In the NBA, where talented players gather, not everyone can become a superstar, and small roles can also be known by fans by relying on their unique charms.
The player introduced today, who was famous throughout the United States in high school, but was rejected from college because of poor academic performance, he played in the Europa League, and then played in the NBA, but the injury took away his elf-like spirituality on the court and the speed of survival, he is not a good basketball player, but he loves pure basketball, he is: Brandon Jennings!
Born poor but not mediocre
Born in September 1989 in Compton, a small town in Los Angeles, California, brandon Jennings is a fellow of three-point shooter Korver, who, despite his backing in bustling Los Angeles, has a poverty and defeat that keeps the crime rate in the top eight in the United States.
Jennings' father was not a qualified guardian, he was a gambler and had a huge debt, and the pressure to pay the debt led him to voluntarily end his life when Jennings was eight years old, a change that plunged the already underprivileged family in the already dangerous community into an even greater crisis.
Without his father's discipline, although little Jennings understood his mother's hardships from an early age, he was always a child, and it was difficult not to be contaminated with some small vices in Compton's violent and criminal environment.
When Jennings was in elementary school, he imitated some bad boys and learned to smoke, once he came home with a cigarette in his mouth after school, and was slapped hard after being seen by his mother, watching his mother shed tears of indisputable tears in the corners of his eyes, and the sensible Jennings never touched a cigarette again.
"I know my son, he doesn't smoke, he drinks a lot, he loves hip-hop music, but he rarely goes to nightclubs." —Jennings' mother Knox
In addition to developing good habits away from vices, Jennings also inherited his mother's gritty character, and the hardships of life experienced since childhood made him understand that success can only be continuously moved forward. The poverty of the family and the correct guidance of his mother have taught Jennings to face this complex world with more reason and calmness.
Because his mother disciplined Jenkins from an early age, this allowed him not to be swallowed up by vices, and in order to pass the boring time of his childhood, basketball became a bright light in Jennings's life. 3 years old contact with basketball, 5 years old to dominate the same age stage, thin Jenkins in order to survive on the basketball court, trained a dress running position technology, extremely fast start speed and rhythm change, profoundly interpreted the meaning of the word smart.
Brilliant high school career
Domingos High School in Los Angeles, the first high school of Jennings' career, is not a traditional basketball school, but it is the alma mater of NBA stars such as Changsi Billups, Prince and Tyson Chandler, where Jennings met Demar DeRozan, and the two admired each other and became friends at intercollegiate basketball games.
In his freshman year of high school, Jennings led Domingos High School to an impressive record of 41 wins and 1 loss, and the outstanding results made this unknown high school become the darling of the media, the team ranked first in the top 25 high schools in the country, and Jennings, as the core of the team, was also invited to participate in the 2008 McDonald's High School Star Competition.
On the eve of the start of his sophomore year of high school, Jennings wanted to take his mother out of Compton's poor living environment on the one hand, and on the other hand, he wanted to join a better team, so at the end of 2007, Jennings came to the best Oak Hill High School in the United States.
Located on an idyllic farmstead in Wilson, Virginia, Oak Hill High School is a boarding school with a strict management system, no internet or cell phone signal, and more like an isolated learning mecca.
In a strong learning atmosphere, the basketball history here is also famous, in 1995, the flower show Stark house, 2003 flower show Anthony, "Eagle King" Josh Smith and other talented players set sail here, Oak Hill High School with its own history and fame has become the most wanted team for high school stars in the United States.
In the 07-08 season, Jennings began a crazy personal scoring performance, averaging 33.5 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists per game, and scoring 1312 points throughout the season, setting a single-season scoring record in oak hill school history.
High School Peak Battle:
In February 2008, When Oak Hill High School played against Bonner High School, Jennings scored 63 points (a team record) 7 assists and 5 steals to help the team win by a score of 123:58, and Jennings was replaced four minutes before the final game, which received applause from the audience.
With the highlights of this season, Jennings was named Virginia Player of the Year Award, Naismith National High School Player of the Year Award, and in just one year, the insane guard won all the high-value awards that a high school player can win.
A bumpy career journey
In the summer of 2005, the league issued a new rule prohibiting high school students from directly participating in the draft in order to make these young players more mature, and Jennings, who was surprised by the high school season, had to enter college before landing in the NBA because of this restriction.
Since 2006, basketball schools such as the University of Southern California and the University of Arizona have successively thrown olive branches to Jennings, but Jennings, who is obsessed with basketball, neglected to study, which made him fail to pass the SAT (American college entrance examination) after graduating from high school, and under the pressure of life, Jennings turned his attention to the Euro League.
In July 2008, Jennings attended a training session arranged by an intermediary, and the general manager of the Italian Roma Lotumantika team was very satisfied with Jennings' performance, and then the two sides signed a one-year contract worth $1.2 million, and Jennings became the first player in the United States to skip the NCAA and join the Europa League team directly.
