What does youth mean? Unlimited energy, drive, passion, ambition, and high-spirited determination. Unlimited potential, reverie, vigor, vision, and a visible or invisible future.
The 2021-2022 season has come to a successful conclusion, and the league structure this season can be described as completely new. Some teams went high and low, and even failed to make the playoffs in the end; some teams broke down and finally won the long-lost championship. And the Spurs this season has brought us enough surprises. After DeRozan, Mills, Gay and other veterans have left the team, the Spurs don’t even have a player over 30 years old. I remember that at the beginning of the season, the Spurs who lost all their veterans were generally considered to be one of the last teams in the entire NBA this season, and the Spurs also fell to the bottom of the Western Conference at the beginning of the season, as fans predicted. But when the “sloppy” voices from the fans were everywhere, the Spurs once again slapped many fans in the face. After the All-Star Game, the Spurs reached the top ten in the Western Conference with a stellar record, and finally reached the playoffs as the tenth in the Western Conference. Although the team lost to the more talented Pelicans in the play-offs, the team fought to the last moment in the game, and we can see the toughness and daring spirit of this group of young people.
Facing the powerful Jazz, a Jedi reversal game made Popovich the number one coach in history. The Spurs finally welcomed their first All-Star after GDP and Leonard. This little guy who stood behind his big buddies and was dubbed “Prince” by fans has now grown into the face of the Spurs. In the sixth year of his career, he has become the triple-double king in team history and the league’s Steal king. He averaged 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 2 steals per game. He was selected as an All-Star, and took over the scepter in the hands of legendary predecessors such as GDP.
It’s hard to imagine what that means. Who remembers the 2016-2017 Western Conference finals, when that kick that changed the fate of the Spurs in the future happened, Murray was just an underrated rookie on the team. As a point guard, he was even beaten by Patrick Beverley. The defense was unable to dribble over halftime; who remembers, in the post-Shuangde era, when DeRozan led the team to fight for the play-off spot in the Bubble Park, Murray was angered by fans for his poor performance on the spot. value of the contract signed. And now, six years later, Murray has grown from a rookie to an All-Star. If someone predicted six years ago that Murray would be an All-Star, not many would have believed it.
But isn’t that what youth is all about? Unlimited potential, reverie and future. Similarly, we cannot predict how KJ, Vassell, Walker, Jones, Primo and others will develop in the future, and they have all delivered good answers this season. Either enrich the offensive means, or become more stable, or become a new big heart. Maybe in the future, they can also enter the All-Star and even the best team to restore the glory of the Spurs.
This is a youth storm. How long has it been since I saw such a scene in the Spurs? Maybe twenty years. With the passage of time, we have finally seen that after the GDP era, the Leonard era, and the Shuangde era, a new era is gradually being born. Maybe you can call him youth, the Spurs no longer have veteran players, replaced by young players who dare to fight. Maybe the team record is not ideal, but it does not prevent us from loving him. Because what we care most about is not victory or defeat, but the appearance of youth, the spirit of fighting with love and daring to win and perseverance. The storm has come, and the future Spurs will open up a new scene under the leadership of these young people.
Comments