The San Antonio Spurs' opening game of the new season was at home against the Philadelphia 76ers!
He Xi Meng learned after joining the Spurs' joint training that "Kidney Warrior" Elliott had a recurrence of his illness and underwent a kidney transplant, requiring him to be absent for at least 7 months. Seven months later, even if Elliott could return to the court, his playing time would be extremely limited. This meant the Spurs needed an excellent small forward to hold down the wing.
As He Xi Meng was contemplating who to scout, he spotted a familiar figure in the opposing Philadelphia 76ers' lineup: Bruce Bowen!
Bowen was an undrafted player in 1993 and spent three years in lower leagues.
In the 1996-1997 season, he finally got a contract with the Miami Heat and played one game, logging 1 minute. His only statistic that wasn't zero was blocks!
Yes, Bowen played 1 minute and recorded 1 block! The season ended like that.
If you haven't experienced others' suffering, don't preach kindness.
Not everyone can endure the hardships of the lower leagues, the loneliness of being a benchwarmer, and remain true to themselves to achieve a life reversal.
If it weren't for that single block, Bowen might not have received a two-year contract from the Celtics.
And without the Celtics' contract, Bowen wouldn't even have had the chance to warm the bench...
He Xi Meng never underestimated the minor players in the league. Every player at the bottom is a symbol of inspiration. They simply want to pursue their basketball dreams while having a decent job to support their families.
Don't disdain their dirty hands or dirty feet; they just want to disguise themselves as "villains" within the league, within the scope of league rules! Only then can they find a place in this league.
Conversely, who doesn't want to be a white knight, single-handedly breaking through the opponent's defense as if no one were there?
But looking back over decades of the league, how many Russells, Bird, Magic Johnsons, or Jordans have there been?
With 29 teams in a season, 15 players per team, a total of 435 players, how many are historically remembered?
Players like Bowen, after enduring beatings from the bottom, discard all illusions and focus all their attention on defense, eventually honing themselves into a defensive master that makes the league "grind their teeth," or as they say, a defensive villain.
However, the current Bowen is still far from the future defensive villain. He has no status or presence on the 76ers. Besides He Xi Meng, no one paid attention to what Bowen did during his warm-up before the game. All the Spurs players who arrived at the Alamodome had their attention fixed on Philadelphia's number 3 player, Allen Iverson!
Iverson's dribbling, Iverson's shooting, Iverson's warm-up activities, all elicited gasps from the Spurs fans in the away section from time to time.
Such was the immense charm of Philadelphia's number 3!
Compared to the unspoken, the popularity of the Spurs' new addition, He Xi Meng, was probably similar and not much higher than Iverson's. After all, He Xi Meng had no fan base in San Antonio yet. On the contrary, in several crucial games of last season's Western Conference Finals, the Spurs lost because of He Xi Meng. Many San Antonio fans harbored deep resentment towards him, and it wouldn't be easy to change their attitude from hate to love...
The starting lineup for the 76ers in this game was point guard Snow, shooting guard Iverson, small forward Billy Owens, power forward George Lynch, and center Theo Ratliff.
The Spurs' lineup was point guard He Xi Meng, shooting guard Mario Elie, small forward Chuck Person, power forward Duncan, and center David Robinson.
David Robinson and Theo Ratliff went up for the tip-off at center court, while He Xi Meng and Iverson faced off again.
Even though Iverson was not playing point guard, for this first possession, Iverson waved Snow aside, wanting to have a chat with his old friend.
"Hey, man, you really got some guts! Just walk away from a championship point guard position? Impressive!"
Due to his debut persona as a lone hero, Iverson tended to look down on superstars who formed superteams. Even if he admired it internally, he had to feign disdain. He Xi Meng's decision to refuse the Lakers' offer and give up the chance to win a championship effortlessly was seen by Iverson as a very courageous act!
But Iverson seemed to forget one thing: the Spurs, while perhaps not as powerful as the Lakers, were by no means a weak team. The Spurs, with their twin towers, were at least a Western Conference Finals caliber team last season. If you added He Xi Meng...
Well, it was too early to say who would be the league's biggest savior this season!
However, He Xi Meng couldn't just embarrass himself in the face of Iverson's praise. So, he casually one-upped Iverson.
"Well, I wanted to challenge myself, and also challenge the championship Lakers!"
"Awesome!" Iverson, not fully understanding, genuinely gave He Xi Meng a thumbs-up...
The game began, Theo Ratliff won the tip-off, giving the 76ers the first offensive opportunity of the new season.
Iverson brought the ball across half-court, facing He Xi Meng's defense. Iverson originally wanted to take He Xi Meng one-on-one. However, He Xi Meng took a half-step back, maintaining a distance of one and a half steps from Iverson, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of Iverson's pump fakes!
He Xi Meng didn't want to become a background for Iverson, so he chose to defend the drive and not the shot, encouraging Iverson to shoot from beyond the three-point line.
"Underestimated?" How could he tolerate this? Iverson's fighting spirit was instantly ignited by He Xi Meng's move. After a series of hesitations, Iverson sprang up and pulled up for a jump shot from one step inside the three-point line!
He Xi Meng dared not lunge forward recklessly. Only after confirming Iverson had jumped and released the shot did he extend his hand to interfere.
When defending, He Xi Meng generally did not aim for blocks, but for efficiency, meaning the success rate of interference.
For this shot, He Xi Meng's target was not Iverson's basketball at all. Although Iverson was at most 5'10", and there were plenty of taller players in the league, how many could actually block Iverson's shots in a game?
Therefore, He Xi Meng abandoned any unrealistic ideas and targeted Iverson's eyes!
Shane Battier had not yet entered the NBA, but He Xi Meng had already deployed Battier's signature eye-blocking technique, using it against the league's current strongest scorer!
Iverson was momentarily thrown off balance, and his first shot of the new season clanked off the rim.