Growing up in the Chicago area isn’t the only thing many of you have in common with Bulls forward Matas Buzelis. Like Bulls fans, he also knows what it’s like to have to dig into the piggy bank for extra funds to watch a favorite basketball team play.
There can’t be many out there who stream University of South Dakota hoops on MidCo Sports Plus more avidly than Buzelis, whose brother, Vincas — Vince, everyone in Vermillion calls him — is a Coyotes freshman guard.
“After all my games, he sends me clips of what I can do better and what I can do good,” Vince said.
Being in touch like that means everything.
“Those FaceTime calls, just constantly texting, it kind of takes the separation away,” Vince said.
Vince, 18, was a standout player at Hinsdale Central, but Bulls fans are far more likely to remember him as the little bro who couldn’t stop bawling the night Matas, now 21, was drafted No. 11 overall. Matas cried — plenty — as he hugged his family in the Barclays Center green room in Brooklyn and as he pulled on a Bulls cap, climbed onto the stage and accepted commissioner Adam Silver’s congratulations. Older sister Sofija Buzelis, who was a terrific lacrosse player at Furman, beamed through tears herself.
But Vince? “Ugly crying” is a popular term for losing it as intensely as he did. In truth, it was beautiful.
“I was getting texts, Snapchat notifications. I was, like, No. 3 trending on Twitter,” Vince said. “I didn’t care at all. Nothing could put me down.”
Sometimes — even a year and a half later — a simple story about love just hits the spot. In a post-practice chat before the Bulls headed west for a three-game road trip, Matas agreed.
“Some people are scared to show their flaws,” he said. “We’re not scared of being vulnerable and being in the limelight. We’re not scared of our flaws and we’re not scared to show them as men, especially me and my little brother. We want people to see.”
So much was swimming through their heads that night as the family learned — just after the ninth pick — that Buzelis would be staying home with the Bulls. Matas thought about being 10 and riding in his grandfather’s car to and from basketball practices in Lemont, about being 11 and falling in love with the game after joining the Full Package club in Northfield, about his mother quitting her job in order to shuttle the boys between the southwest suburbs and the North Shore — 80-plus miles roundtrip, often in brutal traffic — about his father grinding at work to make it all possible, about money being tight, about struggles being real, about a future suddenly so bright and what it could mean for all of them.
He heard his dad’s oft-imparted wisdom: “Continue to work hard. Nothing will come easy. Be humble.”
Both parents and grandfathers had played the game at high levels in Lithuania, and Matas knew he’d be playing for them, too. Vince, who has his own NBA dreams, was experiencing many of the same feelings.
“My brother was a huge part of it,” Matas said. “He knows how hard I work, how hard this family works. This isn’t just, like, a me thing.”
Vince, who is 6-4, scored seven points in overtime alone in his first college game. In 20 minutes per game, he’s second on the team in rebounding and blocks. He scored 12 points and swatted three shots against 23rd-ranked Creighton, flashing the leaping ability that complements his physical, well-rounded playing style. The Coyotes, of the Division I Summit League, get a crack at unbeaten Missouri on Thursday (7 p.m., SEC Network).
“He can do everything on the court,” Matas said. “He’s not afraid, and he works extremely hard.”
But one brother is four inches taller than the other and jumps so easily, he was in the NBA dunk contest as a rookie. The dream of both being in the league someday is a big one.
“I see him as an NBA player,” Matas said. “He’s capable of doing anything. In our family, we never, ever limit ourselves as people.”
Said Vince, “You just have to keep working. It doesn’t matter where you start.”
Vince laughed while describing various Buzelis one-on-one matchups.
Dad Aidas, also 6-4, relies on a repertoire of old-school moves.
“You know those old people [think] they’re a lot smarter about the game,” Vince said.
Mom Kristina, 5-11, tries to back Vince down, a shrewd tactic considering both know he wouldn’t hurt her for the world.
Against big bro, on the other hand? The Buzelis boys skirmished so hard and often through the years — beating the crap out of each other, truth be told — Matas’ management team literally forbade him from playing one-on-one against Vince.
“It’s true,” Matas said.
Which is not to suggest the edict is heeded.
“We still go at it,” he said. “That’s how we make each other better.”
Think of it as another form of brotherly love. They certainly do.
“I do miss him,” Matas said. “I miss him a lot.”
Fortunately, there are apps for that.
“And if I could tell him something?” he said. “I’d tell him I love him.”
But we knew that already.