From NCAA superstar to uncontrollable NBA player
There is a universe out there Michael Beasley, 34 was an ideal first-round pick today. Tall and athletic basketball player, mobile and agile for his size, versatile and flexible. One of the best freshmen in NCAA history. A double-double machine at Kansas State who finished his only college season with 26 points and 12 rebounds per game. A prodigy since high school Kevin DurantHe was voted the best starter of the year just weeks before the 2008 draft. This universe is ours.
Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley: Two sides of the same coin
‘B-EASY’ was on another planet. Far and away the best HS player in the country (in 2007) dominated as few players before and after him. ‘Easy’ because it is very easy. Very strong, like his regular NCAA highs of over 40 points or 20 rebounds. Potential superstar. To the point where ESPN’s venerable Scoop Jackson has urged nearly a dozen NBA franchises to voluntarily forfeit games in hopes of getting their hands on the next face of the league.
Michael Beasley, the ideal player for the Bulls in 2008?
In terms of odds, the Chicago Bulls had just a 1.7% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick after a 33-win 2007-08 season.
An unremarkable year with a coaching change after three consecutive playoff appearances and even a loss in the Conference semifinals in 2007. The bulls had no shortage of talent. Luol Deng and Ben Gordon then embodied the future of the franchise company Kirk Hinrich, all made three or four years ago. The Bulls had the resources, now they were looking go to the boy can take the team to a new level. The first draft choice was unexpected.
It was left to choose between the two players cannot be missed Two freshmen of the 2008 vintage. Michael Beasley on one side and Derrick Rose else. The best player in the country and the little prince of the “Windy City”, the star of Chicago high schools.
Hinrich obviously didn’t enjoy the same status as the former Simeon HS superstar, but he was appreciated by Illinois fans. He led the Chicago Bulls game with a combination of wisdom, skill and guile. He soaked the shirt. He was the official leader of the red and white coats.
needs Vinnie Del Negrohe just landed on the bench, he was in a rocket out of nowhere Joachim Noahnor brave Drew Gooden and Joe Smith they couldn’t help but score enough to cause a two-man strikeout and break the game open for the Chicago pitchers. Beasley was responding to the profile.
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How the biggest NCAA star fired himself
The native of Prince George’s County, Maryland, east of Washington, was in a world of his own. He is detached from reality, or rather, from himself. A son who grew up without a father, who followed his mother’s frequent movements. Of a teenager who knows six different high schools.
With his status as the favorite for the first draft pick, he was drafted by the Bulls two days before his main and only rival. The sweatshirt, with the image of the franchise on the back, delivered a series of punchlines that speak volumes today about the turn the young man’s career would take in a few years. The best quoted by ESPN.
– Can he have the success he had in high school or in the NCAA in the NBA? “If I like the coach.“
– Does he know other Bulls players: “There is a past by the Jayhawks (Kirk Hinrich. The Kansas Jayhawks are rivals of the Kansas State Wildcats) and I will have to work hard to get along with him.“
– Has he ever seen him play? John Paxsonfranchise CEO and former teammate Michael Jordan ? “I’m not that old.“
It’s all a matter of courtesy. If Michael Beasley’s skills on the floor aren’t in doubt, it’s his state of mind that gets him going. His brain. The responses to the press are funny. More than he would give Bulls leaders during an interview with the franchise owner and president of basketball operations.
A player development manager for the Los Angeles Clippers would say a few years later that the young man answered his cell phone two or three times during a meeting. When Jerry Reinsdorfowner, asked what embarrassed him the most in the NCAA, pondered the void before moving on. “When referees blow bad whistles in away matches”.
Two days later, Derrick Rose paid attention to the questions of his interlocutors and answered them. “lose” to the same question.
And he chose the Chicago Bulls with the first pick of the 2008 NBA Draft…
The Forgotten Superstar
Michael Beasley landed with the Miami Heat, where he spent the first two seasons of his career before being traded, and after his arrival was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. LeBron James In 2010. However, despite his encouraging performances, the boy did not wait until his first steps in the NBA to stand out with his runs.
On September 3, 2008, he was suspected of being in a hotel room where police entered after a fire alarm went off while attending a transition program for teenagers. They said that there was a strong smell of marijuana at the scene. Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthurthose in the room were kicked out of the program and fined $20,000.
Two weeks later, Pat Riley forced the young man to confess that he ran from the room until the police arrived. So the player had to pay the league $50,000.
A year later, he checked himself into a rehab center in Houston after posting a picture of himself with what appeared to be marijuana in the background. In 2011, he was arrested for speeding and officers found weed in his car. That same year, he punched a man at a streetball event.
In 2013, a new incident led the Phoenix Suns to chase the former second-round pick. Arrested again for driving and possession of marijuana, he was asked to go to accounting.
Only the Heat agreed to give him another chance. The versatile winger brought some excitement to the Floridians’ aging bench in 2014, but his performances didn’t convince the leaders to keep him long-term. He ended up bouncing back. Kindly. First in Houston, then in New York and Los Angeles. But without ever regaining his place. before disappearing again. It’s a far cry from what he can achieve with that much ability.
He and Derrick Rose have had completely different trajectories. Everyone has had breakdowns, and even if D-Rose is partially successful, everyone is STILL looking for a way to get back to the top today. But the story of “B-Easy” proves that talent is not always enough when intelligence is not followed…
How Kobe Bryant helped Derrick Rose get back on top
