Broken. Totally dejected and dragged by a teammate from the track to the locker room. Kyle Guy (25 years old) found no consolation, broken down in tears in the shower after suffering the toughest defeat of his career in 2018, the Virginia Cavaliers defeated by the modest University of Maryland Baltimore (74-54) in the first round of the NCAA. A surprise that separated one of the favorites against a rookie. That chapter, historic in college basketball, plunged the escort into a trip to hell. “I promised myself that I would not forget that feeling in the middle of the track,” Guy, who had been taking medication for anxiety all season, was honest in a letter. He felt the weight of responsibility, of having failed his own. “I broke down in tears in the middle of training and I didn’t know why,†he recalled.
Guy, then a promising youngster, even dealt with death threats after the debacle. She found refuge in her extended family, undoubtedly the mainstay of her life. Her four parents, two biological and two adoptive, and her five siblings sheltered him. But even more important was his fiancée and now his wife, Alexa Jenkins. Born in Indiana, where basketball is religion, he had an interest in other sports before. He tried out for track and field and wanted to emulate his father as a football player until he suffered a back injury. At the age of 14, a scholarship to the University of Indianapolis tipped his future towards the basket. “I have not seen a player to whom the game came so naturally,” said his then coach, Derick Grant, who added his ability to generate play from his perimeter from his perimeter. His little physical presence, without corpulence for American basketball, was not an impediment to his growth being exponential. Until the catastrophe against Baltimore.
The collapse, however, gave way to success the following year. A last-second foul, when he was shooting a 3-pointer, gave Guy a chance to make up for it. He didn’t miss any of the three free throws and sealed the place for Virginia, who lifted the NCAA trophy with the guard chosen MVP of the tournament. “I don’t think the pressure is real, it comes from thinking a lot about the future or the past, so there is no pressure if you are only in the present,” defends the American, a self-confessed religious who has a tattoo of the triumph of David over Goliath as inspiration.
After the university stage, the Knicks chose Guy in the 55th place in the draft, who was transferred first to the Kings and then to the Heat. Without success in the NBA, Joventut has brought out its full potential this year. Irregular at the start of the season, he has taken advantage of Pau Ribas’ injury to demonstrate his scoring ability. At the moment, in the Endesa League playoffs, he has an average of almost 30 points. Historical numbers that Baskonia and Madrid have suffered. “If we need him to score 50 points to win, I’ll try,” Guy said recently, who tonight (9:00 p.m.) will once again be La Penya’s main argument in the second semifinal game against the Whites.
