The most intense clash in men's basketball history! Do you truly know the origin of Zhu's eight punches?

Recently, it seems that playing basketball here often shifts into boxing, which is indeed an eye-catching trend.

A couple of days ago, Weems also took part.

I saw many fans asking under Zhu Fangyu’s social media when the GM would join...

Some interesting comments included but were not limited to:

“Come watch the only happiness a team general manager has after work, signing up to fight!”

“It used to be happiness that brought people together, now it’s fighting that does, right?”

In recent years, as Zhu Fangyu’s personal social media grew, his related videos from back then have been widely shared.

“Zhu’s eight punches” and “combination punches” are frequently mentioned, highly recognizable basketball memes, and a major label for Zhu Fangyu.

However, if I ask:Do you really understand the full story behind Zhu’s eight punches?

Many young fans actually don’t know; they’ve only seen that one sequence but don’t understand the context.

Even some older fans may have forgotten.

Since it’s the holiday and basketball off-season, let’s have a recap from Di Ge.

One thing must be said first:Fighting on the basketball court is wrong; we must oppose violence in sports, and Zhu Fangyu was punished back then.

Let’s go back to 2010.

Everyone remembers the Chinese men’s basketball team winning gold at the Guangzhou Asian Games that year, then the players hung the gold medals around the legendary Wang Zhizhi’s neck and bowed to him on the podium, right?

That was already 15 years ago.

And “Zhu’s eight punches” also happened 15 years ago.

At that time, the Chinese men’s basketball team often played warm-up games during summer, like the famous Stankovic Cup.

In 2010, to prepare for the Asian Games, the Chinese team specially invited the Brazilian team to China for the “China-Brazil International Men’s Basketball Warm-up Match.”

It wasn’t the official Brazilian national team—no Valecio or Barbosa—more like a local club using the Brazil name.

It was a rare visit, and they played more than one game.

On October 12, during the third match in Xuchang, Henan, a fierce conflict broke out between players, escalating into a brawl.

Many only know Zhu Fangyu’s combination punches but not why he used his “secret technique.”

There was a big buildup: the game started with a lot of tension.

Just 25 seconds in, Zhang Qingpeng, who had played well in the previous two games, was knocked down under the basket by an opposing defender, hitting his head and staying down, but the referee called a blocking foul on Zhang Qingpeng.

So the referee’s control of the game was also a factor.

The first to ignite was China’s head coach Deng Huade.

Old Deng, a very distinctive coach in Chinese men’s basketball history.

He was a coach who liked to use words to fire up emotions, with many classic quotes:

“Today, you must fight like wild dogs!”

“Are you men or women, or just cowards?”

On the sidelines, the word he said most was “fuck.” So, after his players were bullied, he angrily smashed the scorer’s table.

“This is basketball! They’re too dirty! This is my bottom line; players can’t get hurt!”

Once the coach’s emotions flared, the game changed tone.

Later, Zhu Fangyu was fouled by a Brazilian player during a box-out. But actually, the first “fight” started with Ding Jinhui.

Then came the classic: Zhu Fangyu’s rapid, continuous punches described by netizens as “a set of combination punches.”

As for the fight itself, everyone has probably watched it a thousand times.

Let me share two small stories or details:

1. According to Zhu Fangyu’s later recollection, his anger was mainly aimed at the player who caused Zhang Qingpeng’s injury, but in the chaos, he may have mistakenly hit other Brazilian players.

In short, he hit the wrong person.

2. The reason the brawl was so notorious was because it happened twice.

After Zhu Fangyu’s combination punches, the game obviously couldn’t continue. The Brazilian team decided to withdraw, but when some players passed by the Chinese bench, they threw hostile looks.

At this moment, who “stood up”?

It was still Ding Jinhui.

A name familiar to old fans, the 13th man on China’s 2008 men’s basketball team, unfortunately retired at 27 due to injury.

Ding Jinhui’s nickname was “Bulldog.”

As he left, seeing the opponents cursing, the Bulldog started fighting again...

In the second group fight, who was the strongest?

“Big Bus Parking Lot,” Su Wei.

In the end, Deng Huade and his players paid the price for the brawl.

But 15 years later, looking back at Zhu Fangyu, Ding Jinhui, Su Wei, Zhang Zhaoxu, Zhang Bo, Zhou Peng, Sun Yue, Yu Shulong...

This group of athletes, under “Roaring Deng’s” inspiration, were truly not to be messed with.

No matter how many coaches the Chinese men’s basketball team changes in the future, I will always remember the name Deng Huade in my life.

At that time, he didn’t have Yao Ming under him, but he had 12 warriors willing to fight until they were completely exhausted.

Today, when we talk about “Zhu’s eight punches,” I want to say a few final words.

Nowadays on the internet, many people mindlessly play memes.

The thing Zhu Fangyu is asked about most is that classic combination punch sequence.

But in fact, defining this great small forward in Chinese men’s basketball history only by “Zhu’s eight punches” and “drinking” is really unfair.

He shouldn’t be remembered by young fans, and future younger fans, just by this image.His three-point shooting is something the current Chinese men’s basketball team lacks.

I believe it won’t be long before Zhu Ba will be speaking at the Chinese Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

When that happens, let’s listen to him tell the story of 2010 himself...