"When Jimmy was born, his father abandoned him and his mother. When he was 13, his mother drove him out of the house because of long-term life pressure and Jimmy's appearance. He became a homeless teenager."

The first sentence Xu Yong said successfully attracted Foreman's attention.

Abandoning wives and children is very common among black people, but it is very rare for a homeless teenager to receive an NCAA scholarship.

When eating becomes a problem for you, you still know your goal and persist in striving. This quality is very rare and valuable.

Xu Yong continued to tell the story that after 13-year-old Butler was kicked out of his home, he had to seek shelter from his relatives, but the relatives of the poor are all poor, and even if they could accept him, they would have to drive him away after a few days.

So at that time, little Jimmy was like a hot ball being kicked back and forth.

Gradually, Butler developed a habit of shamelessly staying at his relatives' homes for a few days and then leaving on his own initiative.

Sometimes, when no relatives were willing to take him in, he would rummage through trash cans for food like a real homeless person.

It was in this environment that, like many other black people, he placed his hopes on basketball and began training frantically.

Without a coach to teach him, he practiced the basic skills madly on his own.

In high school, his skills were rough, but his tenacious playing style made him a main force on the team.

In his senior year of high school, he met the most important person in his life, transfer student Jordan Leslie.

Leslie challenged him, and the two were evenly matched and admired each other.

Leslie later invited him to his home, and although Butler agreed, he consciously left before dinner time.

This happened every time he visited Leslie's house.

Finally, Leslie's mother, Michelle, noticed this and called him over.

After asking about Butler's childhood experiences, Michelle's eyes could not help but turn red.

Although the family already had six children and was not well off, Michelle finally decided to adopt Butler.

That also became a turning point in Butler's life, because he finally had a new home and he no longer had to go hungry. His physical fitness began to improve, and he quickly became the team's top star.

In his last year of high school, he averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds per game and won the team MVP.

But that didn't earn him a scholarship to any NCAA team.

The high school he attends is too ordinary, and his static talent is too average.

He was eventually forced to choose a junior college, Tyler Junior College in Texas.

There, Butler was like a madman.

Desperate for success, chasing a scholarship, he went all out every night to destroy every one of his opponents.

18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, team scoring leader, All-American college best team, this is his achievement as a freshman.

With such performance and with the help of Michelle, he got a tryout opportunity at Marquette University, and finally succeeded in impressing the other party during the tryout, winning himself a coveted scholarship.

Entering the NCAA Division I league was a new beginning for Butler, as he began to learn real basketball skills and tactics.

It's crazy, considering he was a sophomore at the time.

But it was at this time that Butler showed an invisible basketball talent: basketball IQ.

He can quickly absorb and understand those techniques and tactics, and then improve himself through crazy training. He is like a sponge and makes rapid progress.

The story that followed was that he was recruited by Sandek to Arizona State University, and then to the present.

Foreman showed a surprised look several times. As a scout, he has come into contact with too many players' experiences, but Butler's experience is still unique.

But in the end, he asked this question: "You know when a person is in deep trouble, he will have the most primitive desire like living, but when everything around him starts to get better, that desire will disappear."

Foreman expressed his concern that Butler would not work as hard as he does now after entering the NBA.

"Yes, I believe many people are like that, but Jimmy is not one of them." Xu Yong shook his head.

"Are you so sure?" Foreman looked at Xu Yong. Xu Yong was really recommending Butler, his junior.

"Last season, Arizona State University missed the championship because of Pondexter's buzzer beater. Jimmy found a photographer, printed the buzzer beater as a poster, and posted it on the back of the dormitory door, just to motivate himself all the time."

Xu Yong's words stunned Foreman.

He came here today to observe the players, so he naturally did some homework and knew that Butler did not play in the game last season because he was on suspension.

This kind of spirit really shows that Butler is a special case.

At this moment, Butler blocked Joseph's layup after a tough confrontation on the court. Arizona State University once again launched a defensive counterattack. With Butler's follow-up tip-in, they had tied the score.

…

In the end, Arizona State University once again defeated Syracuse University 66-62 and successfully entered the Sweet 16.

Butler played another game with his personal label, with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

The statistics are still not very impressive, but his tenacious playing style and influence on the game are clearly visible.

After the game, Xu Yong and his team went down to the field to congratulate Butler and his team.

"If you have any questions during the audition, you can always ask me." Xu Yong is a very considerate senior.

Butler is a senior this year and will enter the draft after the tournament.

Butler nodded gratefully. After he arrived at Arizona State University, Xu Yong was like his guiding light.

After leaving the stadium, Xu Yong and the other two took a car to the airport together, preparing to return home and fight for the rest of the season.

While waiting for the flight at the airport, several people chatted and Ayers talked about his direct feelings during his time with the Heat.

“They were divided into two camps.”

Ayers' description instantly attracted the interest of Xu Yong and Harden.

"DW is in one camp, Chris Bosh, Haslem, Chalmers and others are all members of it, LeBron is in one camp, Mike Miller, James Jones, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Arroyo are members of it."

Xu Yong nodded subconsciously because that was exactly what it sounded like.

The Heat's Big Three are essentially the Heat faction led by Wade and the outsider faction led by James and a group of younger brothers.

But I didn't expect that Arroyo, a former Heat player, was also on James' side.

Now Arroyo is gradually losing his position in the Heat, which means that Riley has chosen to stand on Wade's side.

The Heat team may look restless on the surface, but there are undercurrents underneath.

Xu Yong then turned his gaze to Ayers, and he suddenly felt that it was not entirely a bad thing for Ayers to go to the Heat. Just like when he was in the Cavaliers, he could get to know a lot of internal news.

