Chapter 51 Bullfighting
The next day, Zhang Yu and Matthew Graves flew back to Indiana, and Butler followed them to Butler.
This came from Zhang Yu's proposal.
Leslie's family is not rich. His parents are ordinary employees, and his mother Michelle Lambert has four children with her first husband. After remarrying, she has three children with her current husband. nervous.
And under such circumstances, she took Butler in, treated him equally, and paid for his study and living expenses.
This made Butler very grateful to her, and he was very sensible on weekdays.
When he was not practicing, he tried his best to help Michelle Lambert with housework, discipline his younger siblings, and tried his best to correct the bad habits he picked up when he was on the street, so as to be a role model for the children.
Butler also offered to live in the utility room. Except for the necessary food, clothing, housing and transportation, he would not ask the Lamberts for money. In addition to studying, he practiced football in his life.
After Zhang Yu learned of Butler's situation, he offered to take him back to Indiana and let him practice well at school, while Butler's daily expenses were borne by him.
Butler's first reaction was to refuse. The self-esteem of the teenager made him unable to accept such help.
Different from staying at Leslie's house, Butler regards Lesley's family as his family, and Zhang Yu is still very strange to him.
Zhang Yu had no choice but to come up with a compromise plan—the expenses for these few months would be regarded as he had lent Butler to Butler, and he would return it to Butler when he had independent sources of income.
Only then did Butler agree.
He asked Zhang Yu to agree that if he missed his family, he would fly back to Houston to live for a few days before returning to Indiana to practice.
In the end, he did not forget to emphasize that the air ticket was included in the money Zhang Yu lent him, and he would definitely pay it back when he made money.
Before boarding the plane, Butler quietly approached Zhang Yu and asked him very disturbedly:
"Coach, do you count the interest on the money you lent me? I don't know how much money I can make in the future. The interest is too high and I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it back..."
Zhang Yu: "..."
Do I look that much like a profiteer who scams teens?
After Matthew Graves heard it, he laughed up and down next to him, which made Butler a little overwhelmed.
Finally, under Zhang Yu's various guarantees, Butler was relieved and stopped talking about money.
After boarding the plane, Butler touched and looked around curiously. This was his first time flying, and everything in front of him was so novel to him.
Zhang Yu offered to let him sit near the porthole, which made him very happy.
After returning to school, Zhang Yu took Butler back to his apartment and packed a room for him.
"Jimmy, how do you feel here?" Zhang Yu asked.
"It's great, but I'm not used to it. I always feel that others are calling my name..." Butler smiled wryly.
Walking on the road, he often heard people say "Butler", but when he looked back, he found that they were not calling him, but talking about the school.
"Haha, you'll get used to it after a while, rest well today, and I'll take you to training tomorrow." Zhang Yu laughed.
"No problem!" Butler's eyes showed anticipation.
He can finally join his dream NCAA team!
...
The next morning, Zhang Yu and Butler headed to Hinkle Arena.
It was 8:15 when they arrived at the arena, 45 minutes before the start of practice, and only Curry was warming up on the court.
Seeing Zhang Yu leading an unfamiliar boy in, he looked at Butler curiously.
"Let me introduce to you-Stephen, this is Jimmy Butler, yes, his last name is the same as our school name, he graduated from high school this year, and he will join the team next season. He is a defensive fighter... Jimmy, this is the core of the Bulldogs, NCAA scoring champion, super shooter Stephen Curry." Zhang Yu laughed.
Hearing Zhang Yu's joking voice, Curry smiled a little embarrassedly, and he reached out to Butler:
"Hello, I'm Stephen Curry, the Bulldogs starting point guard, don't listen to the boss, he's joking."
Butler quickly held Curry's hand and smiled stiffly:
"Nice to meet you, I'm Jimmy Butler from Houston Tomball Middle School."
Seeing that Butler was a little nervous, Zhang Yu suggested:
"Let's practice together, Stephen, if there is anything Jimmy doesn't understand, don't forget to answer it."
Curry nodded, his eyes suddenly lit up:
"Why don't we have a bullfight?"
"Okay!"
When it comes to basketball, Butler's previous restraint disappeared without a trace, exuding a confident aura.
"Okay, I'll be the referee for you. There are no rules. Just hit 10 balls. Training will begin later." Zhang Yu looked at his watch and agreed to Curry's proposal.
Afterwards, Butler quickly changed into his training clothes, and after a simple warm-up, he came to the court.
Curry flicks the ball to Butler:
"You go first."
Butler was also polite, took the basketball and prepared to attack.
Now he has not grown to two meters tall, only about 1 meters, and Curry has grown a lot taller than last year, already 93 meters, and he is about to reach his peak naked height of 1 meters.
Therefore, Butler is only slightly taller than Curry, and the two are just right, although he is much stronger than Curry.
After Zhang Yu blew the whistle, Butler put on a three-threat pose, but Curry was unmoved.
He tried a few more times, and suddenly started, trying to rush over from the right side of Curry.
Curry had seen through his breakthrough route a long time ago, and stopped him with a sliding step. Butler's breakthrough was blocked, and he wanted to retreat and start again, but accidentally patted the ball on his foot.
With sharp eyes and quick hands, Curry snatched the ball and completed the steal.
Butler shook his head in frustration, the two switched positions, and it was Curry's turn to attack.
Curry dribbled the ball leisurely, while Butler watched his movements intently.
He is facing the NCAA scoring champion, and it would be a lie to say that he is not nervous.
Curry suddenly looked up at the frame, covered the ball with his left hand, and made a gesture to close the ball, but Butler jumped up to block the shot in surprise.
But Curry paused immediately, slipped his left hand over the ball, swiped past Butler's left side with his short body, rushed into the inside line, and made an easy layup.
This is a wonderful worship!
Curry picked up the dropped basketball, threw it to Butler, and spread his hands proudly.
Once on the basketball court, his usual humility disappeared without a trace, and he was full of desire to express.
After exchanging the ball, Butler held the ball and faced Curry. This time he did not choose to break through, but shook it twice symbolically, and directly shot a three-pointer.
He wanted to take advantage of his height advantage to get back a game.
But his intention was too obvious, and the shot was interfered by Curry and missed the basket.
Looking back, Curry used the rhythm change to shake out the shooting space and hit a three-pointer.
After that, Butler attacked. This time he used a mid-range emergency stop jumper. Although Curry kept up, his bounce was not as good as Butler's, and he didn't interfere, allowing him to get the first point in the bullfight.