“Aight, I’ll play you , sixteen points and if I bet you, you’ll play with me on the same team.” I said smiling , Kelo just nodded , I passed him the ball
“Warm up , so you cant blame it on that if you lose.”
“When did I look for an excuse for losing , did the doc take part of your brain away too.” he laughed and got to the three point line getting ready to shot.
“That was mean dude, but hey even if he did take half it would be still more than you got.” I told him as he released.
“Ah a miss, you wanna play with me and your first shot is a miss.” I said laughing, he knew I am just teasing him .
“Ok I am ready, are your legs good enough to play tho?” he asked with a seriousness in his voice .
“I am fine, its painful but I can play through it , the doc said I am good to go a month ago so I am doing just fine. Shall I shoot for the ball?” I said smiling, hiding my true feelings from him. I hated it , I couldn’t stand to be in a state like this, the truth is I could play, but my brain was scared, to scared to move the legs how it used to, it happened so many times that I just stop moving for no reason, it felt like my knees are blocked by something…
I got in position and shot, it was a miss.
“My ball I guess, you still didn’t learn to shoot from the three point line huh? Let me show it to you than.” Kelo said passing me the ball to check it.
“Show me , I might not be the best shooter in the game but there is no one better at protecting the rim than me.” I was so certain in my defensive skills , I would always go against the strongest offensive players no matter of their size. As soon as I checked the ball he shot it, it went straight in without touching the rim.
“Thats two, defender of the year pff” he smirked
“Well I dont want to humiliate you to the max, so you gonna get a few free shots.” truth is I couldn’t react again…dam it I cant let him do it again. Checked the ball and as soon as I saw him getting in a position to shot I jumped, it was a fake, he just blew by me and until I turned around he already scored.
“Free shots huh? Didn’t seem like you’d let me shoot freely.” he said still smirking.
“You think , just continue I show you, I didn’t play for a long time maybe i need to get used to the speed a bit.” I said smiling.
“That smile will be gone when I finish with you, and than I’ll kill you on 3 on 3 .”
“Well if I lose you’ll do that, if I win you’ll play on my team.” I said
He didn’t shoot now , he started to dribble, that was my chance. He switched it from the right to the left two times , I knew if I’d reach he’ll just blow by me again. A fake reach and he tried to pass me , but my feet moved this time, I was in front of him and he didn’t have anywhere to go . He stopped his dribbling and wanted to shot , as he rose the ball I striped it away from him . It bounced off his foot into my arms , and as we didnt have to get out to clear the ball I just turned around and scored.
“Three one, and the crowd goes wild.” I said it with a smile
“Just play already.”
“Check it .”
He passed me the ball, I did the same thing as he at the start, shot it straight.
“And he scores again, nothing but the net.” I started to talk a bit to make him angry.
“You were just lucky.”
We started playing hard, a few times I got him good with a cross over , he shot a few times above me , I got some nice step back shots, and we were tied at fourteen with the ball in my hands.
“Well deciding shot isnt it? I bet you’ll miss it, so common shot it for three points , I dare you.” he said….and yeah by the way the three points counted as two while the two points counted as one. I decided to do something a bit risky. I dribbled the ball back two steps behind the three point line. I jumped and shot it. It went high up hitting the backboard and going in.
“Thats a win aint it ?” I asked laughing
“Well I wanted to play with you anyway so its a win win for me.” he said laughing.
“So who’s gonna come today, I heard some guys are back in town, well including you, how long has it been since you played seriously on this court?” Kelo asked
“Two years I think, its my home town and yet I didn’t play for two years, can you believe it …Man its like I was gone for decades, the kids don’t know who I am anymore, I am starting to feel like a forgotten legend, you know , like its crazy, I want it all back .”
“Well you might get a chance to put this town back on the map soon enough. You didn’t find a club that wants you in this state anymore right? And your still young , what are you like 19 now since you finished high school?”
“Nah I just turned 18 this year, you know I went a year earlier to school.”
“Thats even better, well I wont spoil anything for you but there might be a club you could join, and they might even pay you one day, not that you are worth any dime.” he said laughing
“Just laugh , I be laughing when I get rich and all the cheerleaders fall in love with me.” I was saying jokingly
“Lets play some more, I need to warm up real good , no point count just playing until the rest of the guys come here.” I said taking the ball and shooting it. It went straight in.
“My ball.” I said smiling…
Category: Hope X Basket
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Hope X Basket : Chapter I
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Hope X Basket: Prologue
Countless nights I have spent after that day, after that one move that I did a thousand times, one second of too much pasion, one second of too much effort…could it really be, could it really be over? I asked myself that every night since that day, how a small jump can turn your whole world over, one small jump taking away two years of your life…. What now eh? School, its not that I cant manage that but, the fire that used to keep me smiling just doesnt have any more wood to continue burning.
