The Winter Soldier in the Marvel movie is not only Captain America's most important partner, but also took over his shield after Captain America's sacrifice and became the new guardian of the world.
In the world of the NBA, Strus, who resembles the Winter Soldier today, has become the new savior of the Heat alongside Jimmy Butler.
He scored 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including seven three-pointers, and stepped up in one of the Heat's most important games of the season. The 14-point score in the first quarter gave the team the advantage, and eight points in the final quarter plus three free throws sealed the victory.
Together with Butler, who also scored 31 points, he saved the play-off heat side by side, eventually finishing off the Chicago Bulls with DeRozan and LaVine in the play-offs to secure the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
This summer, how much of a contract extension will the Heat have to have to keep this "winter soldier" they have discovered and cultivated?
Like Haslem and Butler, Strus also represents the character of this team and is the latest representative of the team's "undrafted" development plan in the past two years.
As a 2019 draft pick, he has played four seasons in the NBA. From playing a total of 6 minutes in his first year, he has now started with the Heat, averaging 11.5 points, 3.2 boards and 2.1 assists per game this season.
wrote another story of a small person who did not succumb to fate.
Strus, 27, was born in Hickory Hills, Illinois, where his father, John, was a member of Eastern Illinois University's basketball team, and his mother, Debbie, was inducted into the school's track and field hall of fame at DePaul University.
But his parents did not give Strus, who was the third oldest in the family, special athletic talents, and he had an older brother and an older sister. He was introduced to sports with his brothers when he was a child, but he first loved baseball and soccer.
"If it weren't for a broken collarbone, I would probably have joined MLS and I'm a good frontcourt attacker."
He didn't even make the NBA a goal, he showed good basketball talent in high school, but not enough to make a name for himself in Illinois, which is Chicago, the Bulls, and Michael Jordan.
So when he was in college, he only chose Lewis University in the Second League, because
"It's really close to my house and I can drive home every week."
But that changed when he averaged 20.2 points, 8.4 boards and 3.5 assists per game as a sophomore named All-America's Player in Division II.
"I always thought I was only going to play overseas because I wasn't tall enough, not strong enough for me in the NBA."
But Dave Leto, the basketball coach on DePaul University, where his mother attended, told him, come to us, you have the ability to play in the NBA, you need to fix your goals.
So in 2017-19 at the new university, he posted 18.6 points, 5.8 boards, 2.6 assists, and 192 three-pointers in the third place in the school's history.
"I was ready to go to the NBA, but it didn't go well at first."
In the 2019 draft, no team recognized Strus' strength and potential, and he was defeated.
He signed a two-way contract with Celtic, but was cut at the last minute.
Then went to the Chicago Bulls, played only 6 minutes of the season, only to suffer an ACL tear and a bruise on his left knee in a Development League game before Christmas 2019.
"I felt like the sky was falling, and while others were having a good Christmas, I was lying in my hospital bed and didn't know where to work."
But when God closed a door for him, He left a slit for him. Although injured in the Development League, he made a good impression against opposing management against the Heat.
So before the start of the 2020-21 season, he joined the Heat again and began another attempt in his career.
The Miami Heat, because of the iron-blooded style formulated by Pat Riley, has put many superstars away, but this is a paradise for small people and frustrated people.
In this team, as long as you play hard and train hard, the team will not hesitate to give you opportunities and let you get ahead.
From the original Haslem, Duncan Robinson before it, to Kleb Martin, Vincent, and Strus today.
"Once you get here (the Heat), it's easy to be like me, to invest in this hard-working team culture and be rewarded in what you give.
Spall (Heat coach) is the league's most willing to give players a chance. He will give everyone the opportunity and you can see from his personal experience how he went from being a video editor to a head coach. He will value people who give their time and work hard, and then give opportunities depending on whether you can take them. I can't ask for better treatment."
In an interview, Stroust talked about the Heat's distinctive team atmosphere.
And he was the one who seized the opportunity.
In his first season (20-21), he was only at the end of the bench, scoring 6.0 points in just 13.0 minutes per game.
But Strus did not give up, but continued to improve himself in the training of the Heat's "steel and iron bone".
"Joe Harris (Nets shooter) has always been my target. We all belong to Priority Sports brokerage. From day one on the contract, they told me the story of Joe Harris.
He had a tough first few years of his career, first being cut by the Cavaliers and going to the Development League, but eventually seized his chance and succeeded with the Nets. I had the opportunity to talk to Johar a few times and benefited a lot.
And since last season, Strus has completed his transformation.
His defense and confrontation meet the demands of the Heat, and his superiority in projection and offense gives the team much-needed firepower.
He played in 68 games, starting 16 of them, and scored 10.6 points in 23.3 minutes and made 2.5 three-pointers per game on 41.0 percent shooting, which is already an elite shooter in the league.
Among the players in the league who made at least 300 jumpers, they averaged 1.23 points per jumper, first in the league.
'He's the kind of threat you can't ignore on the pitch, he puts enough pressure on both ends of the pitch and we're lucky to be able to spot him.'
Coach Spoh's words are already the biggest compliment to him.
This season, he has been promoted to regular starter for the Heat, and is the biggest player outside the core trio of Butler Adebayo Hiro.
Averaging 11.4 points, 3.2 boards and 2.1 assists per game, he is the team's fourth-leading scorer and one of the league's best draft picks (behind VanVleet, Wood, and Dort).
He scored 31 points with Butler in one of the most pivotal games of the Heat season today to lift the team into the playoffs.
It is most appropriate to summarize Butler's words after today's game
"Today's game will bring a lot of money to Strus."