I love it when this kind of stuff happens.
The Rockets are hurting a bit right now, looking for that little push to get them into the playoffs. Their roster isn’t cutting it, and they need to bring in some fresh talent to revitalize things.
Enter some random guy that nobody’s ever heard of named “Michael Beasley”. He’s been balling out in China for a while (he’s not Chinese though, born and raised in America apparently), happy to at least get paid to play while NBA teams ignored him. The story of many an aspiring hooper. Reminds me of the Chris Copeland situation a little bit.
So here comes this guy with no expectations placed on him to speak of, and no reputation preceding him. No one’s ever seen him before, except for a few foreign scouts and longtime fans of his college team. The ultimate unknown. I’m sitting here thinking “Well it’s great that they signed him but is he ever going to get to even play? They must be confident in his abilities to not bother with a 10-day.” How many overseas talents have we seen tear it up outside the NBA and then lay an egg when the competition stiffens? Plenty.
And then he goes and scores 18, playing a key role in the Rockets’ victory over the Celtics! Michael Beasley: unheralded savior of a lost Rockets season?