Coach, I don't want to retire yet

Chapter 655: Cut off from basketball, cut off from the NBA!

For Milicic, Larry Brown is the devil, a devil who destroyed his genius self-confidence.

Before being drafted to the Pistons, he was a basketball talent that attracted worldwide attention.

He is 2 meters tall, weighs 16 kilograms, and has a wingspan of 111 meters. With such static talent and outstanding athletic ability, many NBA scouts at the time believed that he was a combination of Nowitzki and Garnett!

When he was participating in the Pistons' draft tryout, the Pistons' general manager at the time, Joe Dumars, excitedly announced to the world: This 18-year-old young man is simply the modern-day Chamberlain!
It can be seen that Joe Dumars is very excited. He even said that even if he had the No. 1 pick, he would not choose James, but Milicic. Joe Dumars dared to be so excited before the draft and was not afraid of being robbed by the Cavaliers. Naturally, it was because the Cavaliers could not not choose James, so Milicic was a player in the Pistons' bowl from the beginning.

It can be said that there was no suspense about James's No. 2003 pick in the NBA Draft, but it was not because James' strength and talent were really so invincible, but because the Cavaliers drew the No. pick.

If other teams had really drawn the No. 100 pick, James' chances of winning would not have been %. At that time, James was the chosen one, Anthony was the strongest player in NCAA history, and Milicic was a combination of Nowitzki and Garnett, the modern Chamberlain.

It can be said that the gap between the three in terms of talent and draft prospects is not that great.

At that time, the Jazz were more direct: If we have the No. 1 pick, we will choose Milicic without hesitation. Compared with LeBron, he has more comprehensive abilities and can play at the 5th, 4th and 3rd positions!

A 2-meter-tall player could actually play the power forward position, which shows how highly regarded this player's athletic ability was at the time.

After all, even old Nelson was amazed at Milicic's talent at the time: "His size, physique, speed, flexibility and strength are all amazing. If you need a center or power forward, then Milicic is definitely the best choice!"

This was Milicic at that time. The whole world was kind to him, the whole world loved him, and the whole world had expectations for him.

If you say that the Pistons' scouts misjudged Milicic, then it's impossible that all the scouts in the league misjudged him, and even old Nelson couldn't have misjudged him.

In the end, Milicic was unable to realize his talent, and it can be said that this was entirely because of Larry Brown.

Don't be so humble, Larry Brown is the biggest reason why Milicic has not been able to realize his talent.

The Pistons were a championship-contending team at the time. The cautious, old-school Larry Brown would never sacrifice the team's record and stability to train rookie players. From the very beginning, he had a very big prejudice against Milicic, a young man with unlimited potential but still immature and unable to speak the language. Rather than using the second pick to select Milicic, Larry Brown definitely hoped to exchange the second pick for someone who could fight immediately.

Even if you don't change the combat effectiveness, it's okay to choose a player with combat effectiveness like Anthony and Wade.

But the Pistons management gave up Anthony and Wade for Milicic's potential.

This made Larry Brown very dissatisfied.

So much so that throughout the entire season, he almost refused to give this European genius any chance to train!
It can be said that Milicic became a victim of the feud between Joe Dumars and Larry Brown.

In the Pistons at the time, Joe Dumars was very fond of Milicic's talent.

However, Larry Brown has the final say on the team.

Therefore, Larry Brown, who likes Anthony and hopes to get Anthony, can imagine his attitude towards Milicic.

In his rookie season, he only got playing time during garbage time throughout the season, and was treated with cold violence by Larry Brown throughout the season. This is an 18-year-old young man.

What is more frightening than cold violence is, you know, the head coach's deep malice, terrifying malice.

If it is just cold violence, you might still think in your heart that maybe if you work hard enough you can get the head coach's approval.

The head coach is just not satisfied with my ability, not with me as a person. Larry Brown is just not satisfied with my ability, not with me as a person.

However, Milicic soon realized that he was wrong.

In the 2004 Finals, Milicic broke his hand. He showed it to Larry Brown, but Larry Brown didn't believe it and pushed Milicic back to the court.

