[] "The 9th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, Phoenix Suns chose, Marion from UNLV (Shawn) And the vast majority

"The 9th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, Phoenix Suns chose, from UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) Marion (Shawn) (Shawn) Marion! ”

Like most people, the first time the name Marion appeared in my sight was at the 1999 draft. In that era when the Internet was not so developed and the broadcast was not popular, as a professional student, of course, I couldn’t watch a few games a year, and it was even more impossible to pay attention to the draft like now. On that day, I read the newspaper at night and found out that the Suns chose a 6-foot-7-inch small forward named Marion. I will always remember my reaction at that time, because it should be very consistent with ordinary villagers' impression of the Suns:

"Don't the Suns lack a center? Why choose a small forward?"

Unexpectedly, this small forward later caught more rebounds than many centers. The name Marion became the mark that accompanied my growth all the way, and it was also the player that influenced me the most from a young fan who knew nothing to become a basketball writer.

With Marion expected to come to Taiwan at the end of March, I think it's time to start sorting out some dusty memories.

Physical Magician

"Although I could already dunk in the ninth grade, I felt that my height from the ground was a bit scary at that time, and because I was afraid of landing after dunk, I didn't dunk often."

I believe everyone knows that Marion is a player with very good physical fitness, but what many people may not know is that the above sentence was said from Marion himself. A reporter once joked Marion: "If Marion is phobic, he should be very afraid of himself!" This is also the main reason why he has very excellent physical fitness but never agreed to participate in the slam dunk competition in his career.

However, it is one thing to refuse to participate in the slam dunk. Back in the official NBA arena, no one should suspect that Marion will not be able to slam dunk. In a Suns game, Kenny Smith, who is currently a basketball judge in TNT, saw Marion's slam dunk and shouted "Oh The Matrix Coming!" on the anchor stage, describing his slam dunk action as accurate, explosive and omnipotent performance as the computer robot played by Keanu Levi, the protagonist of the movie "Hack Mission". ""

It was from that time that "The Matrix" became the most familiar nickname for Marion's entire career. It is said that Marion himself also likes to be called this very much. The words "The Matrix 31" can be seen in his car, shoes and wardrobe. He even expressed his hope that he could perform in a hacker mission movie, which shows this.

Defensive player

has a height of 6 feet 7 inches, excellent athletic ability and a pair of long arms. Marion fully meets the standard equipment of defensive players in general cognition, and also allows him to face the opponent's most difficult main attacking players in every game. Moreover, unlike most defensive players, Marion's defense is indistinguishable from position.

At its heyday, he defended from Allen Iverson to Tracy McGrady and then to Dirk Nowitzki. From the three players who personally think he has the best defense, it should be seen that he claims to be from point guard to center is definitely not a joke; and facing the Spurs, both of his career's biggest rival, Marion defended Tim Duncan in the 2005 playoffs, Tony Parker in the 2007 playoffs, and after joining the Mavericks, he was responsible for defending Manu Ginobili in the playoffs. The sweat laborers probably are just that.

However, the person who impressed Marion's defensive skills was the most impressive, except for bullying Nowitzki, who had not evolved into a complete body in the early days, it was a regular match between the Suns and the Bucks. In that game, the Bucks' master player Michael Redd burst out and led the Bucks and the Suns to a difficult time to distinguish. As a result, in the fourth quarter, Marion replaced Raja Bell to defend, defending Rhet, who had been burning for three quarters, instantly, and allowed the Suns to win the game smoothly.

Until the 2011 playoffs, Marion, who had accumulated various injuries of all sizes and was considered to be inferior to his previous ability. He defended the Thunder main player Kevin Durant in the West District finals. In the championship game, he faced LeBron James, who had just won a group of top teammates. He repeatedly defended James, who was obviously on the court at the critical moment of the fourth quarter, and picked out the two best small forwards in the league at one go, and won a championship ring when the Mavericks were despised by all walks of life. What does it mean to be real? This should be real.

It’s just that when it comes to the last voting day of each year, Marion is always ignored. It would be fine if he just didn’t win the best defensive player of the year. After all, there is only one place in this award every year, and you can comfort yourself with Scottie Pippen’s career. But what makes Marion even worse than Pippen is that he once won the top 5 in the best defensive player voting for more than a year. In the end, he has not even been selected for the top two teams in the entire career. I don’t know if I’m not good at math or fail the intelligence test, but the top two teams in the defense should have chosen 10 people, right?

just mentioned that Marion has always refused to participate in the Slam Dunk. Although this is a regret for us, at least it is Marion's own decision. But if we are talking about his entire career that he missed the best defensive player of the year because of the voters' impression scores, and even the first two teams in the defense, it may not be interesting at all, but the biggest irony of a defensive player like Marion.

