Weston Dill is a double threat — he can shoot and write. (Photo courtesy Jenny Dill)
With Washington state schools closed down for at least six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re offering all Whidbey Island students a chance to be heard and stay connected.
Weston Dill, who wrote the following report on his favorite basketball player, is a 4th grader at South Whidbey Elementary.
Zach LaVine is an amazing basketball player and I will prove it to you.
Since I can remember, Michael Jordan has been my favorite basketball player.
The first time I saw Zach LaVine was in a slam dunk contest, he was wearing a Michael Jordan “Space Jam” jersey.
He was 19 years old. HE WON with a perfect score of 50!!
I think we have a lot of similarities.
Zach LaVine was born on March 10, 1995 in Renton , WA.
He was born into an athletic family.
His dad Paul LaVine played for the Seattle Seahawks and his mom Cheryl played softball in college. He also has 3 sisters.
Here are some amazing things about Zach LaVine: his awards are two-time NBA slam dunk contest champion, also NBA All-Rookie Second-Team (2015) and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2014).
Also, First-Team Parade All-American (2013).
AP Washington state player of the year (2013) and Washington Mr. Basketball (2013).
Zach LaVine went to Bothell High School.
He was a point guard and their main ball handler. His number was 14.
In 2013, his senior year, at 6’5” tall he averaged 28.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
He was the number 12 shooting guard and number 44 player overall in the nation.
Zach LaVine went to UCLA for college.
He played point guard. His number was still 14.
His stats were: 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists average per game, even after a six-game shooting slump.
He attended college for one year, from 2013-2014. After that he entered the NBA draft.
Zach LaVine was in the 2014 NBA draft.
He got drafted in round 1, pick 13 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played for them from 2014-2017.
In 2017 he got traded to the Chicago Bulls for a four-year 80-million dollar contract.
It was a big deal to him since Michael Jordan was his idol and Michael Jordan played for the Bulls.
Zach LaVine still plays for the Bulls. He is #8, small forward and shooting guard.
This season he averaged 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.
His career high is 49 points with the Bulls in 2019. His net worth is now six million dollars.
Zach LaVine is also a role model off the court.
He loves to give back to the community. He gave 500 Thanksgiving meals to a local food bank.
He recently gave 12,500 meals to the Seattle Food Bank because of the coronavirus outbreak, to give back to his hometown.
At home he loves to play one on one with his dog in his backyard.
He also was on the Disney show “Kirby Buckets” in 2016.
He partners with Adidas, Uptime, Finish Line and Panini.
He is hard working and I look up to him.
Zach LaVine is my favorite basketball player currently playing.
He has the best dunk in my opinion. He is on my favorite team and loves Michael Jordan just like me.
Both of our parents train us hard and push us to our limits.
His dad would come up with amazing drills to help him be the best player he could be.
Every day I work on drills with my mom and my dad comes up with new ones too.
I think we have a lot of similarities and I hope to be as good as him someday, maybe even better.
We both love the game of basketball.
Coupeville Sports 