From a five-star high school student, to a failure to be selected for the NBA, to a failed CBA trial, why did he get worse and worse as he gets better and worse

He is a genius who resounds throughout the United States in high school, ruled the entire Arizona region, and had destructive offensive ability. He ranked 7th in the United States at the same time and was a standard five-star warrior. But now, he repeatedly hit a wall, lost the NBA and failed to try out the CBA...

Michael Foster Jr., a name that is rarely mentioned, but five years ago, he was a genius who was as famous as the 22nd Grade 22 rookie, No. 1, No. 1, Homgren, and Jabbarri Smith Jr., in the list of the strongest 25 high schools in the United States released by ESPN in 20 years (not graded). Foster is also on the list. It is worth mentioning that everyone on this list entered the NBA through the draft, but Foster was rejected and disappeared from the public eye early.

Next, let's talk about this genius who fell at the speed of light - Michael Foster Jr.

Foster was born in a sports family. His father Michael Foster is a semi-professional basketball player, his mother Tamika Brown is a high jumper, his grandfather is the main running back of the University of Wisconsin football team, his aunt is the main force of the Iowa State University basketball team, and his cousin is the substitute for the American women's 4×100m relay at the Rio Olympics in 2016. In addition, he also has a half-brother Jared Cunningham, who has played for the Mavericks, Hawks, Cavaliers and other teams. He is now the head coach of the G League.

Old Foster is his son's basketball enlightenment teacher, but in 2016, he was arrested and imprisoned for attempted robbery with a gun and absent from the critical stage of Foster's growth. In the most difficult time of the whole family, his step-brother Cunningham stood up. He used his salary to help his mother pay off his debts. In order to avoid Old Foster's gang problems and affect the safety of his family, Cunningham purchased real estate for them in Arizona and sent Foster to the best local school. The tuition fee alone costs $24,000 a year.

Cunningham is also very concerned about Foster's basketball path. In his opinion, his younger brother's talent is much better than himself, and his future achievements will definitely surpass him. Therefore, through relationships, Cunningham found many top trainers for his younger brother. With the full support of his older brother, Foster's football skills have also improved by leaps and bounds to the entire Arizona region. In 3 years, Foster led the team to a terrifying record of 137 wins and 9 losses, was elected as the State Basketball Master, and used a report card that averaged 32.2 points, 18.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks to draw a perfect sentence for his high school career.

But at this moment, Foster made an amazing decision. He refused scholarships offered by many universities and chose to join the G League to ignite. Although everyone disagreed, including his father in prison, Foster insisted on taking risks for the $500,000 salary, and the result was as expected. After a season, Foster's reputation shrank significantly. Seeing the rookies of the same period landed in the NBA one by one, he did not hear his name until the end.

In the end, Foster only got a two-way contract from the 76ers. He only got one playing time in the rookie season and no data was recorded. He then played for the Wizards for a short time, but was laid off before the start of the season. Since then, the NBA's goal has been completely closed to Foster. After a period of competition in the NBL, Foster entered the European League at the suggestion of his step brother. During this period, he also tried the CBA, but was not signed. In terms of talent, Foster is indeed very excellent, with a height of 2.03 meters and a wingspan of 2.14 meters. His ultimate ability at the basket is good, and he is also remarkable. He has the ability to break through the frame. When holding the ball from the outside, he can also make technical moves such as forward change direction, and then stop and shoot. However, it should be noted that Foster has developed very early and has reached such physical conditions at the age of 18. In the high school league with an average height of 1.9 meters, his static talent and skills are easy to perform at the dominant level.

In order to win, the team will only make Foster play comfortably and will not consider future development at all. What's worse is that he skipped the NCAA again, igniting the team and the high school league basically the same. The team has no tactics, basically they play singles. Such a loose environment will not help Foster's technical improvement. On the offensive end, it still relies on low-level singles, accounting for as high as 71.3%, and can make three-pointers, but the output and efficiency are both medium and low-level; on the defensive end, this has never been a place Foster needs to pay attention to, especially in pick-and-roll defense, either losing position or missing people. 1.21 points per round of defense is completely a level of points;

As for other basic skills, such as pick-and-roll, the average screen assist is only 0.7 times per game, and the level at the bottom of the same position is either unable to form a pick-and-roll or unable to hold on;

In 2023, Foster participated in a podcast program, "If I reselected once, I will go to the NCAA." Foster said. "At that time, I thought I was strong enough, but in fact I was just a child spoiled by data."

This is the difference between campus basketball and professional league. In the student days, due to physical development and other factors, some super geniuses were created. Their gorgeous data, countless halos and honors were blinded by blinding the eyes of these geniuses. They would naively think that they could do everything and make some wrong judgments. But in the professional arena, those dazzling talents gradually became mediocre. If they did not have a continuous potential, it would be difficult to survive and gain a foothold.