[Transfer] Translation: Hayward’s Letter-New City, New Teammate, New Journey

Many people have asked me a question: "How do you like Charlotte?"

To be precise, come to the Hornets team and get this The acceptance of this city is a very interesting thing. In the last few home games, we have been able to fight side by side with some fans. It feels great. My wife Robyn likes to stay here, and my daughters like it too-they have settled down a few weeks ago, some have started to go to school locally, and they are all doing well.

But at the same time, it is still a bit difficult for me to answer this question, because I have not yet been able to get to know the city from my personal perspective. So far, I really don't have time to do this: I only signed the contract with the Hornets in November, and stayed in a hotel for the first few months in Charlotte, because our moving trip almost spans the entire United States. During the offseason under the epidemic, because we, as players, have to comply with various mechanisms for the prevention and control of the new crown, we are not allowed to act completely freely. Because of this, I haven't had time to have a complete experience of this city. It would be great if I had the opportunity to drive around the city and walk around in the future.

Last year, I ushered in the birth of my fourth child. It feels wonderful to be a father for the fourth time, and this is the first boy between Robyn and I, so we are all very grateful to God. His name is also Gordon, but we will not directly call him "Little Gordon" or "Gordon V" (even if he is indeed the fifth-generation descendant of this name). Each of us has our own middle name. My middle name is Daniel and his is Theodore, so his mother calls him "Theo".

and I call him " GT ".

My two eldest daughters Bernie and Charlie like their little brother,But the youngest daughter Nora was very dissatisfied with this. Whenever her mother is holding GT, she will lose her temper at us, probably because she wants to be the only child who enjoys her mother's embrace... But Bernie and Charlie like to hold their younger brother to play, especially Charlie, she I like to play the role of mother, just like my brother's little caregiver.

I don’t have much time to stay with GT, because the schedule for this season is really hard to say-although there are still a few months between the two seasons, the offseason is still not as long as before. . And as I wrote in this blog a few years ago, I remember that I told my children: I usually don’t stay with them in the first year of their lives, because they usually still Only eat and sleep. So I can only seize the time to hug the GT, but he grows really fast now, he can already look up at me. Every time I return home after playing away games, I will find that he has grown up a little more.

As for Nora, it is a bit "out of favor" for the time being. She had just passed her two birthday at the end of January, so she is now the "little beast" of the family. She is a very funny child-to be honest, her temperament is really different from that of her two sisters, she has her own style. Bernie is the oldest of them. It was the first time we were parents when we gave birth. So my experience of her is definitely a little different from when the next few children were born, but because Charlie was born soon after. So the time spent with the two of them has always been more overlapped in my memory. They are together no matter what they do. There was a little distance between Nora and them, because she was too young at the beginning, and it was inconvenient to take her when we were traveling with the family or on the plane, so we usually only took her two sisters with us.

So... Nora is a little bit of her own. She resembles Bernie in some places (such as their looks), but the child is very powerful and very lively-she is more active than her three siblings, and is also the loudest. She always tells you what she wants. She never closes her mouth at this time, so she is quite different in this respect and likes to talk freely. I am curious about what she will become when she grows up a little bit,It's so interesting. She has just entered the early childhood and is transforming from a baby to a child, and her self-care ability will become stronger and stronger, which is a good thing.

I am very happy that my family can be with me in Charlotte, so that I will not lose any opportunity to witness the growth of my children.

Unexpected new teammate

I especially like the cohesion of our team. In the All-Star games after the holiday, we have shown some real growth.

I think everyone in the team is playing their role very well now, and this has also allowed us to start a wave of winning streaks together.

can fight with Terry Rozier again in Charlotte, and it feels really good.

It is very interesting to see that he can seize the opportunity to shine. He has always been a player with a strong scoring ability and good physical talent, but this year's "T-Ro" makes us feel incredible. I remember that he played a lot of high-light performances in Boston, but the problem that year was that there was only one ball, and there were too many outstanding players in our team, so not everyone has the opportunity to fully display their abilities.

