NBA Personalities丨He once had 33 boards in a single game, was guided by CBA players, and was the strongest backup of Zhan Huang's dunk
The Los Angeles Lakers suddenly suffered a slump and poor record after winning the mid-season league championship, and head coach Ham was caught in the rumors of being ousted, which caused many reasons for the current situation, one of which is that the Lakers' bench performance is not good, and the bench lacks players who can help in times of crisis, and on January 7, the team finally made adjustments, and they cut "Jack Pony" Alex Fudge and "Jordan" Dimoy Hodge is two star-faced players, while underperforming rookies Lewis and Schifino have been relegated to the Development League, and the most important thing is to sign Dylan Windeler to breathe new life into the team.
Windeler currently plays for the Knicks Development League team Westchester, and he has been in hot form in the Development League recently, scoring 23 points and 33 rebounds against the Delaware Blue Coats on January 6, 33 of which also broke the record for the highest rebounds in a single game in the Development League.
Born on June 22, 1996 in a middle-class family in Polis, Indiana, Windler's biological father and mother divorced very early, Wendeller and his sister Corey Ledinole lived with their mother, Karen Aikman, a local real estate executive, and later his mother remarried his stepfather, Steve, who was also a businessman.
Vendler with his girlfriend (first from left), sister (second from right), mother (first from right)
His mother, Karen, provided a very privileged living environment for Wendler, who had a wide range of interests and hobbies, and was proficient in almost all sports, from football and basketball, which were important for teamwork, to baseball, golf, which required individual hand-eye coordination. Table tennis, which he likes most is golf, an aristocratic sport, playing an 18-hole golf game in the United States costs an average of more than $200, and Wendeller has been practicing Xi golf for a long time from elementary school to high school.
The Indianapolis area because of the NBA Indiana Pacers, the basketball atmosphere is super strong, and the NBA stars cultivated here are endless, the recent All-Star players are Conley, Haywood, George Hill, Jeff Teague, etc., and the basketball training institutions here are all over the place, Windler because his family is not bad for money, so the basketball training camp he participated in is also the most famous AAU training camp in the Polis area, and he was in the training camp team with Indiana Basketball Mr. + at that timeMcDonald's All-American High School Player Kyle Gay.
Wendeller is a diligent player in the training camp, but because of his lack of talent, he has always been a substitute, the summer of his senior year of high school, the AAU Championship was held in Los Angeles, Kyle Gay and several other main players were invited to participate in a sports brand elite game and were absent, and the coach had no one to use to promote Wendeler to the starter, and as a result, he played very well, many college coaches were very surprised, where did this player come from, although he did not have an ESPN rating, but immediately more than a dozen universities sent him a recruitment invitation.
Among them is Belmont University's meritorious veteran coach Bird, the Belmont Bruins are a very weak team in the NCAA league, and have only played in the NCAA March Madness 3 times since the establishment of the school, Ian Clark, who played for the Chinese CBA Xinjiang team, is the most famous basketball player in the school, and a slightly famous player will not come here at all, and when Bird found out about Windler, he immediately felt that he had great potential.
Other schools are recruiting Wendeler through publicity treatment, but they don't know that people's families are not bad at all, Bird found another way, he learned through the side that Wendeler likes to play golf, but he is also a golfer, he found Wendeler first talked about golf, the two talked about the upcoming British Open, and at the same time had a clever prediction that Rory McIlroy would win the championship, and then did in-depth exchanges from the technical level, the more they talked, the more speculative they became, as the so-called money is easy to get, confidants are hard to find, Wendeler felt very right through contact with Bird, so he did not hesitate to join Belmont University。
In his freshman season, Bird first arranged for Windler to become the sixth man, he averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game, and came off the bench to provide vitality for the team, the team scored 20-11 and entered the first round of the NIT Championship and was eliminated, and in the sophomore season, Windler was promoted to the starter, averaging 9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 30 minutes per game, it is worth mentioning that his three-point shooting rate reached 39%, and the team entered the NIT Championship again with a 22-6 record and entered the second round.
