Hello everyone, I'm Tang Que, today we talk about little Thomas.
As of now, the Lakers have 5 people banned for triggering the league safety and health agreement, including major rotations such as Westbrook and Howard, plus Ariza and Nunn who were previously absent due to injury, the whole team has accumulated 7 people who cannot play, and the core leaders James and Davis have been plagued by old injuries since the beginning of the season.
In the face of this situation, the Lakers management used a difficult special case, using a short 10-day contract to bring Thomas Jr. back to the team to solve the urgent need. Speaking of Thomas Jr., James fans must be no stranger, he has been teammates with the Cavaliers and Lakers and The Old James, and once became a popular candidate for MVP in the 16-17 season. But the natural disadvantages of injury and height made him fall rapidly at his peak, and he has fallen to the point where he has no ball to play.
This time Thomas Jr.'s "two into the palace", is really a helpless move of management, the offseason Purple and Gold Army signed 7 defenders in case of emergency, who admitted that because of the new crown test, even the water dispenser has played the start.
Fans are bad, but Thomas Jr. can finally breathe a sigh of relief, after leaving the Pelicans in April, he mixed in the international arena and the secondary league, and has also posted many times that he wants to return to the NBA, but he has not been able to do so, earlier this month he signed a team under the Nuggets' development league, and cut 42 points on the debut, perhaps with a persistent attitude to impress the Lakers management, this time, the scouts plan to believe him again.
Looking back at Thomas Jr.'s basketball career, it seems that it has never been smooth sailing. His father was a fan of the Pistons of the "Bad Boy Army", and even his name was derived from the Pistons celebrity "Smile Assassin", because the family promoted the style of muscle collision, so in Thomas's infancy, he was often taken to participate in adult games, short in stature, he has experienced physical weakness since childhood, but the fierce confrontation also allowed him to train a strong upper limb.
In 2011, Thomas Jr. announced his draft, when he did not receive a trial invitation from any team, and there were no media personnel around him on the night of the draft. He had long been accustomed to being slighted, and instead of complaining, he just silently prayed that his name would be read. Finally, just before the draft was over, a King's staff member knocked on his door, and this time, his chance came.
The Kings chose Thomas Jr. in the final round of the 11th edition, but the 60th pick meant he was one person away from losing. Thanks to Evans' decline, Thomas Jr. got a lot of playing opportunities in the Kings, and his average score per game reached 20+ in the third year of his rookie, but the rapid growth of teammates Cousins and Gay compressed his shots, and his single offensive method of relying on blocking and dismantling also allowed the team to see his ceiling, so in 14 years, the Kings established Cousins' core status and sent Thomas Jr. to the Suns in order to reinforce.
After playing for half a season at the Suns, Thomas Jr. was replaced by the Celtics. Only this time, he met the biggest Bole of his career, Coach Stevens. The Green Army young marshal amplified the enthusiasm and fighting spirit of Thomas Jr., and he tailored the tactical system around the little man, and the Celtics returned to the top team in the East.
During those years in the Green Army, Thomas Jr. and Horford Jr. were in a state of disastrous blocks, supplemented by two young tandems, Tatum and Jaylen, and the Celtics achieved a combination of reconstruction and record. In the 16-17 season, Thomas Jr. ushered in the peak of his career, averaging 28.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, averaging the league's best points in the fourth quarter and being easily selected as an All-Star. In the playoffs, he scored 53 points in a single game, a record that is still the highest playoff score among active players.
However, behind the brilliant performance is the cost of high-intensity loads, 1 meter 75 tall makes him need to jump higher in every shot, run faster in every breakthrough, and overdraft himself so that he finally fell on the stage of the Eastern Final. Thomas Jr. announced season reimbursement for a hip injury in 17 years, when he had just turned 28 and his last contract of 6.59 million was coming to an end, and he was supposed to have surgery in the contract year, but in order to chase a higher salary, he chose conservative treatment.
Today, although the choice to play with injuries has touched Celtic fans, it has not touched the capitalists whose interests are paramount. Irving, the Cavaliers backcourt ace in the same district, got the attention of Green Army manager Angie for a trade application, Angie is a businessman, when Thomas Jr. is ready to rely on "merit" to ask for a maximum salary, he decisively intervenes, throwing the strongest 175 on the surface to the Cavaliers, in exchange for a younger and more potential Irving.
After coming to the Cavaliers, he still wanted to prove himself, but too much desire to shoot was obviously dead in a team with James. The Cavaliers were still aiming for the championship that season, and after not seeing the remaining value of Thomas Jr., they soon sent him to the Lakers in exchange for a frontal rotation and draft picks.
Since then, thomas jr. has been on many teams for two or three years, he has worked odd jobs in the Nuggets, Wizards, and Clippers, and every time he faces a reporter, he will show his trademark smile, he is always proud and ambitious, telling the media that he is still the king of the last quarter. But reality always hit him mercilessly.
He lost seven of his 10 games with the Cavaliers and became the focus of locker room conflict; played 16 substitutions with the Lakers, dropping to 38 percent; and he was cut before the Clippers even played. 3 years to change 6 detachments, he has not given up, but fate is always abandoning him.
Admittedly, he always uttered something surprising:
"I understand that the Nuggets' layoffs of me are all business issues."
"If the Celtics hadn't cut me, they would have been champions by now."
The personality problem is a double-edged sword, he never bows his head, so he can be fearless in the long-lived NBA, but it is also because he is reluctant to bow his head, he seems to always be unwilling to accept that he can't play because of poor strength.
Thomas Jr.'s last time played in the NBA was in April this year, last season the Pelicans signed him to a 10-day short contract due to injury, but after the contract ended, the team chose not to renew his contract, and then he represented the United States in the America's Cup qualifiers, and it was seen that the competitive state remained good.
In the summer, during the NBA's offseason, Thomas Jr. was overstepping the ranks to crush the amateur league, and his news was as brazen as his character, Drew scored 37 points, Atlanta slashed 65 points, and even in Seattle he bombed 81 points, and after the game he covered his face and cried: "They gave up on me!" ”。 He seemed to want to get the scouts' attention in this way.
Before the start of the season, his agent released words, the Lakers and other teams intended to sign him, but then the revelations of various reporters proved that this is the wind that the Thomas Jr. team deliberately released, according to sources, in fact, the Lakers are not satisfied with his trial performance, the old acquaintance Stevens (the current Celtics general manager) does not give him face, and the Green Army even did not consider signing him back at the beginning.
Now the schedule has gone 1/3, this season because of the new crown test many teams have been in the point where no one can play, the Nets used 5 difficult signing exceptions, the Bulls only 8 people on the road to the away plane, but still no one thinks of Thomas Jr., until today, the Lakers because of the pre-game Westbrook, Bradley new crown test positive, only temporarily found Thomas Jr. to fight the fire.
All the way to persevere, he finally waited for a long-lost opportunity, the Lakers are currently ranked sixth in the West, the personnel are neatly organized they are championship candidate seed players, leaving little room for Thomas Jr. to play, how long can he stay this time? How much more does he have to pay to complete his unfinished business?
The world's highest level of basketball league has never lacked talent and hard work, Thomas Jr.'s dream may be more difficult to achieve than we think, wishing him a future is still enthusiastic, to borrow his words, "Always keep the faith, there are always people who keep saying, you are too short, and all I can do is make them regret it." ”
Creation is not easy, thanks for the support.
Your attention, likes, and retweets are my biggest motivation.