When Terry's outside shot feels open, he is almost impossible to defend. Because his speed is too fast, he can jump directly to the inside to complete the finish, so the defender must let him one step away to keep up with him. And when he can hit a jumper, you can only ask yourself: "Well, what should I do now?" This situation has been basically normal this year, and his three-pointers have been very stable. In the last game before the All-Star Game, he threw five or six three-pointers against the Timberwolves on the away scene. You've all seen them. He just showed his abilities. He has played several such games this year, and that was definitely his shining moment.

He has absolute confidence in welcoming such a moment,No fear of facing the spotlight. He added new weapons to our team and also expanded our attack range. His offense makes opponents have to take it seriously, and he never evades the task of executing the final blow.

Malik-Munch is also a fearless guy. I think this is the key to him. He had a hard time at the beginning of the season. He was infected with the new crown during the training camp and missed the entire first phase of joint training and training, so he could not enter the rotation for a while. This is bound to be very difficult for him. If you are infected with the virus, you will not be allowed to do anything above, and you will not even be able to fight with the team. But he came out of the predicament and relied on his own efforts to replay the rotation step by step. His achievements are an example for each of us. When he came on the field, our offense immediately became even more powerful. Of course, he is one of our most talented players and scorers. He is omnipotent on the offensive end, has no dead ends in scoring, and has excellent finishing ability and athletic ability.

Derwent Graham also played well this year. Although I think many people may not understand, he was actually placed in an embarrassing position this year. He was the number one star of this team last year and played the best season of his career, but before the start of this season, everyone was saying "Wow, we signed Hayward!" or "Wow, We selected Ramello!" Now, his role in the team is completely different.

In the past, he had unlimited firepower, but now he has been cut down. In the past, he was the team's host player and the pick-and-roll was on call. Now the authority is almost cut in half. All these things will be done to you. The rhythm of the game is affected. Both Ramello and I need to hold the ball for a long time, so his role has completely changed.

But he made good adjustments from the beginning and played a very good lead in the team. Derwent is a very, very calm point guard . He can direct everyone to where they should go.And shared the ball well. All in all, he did a good job. At least from my personal point of view, whenever he noticed that I hadn't touched the ball for a while, he would hit the ball in my hands in time. This is a very good thing for our team. I know that Ramello also learned this from him.

If you ask him personally, I'm sure his current shooting rhythm and timing are not in line with the state he used to be more accustomed to, so I think this must be a blow to him. But when he got the opportunities he was good at (that is, the phone clubs he was more used to last year), he was still a very dangerous pitcher. So, I hope we can continue to fight with him when the holiday is over and the team sprints to the playoffs.

For PJ-Washington and Miles-Bridges , I also want to give them a big like. They are almost forced to play multiple positions every night, sometimes they have to play the 4th position, sometimes the 5th position, and sometimes the 3rd position. Both of them are one of the most comprehensive players in the team. I think they have kept up with the pace of the whole team very well, and can fill vacancies in various positions at any time according to the team's personnel status, which is very difficult to do.

We also have two experienced big men, namely Cody Zeller and Bismarck Biyombo. To some extent, these two are the glue that unites us. Because Cody was injured before, Bismarck temporarily took his place. He is our defensive iron gate, guarding the last line of defense of the basket for us. Both of them worked hard to participate in the offense for our pick-and-rolls and downs. As I said before, they are the glue on the court and take on very important tasks.

Our team also has a pair of twins, namely Cody Martin and Caleb Martin. They have a good relationship with me. Maybe the Hornets fans don’t know, but I also have a twin brother. So, we have something in common. I like to play with them, they inject energy and fighting spirit into the team every night, and you know that they always appear in the right position when running and empty cut .Defense is their strength, because they will harass the defending players throughout the game and constantly consume opponents. They are also an important part of the team.

Did I forget who to say? Oh yes, there is that rookie.

Talk about Ramello

For Ramello, my first impression is that he is taller than I expected-our official height is 6 feet 7 (about 2.01 Meter). Although I am not sure about the details, because this year my height data is one inch shorter than before, but he is indeed taller than I thought before.

The second thing I noticed about him is his energy on and off the court.

