His season is over, but Strus is an amazing Chicago story
John Strus knows he and wife Debbie have been living the dream, being able to watch their three kids play college sports and the youngest get to the NBA - all without any of them leaving Chicago.
"I always told people, 'You couldn't write a script better than us,' " Strus said. "How everything went down and how we were able to go through all that stuff with the kids."
But every good story includes some adversity, a major setback, and this one is no exception.
John and Debbie Strus were at a family Christmas party last Saturday, watching the stream of the Windy City Bulls playing at the G-League Showcase in Las Vegas when their son Max went down with a knee injury.
On Monday, Bulls two-way player Max Strus, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, was diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee, which means his rookie season with the Bulls is officially over.
The injury also happened the day after Max did an interview about his remarkable climb up the Chicago basketball ladder. It remains a good story, but all of his comments here were made before the injury occurred.
The Strus family lives in Southwest suburban Hickory Hills. Their oldest son Marty played basketball at Lewis University and is now head coach at Stagg High School in Palos Hills. Daughter Maggie played volleyball at UIC.
Both parents are lifelong Chicago natives. Debbie Brinkman Strus grew up in Mount Prospect, graduated from Forest View High School (which closed in 1986), then played both volleyball and basketball at DePaul. John grew up on Chicago's Southeast Side.
Max is six years younger than his brother, but was always an avid participant in the driveway basketball games with Marty and his friends. Max also played basketball and football growing up, but a growth spurt during high school sealed his future.
"It seemed like every inch I grew, the more athletic I got," Strus said. "It all just kind of came together. It was crazy. I went from not being able to dunk to being able to windmill in like a year. It was a quick turnaround."
As a late-bloomer, Strus flew off the radar of most college recruiters. So he went to Lewis and played Division II for two seasons, dominated there and transferred to DePaul. Last season, he was second-team All-Big East and set the DePaul single season record for 3-pointers in a season.
Through it all, John and Debbie missed just one DePaul game - when a flight to New York for a game at St. John's was canceled by a snowstorm - and made it to most of all their kids games.
"That's our passion, that's our vice," John Strus said. "For us, Lewis is 19 miles from our house, UIC is 21, DePaul's about 25, so the home games were never a second thought. With Southwest Airlines, we just jumped on a plane at Midway and went to Georgetown, Villanova. It was perfect for us."
Max did take a brief detour to Boston. He wasn't drafted and signed a two-way contract with the Celtics on draft night. So he played summer league with the Celtics, arrived in Boston for training camp and the circumstances changed.
Boston decided to make 7-foot-6 rookie Tacko Fall a two-way player, so they converted Strus' deal to a partially-guaranteed NBA contract.
"I thought I had a pretty good shot at getting that 13th roster spot, but at the end of the day, they chose Javonte Green, the other guy who was going for it," Max said. "It all worked out. I was thankful for my time there. I loved it there, learned a lot from coach (Brad) Stevens."
Strus said he never heard a word from the Bulls before the NBA draft. But as soon as he was let go by the Celtics, the Bulls were on the phone with the offer of a two-way deal, which he gladly accepted.
"It was funny that they just called out of nowhere," he said. "I had some other people interested, but the Bulls were the front-runner right away. They were offering the best options. I think it's a perfect fit for me and a great opportunity."
Strus made his NBA debut against Miami on Nov. 22 and scored 5 points. He played briefly in one other game at Portland. For Windy City, he averaged 18.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in 13 games.
For his parents, they decided to cut back on their travel schedule, and with good reason. They never knew where he was going to be.
"The night before Thanksgiving, he's home watching the Bulls with us (against Golden State)," John Strus said. "He was going to play that Friday in Hoffman Estates (at the Sears Centre). I had just told all my relatives I'm 99.9 percent sure Max will be playing at Hoffman Estates on Friday night. This was Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving.
"The next morning, he gets up and he goes, 'Chandler Hutchison got hurt, I'm flying to Portland this afternoon.' So I told everybody, 'Well, forget that last text. He's going to be in Portland tomorrow night.'"
With the Bulls' injuries at forward, Strus was in uniform for several games. He returned with the Bulls from a game in Charlotte one day, then took a limo to Fort Wayne to play for Windy City the next day.
Unfortunately, Strus' future with the Bulls is now up in the air thanks to his injury. Maybe they'll sign him again next season, but there are no guarantees.
"We're a little downtrodden today," John Strus said Monday. "He's certainly not done with his career at 23. Better days are ahead for him."
His basketball career is on hold, but Max Strus will always appreciate his climb, from Stagg to Lewis to DePaul to Windy City to the NBA Bulls. He hit every rung on the ladder.
"It means everything," Max said. "It's the greatest city in the world. I love Chicago. I love being here, I love being from here. So I'm lucky to play in my home city. Many guys don't even get a chance to play in the NBA, but I'm lucky enough to be in the NBA and play at home in front of my family and in front of the people from college."
It is a great script and a long way from over. Some stories just require an intermission.
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