(The original text was published on September 8, and the content of the article was Tim Hardaway, who was elected to the Hall of Fame this year.) Basketball saved my life. No passion, no hobby, that is my refuge. Basketball really saved my life. You can’t imagine what life was like in southern Chicago in the 1970 s unless you have experienced it yourself. Gangs are everywhere, drugs are everywhere. We lived near South Coast park at that time, just between the two biggest gangs in the city-EI Rukns and Black Gangster Disciples. You won’t have a hiding place. There are gangsters recruiting you in every corner of the city. They will provide you with a job opportunity that you can’t refuse. Do you understand what I mean? I tell people that living in the south of Chicago, the first thing mom teaches her children is not to know English letters, but to be cautious in words and deeds, because you may be killed anytime and anywhere. From a very young age, you need to learn how to survive and keep a clear mind all the time. You have to learn how to run to the bus station. What if you find 4 people staying at the corner when you arrive at the station? Oh, hell, you have to wait until the next stop to get off, because you already know what will happen when you get off. “Hey kid, who did you come? Which gang do you belong? Where is your mother? Where do you live?” You can choose to escape, but some things can’t be avoided. The next day, there may be 6 people waiting for you. Every minute and every second, you are fighting psychological warfare. You have to make strategic plans for the route home and the route to school. I was worried all day long and could even feel a plop in my stomach. This will affect your health, not only physically but also mentally. I remember that until I entered NBA, my friends always laughed at my habitual nail biting, as if I were still a child. I used to go to manicure, because I always bite my nails a little. In fact, I can’t get rid of the tension in my life and have never felt comfortable. The only safe place and the only place where I can be a child at ease is the park. The park is a paradise. No one bully you in the park. Those people will leave all the problems at the gate of the park to solve. The park is sacred. I remember that I used to have a bicycle with no cushion on it. I would stuff the basketball into the bicycle basket. By the way, I took two nets and rode to the park early in the morning. There was no one at that time. I will climb basketball stand, put the net on ball-holding basket, and start fighting one-on-one bullfighting with myself. I don’t need the meta-universe, I can imagine everything myself. Isea Thomas will defend me like a rabid dog, tenacious, cold-blooded, and frantically provoke me. I used to be very strict with myself, and the action of attacking the restricted area was too large. I would also punish myself for attacking foul. In my opinion, ISEA-Thomas will not be fooled by my fake actions. Only when everything is perfect can I score on his head. I will play like this in the park for several hours until someone gradually appears. In this way, I always compete with my imaginary opponent. I am short, which always makes me angry. Without using the internet, I can find people who hate me in real life and feel that everyone is targeting me. “Save it, little short, get out, you can’t mix with people.” I took these sounds as the driving force for moving forward, and began to bring a basketball to transport everywhere. Every step I took, I had to let the ball pass between my legs. At 6 o’clock in the morning, my mother wanted to drink some milk before going to work. I would go to the store on the corner to buy it and bring a basketball. Over time, my fengshui ball became more and more skilled. One day on my way to the park on fengshui ball, I met an older guy who said to me, “I’ll bet you a dollar a block. If you lose fengshui ball, you’ll owe me a dollar, if it doesn’t drop, I owe you one dollar.” You know, there were still 7 blocks left from the park, with obstacles everywhere. There are cars, buses, garbage cans, gangsters, old women and pedestrians, cracks in sidewalks, parking cones and so on. All these obstacles will make you lose the ball. But my stubborn temper didn’t recognize evil, and I said, “OK, one dollar a block, let’s go.” Later, we bet like this every day. Sometimes I can earn two dollars and sometimes I lose three dollars. Sometimes there will be a group of people walking along these blocks with me, a car will honk at me, some will cheer for me, and of course there are all kinds of people who try to distract me. Hey, brother, look at that girl over there!” I remember an old man sitting in front of the porch shouted at me when he saw me walking past him fengshui ball: “Go, little short! I saw you! Give them some color to see! I noticed you, little short!” No matter what happens, I should concentrate on fengshui ball and not be distracted or scared. So now whenever someone comes to me and asks me, how did you invent the “killer crossover”? How did you think of this action? Where did the inspiration come from? I will feel very interesting. The