致敬“国产诺维茨基”郑准退役，广州龙狮最后一战为其奉上退役球衣

在NBA,whenaplayerisloyaltoateam,it'sreferredtoas"onecity,oneperson."SowhyisZhengZhun,China'sveryown"DirkNowitzki,"called"oneplayer,oneteam"?ThisisbecausetheGuangzhouLoongLionshavebeenthroughthreedifferentcities,formerlyknownasShanxiEastBulls,thenFoshanLongLions,beforesettlinginGuangzhou.Duringthefinalgameoftheseason,theGuangzhouLoongLionsretiredZhengZhun'sjersey,markingtheendofanerafortheCBAwithoutits"ChineseDirkNowitzki."

ZhengZhunrosetofameatayoungage.In2005,duringanAdidas"RisingStars"trainingcampheldinShanghai,thefrail7'0''teenagerfromShuangyashan,Heilongjiang,capturedtheattentionofbasketballlegendKareemAbdul-Jabbar.Abdul-Jabbarbelievedthatwithpropertraining,ZhengZhuncouldsurelymakeittotheNBA.TheOklahomaCityThunderevenofferedtocoverhisfulltrainingexpensesforthreeyearsduetohisexceptionaltalent,buttheShanxiEastBullsdeclinedthegenerousoffer.

Inthe2008-2009season,theShanxiEastBullspromotedthe16-year-oldZhengZhuntotheCBAstage.Priortothatseason,ZhengZhun,likemanyplayers,wasembroiledinanagecontroversy.HisofficialbirthyearontheShanxiteamwebsitewaslistedas1989,whileininternationalyouthtournaments,itwasrecordedas1992.

Duringhisrookieseason,ZhengZhunplayed11gamesfortheShanxiEastBulls,averaging4.5pointsand2.4rebounds.Atthattime,hehadnotyetdevelopedhisshootingabilitiesakintoDirkNowitzki.OnMarch20,2009,intheseasonfinaleagainstJiangsu,hescoredhisseason-highof23pointsand5rebounds.Thatseason,theShanxiEastBullsfinishedfourthintheregularseasonstandingswitharecordof30winsand20losses,facingthefifth-seededDongguanLeopardsinthefirstround.

MovingintohissecondseasonwithShanxi,ZhengZhunwasgroomedasakeyplayer,startingin21outof25gameswithanaverageplayingtimeof36.4minutes,receivingthetreatmentofamainstayplayer.Hisstatsimprovedto12.7pointsand6reboundspergame.Withoutstandingperformances,ZhengZhunearnedhisfirstandonlyAll-Starselectionofhisprofessionalcareer.

Followingtheteam'srelocationtoFoshaninthesubsequentseason,renamedastheFoshanLongLions,theteam'slacklusterperformanceovertheyearskeptthemoutoftheplayoffs.Despitetheteam'sstruggles,ZhengZhunhonedhisshootingskillsakintoDirkNowitzki;inthe2016-2017season,histhree-pointshootingpercentageexceeded40%.

Inthe2017-2018season,theGuangzhouLoongLionsfinallymadetheplayoffsagainwiththehelpoftheirforeignimports.However,duetothedominanceoftheoverseasplayers,ZhengZhun'splayingtimeduringtheregularseasonwaslimitedto14.8minutes,averaging6.3pointswithathree-pointshootingpercentageof37.5%.Thatyear,Guangzhou'sdomesticplayersalsoshined,featuringsteadyveteranslikeZhengZhun,alongwithrisingstarslikeJuMingxin,ZhuXuhang,andpromisingtalentFanZiming.Yet,theywereeliminatedoncemoreintheplayoffs,sweptasidebytheDongguanLeopards.

HavingendurednumerousinjuriesthroughouthisCBAcareer,ZhengZhunsharpenedhisshootingskills,earninghimthenickname"HumanCannon."Hisaccuracywassoimpeccablethatopponentscouldonlyhopeforhisshotstomiss.Inthe2020-2021season,undertheguidanceofcoachGuoShiqianginGuangzhou,ZhengZhunbecameakeycontributoroffthebench.Despiteaveragingonly20.1minutes,9.1points,4.2rebounds,and0.7assistspergame,heachievedtheprestigious"180Club,"withshootingpercentagesof52.7%fromthefield,47.1%frombeyondthearc,andanexceptionalfreethrowpercentageof92.5%,leavingevencurrentnationalteamplayersinawe.

AsZhengZhundecidestoretire,hisskillandcharacterhavegarneredpraisefromprominentfigureslikeXiRuliang,theexactingheadcoachoftheNanjingTongxiteam,whobelievesthatZhengZhunexemplifieseverythingtheirteamvalues,makinghimdeservingofthejerseyretirementceremony.