Gave a jump: Zack Lavine became a top-notch star

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The former ring champion turned the famous dunks into an old hobby, and developed into Chicago’s greatest scorer since Michael Jordan. The change in 2018, the obstacles and the goal. The story of Allstar

Yoav is aware



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“Dr. Jay can’t believe his eyes, and he’s seen everything in his life,” the All-Star 2015 ring competition said in an American broadcast. While all spectators in the hall (and in the world) got to their feet after the rookie’s first shot, referee Julius Irving did not move. A muscle in his face. It was the moment when the first ring champion ever realized he was exposed to a natural phenomenon not seen every day. A natural phenomenon called Zac Lavine.

Lavin was unmoved by the New York spotlight, and at just 19 years old made his mark with some spectacular dunks that stunned the NBA, crowned him the champion of the competition and most of all opened his appetite for the big ‘show’ coming up against Aaron Gordon the following year.

Just before Lavin hovered in the air to steal the show, the famous music of “Spice Jam” was heard in the background. With a lot of courage, the young Minnesota guard wore Michael Jordan’s jersey from the film, and with it began the competition that brought him to consciousness.

Six years later, the same boy who was known as a superstar became a superstar, and this week – also an All-Star for the first time. Who then was not afraid to pull out Jordan’s holy jersey, today can look back on the last 20 years and say he’s the deadliest scorer Chicago has known since Jordan.


Answers from the movies
Although Chicago has experienced dark days and has not been able to get close to the ring since the Michael era, it did create / hold several stars sent to the All-Star Game, five to be exact: Derek Rose, Lowell Dang, Joachim Noah, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol. With all due respect to the five, including the 2011 MVP, none of them mentioned Lavin of the current season when it comes to the overarching goal of the game with the orange ball – to put points on the board.

Before we look at the unimaginable numbers of the 25-year-old guard this season, it should be noted that his shooting ability has always been there (improved miraculously over the years), but Lavin always had two main problems: the points did not translate into wins, besides adding the same points to the stats page – His contribution on the parquet was nil.

This year Lavin has also managed to develop Playmaker features, as well as score with exceptional efficiency. Here are the numbers: 28.8 points per game on 52% from the field, 44% from three and 87% from the penalty line, along with 5.3 rebounds and 5 assists. In each and every one of these categories, the averages represent the peak of his career.

Only three guards averaged higher points per game than Lavin this season (Bradley Bill, Steph Kerry and Damian Lillard), but the Chicago star scores at a much higher percentage, both from the field and off the arc. In fact, only two players throughout history have averaged a season-high of at least 28 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 50/40/80%, calling them Steph Kerry and Larry Byrd. If he slightly improves the percentage from the line, Lavin will become the ninth player ever to enter the “50/40/90 Club”.

Scores 3.8 points more than Rose (Getty)'s peak season
Scores 3.8 points more than Rose (Getty)’s peak season

The human spring from Minnesota has become a threesome machine in Chicago (throws over eight times off the arc in a game), and if you combine the two – you get a player we’ve never seen. One that can both win the ring competition and threes, and no one will be surprised. Together with the tremendous improvement in the last three seasons Lavin has managed to change his image and turn his trademark, the dunks, into a “hobby” from the past. If you were wondering, this is no accident.

Lavin’s personal trainer, Drew Hanlan, decided in the summer of 2018 that a player is no longer allowed to drown during the break. Hanlan wanted Lavin to focus on other aspects of the game besides athleticism, and in addition – he claimed that whenever the Guard’s rings were published on the internet, Lavin’s ‘just drowning’ narrative would become stronger and stronger. In retrospect, he was right.

Those spectacular dunks he showed from a young age played a role in Minnesota’s decision to pick him in 13th place in the 2014 draft, but ahead of the 2018/19 season the change was inevitable. Since then, Hanlan has focused with Lavin on ‘playmaking’, shooting, and other aspects of the attacking game. The coach also worked with him on the same training program he gave Bill and Jason Taitum, and this year Lavin is reaping the rewards.