How terrifying this is! It is going to completely ruin him on the court and end his basketball career on the court!

Faced with such terrifying malice from Larry Brown, Milicic felt terrified.

He felt it, and Larry Brown didn't mind destroying him right away.

As an experienced head coach, how could he not tell whether it was a real fracture or a fake one.

In order to slap Joe Dumars in the face and vent his dissatisfaction for not getting Anthony, Larry Brown wanted to completely destroy him.

It is hard to imagine that there will be another No. 2 pick in NBA history who will be treated like this in his rookie season.

In the Pistons at that time, he was a lamb to be slaughtered. The fear in the deep darkness was too dark for an 18-year-old young man.

No one could help him. Even Joe Dumars, who liked him, was helpless in the face of Larry Brown, whose reputation was at its peak after winning the championship in 2004. In the end, Joe Dumars, who was relatively soft-hearted, chose to back down.

Under Larry Brown's deliberate suppression and neglect, Milicic, an 18-year-old international player, quickly lost confidence and interest in basketball.

He began to take a negative attitude towards the game, watching his teammates play as a spectator on the court, and spending more energy on his handsome appearance off the court. He dyed his hair blonde, put on earrings, and from a shy young man, he became a non-mainstream. Together with Bynum, who later entered the NBA, they formed a non-mainstream and hair-drying duo that made fans laugh.

At the same time, he has become a bad example in the eyes of Jokic's brother, who wastes his talent and indulges in nightclubs.

He actually knew that this was not right, as it was a waste of his talent and was irresponsible to himself.

But for him, this is his own protection.

He was scared, he was horrified.

He was afraid to play.

For him, the game is best just a formality.

It would even be better if he didn't play in the game. So many times, when he was playing in the game, he was reluctant to take out his earrings. Instead, he used tape to cover the position of the earrings because he hoped that the referee would kick him out.

Anyway, he feels like he is living a miserable life on the court, so he might as well not play.

In this way, for two years, not only did he not get any training, but his will was also worn out. He missed the best time for both technical refinement and psychological construction.

When he left the Pistons and wanted to start over, he found that he could never pick up what he had left behind. He has talent and his physical talent is still excellent, but he is not as talented as he imagined. His basketball IQ is not that high, and his IQ is not that high. Therefore, after missing the best period of technical development, he seems to have been unable to grow.

No, it's not just a matter of talent that prevents him from growing. He hates basketball.

After leaving the Knicks, he was ready to return to Europe. At this time, the Timberwolves found him, but he was determined to leave. He even persuaded the Timberwolves not to sign him: "I hate basketball and the NBA. I won't participate in training. I will cause trouble in the locker room."

Although Milicic said this, the Timberwolves still insisted on signing him and gave him full trust. This time with the Timberwolves may be the happiest and most respected time in his NBA career.

But Adelman ruined it all.

His wounds, which were originally healing slowly, were completely torn apart, and he completely lost interest in the NBA and basketball.

In this case, how can we pick up the things that have been dropped?
After leaving the Timberwolves and playing only one game for the Celtics in his last season, he announced his retirement in June 2013. At this time, he was only 6 years old, which is the most glorious age for many players in their careers, but he had to leave the NBA and basketball to play boxing.

What an irony.

After failing in the boxing world, Milicic's life became confused again. In this boxing career, he wanted to indulge himself and let go of the sins he had suffered in the NBA and basketball.

However, after so many years, when news of the NBA came again, he found that he still couldn't completely give up basketball.

"Maybe, basketball is my final destination..."

Many people say that when God closes a door for a person, he opens a window.

And for him, maybe this door is a basketball, and this window is also a basketball.

"Dakko, the Bobcats need a stable inside player right now. This is what Coach D wants, so I recommended you to Coach D."

Ham knows that Milicic is very sensitive now, and he is afraid of repeating the mistakes of the Pistons.

The tragedy of Milicic of the Pistons back then was that the team disagreed with Milicic's attitude from the very beginning.

