He suffered a serious injury at the age of 19 and was laid off at the age of 22. Now he is reborn. He is worth learning from Xiao Yang!

Not long ago, the Trail Blazers and the Lakers had a showdown. Although Austin Reeves, who has been in hot form recently, once again scored 41 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, the Lakers encountered a wave of injuries. LeBron James and Luka Doncic were both absent, so they failed to withstand the pressure and were eventually defeated by the Trail Blazers. Logically speaking, this should have been a victory worthy of celebration, but Yang Hansen, who the fans were looking forward to, only scored 1 point and 1 rebound in this game, and missed all three shots, which was really embarrassing.

In stark contrast, there are other players on the team, such as Blake Wesley, who wears the No. 1 jersey. You must know that he is not much older than Xiao Yang. He is only 22 years old now, but he has already encountered various challenges. There were twists and turns, but he was not discouraged. After coming to the Trail Blazers, with his positive attitude, he has entered the team's rotation. In this game, he contributed 4 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists. In the limited time, he achieved his best. His attitude is worth learning from Xiao Yang. Let's take a look at this guy's tortuous path!

Although he is a four-star high school student, he has made a name for himself in the NCAA.

Unlike most NBA players, Wesley was never a talented player before entering the NBA. It was not until high school that he gradually came to prominence. He attended Riley High School in Indiana. His offense has improved a lot, and his defensive performance has been stable. In his senior season, he handed over a satisfactory data sheet, averaging 27.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. In the end, he helped the school team win the runner-up in the Indiana High School League, and he was also successfully selected to the All-Star team.

However, because his previous resume was not brilliant, scouts were cautious about his abilities and performance. Therefore, after he graduated from high school in 2021, in terms of star evaluation, he was only given the title of a four-star high school student, which is indeed unexpected.

However, even if he is a four-star high school student, many famous NCAA schools have contacted him, including Kansas State University, University of Louisville, etc. They all hope that he can come to the school and become a top puzzle piece. But Wesley did not intend to do this. He chose to return to his hometown University of Notre Dame, hoping to fight for his hometown.

Not only that, after coming to school, he quickly became the core figure of the team. He scored 21 points in his first game and another 24 points in the second game. He was elected as the ACC Rookie of the Week. Although the team's record was average, he still posted 14.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists. After the season, he was also selected to the ACC League's All-Freshman Team and All-Second Team. This increased Wesley's confidence, so he participated in the NBA draft.

His rookie season was completely canceled and he was gradually marginalized in the Spurs.

When the time comes for the 2022 draft, Wesley believes that he will definitely be selected. In addition to his outstanding performance during the NCAA period, this confidence comes from his performance in the joint trials. He is 1.93 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.06 meters. Coupled with his good explosive power and jumping, his draft stock has increased. In the end, he was successfully picked by the Spurs with the 25th pick in the first round and became a member of this veteran team. Although the Spurs' record in recent years has been relatively average, looking at the entire NBA, except for the Heat, few teams can match their discipline, and they are very good at cultivating young people.

So Wesley was overjoyed to join the Spurs, but not long after he was happy, huge trouble arose. In the 22-23 season, Wesley gradually entered the team's rotation, averaging 5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Although there were some shortcomings, they could be corrected. However, after playing 37 games, he suffered a serious injury to the cruciate ligament in his left knee and was reimbursed early for the season.

This serious injury not only caused Wesley to rest for a long time, but also cast a shadow on his heart. Although he successfully returned in the second season, the team also gave him a certain amount of time and even started. 3 times, but compared to his rookie season, Wesley became more constrained, and finally only handed over 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Although his field goal percentage reached 47.4%, he did not dare to take three-point shots, which also became a fatal problem.

And the Spurs have a large influx of rookies every season. Two years is not a short time, but Wesley did not impress the team. So last season, his playing time was only 11.8 minutes, and his data dropped to 3.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2 assists. After the season, he was completely marginalized and was laid off by the team.

Signed with the Trail Blazers with a minimum salary and quickly became a rotation.

At the moment of being laid off, Wesley was probably very confused. At only 22 years old, he was also afraid that he might not have anything to play for. But just like the idiom "bottoming out", he still has fighting spirit in his heart and longs to stay on the NBA stage. Therefore, he actively contacted various teams during the offseason, continued to participate in trial training, and showed his 100% condition in the hope of staying in the NBA. The Trail Blazers were also impressed by him and gave him a one-year base salary of US$2.37 million. This time Wesley did not let the opportunity slip away. In the preseason, he could contribute 6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals. On the defensive end, he was like a hyena, and he would attack his opponents whenever he got the chance. On the offensive end, he is like a tireless sports car. Whenever there is a gap, he will step on the accelerator..

So far in the new season, he has also steadily output 5.3 points, 3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals. Although his shooting is still unstable, he has gained the team's trust with his tenacious momentum and positive attitude. As his teammate, Xiao Yang definitely sees it, and this is worth learning!