All 128 points and 19 assists in the 7 games of Michael Beasley's inaugural season in Ice Cube's Big 3 league. Also included is some clips from interviews mid-game with Brian Scalabrine.
All rights to this footage belong to CBS and the BIG 3. If either would like this video removed, I will oblige.
I like delving into my thoughts/flowers on players in the description of videos, and this one will be no different. I am a staunch Michael Beasley defender, from his time at Kansas State, to the Blazers Summer League team, to the BIG 3.
Michael Beasley attended SIX different high schools in four years. Six. He never had stability before his professional career. His senior year he scored 64 points in a game against top competition in high school. No shade, but this wasn't some trash high school league where Beasley was going off. Nah, this was top talent. In the 2007 McDonald's game, he was MVP with 23 points and 12 rebounds alongside the best players in the nation. Other players in that game: James Harden, Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, and Jerryd Bayless. Beasley was the king of the night, trumping all those future NBA players on his team's performances.
He has one of the best freshman campaigns in NCAA history at Kansas State, averaging 26.2 points (third in the country) and nation-leading 12.4 rebounds. His 866 points ranks 3rd most in NCAA history from a freshman* and his 408 rebounds are the second most. He led the nation in double-doubles, 40 point games (three), and scored a Big 12 record 44 points in a game. He would win the Big 12 Player of the Year and be a first team All-American. Beasley's amateur career is something to behold.
In the NBA, he first arrived as the second overall pick behind Derrick Rose in the 2008 NBA Draft, by the Miami Heat. Beasley was joining a team that already had a go-to scoring option and legend in Dwyane Wade. Beasley just didn't mesh with Wade's play style, point and simple. Were the Heat gonna tell D-Wade that he couldn't drive on both sides of the floor, and possessions would sometimes revolve solely around Beasley's isolation buckets? In no universe was that going to happen. By 2010, Michael Beasley played more than 32 minutes in a game only 57 of the 159 games he had played in, good for 36%. When he did get more than 32 minutes, Beasley scored more than 20 points in the game 2 out of the 3 times. Translation: play him more than 32 minutes, you will get 20 or more points 67% of the time. That rarely occurred in Miami during his time as a starter. I'll compare: Pau Gasol scored over 20 points in the 2009-10 season only 25% of the time, while receiving way more minutes on an NBA Finals destined team. These aren't made up stats.
Beasley would be traded to Minnesota, where he would have the best season of his NBA career, averaging 19.2 points per game. However, the Timberwolves didn't experience any winning, so this average was chalked up to "empty stats". Then came the Suns stint where he was waived a month into year 2 of a 3 year deal because of marijuana, a substance the league does not even check for anymore, and now has players like Montrezl Harrel with pounds of it in his car (he shouldn't be punished by the league either). "Trying to keep a championship atmosphere here" was the explanation by the Suns GM at the time. Ok. Lots of chips over there bro. He signed a week later to back up the Miami Big 3, returning to the Heat. Re-signed. Bench scoring option. Then dominated China. Returned as a scoring option for Kevin McHale on the Rockets. Then with the Bucks. Then came my New York Knicks.
At the time, the Knicks were not good. A promising Kristaps Porzingis was the best product on the court, when healthy, with cast members like a young fresh off a 4 year 72 million dollar deal (jesus christ Phil Jackson) and Enes Kanter. Beasley would reignite MSG when receiving minutes, best evidenced by his performance against the Boston Celtics, where he garnered M-V-P chants. Wherever he is, Michael Beasley could score the basketball.
This is the section of the description where I am going to dispel the "Michael Beasley attitude problems": all of his run-ins with the law are for a drug the NBA doesn't even run tests for anymore. Kevin Durant has publicly stated he smokes all the time. He's a top 20 player E V E R. LeBron smokes reefer. Really? And Beasley gets punished for it? The incident at a camp with Mario Chalmers (smoking weed in their hotel room) hasn't nearly been held against Chalmers as it has against Beasley. Nor should it ever have been. I don't think it's hidden at all, but all Beasley wants to do is play ball. And I love that about him.
*Note: back in the days, freshman were ineligible to play for the "varsity" team, so players like Lew Alcindor and many other phenoms had to wait a year.
11 авг 2022