Joe Dumars wanted Milicic, Larry Brown didn't want him, he wanted Anthony.

In the end, this directly led to the tragedy of Larry Brown.

Therefore, whether the invitation to the Bobcats was from Ham or Coach D may not be so important to other players, but it is very important to Milicic.

For other players, as long as they can go to Coach D's team, it doesn't matter who invites them or how they get there, because as long as you work hard, Coach D will not fail to see it. Coach D has absolute trust in the players on his team.

Even a bad player like Howard is trusted by Coach D.

In the end, even a bad guy like Howard was moved.

This is a very surprising thing in the entire NBA. This person is Howard, perhaps the worst person in the history of the NBA.

Most of the players in the league know Coach D very well and have no doubts about him.

But Milicic is different.

When Milicic came to the NBA from Du Kang, he had almost left the NBA and his heart was no longer in the NBA. It should be said that Milicic was no longer so concerned about everything in the NBA.

Du Kang came to the NBA just when Milicic completely faded out of the NBA.

Therefore, Milicic doesn't know Coach D, the most popular person in the global basketball circle.

Even in Milicic's heart, he has always been resistant to the so-called famous coaches.

Because the person who brought him despair was Larry Brown, a famous coach.

The person who blocked his basketball destiny, made him completely leave the NBA and completely lose interest in basketball was Adelman, also a well-known coach.

Whether it's Larry Brown or Adelman, whether it's defensive or offensive, whether it's strict or kind.

Famous coaches have caused him great harm.

Those so-called famous coaches in the NBA are all very self-righteous. They stick to their own basketball ideas and are inflexible. They require everyone to adapt to their basketball philosophy and would like to use machines to cut those distinctive players into the shape they want.

In the NBA, the more famous the coach is, the less he knows how to adapt. On the contrary, it is those head coaches who are not so famous who know how to build the team and tactical system based on the characteristics of the players.

Therefore, Milicic has no good impression of the famous coaches in the NBA, and Coach D is the most famous coach in the NBA now.

There is actually some reason why people dislike Milicic.

In the NBA, players are above coaches, so overall, most coaches need to build their teams based on the characteristics of the players. If you dare to mess with the players, especially the star players, you'd be a bastard.

So, before the coach became famous, she was just a young wife. After being a young wife for many years and becoming a mother-in-law and a famous coach, wouldn’t she bully the players back?

Many famous coaches in the NBA have this kind of personality and want to mess with their players.

Milicic can be said to be the one who was hurt the most by the famous NBA coach.

So when Milicic heard Ham say that Durant is the best coach in the NBA, he subconsciously felt fear, because in 2004, Larry Brown, who was at the peak of his career, was also the best coach in the NBA.

"Dakko, I know what you are worried about, but I can tell you now that if Larry is a devil, then Coach D is an angel. You will not encounter any unpleasant experiences in the Bobcats. I can guarantee you this."

Milicic is very important to the Bobcats, and Coach D's mission to him is to bring Milicic back.

So, of course, Ham hopes to say everything he can, hoping to erase the psychological shadow that Larry Brown has cast on Milicic.

Du Kang never dreamed that he would have to pay for the evil that Larry Brown had done in the past.

Du Kang naturally didn't know about Ham's efforts to persuade Milicic.

However, the day before the draft, Milicic returned to the United States from Serbia and came to Charlotte.

“That person is Milicic, right?”

"He's not going to try his luck, is he?"

“I heard that he didn’t do well in boxing, and finally returned to the NBA in disgrace!”

Milicic was used to being pointed at, but he was still surprised.

Hamm next to him said with a smile.

"At this moment in Charlotte, there are countless players waiting for Coach D's call."

Milicic was shocked by Ham's words.

Seeing the shock on Milicic's face, Ham smiled inwardly.

In this world, there are people like Milicic who are isolated from the world and basketball...

As Ham laughed, he felt sympathetic and distressed.

If it wasn't really painful, how could an NBA player, an NBA No. 2 pick, cut himself off from the NBA and basketball?
(End of this chapter)