Coming to Italy, the "strongest high school student" Jenkins, who is not familiar with life, has a serious dissatisfaction, in a group of European "old fritters", the thin Jenkins has suffered a lot of dark losses, and the American basketball play under fiba rules has become flashy, mistakes and fouls have made Jennings feel anxious.
In a season in Italy, Jennings played in 43 games for the team, averaging only 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting only 35.1% from the field and dropping to 20.7% from three-point range.
'It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, coming here has allowed me to grow a lot both in the player and in the individual part. - Jenkins
During Jenkins' stay in Europe, his mother Knox has been with his son, because of different eating habits, Knox has become his son's "mobile kitchen"; 18-year-old Jennings has no driver's license, Knox has to drive to and from the stadium twice a day to pick up his son, and the mother's company makes Jenkins forget many painful moments on the field.
During his time in Europe, several NBA teams sent scouts to examine Jennings' performance, including the Milwaukee Bucks, who spoke highly of Jennings' talent and training attitude, and sent an assistant professional coach to give him extra coaching every day, which allowed Jenkins to quickly master the NBA's blocking tactics and shooting rhythm.
After a year of unsuccessful "studying abroad" in Europe, Jennings returned home and hired Bill Duffy (who was Yao Ming's agent) as an agent and began to prepare for the 2009 NBA Draft.
Hell and Heaven
On the day of the 2009 draft, almost all the news on the TV showed that Jennings' draft pick was likely to fall out of the lottery area, which was a fatal blow to the 2008 national first high school student, and even made him not have the courage to step into the draft.
When the Warriors and Knicks selected Curry and Jordan Hill with the seventh and eighth picks respectively, Jennings, who had previously tried well on both teams, almost broke down, and when the Raptors selected DeRozan with the ninth pick, Jennings pinned all his hopes on the Bucks with the tenth pick.
When NBA President Stern finally pronounced his name, Jennings burst into tears and opened the spit mode in front of his friends, cursing the Knicks for being too stupid in his choice (Jennings most wanted to play for the Knicks), how childish the outside world was to belittling himself, and so on. When the recording was exposed, the bombardment of public opinion followed, and Jennings's behavior made the Bucks very embarrassed.
A year ago, he was still the first high school student in the United States and a legend in the high school basketball industry, but a year later, he almost fell out of the lottery area, which gave Jennings enough training motivation to get up early and practice his strength at night, and the free throw line penalty basket became his rest time.
55 minutes of miracles in a single game
In the 09-10 season, Bucks coach Skyles had a lot of trust in Jennings, put him in the starting lineup, and formed a backcourt double gun with the team's core Michael Reed, and Jennings, who had experienced a big low, adapted to the NBA rhythm with only two games, and he showed Milwaukee fans with his skillful ball control and breakthroughs.
On November 15, 2009, the Bucks' seventh home game of the season against the Warriors, the main player Michael Reid was absent due to injury, the young Jennings took the team's offensive banner, in the first half of the poor hand, Jennings shot 12 of 13 in the third quarter, including 4 of 5 three-pointers, a single quarter of 29 points.
In the fourth quarter, Jenkins still felt hot, scored 16 points, and finally scored 55 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists with a 61.8% shooting rate, because the two sides fought until the last moment in this game, so Jennings scored 55 points with a lot of gold.
Jennings created four historical records:
(1) Became the fifth player in NBA history to score 55 points as a rookie, the top four being Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Earl Monroe and Elgin Baylor.
(2) Jennings surpassed James at 20 years and 52 days to become the youngest player in NBA history to score more than 50 points in a single game.
(3) Jennings became the fastest player in NBA history to set a record of more than 50 points in a single game after entering the league.
(4) Jennings became the highest-scoring player in the Bucks' history for a rookie season.
Looking back at this game, Jennings has a variety of scoring methods on the court, in addition to the accurate three-pointer, his sharp breakthrough and small throws in the box also make the Warriors unable to defend.
"It's the craziest performance I've seen in this league in over 30 years that I've seen as a rookie player, and we've tried everything we can defend him in the game, but tonight he really has no one to stop." —Warriors coach Nelson Sr
After this game, Jennings overpowered future superstars such as Griffin, Curry, DeRozan and Harden, becoming the hottest new star of the class of 2009. Throughout his rookie season, Jennings averaged 15.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, and was named the Rookie of the Month in the East three times and was named to the First Team of the All-Rookie Team.
It is a bit of a pity that in the selection of the best rookie in the 09-10 season, Jennings was eventually overtaken by the fourth-time show Evans and Curry due to the slight ups and downs of the late season, and Evans, who performed hot throughout the season, was successfully elected as the rookie of the best with an average of 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Disadvantages begin to show
Rookie second season, because the core of the team Michael Reed suffered a torn front cruciate ligament, Jennings came to the position of the boss of the team, in the league that advocates objective data, jennings rookie season to create glory is quickly questioned by fans, low offensive efficiency, poor shooting choices, dribbling breakthrough probability to go to the left, when these weaknesses are known to the whole league, Jennings quickly fell off the altar.
