Yi Jianlian's Love in Phoenix (Photo)

Yi Jianlian's Love in Phoenix (Photo) Xie Chengyan At 7 pm on January 21, 2010, more than 160 Chinese people came to the home court of the Phoenix Suns, but they...

Yi Jianlian's Love in Phoenix (Photo) Xie Chengyan 2010 At 7 p.m. on January 21, more than 160 Chinese people came to the home court of the Phoenix Suns, but they were all cheering for Yi Jianlian of the visiting New Jersey Nets. During the training period, as soon as Yi Jianlian came on the court, the audience cheered: "Yi Jianlian, come on, Yi Jianlian, come on!" Many fans asked Yi Jianlian to take a picture. After several rounds of pitching training, Yi Jianlian readily agreed. Amid screams, fans took photos with Yi Jianlian holding the five-star red flag. In fact, as early as 2001, Yi Jianlian came to Phoenix for training with the national youth team, and also lived in the old overseas Chinese's home, so Yi Jianlian and Phoenix have a relationship that is rarely known. The Lao Qiao family who took care of Yi Jianlian back then was Zhang Qiaoping, the principal of Phoenix Hope Chinese School. After 9 years, Zhang Qiaoping came to the competition site to meet Yi Jianlian. As soon as he entered the stadium, Yi Jianlian's eyes were fixed behind the away dugout. Zhang Qiaoping told reporters present that he saw me. Yi Jianlian still calmly dribbles, shoots, and sits for pre-game practice. About ten minutes later, I saw him walking to the side of the field accompanied by the staff. A warm hug showed the affection between Yi Jianlian and this "mother". In front of Zhang's mother, Yi Jianlian still looked like a shy child, but Zhang's mother said distressedly: "Why are you so thin?" Because of the competition, Yi Jianlian didn't have much time to chat with Zhang's mother, but after the game, Yi Jianlian said that this was the biggest surprise for him in Phoenix. (Middle, Zhang Qiaoping, right, Yi Jianlian) During the competition, Zhang’s mother talked to reporters about some short stories from that year. Zhang's mother said that when she first heard that Yi Jianlian was coming, she thought athletes should be tall, so she prepared a king-size bed for Yi Jianlian at home, thinking it would be enough. However, it was not until Yi Jianlian was leaving their home that she discovered that most of the child's legs had to be placed outside the bed to sleep on the king-size bed. She did not expect the child to be so tall. But Yi Jianlian slept on such a bed for several nights without saying anything, he was very sensible. Another time, Zhang’s mother took Yi Jianlian out to buy a camera. When they arrived at the store, they didn’t know where the camera was. They were about to ask the salesperson where the camera display area was. Yi Jianlian immediately grabbed Zhang’s mother and said, “There, there.” Because this big kid’s height had already exceeded the various shelves, it was really a big help to see where the camera was placed at a glance. What was embarrassing was that I took Yi Jianlian to the Arizona Mall to buy clothes. I went around the whole mall, but couldn't buy his clothes. He was constantly being watched. How could he have such a tall child? This time to watch the competition, Zhang Qiaoping specially prepared a precious photo album for Yi Jianlian, including photos of Yi Jianlian at Zhang's mother's house when he was 13 years old, as well as Zhang's mother's family portrait now. Yi Jianlian said that he was very happy to meet Zhang’s mother this time. The happiest thing about coming to the United States was being able to speak Cantonese at Zhang’s mother’s house, just like at home. After leaving Phoenix City, Yi Jianlian gave his jersey to Zhang’s mother as a souvenir, and often wrote letters. Later, because he kept moving, the contact information of Zhang’s mother’s family was not lost, so he lost contact. Now they meet again, it’s great, he said that now we can contact her again. This lost and found love should be Yi Jianlian’s biggest gain from this trip to Phoenix. NBA games are still exciting, although the Nets lost 94-118 to the Suns in an away game and suffered a 9-game losing streak. Yi Jianlian made 5 of 10 shots, scored 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. His performance was remarkable. Shortly after the start of the second quarter, Yi Jianlian scored two goals and the Nets took the lead 35-34. The two teams were tied several times in the middle of this quarter. With 2 minutes and 56 seconds left in this quarter, Yi Jianlian made one of two free throws and the Nets went over again.