Aerial Cutting Master

"Because Marion is willing to be a power forward, we can line up a fast lineup. At the same time, Marion's ability to catch rebounds is not inferior to other strong players in the league, which has been of great help to us. In addition, Marion also has a very fast speed and can easily follow up on fast attacks. We don't have to design any specific offensive methods for him, and he can easily score 20 points. It's such an incredible player."

I always remember that before the start of the 2004 season, my friend around me asked me why you have so confidence in the Suns (after all, the record of the previous year was still very poor). Who is your lineup? When I said the names of Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Marion and Amare Stoudemire in sequence, my friend immediately interrupted me and said, "So who is the center? Yes, you don't have a center, so it's useless to be strong in the other four positions." At that time, I could only smile. As for whether it was useful later, I won't comment more.

As many teams have become popular in recent years, people may not have any opinions on players like Marion as power forwards, but from this example, it is not difficult for everyone to see that in that era when they were believed to be able to master the game by mastering the penalty area, head coach Mike D'Antoni's formation was a rebellious existence for people of that era. Marion, who is only 6 feet 7 inches tall, agreed to be a power forward at that time. This was a difficult decision. Therefore, a saying that I often heard at that time was that although Nash was the MVP of the entire league, Marion was the underground MVP of the Suns.

Whether from the data or the game, it is not difficult to see Marion's influence on the game. Marion, who has worked with outstanding defenders such as Penny Hardaway, Jason Kidd, Stephen Marbury, Nash, etc. in his career, has the ability to run empty-handed. Although his singles are not outstanding and his shooting posture is also weird, he basically does not need to hold the ball for a long time, and the threat when he is not in his hand is higher than when he has a ball. I think before the rules of only one ball on the court change, players like Marion who can score without taking the ball and score are assets that every team needs very much.Not to mention the data surface of

. Fans who play Fantasy Basketball know that Marion in his heyday basically chose the first round every year, and even Rank ranked first in the league for one year, and he was also the Iron Man who did not miss the game. Although he only stayed in the Suns for eight and a half years, he was already the second player in the team history, fourth in scoring, second in total rebounds (first in defensive rebounds), second in interception, and third in blocking.

Although almost no single item is the first, it seems to be a little weak, considering that these are almost all lost to Alvan Adams, who has been in the Sun for 13 years, and with Marion's situation back then, under normal circumstances, it should be possible to surpass it in a full range of years, it should not be difficult to see how amazing the accumulation of Marion's data is.

parted ways

"If this deal is successful, I am a genius, otherwise I am an idiot."

I will never forget that on February 6, 2008, the Chinese world was having New Year's Eve, and the New Year's Eve dinner was about to be served, but I couldn't eat it at all, because on that day, the person who said the above made a deal, which allowed Marion to leave the Suns, which was the most unsuitable for the Suns and was also the player I hated the most in the league at that time. When someone told me about this, I thought I was dreaming, but after trying many methods, I didn't jump out of the window and tried it, I could only admit that reality is often even more outrageous than dreams.

I don't know if you can understand this feeling. Maybe it's me who is idiot, but I only remember that I was a Suns fan since 1993 and a Suns owner since 2002. I have refused to watch the Suns games for almost six years since that day, and even in the next few years, I even suspected that I might not want to watch the NBA in the future. So, please understand that I don't want to recall this matter at all, but there is one thing I want to say hello to Steve Kerr, the Suns manager at the time and the current Warriors coach. After all, this is what you admit, no wonder.

"Hi, hello idiot."

Hello, The Matrix

With Marion flying to Taiwan this Sunday night, if you have the opportunity to interview him personally, this is probably what I want to say to him as a fan:

"As a fan of the Suns and your personal fan, I am really very happy that you later got a championship ring with your own strength in the Mavericks, but what I worry most is Because of this ring, will you forget that the peak of your career was in Phoenix? Although the team was sorry for you when they were traded, I just hope you remember that there are still a group of people in this world who watched you leave with tears and unwillingness to say goodbye to."

Now, my last expectation between the Suns and Marion is the moment when one day I will see Marion's No. 31 hanging in the Phoenix home stands! I'm not in a hurry, I can wait, after all, my child is still young, and if you hang your jersey now, I'm still afraid I won't be able to go.