He is truly a "vigorous boy" who loves life. This kind of "vitality" is not arrogance, but a positive atmosphere that comes with it. From the moment he approaches the arena and greets everyone, you know that his mouth can't stop at all, whether you are listening to him or not. He has been like this since I first saw him, and he has not changed. As far as getting along with people, this is actually very good, I would call it "infectious." And this can bring energy to the entire team.

It is true that he is only a 19-year-old kid who is still growing up, but it was the same when I first joined the league at 20. Our life experience is undoubtedly completely different, but as I said, getting along with him is very interesting. You can also understand this when he is playing on the court. He will play with fun and think for the whole team.

He is indeed a very confident player. He undoubtedly trusts himself, and all of us trust him. The spirit of his playing reminds me of Westbrook-of course, the technical characteristics of the two of them are very different, but his motivation is never exhausted. He only knows to move forward, forward, and forward again, just like selling batteries. The same Energizer Rabbit. He never looks tired and is everywhere on the court. Many times when you see his movements, you can’t help thinking: "This doesn’t seem to be part of the game plan?"

Then, he can complete a steal and make a counter-attack dunk. "Good shots, good shots" are left.

He is always moving,His game feels very good and reminds me a bit of Luka Doncic. They are obviously not a type of player, but Luca will always give you a feeling that he seems to be able to see the situation on the court at any time, and can always appear in the right position when grabbing rebounds or stealing the ball, while Ramello It also has similar capabilities. This can almost be equivalent to a skill or sixth sense, they always know where the ball should go.

He is a very good fast break initiator. He is comprehending when to attack by himself, when to throw a long pass and when to hold his footing. Now he has improved in these areas from the beginning of the season. As a point guard, you must learn how to drive the entire team and control everything that revolves around you. In this regard, I think there is no better example than Chris Paul. He has been doing these things, but his ability to drive the team is incredible. He knows when to launch a fast break, and when to stabilize the rhythm and look for better offensive opportunities.

But as a basketball player, it is always fun to play with a teammate who will not give up passing due to fear of mistakes. As long as it's the ball that should be passed, he will pass it even if it comes in. If you are doing air cutting or being in a vacant position, he will definitely look for you, and air cutting happens to be a technique that I rely on more heavily, so he helped me a lot. It is for this reason that I find it so fun to play with him.

I would say that his biggest advantage at the moment is his execution. This is not only about us teammates, but also about his own offense. Whether in the basket or outside the three-point line, he can keep himself in a balanced state. One of his strengths is that he can break into the penalty area as many times as he wants. His explosiveness is indeed very good, and his ball control is also extremely good. It doesn’t matter to him whose defense he faces, because he has the ability to get past all kinds of opponents and rush into the basket, and then create offensive opportunities, and this is what our team needs, and it is also a lot of NBA teams. They are all looking for it. Such players need to rush to the inside first, then attract help and trigger the rotation to create opportunities. Then, you have to make the right decision,For example, should he shoot or pass the ball, and this is where he does best. He has a good execution ability and is smart when breaking into the interior and pushing fast breaks.

I think the experience of playing abroad will definitely help him get his current basketball IQ. He has such talents at such a young age, and he is still the focus of public attention. These are obviously beneficial to his smooth adaptation to the NBA. Sometimes, young people entering the NBA have to face more spotlights, so they need a certain amount of time to adjust themselves, but you have never seen him feel any nervousness for this. I think playing abroad can learn a lot of things that you can't learn in your life in China. In addition, as mentioned earlier, he now also needs to learn some things that ordinary people understand in college, so he can be considered willing to have something to do with it.

He and everyone on this team are very willing to accept feedback from the outside world, for which I must offer my compliments. In our first game, Ramello's scoring dropped to zero. It is conceivable that he was also a little frustrated. I remember that I said a few words to him after the game similar to "Brother, forget about this game, let's look forward. You will be better. Everyone is here, there will be a lot of games afterwards, and you will also A lot of incredible performances. This is just a small problem." I think he must have listened. It turned out that this was really just a small problem-his performance on most nights afterwards was phenomenal.

He and the young people in the team have been constantly learning this season, and formed short-term memories at a speed that may be faster than any season before, because the games this season are too intensive. There is a game almost every other day until we are eliminated. From now on, our road is still long.