At the end of his sophomore season, Bird suddenly realized that Wendeler could continue to improve and play a more important role on the offensive end, and in the summer offseason he brought in his proud disciple Ian Clarke to train with Wendler, Clark had just won the NBA championship with the Warriors that year, and he also started NBA-level special training for his junior brother, and I don't know if he was to encourage this kid or to say it from the bottom of his heart, in short, he said to Wendler: "You are fully capable of joining the NBA." ”
Clark trains Vindler
Clarke's MLM-style brainwashing encouragement lifted Wendler's spirits, and he told his mother, girlfriend, Sister and other family members, but everyone thinks this is completely impossible, especially the mother, she has arranged a well-paid accounting position for her son, he can go to the company to Xi in the junior year, but Wendeler refused, he worked hard that summer to Xi, and circled himself in the training gym 24 hours a day, his girlfriend complained, interjecting off-topic, Wendler's girlfriend Lauren is very beautiful, the two have met and fallen in love since junior high school, and the two families are world friends, last year the two officially entered the marriage hall, and the Cavaliers Garland also served as the best man for the wedding.
Windler and girlfriend Lauren
Under Clark's guidance, Wendler in his junior season came out like a tiger, he played an average of 35 minutes per game this season, his statistics soared to 17.3 points per game (first on the team), 9.3 rebounds, and a three-point shooting rate of 42%, and the team achieved a 24-9 record.
In the last senior season, Windler made the last effort, he played an average of 33 minutes per game that season, and his statistics improved to 21 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and the three-point shooting rate reached 42.9%, and under his leadership, the team entered the NCAA March Madness with a 27-5 record, and in the first round of March Madness, he led the team to defeat Temple University to create the first NCAA victory in the history of the school. Fernando's University of Maryland, Windler played the pinnacle of his collegiate career in this game.
The whole Belmont team was supported by Vindler, and the opponent sent many people to defend him, but he was like a god helping 3-pointers and shooting 7 of 14 to explode 35 points and 11 rebounds, and at the end of the game, he relied on his three points to make the score 76-77 only 1 point, the University of Maryland made the last attack to make free throws, the opponent made one of two free throws, and with 2.5 seconds left in the game, Wendeler quickly shot after holding the ball to the halfcourt, and the ball hit the basket and popped up, and he failed to lead the team to continue to create miracles.
Relying on the magical play of the senior season, Wendeler really entered the NBA team's draft vision, there are more than a dozen NBA teams to try him out individually, and he himself is not sure where to join, he did not even enter the small green house of the potential first round, the NBA draft report gives an evaluation of: a qualified size guard swingman, a left-handed general, has a very good shooting ability, especially after holding the ball and relying on the blocking and dismantling of the screen, the shooting ability is excellent, and the average three-point shooting rate in the senior season is 42% , excellent jumping ability, the disadvantages are a little less weight and lack of confrontation ability, if you can improve these will have a chance to become a 3-and-D player, the draft template is Rasul Butler.
On the day of the July 2019 draft, he and his family sat around the hotel, the Cavaliers called in advance to ask if his agent was willing to join, they selected Darius Garland with the 5th pick in the first round, Wendeler responded positively and said he was willing to join, and it didn't take long for Xiao Hua to read the draft on TV, and the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him with the 26th pick in the first round.
Windeler really joined the NBA, the team's head coach Berren admired him very much, the Cavaliers are in a rebuilding period that will give the young people a lot of opportunities, and everything is going in a good direction, until the preseason suddenly turned around, Wendeler suffered a serious injury with a broken wrist in the preseason, he has never experienced such a serious injury since he was a child, and despite aggressive treatment, this major blow caused him to miss the entire rookie season.
Vindler's NBA debut did not come until December 2020, when the team's coach had been replaced by JB Bickerstaff, in the middle of the 20-21 season, Bickerstaff gave Wendler an average of 20 minutes per game, but his performance was poor, except for four games in February 2021 when he scored in double figures, the other games were in single digits, and he was increasingly afraid to shoot three-point shots under the poor shooting percentage, and the team selected Okoro, who was in the same position as him, and Okoro was significantly better than him in terms of talent and ability。
In the 21-22 season, with the addition of Mobley and Karmanen, the Cavaliers' record improved dramatically, and Bickerstaff reduced Wendler's playing time again in order to win, and before the start of the season, he suffered another knee injury, and in the 22-23 season, Wendler was completely reduced to a water cooler manager.
Wendler, who has a rookie contract expiration in the new season, did not find a home, and finally joined the Knicks' development league team waiting for the opportunity, his career has received a salary of $10 million, and he married a wife last year, and he is already a personal winner in all aspects, and he still has a chance to prove himself in the NBA in the future, and the Lakers defeated the rival Clippers in the same city in the first game of joining the Lakers。