The pinnacle of the role player! Danny Green: No luxury stats, but he is the champion s "invisible puzzle"

In the NBA spotlight, people always like to discuss super talents, data and honors, but there is one type of players who deserve respect - they do not have top talents, but use their hard work and persistence to make "role players" the "standard match for champions".

Danny Green, this is the "perfect 3D template". The survival battle of the second round pick: Inadequate talent, I work hard to make up for the 2009 draft, 22-year-old Green was selected with the 46th pick in the second round. At that time, no one took this "American second round pick" seriously - he was mediocre, had no speed, no explosive power. In the NBA with a high talent, he was like a "little pebble" that would be eliminated at any time.

But Green knew: He was not talented enough, so he worked hard to get it. He arrived at the training ground earlier than anyone else and left at the latest; others practiced 100 three-pointers, and he practiced 200; defensive steps were over and over again to find details... Finally, Popovich noticed this young man who was "willing to do anything".

"I can play anywhere, and the coach needs me to do whatever the coach needs me to do." Green said to Popovich. This sentence became a turning point in his career - the Spurs gave him a chance, and he used 15 years to repay three teams and three championships.

13 Finals: Highlights and Regrets, writing about the helplessness of the character players

2013 Finals are the closest moment when Green is "super giant".

In the first five games, he was like a "three-point machine" - averaging 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1.6 shots per game, and broke the historical record by 25 three-pointers. Duncan 15+11, Parker 16+6, Leonard 12+10... The Spurs core data are stable, but Green's explosion makes him the "most eye-catching puzzle".

But fate played a cruel joke with him.

In the sixth game, the Heat said "no longer give Green a free spot", he made only 3 points for 1 of 7 shots; in the seventh game, he scored 5 points for 1 of 12 shots. In the last 1.9 seconds, the Spurs arranged tactics to make him shoot the final shot, but was blocked by Bosh - the Spurs lost their championship, and Green became the "Iron Forest" in the fans' words.

This is the helplessness of the character player: no matter how active you run and how accurate your tactical execution is, once your opponent is targeted to defend, your talent shortcomings will be infinitely magnified. Green's three-pointer was accurate, but he did not have the super giant's "strong shooting ability"; he was active in defense, but he could not withstand James' physical crush.

From "Tielin" to "Champion Standard": Three championships in 15 years, he is the most stable "invisible pillar"

The setbacks in 13 years did not defeat Green, but instead made him more clear about his positioning - be a good 3D player and be the most stable puzzle for the team.

In the Spurs, he played from substitute to starting and formed a "defensive iron triangle" with Duncan and Leonard: Duncan defended the frame, Leonard defended the single defense, Green made up the team, the Spurs' defensive efficiency was always among the top in the league;

Going to the Raptors, he became "the sword guard around Leonard", locked the Warriors' shooter group in the 19th finals, and helped the Raptors win the first championship;

Going to the Lakers, he was the "space guarantee" around James and Davis, with 40% of three-pointers in the 20th finals, helping the Lakers win the championship.

In 15, three teams and three championships - the Spurs have never won two consecutive championships, but Green has achieved "successive championships" (14, 19, 20).

His secret is very simple:

Defensive elasticity: 198cm height + 208cm wingspan, able to defend from 1 to 3, make up for the position actively, never "lazy";

Stable three-point shooting rate in career: 37.1% three-point shooting rate without the ball, accurate running position for the core;

Team first: Never grab the ball rights, the coach lets the run position and the defense is dead, "The team wins more than the data."

His story is more moving than "super giants", Green's career is not as powerful as "talent crushing", but it is full of footnotes of "work hard work":

When training, he arrives at the earliest and leaves the latest, and practices three-pointers to "muscle memory"; when defending, he always tries his best, and in the last 45 seconds of the 2013 finals, he chases James to destroy the fast break; accepts the role positioning, never say "I want to be the core", just say "I want to help the team win".

As he said: "I know I am not a talented player, but I can work harder than others. "

In the NBA, the talented player is of course worthy of applause, but players like Green who "talently try their best" are even more respectable - they use their actions to tell all young people who love basketball: It is not scary without talent, but what they are afraid of is to give up their efforts. The legend of the role player is also worth remembering the career of Danny Green. There is no MVP, no FMVP, and it is rarely even on the hot searches. But he is the "three-point surprise" of the Spurs, the Raptors' "defensive gate", and the Lakers' "space guarantee", and the "invisible pillar" of the three championship teams.

He has proved with 15 years that on the basketball court, hard work can fill the gap in talent; on the road of life, concentration and persistence can make ordinary people live a legend.