[Old General Record] The most special old general in the Holy City Spurs!

"I still have a bullet in my gun!"

This sentence comes from Spurs forward Sean Elliott.

Time returns to the second game of the Western Conference Final on May 31, 1999, and the Spurs, who played at home, faced the young Western Conference Power Blazers. The Trail Blazers led the way in the game, and the Spurs even trailed by as much as 18 points in the second half, but in the end the Spurs actually caught up to a two-point gap 12 seconds before the final game. After the timeout, Spurs forward Sean Elliott, who is about to appear, said this very classic line to his teammate Mario Elli, who is serving the out-of-bounds ball.

And before the timeout, Elliott had already made 5 of 6 from outside the three-point line. Although the tactic at that time was designed for center David Robinson, Mario Elli, who served, saw Elliott in the bottom corner and then chose to pass the ball.

The defender Stacey Ogmon, who followed closely, forced Ellie to pass slightly, and then Elliot barely saved the basketball, but his heel was close to the sideline. Then he turned around and threw the ball. At this time, Rashid Wallace, the defender, also rushed over, and the basketball shot from Elliot, crossed Wallace's defense and fell straight into the Nets. After the ball entered, the whole audience cheered. This was the first time the Spurs took the lead in the game, and the Spurs finally took away the victory.

Judging from the low score style of the 1990s, the winner was basically decided by 18 points behind. However, the Spurs finally crawled back from the brink of death. In the end, the Spurs swept the Trail Blazers 4-0 to advance, and finally returned to the first championship in team history.

For Elliott's key shot, because the day coincided with the US Memorial Day, this round was also called the "Memorial Day Miracle" among fans, and eventually became an indelible picture in the history of the Spurs.

However, before this, fans almost missed the opportunity to see this "Anniversary Miracle". Elliott, who was 31 years old at the time, was a Spurs' starting lineup, but he had been affected by injuries in the past two years. He played less than 39 games in two consecutive seasons, and in the 1997-98 season, he averaged 9.3 points per game in his career. Behind the injury, he was even more sick with the hidden danger of kidney transplantation and finally shot this key miracle ball.

Looking back at this No. 32 Spurs legend, he was once a highly anticipated all-around forward when he first joined the Spurs. He accompanied the Spurs from the trough in the late 1980s, accompanied the Spurs through the entire 1990s and then finally won the championship in 1999.

Back in 1989, the Spurs ended the worst season in team history with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses, and then welcomed Admiral David Robinson to join, and then selected Sean Elliott with a 3-win draw in the draft.

As a talented player in the United States that year, Elliott was the first high school player in the city to be selected for the McDonald's Star Game in the United States. After joining the University of Arizona, he was selected for the first-team All-American team for two consecutive years. In 1988, he led the team to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in the history of the team. As of now, he is still the scoring champion in Arizona's history, and his No. 32 jersey has also been retired. Elliott, who became famous as a teenager, once had the chance to win the No. 1 pick in the 1989 draft, but the Kings and the Clippers, who were in the top pick at the time, wanted to strengthen the penalty area, and the Spurs, who held the third pick, chose Elliott. Therefore, David Robinson, the No. 1 pick in 1987, and partnered with Elliott, the 1989 Tsanghualang, became the best duo in the memory of the Spurs in the 1990s. The Spurs, who successfully drafted, improved to 56 wins and 26 losses in the first year, and directly entered the second round of the Western Conference, eventually losing to the later Western Conference champion Trail Blazers. At that time, the Spurs had a group of good players including general Robinson, star forward Terry Cummings, swingman Willy Anderson, who was selected for the first team of the Rookie of the previous year, and talented point guard Rhode Strickland, and other good players, while newcomer Elliott scored 10 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, ended the rookie year and was successfully selected for the second team of the Rookie of the All-Rookie.

In the following season, Elliott gradually improved, playing all the games in the second and third seasons, and his scoring data improved to 16.3 points. Although he missed 12 games due to injury in the 1992-93 season, he had basically secured the second place in the team and was also included in the All-Star roster.

From the perspective of the style of the game, Elliot is a very popular all-round swingman type in the 1990s. His standard forward figure and soft outside projection can not only connect and open space but also hold the ball to attack the basket. While his offense is stable, his defensive skills are also online. Judging from the team's status, Elliott is completely the key to the Spurs' rise in the early 1990s.

From the perspective of that time, Elliott would basically be the Spurs' stable starter, but he also has his own shortcomings. He doesn't seem to have the kind of killer nature to be a final hit. He is often invisible when the team needs him to stand up, which makes it difficult for the team's main player David Robinson to take on the offense and defense alone.

Considering this part, the Spurs finally chose to send the fans' favorite small forward to Detroit before the 1993-94 season in exchange for rebounding champion Rodman.

Eliot, who came to the Auto City, soon experienced serious disagreement, and his average score fell to 12.1 points, and his three-point shooting percentage fell below 30%. What's more, after the end of last season, Elliott learned that he had chronic kidney disease and he needed to take medication at all times to control his condition. However, the side effects of the drug and kidney insufficiency caused his body to be swelling, and some negative news criticizing his body's loss of control have also begun to appear in the outside world.. In this situation, no one does not admire this fighter, but everyone is also confused. Elliot has been in the league for more than ten years, and the high salary he has accumulated in the past is enough to live. He has been selected as an All-Star and has a champion in hand. Why do he insist on returning to the league?

For this question, no one except himself may be able to answer accurately. On March 14, 2000, seven months after the operation, Elliott came back, and a few big words were typified above the stadium: "He is back!" During the pre-match introduction, Elliott, who appeared as the starter, received applause from the audience, and even the opponent's players stood up and applauded to pay tribute to this historic moment.

Alliot only played 12 minutes on the game and scored only one goal, judging from the scoring process, Elliot dribbled through the defense after undergoing kidney transplant surgery, and then staged a signature dunk.

Relying on this ball, Elliott also wrote history, becoming the first athlete in the history of professional sports to return to the court after an organ transplant. He then made 19 games in the 1999-00 season, starting every game, averaging 20.6 minutes per game, and handed over 6 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Then Elliot played another season, playing 54 games, averaging 23.6 minutes per game, handing out 7.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists, and a career-best three-point shooting percentage of 42.6%. The Spurs ranked first in the league that year, but in the end they lost to the Lakers led by OK in the West. After the end of the season, considering his age, physical fitness and injuries, Elliot finally decided to retire and ended his 12-year NBA career.

On March 6, 2005, Elliot's No. 32 jersey was hung over the Spurs Arena. At the jersey retirement ceremony, Elliot told the legendary journey between himself and the Spurs:

"This is a day of gratitude and humility. When I came to San Antonio 15 years ago, I never thought that my number would be hung high with George Gervine and David Robinson. It was honored, but more importantly, I want to thank my family, teammates who fought side by side, coaches, and of course all the fans present for the wonderful memories brought by this. "

To this day, in the history of the Spurs' legendary team, more and more superstars are remembered, but no matter how many people appear, no matter how many fans come and go, for Sean Elliott, he is always the most special old player color in the memory of the Silver Black Legion.