Gerald Green remembers the morning in a Chinese hotel lobby. His GM with the last-place Foshon Long Lions had called in him down for a talk. Green thought he was going to get a pat on the back --he was averaging 26.5 ppg for the last place Lions. Instead, he was told the team was dumping him. It was, he told Chris Mannix in this week's Sports Illustrated, "the lowest point of his life."

That was a little more than four months ago.

Green passed up a good-paying job in Russia and headed for L.A. where he latched on to the D-Fenders, the Lakers' D-League affiliate. After starring there, and more importantly, buying into the system on both ends of the floor, he got his opportunity. Now, Mannix writes, he may have finally found a home. "I thought I had lost everything," Green said. "Now I have another chance. It's a great feeling."

• Green energy: After humbling fall, ex-dunk champ rises again in NBA - Chris Mannix - Sports Illustrated
• On the Road with Gerald Green - Sports Illustrated