There was a time, and it wasn't long ago, where Michael Beasley would blow through $20,000 in a night, awaken and want to do it again. Spend fast, drive fast, party fast.

He was an NBA millionaire, living like repercussions need not apply, trusting almost everybody, listening to almost nobody.

And then, he insists, two people changed his ways without saying a word.

The Miami Heat forward says he decided to try escaping his destructive patterns because of his children _ Mikaiya, his 7-month-old daughter, and Pierce, his 4-month-old son.

"They're everything to me," Beasley said.

Beasley knows it sounds cliche, and doesn't care. When 2009 began, he was on the cusp of becoming out of control, with priorities driven way out of whack by his own apparent inability to handle the combination of acquiring copious riches and copious fame in a short time.

He spent much of the summer in a rehabilitation facility getting treatment for substance abuse, particularly marijuana, and endured the indignity of having to deal with that delicate situation in a very public manner.

As the year ends, he says everything is different.

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His is a nontraditional family. Beasley's kids are in South Florida, living with their respective mothers in separate residences, but he can see them daily when the Heat are home. He monitors spending like never before, checking credit reports and credit card bills regularly, and laments not having more already stashed in his savings account.

A big night out typically involves video games and crashing on teammate Daequan Cook's sofa. And the NBA game is slowing down for him, too.

Michael Beasley, all of 20 years old, says he's growing up.

"People think maybe I cleaned my act up for the moment," Beasley said. "But I know that if I were to mess up again, everything in my past would be brought up. I'm a whole lot slower now. Not on the court, but I move slow. I take life by strides now. I'm more relaxed than I was. I was a fast motor, the Energizer bunny, got to be here, here, here, every party. Now I sit on my bed and watch Roseanne."

And he says he doesn't miss the fast-lane lifestyle.

"Not one bit," Beasley said, without hesitation.

Beasley went through _ put himself through _ more this year than some people will deal with in a lifetime.