“I am always happy to give young people a hand, or raise them directly!”

The heat wave in Beijing is rolling, but Yanis adtokunbo (Giannis Antetokounmpo), the “alphabet brother”, was not affected at all. In the opening battle of Nike’s “Don’t leave after class” U12 age group, in addition to being a referee and a coach, when the letter brother saw that the White team could not hold the ball for half a time, he simply lifted the little player high, raised his head, and broke through heavy defense, helped him finish a “near-frame layup”.

Just like the Big Brother next door who takes you to play ball and likes to be funny, the activity of the 2023 China Tour Beijing station is full of happiness, sincerity, casual and dreams.

Although he is 28 years old, he is still the “big boy” who is excited to post online and take a ride with fans in Milwaukee for the first time “. This is the background color of brother Alphabet’s character, and it is also the most impressive impression of fans and young players around him. Even in front of a group of children, brother alphabet still cheered for them, clapped and hugged together, guided them to play team cooperation and enjoy basketball.

After the U12 match, brother alphabet personally demonstrated the “European step” for the winning blue Team, the players of the 18-24 age group “don’t leave after class”, and the Team Freak players carefully selected by him from Guangzhou “, teach them how to avoid the defender’s cylinder with steps and bodies while keeping the body balanced to complete the layup. After guiding these young people, he also supervised the exchange match between the “don’t leave after class” Team and Team Freak.

Brother alphabet enjoyed the feeling of coaching young people. He seemed to see himself as a young man in these young players and the new generation of basketball-training day and night on the field on the streets of Greece, only now has the “Greek monster”. “I never thought I was a monster, but I didn’t find out until I came to NBA that what I did was almost incredible. Now I am getting used to it.” The letter brother said with a smile.

It is difficult for you to associate this approachable and unpretentious “foreign coach” with superstar alphabet brother. He speaks English with Greek accent and gives thumbs to the players, high-fists encourage and shout cheer sound resounded through the stadium, without any meaning of going through the motions. After the training, brother alphabet also presented Nike signature boots to the players to encourage them to perform better in the future.

Maybe I saw the shadow of my growth from young people-brother Alphabet’s rookie season averaged 6.8 points 4.4 rebounds, and only got one vote in the best best new arrival selection. On the contrary, this cold reception became a kind of motivation. On the field, brother alphabet never stopped practicing. Even if he was targeted by his opponent, he would specially study his opponent’s game video and formulate strategies. Then he began to break the young pioneer team history record continuously, with the youngest three-double winner, the youngest All-Star starting, and the first fastest progress award winner…… The Stag saw the formation of the champion’s cornerstone and gave him a four-year 0.1 billion contract in 2016. Soon, the letter elder brother who stepped into the peak started his own rule, won the MVP of the regular season for two consecutive years, won the best defensive player award, created the five-year 0.228 billion contract of the historical record at that time, and, NBA championship.

Brother alphabet also wants to see such a story in later generations, “their talent level is incredible. They play very hard. You can see that some of them have potential in NBA, play in Europe and other leagues. But what I want to say is, pay attention to details, give full play to imagination, and each round is played as a game. Not only this training, but also when you exercise alone at home.” Brother Xin shared his experience with young people wholeheartedly, and at the same time left an agreement of “See you next year”: “I want to see these children again next year, and I want to see how much they have improved.”

As a “grassroots” superstar, brother Alphabet’s encouragement to young people was not only on the court. In an interview in Beijing, facing Mao Jianglong, who had just finished CUBA and was facing career choices, brother alphabet pondered for a moment and gave his own thoughts: “Some people have various plans. If you really love basketball, follow your heart, if you think Plan B is better for your life, that’s OK. But remember, no matter how you choose, don’t regret it. You must make this choice yourself. Even if you change your career path, you must keep 100% concentration.”

This basketball youth who trained with brother alphabet several years ago once again felt the sincere charm of brother alphabet.

Compared with these lucky children, brother Alphabet’s childhood is much more bumpy. His parents traveled from Nigeria to Greece. A large family was wandering in soporia, the poorest immigrant community in Athens, and was expelled by the landlord because he could not afford the rent. The sons have to help work when they are sensible, “sometimes the refrigerator in the house is empty. Sometimes if we don’t sell anything on the street, we have no money to fill our stomachs.” Brother alphabet recalled.