If you look at it this way, why does it feel like Ayers is a spy behind enemy lines?

…

After the NBA trading deadline, another important time node is the buyout deadline.

There are not many valuable players in the buyout market in normal years. After all, if you can really play, you won't fall to the point of being bought out.

But there are many valuable people in the buyout market this year.

For example, Corey Brewer, who was traded to the Timberwolves in a three-way trade, was the "Cavalry Company Commander" that Xu Yong knew well;

Another example is Peja Stojakovic, who was plagued by injuries at the beginning of the season and was traded from the Hornets to the Raptors before being bought out;

There was also Mike Bibby, who was traded to the Wizards and then bought out;

In addition, there are Leon Powe who won the championship with the Celtics, Al Thornton who averaged 16.8 points per game in the Clippers, and "White Chocolate" Jason Williams who returned after retirement and performed well in the Magic.

Although the Bulls have made some gains in the free trade market, they are still active in the buyout market. Their target is one of Brewer and Peja.

However, in the end, neither of them chose the Bulls, but joined the Mavericks one after another.

The reasons for both of them are basically the same. The Bulls' rotation is basically fixed now, and they won't have many opportunities to play if they come.

As for the Mavericks, because Caron Butler is out for the season, they are short of both small forward and shooting guard.

The Bulls didn't gain much, but the Heat made quite a stir.

In order to sign Mike Bibby, Riley chose to cut Arroyo before the buyout deadline.

This move seemed incredible to others, because after trading for Ayers, they could have chosen to cut players on the edge of the team such as Dampier or Pittman.

Even if Bibby is signed, keeping Arroyo can still serve as the team's backup point guard.

After all, no one can guarantee that Bibby will be able to integrate into the Heat team, and Bibby's current defense is very bad.

In fact, this decision also aroused strong dissatisfaction from James, and he publicly expressed this emotion in front of the media.

"We hate to lose Carlos. He played very hard. At the beginning of the season, he was our starting point guard. Even if the coach took away his opportunities, Carlos's attitude towards the game was still very positive. We hate to lose a brother."

However, shortly after James expressed his views, Riley responded in front of the media.

"I recognize Arroyo as a qualified player both in terms of personal performance and professionalism. But we have a bigger blueprint, so I can only say goodbye to him and wish him good luck in the future."

It looked extremely strange that the team's core players and the team president expressed their opinions to each other in front of the media.

However, people like Xu Yong who know the inside story will not be surprised that the open and secret struggles within the Heat are constantly escalating.

Or in other words, this incident verified what Ayers said before, that the Heat are not united internally.

This is obviously good news for the Bulls.

…

The last month of the regular season is the happiest time for Bulls fans and the most relaxing time for head coach Thibodeau.

In many games, the Bulls decided the outcome of the game in the third quarter, and then Thibodeau entered the hosting mode.

After more than half a season of adjustments and trades, the Bulls found their most suitable lineup.

In order to reduce the consumption of veterans, Thibodeau even began to reduce the playing time of veterans such as Yao Ming, O'Neal and O'Neal Jr. at this stage, and even found excuses to rest them.

Low ankle sprains, calf cramps, and groin injuries, which are generally injuries that can determine whether to play or not, began to appear in these Bulls players.

Although Thibodeau still lacks experience in this area, it is at least much more reliable than Popovich's tight hips next door.

Time flies and it is now mid-April. After more than five months of competition, the curtain of the NBA 2010-2011 season has fallen.

In the West, the Spurs unexpectedly topped the Western Conference with 61 wins.

Their lineup is basically the same as last season, but the team did not suffer from the same injury problems as last season.

The Lakers ranked second in the Western Conference with 58 wins, and Kobe averaged 25.3 points per game, the lowest since the 2003-04 season.

The Mavericks ranked third in the Western Conference with 57 wins. Nowitzki's average of 23 points per game was also the lowest since the 2003-04 season, but his 51.7% shooting percentage was the highest in his career.

It is worth mentioning that this is the 11th consecutive year that the Mavericks have won more than 50 games, second only to the Spurs' 12 times.

The reason why the Mavericks give people a weak feeling this season is that the team is relatively old and Caron Butler is out for the season.

The Thunder ranked fourth in the Western Conference with 55 wins. Westbrook scored over 20 points for the first time in his career. With Jeff Green being traded, Harden averaged 15.6 points per game in his second year as a rookie. The acquisition of Perkins greatly improved their competitiveness in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Hornets and Grizzlies ranked 5th to 8th.

After the Rockets traded Battier, the team's record declined and they missed the playoffs by 1 win.

Alexander was reluctant to pay the luxury tax, but in the end he got what he asked for.

The first-round matchups in the Western Conference have not changed much from the history that Xu Yong knows: Spurs vs. Grizzlies, Lakers vs. Hornets, Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers, Thunder vs. Nuggets.

In the East, although the Bulls' record had some ups and downs in the final stage due to rest, their final record still remained at 64 wins.

This record not only makes them rank first in the Eastern Conference, but also first in the league!

In terms of the team's core statistics, Rose averaged 25.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 47.5% and a three-point shooting percentage of 34.2%, which was a career high.

Xu Yong averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 49.5% and a three-point shooting percentage of 41.2%;

It is worth mentioning that Rose's average points per game ranks third in the league, and Xu Yong's average points per game ranks 10th in the league, which shows the firepower of the Bulls' backcourt duo.

Yao Ming averaged 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 58.8%;

Artest averaged 8.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.1 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 44.3% and a three-point shooting percentage of 36.2%.

O'Neal averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1 block per game, with a shooting percentage of 61.2%.