Rebound: A 2nd Chance

What Jason had said was so simple and the manner in which he said it made it seem as though it were just a mundane task.

But to all of the others' it was just as surprising as the moment when they found out how dominant the two schools were.

Jason's words had caused a storm of thoughts to go through all of the guys' heads 'Hahaha That's such a Jaya thing to say. I wonder if he knows just how hard the easy things for him are for everyone else.'

'I guess they were right when they said that the line between genius and crazy was thin. The way he thinks is really different.'

'So this is how winners think huh? Maybe me and Dlo need to change our mentalities. I'll bug him for the two weeks we're here. I'm going to get as much out of this trip as I can!'

'Tch of course we just need to beat them. I wasn't worried for a second. There's no one who can handle me.'

'Fuck that was such a cool thing to say! I can't believe I let him steal the spotlight from me again! Next time for sure. I'll show him what a real MC looks like hehehe.'

Jason looked at everyone's face and let out a small chuckle "You guys are thinking about things the wrong way.

I'm not cocky enough to say that beating players that have been at the top of their level for ten years is easy.

But those kids aren't the same ones dominating year in and year out. At most you spend three years in middle school.

So the schools have new players coming in and out of their rotations. Sure the players are probably really good if they were selected to be on the team for schools with presumably high standards.

But I think most of the credit has to go to the coaches. Think about. The players are coming in and out every year.

This means that their rosters are different every year. The only consistent factor is the coaches. They're the only ones that are there every year."

Jason's words combined with his cool and unbothered delivery singlehandedly managed to shift the mood at the table.

After seeing that everyone was no longer feeling down Jason grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth "Well, if we're all done with breakfast then I think we should start heading out."

Jason pulled out his phone and showed it to everyone "It's already 6:45 and our itinerary said that the van would be here at 7 to pick us up."

After hearing that everyone got up and followed Jason out of the restaurant. They walked back to their rooms and grabbed their sports bags before making their way back to the lobby.

During their walk back to the lobby 3D couldn't help but complain as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead "Why the hell are we taking the stairs?

They put elevators here for a reason." Jason gave 3D and the rest of the guys the same explanation that he had given Kyle.

3D stopped in his tracks and turned to Jason with an annoyed expression on his face. He then raised his hand up as he gave Jason the middle finger.

"Fuck you! Not everything needs to be about basketball you psycho. Jesus, is basketball the only thing you think about?"

Everyone started to laugh as soon as 3D said that. Kyle patted him on the shoulder "Hahaha! Come on 3D you should know Jaya by now. The only thing that goes through his head is food and basketball."

Jason rolled his eyes after hearing both of their comments "Well sorry I was trying to have your guys' best interest at heart.

I don't know why you're complaining. It's not like I forced you guys to follow me. If you really wanted to take the elevators no one was stopping you."

Now that they thought about it Jason was right. He didn't tell any of them to follow him down the stairs or even to wait for him and Kyle.

They could have gone straight downstairs by themselves after getting their sports bags from their rooms.

For some reason that they couldn't explain they just did. After 3D's little outburst Rudy, Danilo, and Alex continued laughing as they all resumed their walk to the lobby.

When they got to the lobby they saw the guys from Texas standing there with their own sports bags slung over their shoulders.

Monty and his guys noticed Jason's group and immediately began to mean mug them. Kyle, Rudy, Danilo, Alex, and 3D returned the favor as they began to stare them down.

To everyone's surprise Jason walked over to Monty and extended his fist out "Sup Monty." Monty was surprised for a second but a second later he just rolled his eyes as he ignored Jason.

Jason just pulled his hand back and shrugged his shoulders "You want to keep acting salty then that's on you man."

Jason did the same for Jig and Stax but they all followed Monty's lead and ignored Jason. When Jason made his way to Mojo and Mike they both nervously looked at Monty before deciding return the gesture.

Mojo bumped Jason's fist back with his own "S-sup Jason." Jason nodded his head at Mojo "Sup Mojo."

Afterwards Mike bumped back Jason's fist when he made his way to him "Morning Jason." Jason gave Mike a nod "Morning Mike."

After that Jason made his way back to Kyle and the rest of the guys. Rudy scoffed "You shouldn't have bothered with those dipshits."

3D nodded his head in agreement with Rudy "Yeah. You just wasted your time. It's pointless trying to get along with dumbasses like that. Especially with fuckers like Monty."

Kyle gripped his fist tightly. He felt angry for Jason "Yeah Jaya. I know that you're a nice guy but some people just don't deserve it. They just made you look stupid."

Jason simply shrugged his shoulders "You've known me for close to a year now Kyle. When has the possibility of looking stupid ever stopped me from doing anything?"

Kyle thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of defeat "Unfortunately never." Jason nodded his head.

"Exactly. Besides, it's not like they made me look stupid. If anything they're the ones who made themselves look stupid.

And you guys need to think about it like this. We're not perfect. Sometimes we make asses out of ourselves.

I like to give everyone a chance to show a better side of themselves. As long as they didn't do anything way over my limit of course.

Look at Mojo and Mike. If we just judged them based off of how they were yesterday then we would still think that they were the same as Monty and his guys."

Kyle grumbled "I guess." Jason laughed as he slapped Kyle on the back "You should know how important second chances are.

Imagine if we just gave up on Trell and labelled him as an asshole. We gave him a chance and he turned out to be a lot nicer of a guy than he shows."

Kyle looked at Jason and sighed "Don't you ever get tired of being right?" Jason chuckled "No, because I'm wrong way more often then when I'm right. 

Ay yo the vans here. Guess it's time to head out for our first morning of training."