I woke up again at 6 am, starting my daily routine. Stretching a bit and than a bit running. The pain is still there, but when I go to shoot around, its again my world, no pain, no problems, just ahhh. I want to play again but, the fear of failing again just pulls me back in my room. I run , I walk but I..I dont visit my sanctuary anymore. Times like this make me say was it worth it? The nights I missed with friends, the family trips I missed , the days that I spend running or working out, the exes that I never found time for because I was practicing. I guess now its all over , I’ll just go to some random college and just end it with it . Well all thats left to do is chose , this is the last month to chose where my life will go on from this point on. Heh and to think that I had it all in my hands , well so I thought, I thought I’ve already decided what I will do, pro basketball, that was my dream, that was my path but now…now its ether a teacher or Chef , but to be that I got to learn a lot again and spend my times ether reading or cooking, how annoying.
I am eating launch alone again, my parents work and my brother is just focused on programing. It used to be more fun when I was younger, when my grand grandmother was alive, she used to eat with me, well at least until I got in high school and moved alone to another city. It was though but in a good way, the things I learned there shaped me into what I am today.
Thinking too much about it again I guess, but how can I not stress it out, I mean its my life and I dont want to end up regretting anything…
I showered and went to sleep a bit….I was woken up by my phone who was left on the table. Now the thing about my phone is that when it vibrates you cant hear it at all or feel it matter of fact, but and here comes the fun part, but when its on a wooden surface, than its all hell lose. Its like the decepticons and the autobots having a fight in my ear, and thats just a understatement.
Got up fast and grabbed the phone..
“Hello you just woke me up, whats so important that I have to be woken up from my wonderful afternoon sleep?” I answered in a sleepy voice
“Playing princess again you usless block of meat. Thats how you greet me after all those years I owned you on the court, you must’ve forgot who owns the bragging rights in this town.” a familiar voice said, that I didnt recognize.
“So get up Ill be at 6 on the battle field. I need to teach you a lesson little brother.”
Little brother? It cant be…
“Haha fool, when did you get here? Why didnt you tell me you’ll come? Well I guess I cant refuse you….but about the game well, we’ll see about that.”
“Just get your stuff and be at 6 there, you should be fine now, 7 months passed after the surgery and your doc said you are fine right? So just be ready we’ll have fun like old times.”
“If you say so big bro , Ill met you at 6 than.”
“Awesome , cant wait . Oh by the way, you got like 30 minutes till six, if you’re late you owe me a drink.”
“What !?! You should have told me that earlier! Well I gotta go than , cya on the court!” I said hanging up. Its been two whole years since I last seen him, and it was the most fun summer I had. I than started to jump really high ,I am not a tall player I am only 6’3”(190cm) but the things I could do in the air, but than again the more I think about it the more I am hurt, the more I remember how flying felt the more I feel sad because I cant fly anymore. Its true 7 months passed and I am feeling well enough but , but the strength I had wont return , I worked hard and all but I just cant jump anymore. I cant slam it down anymore….whatever I should hurry up.
“Sasha , are you going with me to shoot around ?” I yelled
“No” my brother answered
I am not sure why he doesnt want to go, but when ever he is willing there is no one who can stop us. Though we seem like a comedy duo out there we get the job done, it all usually starts with him asking for a better pass or faster and than I start to yell at him for his slacking defense and we go on and own about our weaknesses while destroying the other teams. People say that we actually get mad and take it out on the opposing team but thats not true at all. We take it out on each other.
Damn forgot my ball, I got 15 more minutes so Ill just take my bike.
I should manage it, I mean with the bike it should take me 10 minutes or even less if I hurry up. Its not a big city , its barely a city, everyone knows everyone and every move of yours is watched closely by the public, thats why I sometimes hate it, just bad people talking behind your back because you tried to do something. That was my main reason to get away from there as fast as I could. Anyhow I arrived on the court. Only a few kids playing on one of the 12 hoops that were in the school yard. I sat down on a bench and put on my knee pad. I got up and started to dribble and shoot the ball. It felt great , even though not every shot went in, it still felt good. I went to the half court to shoot it, I love to shot it from there, it makes it fun when it goes in from that distance, as I was about to shoot I heard someone shouting:
“When will you take that freaking smile off your face when you play, thats why no one takes you serious when you play !”
“Kelo, what the hell is wrong with you ? You know I always smile when I ball , thats who I am, matter of fact who doesnt take me seriously ? I dont remember you beating me, maybe you should smile more might help your game out.”
Kelo is a good friend of mine who might be a little obsessed with playing one on one….I am going to change that, little obsessed is a understatement, like he would rater play one on one than eat, yeah that kind of guy. He aint bad but he lost constantly against me because he always rushed it, but on the other hand I didnt win any game since my injury so he might get lucky today if I decide to play against him.
“Wanna play?” he said
“Nah I am just waiting for Birdy to come here, hell there should be more people here right now.”
“Common a warm up game,one on one” he said, what an annoying guy…