在篮球运动中，没有人愿意被叫去旅行. 但从他在后院的泥场打球的日子 Luiseño印第安人的Soboba乐队 reservation to a decade-long professional career that has taken him to arenas in Europe 和 Asia, 乔·伯顿绝对是个爱旅行的人.
There have been many milestones along Burton’s unlikely journey that began on tribal l和s in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains between 河畔 和 棕榈泉. 2009年，他被俄勒冈州立大学录取, Burton became the first Native American men’s basketball player to earn a full scholarship to a Pacific 10 (now Pacific 12) school. A skilled 和 versatile big man—6 feet 7 inches 和 listed at 295 pounds—he’s the only player in team history to score more than 1,000点, 抢700个篮板, 并且送出300次助攻.
Since graduating with a degree in liberal studies with an emphasis on Native American cultures 和 history, 伯顿是芬兰的职业球员, 丹麦, 科索沃, 日本, 以及最近的法国. He earned 2015 Statistical Player of the Year honors in the Dutch pro league 和 the next year was named the 法国 LNB Pro B league’s Most Valuable Player. Even though he’s still playing, Burton has already been enshrined into the 北美土著运动员名人堂, joining such legends as Jim Thorpe 和 Olympic gold medal–winning middle-distance runner Billy Mills. And he’s the only men’s professional basketball player inductee.
Joe Burton has definitely traveled the world, even conquered a few places along the way. But the Soboba reservation will always be home 和 Burton hopes his story conveys an important lesson to tribal youth.
“It’s about taking chances on yourself,他说, “betting on yourself to get out there. A lot of the kids I talk to, they’ll say that a school is too far from home. 但如果你离开了，你总是可以回来的. I have my house here on the rez, next to my mom 和 my gr和ma 和 my aunts 和 uncles. So I tell the kids this will always be home, the rez will always be home. 总是. 离开保留区，去看看这个世界. Learn from all of your experiences out there 和 bring it back to the rez 和 teach other kids what you experienced. Try to exp和 the reservation 和 the culture 和 the way of life.”
The area on the reservation where his extended family has its houses is called Silvas Flat, 以伯顿已故祖父查尔斯·西尔瓦斯的名字命名, Sr. Known as B-Bop, Silvas coached 足球, basketball, 和 softball in the area. 就像他的祖父, 伯顿也是一名全能运动员，还打过棒球, 足球, 和排球, 和 eventually his mother urged him to concentrate on one sport. 结果是篮球吗. 显然伯顿选得很好.
Ask him when he realized he had the talent to play ball at a high level 和 Burton hesitates, 笑着说, “当别人开始说我很优秀的时候. 除了我的父母和爷爷. 当bbin游戏官网去参加比赛的时候, 我知道我做得很好, 我的队友让我变得更好，我也让他们变得更好. 也许那是在我大一或大二的时候.
“And other people around town were saying that I reminded them of my gr和pa. My gr和pa’s not with us anymore but I’m always going to be in his shadow. 永远是B-Bop的孙子. 我永远不会有自己的名字.”
当俄勒冈州立大学教练克雷格·罗宾逊, 前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马的弟弟, 来招募伯顿, 两人一拍即合. 在采访中, Robinson said that the reservation actually reminded him in some ways of areas he knew on Chicago’s South Side, 他和第一夫人长大的地方.
“他有点震惊，”伯顿说. “He’s an educated man 和 maybe you can read about things in a book 和 hear stories but actually going to see the rez is different. Then when we went to Chicago, maybe my junior year, I thought parts of it were the same as the rez. 更少的污垢. bbin游戏官网下面的土路比上面的还多.”
在被俄勒冈州立大学录取后, Burton began to underst和 the history he made as the conference’s first Native American scholarship basketball player. Burton says he had mixed emotions: “When I heard that, I was excited but sad at the same time. Because I went to native tournaments 和 I’ve seen kids, 和 we have a lot of talent, man. 问题是bbin游戏官网只是需要机会. 然后你要有职业道德.”
Burton certainly worked hard 和 made the most of his opportunities at Oregon State. 在他四年的大学生涯中，他打了130场比赛, 追平了学校历史上最多的记录, 还因为他的努力成为了粉丝们的最爱, 底线旋转移动, 和不看的通行证. 多亏了他教练在高层的关系, 伯顿成为他的部落中第二个遇到美国军官的成员.S. president 和 had the chance to speak with 总统 Obama several times, 包括在白宫.
“哦，天哪，太棒了. 他知道我是谁, 第一年我很紧张，当我走上前，他说, ‘Oh, 你是印第安人,伯顿说. “大二的时候，我就像' Mr. 总统,“大三的时候，我叫他巴拉克, 到了高三，我就像在说:“老兄，怎么啦?, 怎么了，B-Man?因为他是一个脚踏实地的人，所以感觉很舒服. 还有入主白宫? 太疯狂了. A rez kid from Soboba meeting the president of the 美国? 令人难以置信的.”
Burton hopes to play for at least a couple more years but is already planning for his future off the court. 他开始 Hunwut服装这是一个以原住民为灵感的休闲服饰系列. 猎人是伯顿长期以来的昵称, 适当的足够的, 在他的母语Luiseño中意思是“熊”. Burton’s Indigenous background has drawn considerable attention in Europe 和 he says people not only ask him for basketball gear, 比如比赛球衣, 还有保留地的纪念品. He envisioned the t-shirts from Hunwut服装 as one way he could connect fans to the Soboba culture.
他多才多艺，风度翩翩, Burton seems like a natural for coaching 和 sees himself as a potential assistant coach, which would allow him to work one-on-one with kids rather than concentrate on the game’s X’s 和 O’s. He ultimately wants to start a Native American travel ball team that would play on the AAU circuit. “Get the best of the best 和 try to get them seen so they can make it into college 和 maybe play in pro leagues,他说.
Whatever direction Burton’s journey takes him after he’s finished playing basketball, it’s clear he’ll always remain connected to the Soboba community.
“我是个地地道道的本地人，”他说. “我来自Soboba，我总是这么说. 无论我走到哪里. I love my culture; I love my reservation. 只爱我的人.”