inspiration of “killer cross change” comes from southern Chicago, yes! Everyone knows that Tim Hardaway is a guy who likes to spit rubbish when he comes out to beat his mother, but to be honest, I am the biggest “mother’s KL” you have ever seen “. I will never forget that when I went to UTEP to play college basketball at the University of Texas Ale Paso (UTEP), they only allowed the players to call home once a week from the sports office. At that time, the long-distance telephone bill was very expensive, so every Sunday, people who wanted to call their families lined up. One day I called my mother to chat. There were 4 or 5 people standing behind, so I listened to my call and waited for their turn. After receiving the call, my mother asked me, “Are you okay? Baby! How about eating? How is the coach? How was your study? Oh, they are all good!” After about 10 minutes, I said, “Okay, Mom, I have to go. I will miss you. Goodbye.” I was going to hang up the phone in such a hurry. When I was about to hang up, my mother said, “No, no, you still have nothing to say.” So, I muttered, “Okay, Mom, Love Tiger Oil, bye-bye!” She said, “No, no, I can’t hear clearly.” I repeated again vaguely: “Love Tiger Oil.” She said to me, “son, just say it seriously.” This time I said goodbye: “Mom, I will miss you. I love you, Mu.” However, I gave her a kiss. I hung up the phone and turned around. All the cold-blooded guys behind me laughed off their big teeth. I couldn’t control my temper at all, so I directly ignored them. I said, “What are you laughing? Don’t you love your mother? Are you crazy?” Everyone was confused. Seeing their reaction like this, I became more energetic, directly sticking to their faces. I said, “Yes, look at me and answer me, don’t you love your mother? Is that what you mean? That woman brought you to this world and protected you to grow up. What did I do wrong? What kind of disease are you doing?” The scene at that time was so quiet that even a needle could be heard in the place. After the meeting, they said, “Damn it, Tim, you are right, we are sorry!” Do you know what happened next weekend? When we walked into the sports office, everyone called mom and said, “I Miss You, Mom, I love you!” I shouted, “Hey, add a kiss!” “Hey, bye, Mom.” Hahahaha, to be honest, I let the players of the whole college basketball team learn to express their love for my mother, where every Sunday is Mother’s Day. Everyone needs brothers and friends. You can’t even survive in the world without them. Many people have been supporting me silently, and they are all names you don’t know. Donald Pitman took me to skip class to see ISEA Thomas in the city championship. Bob Walters let me live in his house before the important competition, so as to stay away from negative emotions and pressure from my peers. Laomo bet me a free throw of 5 dollars. Vernaduo Parker is my old enemy in the park. All those guys standing on the corner could have come to bully me, but my brothers would tell them, “Hey, that’s Tim Hardaway, stay away from him.” There was also Dan Ryan, the security guard of the McDonald’s store on 87th Street. Once I was caught by others because I said something wrong. He locked the door of the store and saved my life. I will never forget that guy rushed into the parking lot, opened the trunk, looked down for canakin tear gas, and scream: “Come and help! Call the police quickly!!!” If this security guard can see these words of mine, I want to say to him, I’m sorry brother, thank you for helping me and locking the door. Children are always ignorant, and they will inevitably do stupid things, even children like me who are always sober. Without those brothers and friends who helped me, I am could not have a chance to get ahead. I will never forget those old ones in the park. They always tell me, “little short, if you get the chance, don’t screw it up, so we can be proud of you.” For a long time, their voices echoed in my mind, “If you get the chance…… If you get the chance……” The harder the road is, the sweeter the destination will be. After playing for four years at UTEP, Ale University of Texas, I got the chance to join the warrior. I remember there was a game going to the Great Western Forum Stadium (the Lakers’ home court from 1967to 1999) to face the Lakers. Before the game, I sat in the dressing room and told myself not to be nervous and calm down, and just be yourself. During the pre-competition photo session, fans crowded in the first row, and then I saw Jack Nicholson (famous American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter), and Janet Jackson (American pop female singer, film and television actors). I couldn’t keep calm at first. My legs were shaking when I warmed up the jump shot before the competition. At the stage of singing the national anthem, I saw Magic Johnson and “Cobra” James wosi again, and I was even more unable to control the trembling of my whole body. Janet Jackson depends on my free throw…… As soon as the first half of the game was played, coach Don Nelson called a pause and pulled me aside to question me: “Hardaway!!! What are you doing?” I looked at the coach’s eyes and showed a