Rebound: A 2nd Chance

The day started off early for Dr. Patricia as it was only 6:30 when she walked through the doors of the training and research facility and scanned her badge at the front desk.

None of the clerks said anything as she simply walked over to them and stuck out her badge. And as she walked to her office the only ones who greeted her were the researchers that worked with her on a daily basis.

With a cup of hot coffee in her hands she scanned her badge at her door and walked into her office.

She took a few sips before sitting down in her chair and logging into her computer. She clicked open a folder and countless videos of Jason appeared.

She began to watch the videos while keeping a piece of paper on the side. As she went through the different videos she would write down some notes while also muttering to herself.

"Hmm power displacement looks good. Sensors show good balance and timing on his jump." "He got bumped on his way to the rim and had to change to a fall away jumper. Looks like he still needs to pack on a few pounds."

"Good hand placement on defense. Hand speed is superb as usual." "Body mechanics look like they need some tweaking when it comes to landing.

It's clear that acrobatic layups are something that he's still getting used to. Looks like he favors his right hand when he has to adjust his shot in the air.

We'll need to work on getting him to incorporate his left hand some more. Some of these shots went in but looked too awkward."

She had only gone through about twenty minutes of footage when she heard a knock on her door 'It's not even 7 yet. Go bother someone else.'

Normally after ignoring the first few knocks they would go away but today whoever was at the door kept on knocking.

She slammed her hand down on her keyboard as she paused the video and yelled out "What!?" The door slowly opened.

A handsome face poked his head through the door before flashing a bright white smile "Morning Dr. Patricia."

As he walked into her office Dr. Patricia couldn't help but frown "What is it Jeremy? Shouldn't you be out there flirting with all the interns?"

Jeremy flashed his smile once again before dumping a large stack of papers on to her desk "Good to see that your sense of humor is warmed up first thing in the morning.

I just got a message from management and they want you to approve these training regiments by today."

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she looked at the huge stack of papers "What the fuck!? They always give them to me on the weekends so that I can go over them properly.

And they never give me this many training regiments at once. They normally give me five to ten at a time. This has got to be close to a hundred?"

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders "You're asking the wrong guy Doc. I had just clocked in when I got called into the office.

They handed me these papers and told me to give them to you. They said that they wanted you to prioritize getting these done by today."

She then started biting on the nail on her right thumb 'Something has to be going on. They know that I'm in charge of this years training camp.'

She then stood up after logging out of her computer and began to walk out the door. Jeremy asked "Where are you going?"

She answered without looking back "I'm going to get some answers."

- - -

Somewhere in a fancy office. There where two middle-aged men wearing suits sipping on some coffee with smiles on their faces. 

The man sitting behind the desk looked to be a bit older as his brown hair showed a few spots of grey while the man sitting in front of him was the marketing agent that had spoken with Jason the night before.

The older looking man spoke "Are you sure this is going to work Hank? It's been two hours and we still haven't heard anything."

Hank smiled "Trust me Mr. Lionel. Jason seemed like a smart kid so he should understand what's happening right now.

He'll come crawling to us like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs when he finds out that what happens when you say no to Nike.

This is a foolproof plan. It's always worked in the past. Kids come in here thinking that they're hot stuff and with huge egos.

But after they see what happens when you mess with adults they always fold. Unless he wants to spend his last week of camp sitting around doing nothing then he'll change his mind and take our offer."

Mr. Lionel started to nod his head as he smiled "Good. This opportunity is really too big for us to miss out on.

Lately we've been losing ground in Asia because of their new rising brands. This Yang kid is exactly what we need right now."

They then began to discuss the details of their marketing campaign targeted for Korea and the other Asian countries where Jason's image might prove useful.

- - -

In a house somewhere in a high class neighborhood a man whos hairline was clearly receding was dressed up in some casual athletic wear as he looked around his huge house.

After a few minutes he yelled out with a clear New York accent "Ay Babe, where the hell are my clubs at!? I can't find em no where!"

A female voice with a New York accent yelled out from somewhere in the house "I had Maria put em away. You promised me that you was gonna take me out today.

And you are not cancelling today. I been waiting three weeks Benny! It's always Nike this and Nike that! What about me!? We ain't been out together in over three fuckin weeks!"

The man took his golfing cap off and threw it to the ground "Jesus christ Holly! I need my clubs right now! I'm supposed to be teeing off with Lamelo!

I been workin on this for weeks! You know how hard it is to get in that guys schedule book? If I miss out on this shoe deal because of you I swear to god!"

She walked down the stairs and the two immediately began to shout and curse at each other. But after a few minutes the women kissed the man on the cheek "You be safe okay baby? Finish up your game and we'll go out for some lunch."

The man smiled "Alright babe. You put on something nice and we'll go hit the city after my game." Just as he was about to walk out the door with his golf clubs in tow his phone began to ring.

He saw the name on the screen and a smile appeared on his face "Hey if it isn't the King himself. What can I do for you Bron?"

The smile on his face began to fade as he listened to the man on his phone. After the man hung up Benny took a deep breathe before once again snatching his golfing cap off of his head and throwing it at the floor.

"God fucking damnit!" Holly walked over to her husband "What is it baby?" The man sighed "I gotta go deal with some shit heads at work."

- - -

It was now 11 in the morning as countless men in suits filled up a room. At the very end of the table was a man dressed in casual athletic wear.

Benny had a hostile look in his eyes as he scanned the room. His gaze landed on Hank and Mr. Lionel.

"You two shmucks wanna tell me why LeBron is threatening to delay his new shoe launch?" The two of them looked terrified as they didn't know what to say.

Benny slammed his fist on to the table "Oh now you don't know how to talk! I heard you was talkin real good last night though!"

He then walked over to the side of the table where Hank and Mr. Lionel were sitting. He stopped in front of Hank as he grabbed his face and started smooshing it.

"This the mouth that was talking a load of crap last night huh! Where the hell did that go!? You forget how to talk or somethin?

You got some damn nerve threatenin a lil kid with the company's name you know that? How about before you do some stupid shit you look up the person that you're tryin to mess with.

If you two dipshits just took a second to look at this kid's profile you would know that he got some connections.

Kawhi comments on all the kid's videos and posts! Not to mention that there are other ex players that follow him and pay attention to him."

He then let go of Hank's face before slapping Mr. Lionel in the back of his head "And you! Your hair turnin grey but you ain't got no sense to show for it!

Is that how your mother raised you? You askin the kid for a favor and when he says no you want to threaten him?

Are you workin for Nike or the fuckin Mob you fuckin donut! That's right I called you a donut. Cause apparently there ain't nothin in the center of your god damn head!"

Despite the man's crude behavior and inappropriate language no one could say anything to him as he was the head of the New York branch for Nike.

He then pointed at the two of them "You two follow me." The two men got up but Mr. Lionel asked "Where are we going sir?"

Benny turned around with a furious face "You two shit for brains are gonna apologize to the kid and pray to god that he accepts it.

Because if he don't then you two are done. Not just in this company, Ima make sure that you two shit heads are fucked if you can't clean this mess up."