The gravity of reality is so heavy, fortunately there is a Arc drawn by basketball in the air. The basketball court became the refuge of adtokunbo brothers, carrying almost all the happiness of brother Alphabet’s childhood. At that time, he and his brother sainese took turns to wear a pair of Nike shoes and soon became famous in the slum. Some kind neighbors will help them and give them free breakfast and some old clothes. In this way, brother alphabet moved step by step from the stadium stained with rust on the street to the spotlight of world basketball.

Another dead soil will bloom the flower of dreams. Brother alphabet insisted on the day when he broke the cocoon and became a butterfly with outstanding talent and tenacious perseverance. He became the grassroots golden boy in Greek basketball, and the competition was full. In the United States, because the DraftExpress website uploaded his game videos and highlights, more and more scouts and even NBA executives are eager to see the true face of the letter brother, Sam Priestly, Marseille-Ujiri, danny Anji and other ace managers appeared in the Greek stadium one after another.

The chairman of the Greek Basketball Association personally handled professional league procedures for them. Facing the two roads of football and basketball, brother alphabet chose basketball without hesitation-their three brothers finally had a dormitory, the team also helped mother find a more stable job.

“At that time, when other players played, they would imagine that they were another Kobe, and I just wanted to help my family.”

The letter elder brother who has experienced the wind and rain cherishes the rainbow in front of him even more. When he first entered the alliance, the letter elder brother’s annual salary was 1.7 million dollars, which was already a huge sum of money, but he strictly controlled his daily expenses, send the rest of the money to the family. When remitting money, he was even embarrassed to let the coach drive, so he ran to the bank in the ice and snow to warm up. Sometimes he will be recognized by the fans and take a ride. He would even share every little surprise of his life on Twitter: eating new food and playing new games… the letter elder brother who first entered the world of flowers may not realize that he is about to become the owner of this garden.

As the father of two children, brother Xin realized the difficulty and happiness of being a father: “Being a father is one of the most wonderful things in my life, my child is the most valuable treasure for me, but it is not easy for me to play this role.”

This kind of living habit cultivates brother Alphabet’s unique sense of humor, and also makes him always carry a passion for basketball and take special care of his young dream. This rare Heart of Innocence was vividly reflected in the trip to Beijing. In addition to holding up the small players, in the gap of being interviewed by the media, brother Alphabet did not forget to compare his hands with V and pose a grimace to the camera. Even gave his pillow to the fans at the gate of the hotel enthusiastically: “These pillows made me sleep soundly.”

The aura of superstars and the affinity of the Big Brother next door are just like a pair of Yin Yang fish, which blend perfectly in the letter brother. He not only answered every question of the reporter seriously, but also signed, interacted and embraced the fans with full devotion. In the NIKE Beijing brand experience store in Sanlitun, brother alphabet also shared with fans and sneakerhead the design history of his latest signature shoe, Nike Zoom Freak5. As the fifth pair of personal signature shoes launched by Nike for him, it still contains rich personal elements of alphabet brother. Together with Nike, he transformed his growing experience and love for basketball into the design language of sneakers to inspire and influence more people. In the interesting interaction with the fans, he and the audience clapped their hands enthusiastically and happily took photos and signed with the fans wearing the Bucks jersey. The passionate basketball atmosphere here kept his mouth rising all the time.

In the interview, brother Xin specially mentioned the enthusiastic Chinese fans: “I want to say to everyone, thank you for your warm hospitality, thank you for bringing me this feeling. In my opinion, even if you look at the whole world, you are all the most loyal ‘super fans ‘.”

Roman Roland once said, “there is only one true heroism in the world, that is, after seeing the truth of life clearly, he still loves life.” Now it seems that brother alphabet is almost the perfect portrayal of this sentence. He was born in the grassroots and grew up in misery. However, after soaring into the sky, he still did not forget the original heart of basketball and dreams, there is no so-called superstar shelf in him. He is more like an optimist who lives around him. He regards the gravity of reality as a down-to-earth energy and uses the purest enthusiasm, let go of every dream of loving basketball.

The happy time is always short, but the fate between brother alphabet and China is not over. The young people here, dreams about basketball, profound culture and colorful life still make him miss. He has made an agreement with Chinese fans: “I hope we can get together next year, not only through the invitation of Nike brand, but also my own selfishness. I regard everyone as my family and hope to continue to enjoy the local culture in China and get to know you better in the future. Thank you.”

Welcome to our wechat public number “Houchang Village sports team” to see, there are more NBA, CBA related archaeology, comments and character content>>

(WEN/Pan Zhili)