Lavin scored 16.7 points per game on 38 percent from the field in his first 24 games in Chicago, which came near the end of the 2017/18 season. Since the summer of 2018, Lavin has averaged 23.7 points in 2018/19, 25.5 in 19/20 and 28.8 this season. In the last three seasons, by the way, Lavin has not dropped from 45% from the field.

The strong desire to make the dream come true and combine threes and rings did not begin in 2018, but long before that, in the backyard of the Lavin family on the west coast of the United States. At the age of 7, the young Zack decided to follow in the footsteps of his athletic parents (his father Paul was a football player and his mother Cheryl was a softball player), and chose to enter the world of baseball instead.

After a short time Lavin gave up baseball and moved to basketball, because of one movie that attracted him to the industry. A movie called Spice Jam (remember the 2015 ring competition?). He would watch the movie over and over again to emulate Jordan’s moves, and so he fell in love with basketball.

Thanks to his father’s training program for football players, Lavin became a crazy athlete and at the age of 14 when he was 1.72 meters he drowned for the first time. In addition, he would take care of wiping out every three-yard workout in the backyard series. At the same time he would learn the form of play of his childhood hero, Kobe Bryant (one of the reasons he wears the number 8 today), who is also the youngest ring champion in history. Immediately after him in second place: Zack Lavine.

Work ethic has been there all along, genetics for sure, but Lavin had to go through quite a few obstacles in his orbit to get to where he is today. Beyond the chaos he experienced on the lines in the form of six coaches within seven years, Lavin suffered an injury that many others did not return from.

In February 2017, in the midst of his breakout season in Minnesota (18.9 points per game after scoring 14 in the previous one), Lavin tore the crossbar. He returned to the floor in January 2018, when in the middle he managed to move to the Bulls in Jimmy Butler’s big trade.

“No player in NBA history has torn the crossbar and returned with the same athletic abilities as Zack Lavine,” claimed Chicago legendary reporter Sam Smith. Lavine, who in the same game in 2017 stayed on the floor for another six minutes after tearing his ACL, proves to us every night that with his character and body everything can be overcome.

And the truth? It was impossible not to get excited along with Lavin when he was selected to Allstar. And if you are not excited, take a few minutes for the next video …

But to tell the truth, the same smiles you saw in a zoom conversation do not always appear on the floor, certainly not on the defensive side. A moment ago we complimented Lavin on his exceptional athleticism, which is precisely why it is not clear how he is such a weak defensive player in relation to his potential.

In terms of the defensive index, Zac Lavine (115.3) is ranked 428th in the NBA out of 489 players, and 229th among the top five players in the league. If Lavin wants to take another step in his career, he will have to continue to improve his defense, and his coach as well Billy Donovan Knows this: “I told him the big players in the league know how to play on both sides of the pitch. You just can’t be a one-dimensional player, and I think Zack is starting to be committed to defense as well.”

We mentioned earlier the image change of Zack Lavine, who managed to get an entire world to look at him as a basketball star and not as a ring machine, but the real challenge is still ahead of him. Until this season Lavin is considered another one of those stars who can explode with 40 points, but lose. “Statistics Players”, if you will.

So far this season, Lavin’s best balance was 51:31 (37.8% success) in the 2016/17 season, which brought him 13th in the West. In Chicago, as the team leader, he has not won more than 27 games in any season. In short, the reviews are understandable and this is exactly where Lavin’s image challenge comes in. A challenge he manages to meet, at least for now.

After some particularly bad years of looting the Bulls, Lavin turns from a star on the stats page to a star on the floor, to one who drags his team and makes his teammates better. Without noticing the bulls are one win away from fourth place in the East, and if they continue like this, we can all look at the fresh Allstar and say that the man who revived the ring competition in 2015, manages to revive Chicago in 2021.

Lavin's play has just begun (Getty)
Lavin’s play has just begun (Getty)

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