Before Drew Ubanks started playing basketball, his life was connected to baseball.
In his own words, he "grew up playing only baseball, didn't want to play any other sport, and didn't like basketball." ”
It wasn't until his freshman year of high school that the basketball coach at Reynolds High School in Oregon took a fancy to the 16-year-old and thought he even had the potential to go to the NBA.
Small European banks that were new to the sport may not have had so many ideas, but it was in this way that he began his basketball path in a daze.
Perhaps because of this, when Yubanks signed a two-way contract with the Spurs, he was quite satisfied.
By NBA standards, this new contract naturally doesn't have a lot of money. But as a sport that Ubanks had only just tried in high school, he felt that the income had exceeded the standards given by this short period of time.
He is optimistic, and this optimism has always paved the way he has walked.
It was up to him to start, to prop up his change of predetermined script.
One mediocre Saturday in January 2019 meant a lot to Ubanks. He became the first player in Spurs history to appear in a G-League game and an NBA game on the same day.
He first played 19 minutes in the G-League in Austin in the afternoon, contributing nine points, six rebounds and four blocks. In the evening he drove south to San Antonio, where he made two minutes of substitutions in the Spurs' 108-88 win over the Grizzlies and scored two free throws.
This is probably the daily routine of a player with a two-way contract, hard work, but also fulfilling, with a clear goal. Yubanks is like a foot has stepped on the door of the NBA, and he needs someone to push him in.
Of course, that person is still himself.
"Obviously, I want an NBA contract, but I'm trying to be realistic about myself," Ubanks said, "and I knew I could play with these guys." I know I can compete. I just need a chance. ”
He did take his chances, making 22 appearances for San Antonio, averaging 12.4 minutes and 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. In August in Orlando, in the Spurs' final seven games, he got off the bench and averaged 7.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in nearly 20 minutes. His explosive energy and blue-collar work attitude led him to a 3-year, 5.29 million contract extension.
It's an understatement, but the taste may only be known to Eubanks himself. After all, too many two-way players have disappeared, but he rarely and truly grasps the direction leading to the NBA and moves inside.
So what impressed you most about the NBA's Eubanks?
This question can only be asked of you who sees it here because you are a Spurs fan. No one else has time to pay attention to a player who averages 4.6 points and 3.8 boards per game, but you will. So you have really been fragrant, marveled, scolded, helpless. You remember how he beat the opposite 13+13 against the Suns, and he was often blinded by his inside line to jump off the wall.
Until now.
Three days ago, the Spurs traded Thaddeus Young and Ubanks to the Raptors in exchange for Dragic and the 2022 first-round pick; sources revealed that the Raptors will cut him.
So you suddenly find that a player you know and understand, a Spurs player, is hurrying away in the workings of the business league.
Compared to Little White, Ubanks doesn't have as many stories and bonds to talk about, and we don't even choke or sigh in his deal. But we won't forget how he held up when the Spurs' inside line was stretched, igniting the whole with his passion.
He may not be a talented, strong player, but he is a good player. He may not be able to lead the team to win, but at least, he tries his best to be himself in the team.
We will not forget those moments of his.
For example, dunks.
For example, how he dutifully did his job as a towel-waving artist + ghost animal emoji to contribute to the big family.
Some thorns said that the European bank is the flamer of the dog thorn bench, as long as the dog thorn hits a good ball, he can detonate. In basketball, a game that needs to be ignited with high morale and enthusiasm, he is the king of the atmosphere group.
Such a person, we will not give up.
Is Ubanks' basketball career over?
In a sense, this road never ends. As he himself said in INS, "I only wanted the opportunity to prove myself after graduating from college at 21 years old", San Antonio is just a transit station, he is still young, and he will always go further and further on the road to prove himself.
If the blessing is too pale, it is better to look forward to him and expect him to have a better future.
On March 3, 2020, due to the absence of Ade and Botou due to injuries, two-way contract player Drew Ubanks was appointed as the starter to host the Pacers.
It was the first start of his NBA career.
Wearing black sneakers, he walked step by step to the center of the floor, and at his feet was the spurs' huge black-gray logo, stretching in all directions.
He watched intently as the referee tossed the ball.
I can't figure out how he felt at that time, maybe he was full of emotions, he felt like a dream, a little nervous, he could feel the lights illuminating him, the fans applauding him. Maybe he will encourage himself again, and will find that, well, with his own efforts and opportunities, he can always go to the center step by step and win a place.
But the bigger possibility is that he didn't think anything of it.
Where is the time to think so much, win or lose, opponents, basketball, play every game to infuse his nerves.
So he jumped, reached out, and jumped the ball.
At the moment the whistle blew, it all began.