Max Strus, from NCAA Division II to DJ Khaled

Lewis University. A very small university in Illinois, located in Romeoville, a suburb of Chicago. Max Strus played his first two college seasons there, in NCAA Division II, before moving to DePaul to finish his degree. Coming out of high school, he had only received one offer, from Chicago State, and instead followed his brother, Marty, to Lewis.

Now it’s 2014, and eight years later, Max Strus is living a daydream. Here he is, a starter for a title contender, and tonight it was DJ Khaled who gave him the ball on a second half layup!

DJ Khaled imitates Drake

” I heard the crowd was going crazy,” laughed the Heat guard when a reporter asked his opinion on the throw-in. ” I didn’t know what was going on. Jimmy was laughing, and I looked back at him. I saw that [DJ Khaled] was warming up the crowd, and it was a really cool moment. I ran into him after the game afterwards, and frankly, so much continues to happen to me… It’s really special. ”

A “very cool” moment marked by this friendly gesture from the rapper/producer to Erik Spoelstra. A small massage of the shoulders, like what Drake has already practiced with Nick Nurse.

“I didn’t pay attention until he warmed up the crowd,” says the Heat coach. “It was huge, and I’m humbled by the moment. You know, he’s a great Heat fan. Over the years, I’ve greeted him from time to time, but tonight was a first! ”

First career double-double

This nice moment punctuates a very good performance of Max Strus as he signs his first double-double in career, with a personal record in rebounds: 19 points and 10 rebounds! Before the game, Pat Riley had asked him to take 10 rebounds. He did it!

He is the one who put the Heat on the right track. He misses his first 3-points shot, but takes his rebound, and scores without opposition. Miami goes on a 10-0 run, and he finishes the first quarter with 11 points. It is still him, at the beginning of the 4th quarter, who will put the lid on the game, and force Doc Rivers to launch the “garbage time”.

“After the two games in Philadelphia, I looked at the video, and I told myself that I had to be aggressive. I told myself that I had to take every open shot,” he explains. “On the rebounding side, everyone, Jimmy, Bam, PJ…, is on their one-and-done, and I have to help them. They were dominating us on the rebound, and I wanted to be there, and the ball just came to me. I was there in the right place at the right time.”

His success had one unfortunate outcome: poor Duncan Robinson, who had been waxing good since the middle of the series against the Hawks. Erik Spoelstra had planned to give him some playing time, but the success of Max Strus changed his plans… “We have a team where the X-factors are all there. We have a team where X-factors impact how we win, and we have a lot of different players that can be the X-factor.”

Tuesday night, that was Max Strus.

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