Throughout the 10-11 season, Jennings, the core of the team, averaged 16.2 points per game and shot only 39 percent from the field, and among the top 50 players in the season's round usage, Jennings ranked third from the bottom, with only Arenas (36.6 percent) and Aaron Brooks (37.5 percent) who plummeted in efficiency after injury behind him.
In the 2011 offseason, the Bucks won Harris, Stephen Jackson, Livingston through a three-way trade, and then in the middle of the season to double-guard Monta Ellis, the addition of three point guards made the Bucks backcourt talented, but Jennings is still the team's main controller, averaging 19.1 points per game, ranking 22nd in the season's scoring list.
In the summer of 2012, Jennings negotiated ahead of time with the Bucks on a contract extension, the former wanted to get a four-year, $48 million contract extension, but the Bucks' offer for Jennings was only $40 million at most, and The self-esteem-frustrated Jennings chose to follow James's example, warning the team to keep all options possible.
In the 12-13 season, Jennings' shooting percentage fell below 40% again, and his relationship with coach Skels deteriorated, resulting in the latter being sacked by the team in the middle of the season, and the newly appointed Jim Boylan and the conceited Jennings also fell apart, and eventually left at the end of the season.
This season, the Bucks broke into the playoffs as the eighth in the East, they faced the Heat with the Big Three, and Jennings's remarks of "solving the Heat in six games" and "wanting to sign a contract with the Mavericks" before the game were hyped up by the media, and the final result was that the playoffs were swept by the Heat and swept out by the Bucks.
Warming up with injuries
In the 2013 offseason, the Bucks and the Pistons reached a first-and-last deal, the latter renewed Jennings for three years and 24 million, the Bucks got Brandon Knight, Kravtsov and Middleton, this summer, the Bucks selected the under-19-year-old alphabet brother in the draft, this transaction laid a solid foundation for the Bucks to win the 2021 championship.
"You're going to see a completely different me, the things that need me to do in Milwaukee, I don't have to do it again here, especially the bad shots that used to happen here." - Jennings
"Brandon can break through, he can pass the ball, he can throw points, he's a lot like Chris Paul in terms of organising the offense, he's going to have good chemistry with Josh Smith and Greg Monroe, just like Paul and Griffin did." --Dumas, then general manager of the Pistons
The two men's pre-season ambitions lasted less than four months, the Pistons' poor record made general manager Dumas resign, and Coach Cheeks failed to integrate the stars of the game and turn decay into magical skills, and the Pistons can be described as a chicken feather this season.
Briefly warmed up
In the 14-15 season, coach Van Gundy took office, and after the first 28 games of the season, the coach decided to cut the former "Eagle King" Josh Smith, which shocked the whole league as soon as the news came out. Van Gundy's maneuver proved to be very forward-looking, and in the 16 games since josh was cut, the Pistons won 12 games, during which Jennings averaged 20.1 points per game and shot 39.4% from three-point range.
On January 22, 2015, the Pistons played at home against the Magic, and Jennings earned himself a new nickname: Mr. Double 20! In this game, Jennings had 24 points and 21 assists, setting a team record for the Pistons.
Three days after Jennings had just won the double 20 data, the Pistons challenged the Bucks away, in the game against the old club, Jennings was extremely active, the third quarter of the game ended immediately, Jennings in the defense of Brandon Knight when the soles of his feet slipped, fell heavily on the floor, post-game diagnosis of left Achilles tendon tear, season reimbursement.
After Jennings was injured, the Pistons, who aspired to impact the playoffs, traded to get Reggie Jackson, a guard who had been suppressed by Westbrook for many years, came to the Pistons like a dragon into the sea, and quickly used his excellent offensive ability as the main position.
In the 15-16 season, Jennings returned from injury and returned to the field to find that the main position was occupied by Jackson, and in the seventh season of his career, he had to accept the reality of being relegated from the main force to the bench.
Where is Jennings going now?
In early 2016, the Pistons sent Jennings to the Magic, joining rookie New York Knicks for $5 million a year after the contract expired, and after playing for half a season, they applied to the team to join the playoff team, and after a buyout agreement, Jennings came to the Wizards to assist Wall and Bill in the remaining games.
In the summer of 2017, the 28-year-old Jennings did not get another contract offer, in order to maintain the status to return to the NBA, Jennings crossed the ocean to China and joined the Shanxi men's basketball team.
During his four months on the bench he averaged 27.8 points, 6.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game. The gorgeous data did not hide Jennings's negative attitude on the court, and the Shanxi men's basketball team had to cut him in December of the same year.
Since 2018, Jennings has not been able to appear on the NBA stage again, he has traveled to Russia and Bosnia to play, although he is still active in basketball, but has rarely appeared in front of the public.
Write at the end:
Looking back at Jennings' career, compared to other lottery rookies, he was the team's main point guard for the first seven seasons of his career, which is lucky enough; but his arrogant personality made him neglect to polish his skills, and after suffering serious injuries, Jennings, who had no speed, could only be eliminated.