He is one of the few cultured individuals in the NBA, a farewell letter moved many people, he plays basketball while serving as a journalist, basketball commentator, and chairman of the players' union, due to his elegant speech, he has won the opportunity to interview the NBA president for four consecutive years, the versatile He not only earned $249 million in the NBA, but also created a very popular podcast program, unlike other NBA players marrying internet celebrities or models, he chose a female dentist with a Ph.D., two elites together make marriage play a 1+1 greater than 2 effect, this clear-headed NBA player is Pelicans guard CJ McCollum.
Born on September 19, 1991, in Canton, Ohio, USA, McCollum's older brother Eric McCollum is three years older than him. Since he can remember, his brother has been playing basketball and often played with small basketballs, making him fall in love with the sport. It is worth mentioning that his brother later became a professional player and once scored 82 points in a single game in the CBA, still holding the record for the highest single-game score in CBA history.
When he was young, McCollum developed slowly and was often beaten by his taller and stronger brother, which made him determined to hone his basic skills. When he defeated his brother with skillful dribbling and stable shooting, he also became the core member of the school team with his solid skills. The only thing that bothered him was that he grew too slowly, and he was the shortest player on the school team from elementary school to junior high school, as well as in his first and second years of high school.
In his freshman year, he attended GlenOak High School, where he looked like a dwarf on the court at only 1.58 meters tall, always targeted in defense, but he continued to be heavily used by the coach, which is enough to show how outstanding his offensive skills are, and his contributions on the offensive end were enough to let the coach tolerate his losses on the defensive end.
McCollum knows that he cannot control how tall he grows, the only thing he can do is to maximize the honing of his basketball skills, when he tirelessly runs madly, the goddess of fortune also chooses to stand by his side, in the next two years his ball skills soared, height also increased by 22.8 centimeters. In his junior year, his height reached 180.8 centimeters, although he still did not stand out on the court, but also would not be targeted by opponents, which also allowed him to explode, he once scored 54 points in a single game to break the school record.
In his senior year, he continued to polish his skills, and his height continued to grow, exquisite ball skills and height added to make him on the court like a fish in water, the season averaged 29.3 points, won the 2008-2009 season Ohio State High School Player of the Year award.
After graduating from high school, McCollum received many invitations from prestigious basketball schools, but he eventually chose Lehigh University, which has a more scholarly atmosphere, majoring in journalism. Before him, Lehigh University had never produced an NBA player, but it had cultivated many business elites, if you want to enter Wall Street, it is a great choice, but if you want to play in the NBA, it is not a wise choice, but in McCollum's view, knowledge and basketball are equally important, later he not only got academic certificate, but also met Alice who majored in medicine, the two developed into lovers after the relationship has been very stable.
The most important thing is that McCollum also made a name for himself on the court, his height has grown to 1.91 meters, he has excellent performance in four years of college. In his freshman season, he averaged 19.1 points, and in the next three seasons, his average score was over 21 points, of which his senior season performance was the most outstanding, averaging 23.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists, leading Lehigh University into the Sweet 16, and with 30 points and 6 assists, defeating Duke University, which had future NBA players such as Austin Rivers, Seth Curry, Quinn Cook, and Plumlee.
After graduating from university, McCollum participated in the 2013 NBA draft and was ultimately selected by the Trail Blazers in the first round with the tenth overall pick. However, at that time, the starting shooting guard position of the Blazers was firmly occupied by Matthews, and McCollum did not get a chance to start in his first season, averaging only 12.5 minutes per game, scoring 5.3 points, with a shooting percentage of only 41.6%.
In his second season, his situation did not change much, but towards the end of the season, Matthews suffered a season-ending left ankle Achilles tendon rupture, and McCollum got three chances to start, scoring 23 points against the Warriors and 27 points against the Lakers, which made him heavily used in the playoffs, in the five-game series against the Grizzlies, he could contribute an average of 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game, with a three-point shooting percentage as high as 47.8%, and in the fifth game, he even made seven three-pointers to score 33 points.
At the end of the season, the Blazers sent away most of their starting players, taking McCollum as the undisputed choice for the starting No. 2 position, forming a backcourt double gun with Lillard. After getting enough playing time and ball rights, McCollum exploded, his average score soared from 6.8 points to 20.8 points, and he also averaged 4.3 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 41.7%, taking the Most Improved Player Award, and in the playoffs, he could also contribute an average of 20.5 points, which earned him a four-year, $106 million early renewal contract.
In the next three seasons, he could contribute at least 21 points per game in each regular season, and at least 22 points in the playoffs, and he even led the Blazers into the Western Conference Finals in the 2018-2019 season, allowing him to get a three-year, $100 million renewal contract in the offseason, he could not get an All-Star spot in the wild west, but he made a lot of money, and he was as close as brothers with Lillard, which made him very fond of the city of Portland.
However, all good things must come to an end, McCollum and Lillard's backcourt double gun is not tall enough overall, and they have no defense, exposing many problems in the playoffs, after repeatedly stumbling in the playoffs, the Blazers decided to send McCollum to New Orleans, when everything settled down, he wrote a farewell letter called "Goodbye, Dear Portland," totaling 4792 words, he used his delicate and sincere writing skills to thank the city of Portland, his teammates, coaches, and all the staff, even fans who were not from the Blazers were moved to tears by him.
After joining the young Pelicans, he scored a career-high 24.3 points, 5.8 assists, and 1.3 steals, helping the Pelicans into the playoffs, and in the offseason, he got a two-year, $64 million early renewal contract. Later, the Pelicans were in turmoil, and he became a spiritual leader after the age of thirty, helping young players on and off the court. Last season, he helped the Pelicans into the playoffs again. This season, the Pelicans surprised everyone, after trading for All-Star player Dejounte Murray, their record plummeted, recently suffering a long 11-game losing streak, until McCollum scored 50 points to save the day and stop the losing streak.
As a player with mediocre physical talent, McCollum has done everything he can, it is not his fault that the Pelicans have fallen into such a state, Zion and Ingram are out of action, All-Star guard Murray is performing poorly, what can he do? All he can do is work hard, live up to his salary, and have a clear conscience.
This year, 33-year-old McCollum is getting farther and farther away from the championship, he naturally yearns for the championship, and will continue to work hard towards the goal, but will not be obsessed with it. Basketball is very important, but life cannot only have basketball, he has many ways to achieve a sense of accomplishment, such as helping players gain more rights as chairman of the players' union, publishing high-quality articles on the Players Tribune, interviewing NBA presidents and rookies as a journalist, and then writing sports news copy, etc.
What makes him most accomplished is that he has a happy family, he and Alice met and fell in love in college, he remained monogamous after earning big money in the NBA, never having any scandals, while Alice focused on staying in school to pursue her Ph.D., later becoming a highly paid dentist, despite the two being separated for a long time, they are both well-educated people, with principles and bottom lines, never doing anything out of line, allowing this romance to last for a long time.
In October 2020, McCollum and Alice got married, and in January 2022, their first child was born. Alice gave up her career to become a housewife. McCollum knows that a strong woman giving up her career to take care of her