The most embarrassing star in the NBA: He was abandoned at the peak twice, his dream of winning the championship was shattered, and his dream of winning the maximum salary was shattered

is traded again, where is the future of Colin Sexton? Destiny, when will you tease him?

At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2018, 19-year-old Sexton appeared on the stage in a burgundy Cavaliers hat. The Cavaliers management, holding the No. 8 draw, declared: "LeBron appreciates his talent very much!" - This evaluation is like a double-edged sword, which not only raised his value, but also laid the foreshadowing of the blame. The boy grabbed the microphone with great enthusiasm and issued a declaration to the son of Akron: "LeBron, let us return to the finals together!", laughter broke out from the court, and the media mocked him for "no impact on James' decision."

Just two months later, LeBron's official announcement of Journey to the West in Los Angeles was like a slap in the face. What's even more embarrassing is that he announced that he would inherit the Cavaliers' No. 2 jersey, and the previous owner, Kyrie Irving's name enveloped him like a ghost: "I will only be myself, and will not be the next one." This stubbornness turned into a laughing stock in the rookie season: when he played the "worst ball possession of the year" at the Celtics' home court and was ridiculed by the US media for "thinking that he was Irving", the video of the Cavaliers coach's furious scolding spread throughout the Internet.

Amid doubts, Sexton turned into a perpetual motion machine in the training hall, and fought against the Nets' Big Three in double overtime in January 2021. He scored 42 points and asked Durant to take off his hat after the game to pay tribute. The average of 24.3 points per game in the season put him among the elite scorers, and Love's comments began to be circulated in the Cavaliers locker room: "The way you break the upper limit reminds me of Kobe."

Fate showed its fangs at its peak. In November, he suddenly staggered and fell to the ground in a breakthrough. The "left knee meniscus tear" on the diagnosis is like a death sentence. Medical experts have given a cruel prediction: if you undergo repair surgery, you will be absent for 4-6 months. What's even more fatal is that it was the last year of his rookie contract, and the contract renewal negotiations were deadlocked - he insisted on asking for a maximum salary of over 100 million US dollars, while the Cavaliers were only willing to give an annual salary of 20 million.

"Serious Injury in the Contract" turned hundreds of millions of contracts into a bubble. Media titles pierced into his heart like ice cones. When the meniscus surgery announced the season's reimbursement, the Cavaliers' record increased instead of falling. Garland and Allen's internal and external combinations made rapid progress - his core position was silently stripped away.

When Sexton fought against pain in the rehabilitation room, 23-year-old Dalius Garland was making history, averaging 21.5 points and 8.7 assists per game, and was selected as the All-Star, tying LeBron's record in the Cavaliers. What's more fatal is that Garland had a wonderful chemical reaction with Mobley and Allen, and the Cavaliers jumped from the Lotto team to the top three in the East.

Management made a quick decision, handing Garland a five-year maximum salary contract of 193 million to establish his new king status, but what about Sexton? A "shamed offer" of 40 million in three years was put on the negotiating table - the annual salary was only 1/4 of Garland. The team's scoring champion who once beat Garland in the past has become a luxury at this moment. American media commented sharply: "He has the heart of a leader, but he has no life as a leader."

When he was traded to the Jazz, Sexton walked into the cold night of Salt Lake City with his newly repaired knee. In the early stage of his rehabilitation, he was like a knife to cut his knees, but his genes of "3-for-5-for-40" in college awakened again. In December 2022, the substitute scored 6 of 7 shots in 17 minutes and scored 18 points, +12 plus or negative values ​​declared the return of the king.

This season, he turned into an efficiency machine, averaged 18.4 points per game, and shot 61.2% in the real shooting percentage, scoring seventh in the league at critical moments, and hitting 39.4% in the 3-point shooting percentage. When he scored 20 points in the second half against the Knicks in 2024, the media in Salt Lake City exclaimed: "This is a jazz impromptu chapter!" At this moment, he still had an old-fashioned flip phone in his locker - rejecting the hustle and bustle of social media, and only listening to the pure sound of basketball entering the Internet.

From Pauder Springs to Salt Lake City, Colin Sexton's 2,000-mile journey was full of thorns. The bold statements on draft night became a media laughing stock. The meniscus torn apart and the dream of maximum salary was torn apart. Garland's halo pushed him into the trading abyss, but when he broke through the label of the Cavaliers' abandoned son and was reborn in the Jazz, the snowy mountains of Salt Lake City reflected the background of his basketball belief - the so-called Nirvana was nothing more than the process of slapping fate into a crown.

However, fate does not seem to be planning to let him go. Two months ago, Sexton was traded again. The Jazz packaged him, plus a second-round pick in exchange for Bosnia and Herzegovina Nurkic. Everyone was confused about this wave of operations, but soon, the Jazz's team-accompanied reporter gave the answer: Angie thought Sexton was valuable, but other teams did not agree.

Sexton's life is only basketball. He lives like an old man in his seventies or eighties. He never socializes, nor surfs the Internet. He eats, sleeps, and practices every day. His desire to win and his spiritual attributes are not inferior to any star in the league, but he has never received the respect he deserves.

Fortunately, Sexton is only 26 years old. He will still be like a bulldog, continuing to bite with fate until his hair turns white and his teeth fall off. The history of basketball may not reserve a grand chapter for this non-maximum-paid player, but in every story about counterattack in the future, his shadow - Colin Sexton.