"Cba lillard is back", QJ Peterson, a former foreign player from the Tongxi team, reposted highlights from last season on social media at the end of last month and hinted that he would return to the CBA to play.
Last season, Peterson played 38 regular season games, averaging 32.9 minutes per game, cutting 28.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2 steals, shooting 43.4% from the field, 37.9% from three-point range, and 88.9% from the free throw line.
However, after the end of the season, there was a conflict between the two sides, Peterson accused the Tongxi team of owing him 4 months' salary, the Tongxi team did not respond, but sold Peterson's right of first refusal to renew the contract to the Jilin team, the angry Peterson refused to report to the Jilin team, and fired his Chinese agent, returned to the United States to attack the NBA.
Peterson, who is used to being an uncle in the CBA, is willing to be a cow and a horse in order to stay in the NBA. He found an agent, who found him an invitation to a mini-camp for the New York Knicks, who had been playing the scorer before, and knew that the Knicks' head coach Thibodeau preferred players who were good defensively, and he did what he liked and did something he had never done before in his basketball career.
He restrained his desire to attack, acted as a cow on the defensive end, followed his opponents like kraft candy, and would go out of his way to defend against players bigger than him, getting up again and again after being knocked over, constantly tearing opponents and flying for each floor ball, which made him stand out in training camp.
The Knicks gave him a chance to play in Summer League, but also told him the hard truth: there are many young players on the team who will take up most of their playing time, and the team's main task is to scout young players who have more potential than the 29-year-old Peterson, and the team cannot guarantee that Peterson will get playing time.
If you choose to play for the Knicks in the summer league, you may always sit on the bench and watch young players play, and the chances of staying with the Knicks are slim, but Peterson chooses to fight for his dreams.
In the first game of the summer league, he didn't get any chance to play, but he was very positive, constantly waving towels, constantly cheering for his teammates, when his teammates came off the court, he would run up and high-five them one by one, he would also discuss the details of the game with the young players, and teach some experience skills, but as a player who had never played in the NBA, he didn't have much NBA experience to pass on to the rookies other than being older than the younger players, which made him look like a clown.
In the second game, he only got three minutes of playing time, but he still showed positive behavior like the first game, despite the strange eyes of others. In Game 3, he finally got enough playing time, and he scored a team-high 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help the Knicks win their first summer league game, and then against the Nuggets, he scored 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting, plus six rebounds, two assists and two steals, but he had four turnovers and missed five consecutive shots in key moments in the final quarter, including missing a three-pointer, his shortcomings are still obvious.
He is only 1.83 meters tall, can score but is not efficient, has obvious disadvantages on the defensive end, and is about to be 30 years old, there is no training value, in the end he did not get a contract from the Knicks, and no other team extended an olive branch, stayed in the United States for a long time without employment opportunities, and finally returned to the Jilin team that he refused to report.
Back in the first game of the CBA, he had a sluggish performance against his old club Tongxi team, shooting 5-of-17 from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range, only 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, and 10 assists were the only bright spots. However, in the second game, he found his form, shooting 10 of 22, 6 of 15 three-pointers, and 5 of 9 free throws, scoring a game-high 31 points, plus 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, leading the Jilin team to a big victory over the Ningbo team and ending a long 10-game losing streak.
He made the last effort to achieve his dream, and although he failed, he would not leave any regrets, and now he can finally feel at ease as a superstar in the CBA. This also confirms how low the level of our CBA league is, and players who don't want other leagues can play a role in the CBA.