trance, as if to say: coach, do you know where we play??? Have you seen Magic Johnson? There he is!!! But I didn’t say a word. I just lowered my head, like: Coach, you’re right, I screwed up…… Thankfully, coach Nelson let me play in the second quarter, so I refreshed myself. But at the thought that I had fengshui ball half-time in the Great Western Forum Stadium, Johnson, a smiling magician, stood opposite me and looked at me, a rookie rookie, still couldn’t help getting goose bumps. Magic Johnson is defending Tim Hardaway! This time is not my imagination, it feels like I have come to heaven. Glory, when you are selected into the Hall of Fame, you will always be asked what glory moment you have had. People hope that you can summarize 20-30 years in one sentence. I’m sorry, I can’t do it. When people see my photos in the Hall of Fame, they may think of the comprehensive data that I cut 38 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 5 steals in the 7th world war against the Knicks in the playoffs in 1997, beat those New Yorkers home crying one by one. Maybe I will think of my killer cross direction, or “UTEP two steps” cross pass. Maybe people will think of one of my more than 7,000 assists in my career…… Dude, I really don’t know what people will think. But if a child from southern Chicago wants people to remember something, I want people to remember that I have become more mature. I remembered that in 2007, I said something that deeply hurt many people. At that time, I was interviewed by the radio station. John armic (former NBA professional player) just came out to the public. I was asked about this matter. I said, “I hate homosexuality. I don’t like staying with them.” The worst thing was that I really thought so at that time. But this is wrong, no matter in the past or now. This aversion comes from ignorance. When I was young, I was afraid of everything. I regarded it as a threat to anyone I didn’t know or something different from me. Since I was young, I have thought homosexuality is a dangerous person, and I have never questioned whether this view is right or wrong. When I was an adult, I should have opened my heart and kept pace with the times, but I didn’t. This is my problem. I deeply love my community. If I can do something for the community, it is to educate young people how to treat homosexual people. I will admit frankly that I used to be a person who was full of fear and stubborn about homosexuality. Even if you try to become a better person later, it is difficult to change your inherent concept. What really changed my life was that I started to go to YES College in Miami and learned about the children there. They work with many transgender children and their parents, trying to close their relationship when there is a dispute over the parent-child relationship. Many children’s parents are my generation, and they don’t understand their inner thoughts. I still remember what those transsexual children said, “I just want to get rid of the fear and live……” Hearing what the children said, I began to choke, which suddenly pushed down the high wall standing in my heart for many years. If my growth process is similar to these children, it is to live in fear all the time. I began to spend three hours a day there, listening to the stories of these children. What resonated me most was a child who said, “I can face the bullying of my peers, I can solve this problem. But I really need the support of my parents. I need them to love me.” Dude, if you still hate these children when you hear them, then there must be something wrong with you. I realized how heavy many words I said in the past were for them and how much unnecessary pain they brought. Everything I do now is paying back the debts I once owed. I owe the children and the gay people. I don’t want to deny the past or make excuses for myself. I just want to be better every day. Finally, when the spotlight briefly shines on this child from southern Chicago, I just want to say one thing…… I am very lucky. Basketball saved my life. It helped me get rid of poverty and took me around the world. For this, I will always be grateful. For a long time in the past, my world was very, very small. Out of fear, everything I did had a clear purpose. But I still have a bigger vision and a bigger goal. What is the glory of Tim Hardaway? How will he be remembered? He is a guy who likes to spit rubbish when he comes out of the womb. He once crept through the alley where the gangs gathered. He climbed up the basketball stand and loaded the basketable nets into the ball-holding basket, every day he imagines himself and himself alone…… He left the south of Chicago and competed with Magic Johnson, beating the Knicks fans to cry…… The little sized man gave 7000 assists in NBA. He made everyone notice himself, just like the old man sitting in front of the porch said…… But in the final analysis, the pattern of these glory is still small. If the pattern is bigger, I hope Tim Hardaway’s glory is that he has done one of the most difficult things for a man…… He has really become mature. Original: Tim Hardaway Sr. Compile: Li Taibai ********************* Player autographed
