of miles from the Beijing team to go home alone. When I grew up, would I be blocked by some old rules and regulations and not be able to become a family? You have to admit that there is always something special about the Mongolian man who is 2.10 meters tall and weighs 130 kilograms. And this family, he is settled.
On Valentine’s Day in 1996, Bater gave Deming an iron rose.
On October 21st, 1997, they got married. Bater is considerate to his two daughters. "He is sincere to them, and there is nothing false," Deming was very moved. Bater, the eldest daughter, was only eight years old when she first met him. She thought he was "tall, strong and terrible", but gradually she found that he could play with his sister on the slide and buy her toys, especially for her mother. So she finally spoke and called him "uncle". Later, in Beijing, Bater took her to and from school every day, and talked about her classmates and what she liked on the way. Over time, "uncle" became "father".
A few years later, the whole family moved to the United States. After Bater joined the Spurs, he never played. Di Fei wrote a letter to team coach Popovich, to the effect that: "I am a China fan and like your player Bater very much. But I don’t understand why you always don’t let him play. I ask you to believe that he is the best basketball player, so just give him a chance. " The signature below is, "Bater’s daughter Defi". It was not until the end of the season that the Spurs finally won the championship that Bater saw this letter. "Suddenly I burst into tears."
Since leaving Shougang in February, 2002, Bater has worked in Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors successively, until he was switched to Orlando magic in early 2004 and abandoned by new york Knicks again in October of the same year, and finally said goodbye to NBA. During this time, he played 46 games, including 10 starts, averaging 3.4 points and 2.5 rebounds. "Although I didn’t do much, I learned a lot for myself, glad you came," Bater said.
During this time, Deming had to take care of three children by himself. Bater recalled: "She was really tired at that time, but when she called me, she encouraged me,’ You have to hold on and wait for the opportunity to let everyone see your strength.’ No matter what happens at home, she always carries it silently by herself. Later, she saw that I was too lonely in the United States, so she sent her two daughters to study in the United States. Soon my son came, and the family got together, which made me feel very happy again. Deming is very capable. In the years when I played NBA, she often traveled across the Pacific Ocean, followed me to move constantly, and took good care of me and my children. "
In early 2004, the whole family settled down in Houston. In October of the same year, Bater returned to the familiar Beijing Shougang in February, 2005. On his debut against Shandong at home on February 16th, he announced his strong return with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Then, he won the MVP in the All-Star Game held in Nanjing. But even in that season, he missed the CBA finals.
Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming and Bater, the ruling forces in CBA in the past, together are the "moving Great Wall" once praised by Americans. Bater is the only center among the three who has never reached the CBA Finals and won the CBA championship ring. But compared with the other two, he has an NBA championship ring. Although he didn’t make the Spurs’ 12-player playoff list in 2002-2003, he is still the only "Lord of the Rings" among all Asian basketball players.
On October 21st, 2005, on the 8th anniversary of his marriage, Bater put the NBA championship ring on Deming’s hand. On September 28th, 2007, in the box of a hotel in Urumqi, Mongolian friends from Bater sat together, and there was a gap between liquor and singing. People would occasionally mention the championship and the ring that is now in the owner’s home in Beijing. "You know, Bater is the pride of our Mongolians." Bater, who has given up drinking, retaliated with glasses of ice water.
In 1996, Bater came to Xinjiang with Deming for the first time. "I met many Mongolians and made many very good friends." Eleven years later, he is already the son of Xinjiang. "This is the habit of Uighurs, treating the son-in-law as a son. The Deming family has no sons and two daughters, and I am the son. " My son is back.
"I am definitely looking forward to the new season, but my attitude is still to let nature take its course." He also said, "Maybe I will win a CBA championship one year."
? ? ? ?
On the free throw line, lift the ball? ? Don’t go in, turn around and run at a time. Do it again? ? Hollow network access. At the end of September, the bright sunshine in Urumqi afternoon passed through the huge glass windows of the stadium and cast the shadows of giants on one side of the stadium. Bater defends inside, holding his hands high. From a distance, it is almost an insurmountable barrier. The young players on the team tried several times, but all failed.
The old clock directly above the arena has pointed to six o’clock in Beijing time. The two-hour training is coming to an end. Everyone is sweating like a pig. Go up and change first, and then come down to the restaurant to eat something. Bater changed into the black shirt, black jeans and black shoes in the morning, got into the big black jeep, drove down the small slope, and met several young teammates who wanted to take a taxi but couldn’t.
Give them a ride, the car started smoothly again, and Xu Wei’s melody sounded:
Facing the sunset on the horizon
Let’s dance in the wind together
Through the midnight stars
Let our dream of traveling be more exciting.
Never stop all my life.
Put down your teammates and go on the road again. The car soon came to a quiet path in the city center, the old residential building on the roadside, where Deming’s parents had been living since they moved back to Xinjiang from Beijing 25 years ago. "Dad, Mom, I’m back!" Bater said, and walked into the house.
Both old people are over the age of 70. When my father talks about Bater, he looks warm. Mother said, "As soon as he and Deming come back, our hearts will be at ease, and there are people around us."
But she still has a wish, that is, when Bater comes down from the upstairs at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning, she can eat more than a bowl of milk tea, two eggs and that small piece of naan.
Editor: Shuo Yang