Michael Beasley says he is a changed man, but also puts the blame on others for his failure to live up to his #2 draft pick status.
He believes he is as talented as Kevin Durant and LeBron, do you believe him?
Here is what he had to say to Bleacher Report.
Beasley, though, has a different view of why he never grew into the player so many expected him to become.
“[It’s] mostly perception. As far as talent-wise, I match up with Kevin [Durant], LeBron, I match up with the best guys in the world,” Beasley says. “I’m not being cocky; it’s just always how I felt. But I got into trouble as soon as I got into the NBA, and it left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
“If you look over the past nine years, I never played more than 24-25 minutes a game. Being a No. 2 pick, especially in my first 3-4 years, that should raise a question mark,” Beasley says. “Not to toot my own horn, but not a lot of guys come into the NBA after the kind of year I had at Kansas State. For whatever reason, I just never got a fair shake.”
It’s worth pointing out, however, that Beasley did play 29.8 minutes per game in 2009-10, his second NBA season. Miami then traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves over the summer to help clear cap room for the arrival of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. In his first season in Minnesota, Beasley played 32.3 minutes per game and averaged a career-high 19.2 points.
Which is all to say: The charge that he never received a fair shot isn’t exactly true.
He will get his chance with the Knicks to prove the doubters wrong.