"Xiaoyao King" Gong Xiaobin is a basketball superstar that everyone is very familiar with. He is not only a representative of the "94 Golden Generation" of Chinese basketball, but also the strongest power forward in the history of Chinese men's basketball.

Speaking of the strongest power forward in the history of the Chinese men's basketball team, some fans may wonder, isn't Liu Yudong also very good? He also won the title of CBA's Most Valuable Player in 10 years.

Actually, Liu Yudong did have much more honors in the CBA than Gong Xiaobin, but that was when he was in the powerful Bayi team with four or five national team-mates around him. The Bayi team at that time was the only team in the country. All-powerful has received many honors.

In a word, Liu Yudong's honors are mostly due to the overall strength of the Bayi team. Liu Yudong, in fact, is similar to Mount Everest. He only appears to be powerful because of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as the platform of the Bayi Team.

Although Liu Yudong had good domestic statistics at that time, his performance in the international arena was very average. Because when he entered the international arena, his shortcomings of slow movement were fully exposed, and he was often caught and beaten by his opponents.

At his peak, Gong Xiaobin was not only the strongest power forward in China, but also the unbeatable player in Asia. As the old rival of the Chinese men's basketball team in Asia, the Chinese player that the Korean men's basketball team was most afraid of at that time was Gong Xiaobin.

Former Chinese men’s basketball coach Wang Fei once said that the person Koreans fear most is Gong Xiaobin.

Gong Xiaobin’s mentor Ye Peng also broke the news that Koreans were so scared that they couldn’t sit still when they saw Gong Xiaobin holding the ball.

During the Hiroshima Asian Games, the then Chinese men's basketball coach Jiang Xingquan once put Gong Xiaobin on the bench because of a conflict with Gong Xiaobin. As a result, the South Korean team quickly took the initiative on the court.

In desperation, Jiang Xingquan had to send Gong Xiaobin to play. Gong Xiaobin also showed his heroic qualities, scoring 15 points in 14 minutes after coming on the court, directly destroying the Korean team's arrogance.

Even so, Gong Xiaobin still has potential that has not yet been realized. Because, he usually doesn't train at all. In his own words, no matter how hard he trains, he can't go to the NBA. Even if you don't train, you will still beat these Asian opponents, so why train!

The then Shandong men’s basketball coach Ye Peng also agreed with Gong Xiaobin’s statement.

Ye Peng once said that there are three people in the Chinese men's basketball team who are the same whether they practice or not. They are Gong Xiaobin, Hu Weidong and Sun Jun. This does not mean that they do not train, but that they naturally achieve the level of skills that others can achieve through years of hard practice.

How strong Gong Xiaobin was back then can also be seen from his experience back then.

In the Chinese basketball world at that time, the phenomenon of seniority was very serious. However, Gong Xiaobin relied on his extraordinary talent and was selected for the Chinese Men's Basketball Team when he was only 20 years old.

In both the 1991 Asian Games and the 1992 Asian Championships, Gong Xiaobin led the Chinese men's basketball team to win the final championship. In the 1994 World Men's Basketball Championship, Gong Xiaobin led the Chinese men's basketball team to eighth place. He himself was praised by foreign media as "Asia's most powerful forward" due to his outstanding performance.

In sharp contrast, Liu Yudong, who was touted by domestic media and fans as "the number one superstar in the domestic league" at the time, could only always serve as a substitute for Gong Xiaobin in the Chinese men's basketball team.

One of the reasons why Gong Xiaobin is known as the "Xiaoyao King" is because he is handsome. He was the only idol star in Chinese basketball in the 1990s who could attract a large number of female fans to watch the game.

Another reason is that his inside skills are very good, his movements around the basket are unpredictable, beautiful and practical, and he is a role model for many basketball stars to imitate.

Wang Zhizhi was known for his outstanding skills at the basket. His skills at the basket even made Yao Ming despair.

In fact, Wang Zhizhi’s skills at the basket are the same as those of Gong Xiaobin.

Wang Zhizhi broke the news in an interview that year: "When I was in the national team, Gong Luming took me to practice and asked me to play with Gong Xiaobin. Many of my footwork skills were also learned from Gong Xiaobin. I learned it. At that time, Gong Xiaobin didn't want to fight with me, so Coach Gong said, "If we push you, or if we pull you, you have to fight with him." So, after practice every day, I would fight with Gong Xiaobin. One by one, I learned a lot of techniques secretly.

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In order to commend Gong Xiaobin for his great contribution to the Chinese men's basketball team, he was awarded the "New China Basketball Outstanding Contribution Award" in 1999.

To this day, Gong Xiaobin is still very special in the Chinese basketball world.

For example, he often greets referees who make unfair decisions in CBA games, but few referees dare to call him technical fouls in CBA. The great coach, only Gong Xiaobin can achieve this kind of deterrence.