Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As Jason and the rest of the boys entered the gym shouting and yelling could be heard "It's Jaya!" "Go Jefferson!" "Dunk all over them Kyle!" "I want to see a block party tonight!"

Jason and Kyle as well as the other boys who had been on the team last year all acted as if this was just an everyday occurrence as they smiled and waved at their fans in the crowd.

However Sam, Frank, and some of the other new 7th graders were stunned by the sight. They were the away team.

It wasn't normal for the away team to get such a welcoming reception when walking into their opponents home court.

Frank was looking around at all of the fans who were cheering for them before the game had even began. Donte put his hand on Frank's shoulder.

He turned around and looked at Donte "Huh?" Donte then pointed forward. Jason and the rest of the boys who had been on the team last year were already making their way to the locker room.

Frank and the other 7th graders speed walked to catch up with them. Once they were all in the locker room Coach Swendel started to speak as he held his clipboard in one hand.

"Listen up guys. This is our first game of the season. From now on all the games count. We went undefeated last year and I don't expect anything less this year.

We might have lost two of our core players over the summer but overall our roster has only gotten stronger. So there's no excuses, do you hear me?"

All of the boys shouted out in unison "YES COACH!" He nodded his head before smiling at them "I know that we have a lot of new players on the team this year.

Some of you might have experience playing on a team before and some of you might not. But I can tell you this now. You have never been on a team like this before.

You saw it just now when we walked into the gym. Even if we are the away team as long as we are playing in Riverside city we'll always have the home court advantage."

All of the new players started to whistle and cheer after hearing Coach Swendel say that. But despite their excitement Coach Swendel's face became serious.

"That might sound nice but do you know why that is?" None of the boys spoke in response to Coach Swendel's question.

He scanned the room as he looked at the boys "We are carrying the hopes and dreams of this city. For the most part there's a down side to everything.

All of the love and support that the people in this city will show you comes with the burden of having to carry the weight of their dreams and hopes.

They want to see their city win. They want to know that this city has the ability to compete with anyone out there.

That's the weight that will be on your shoulders now that you have joined this team. So when you go out there make sure you play with the kind of effort that matches that responsibility. Understood?"

Once again the boys shouted out in unison "YES COACH!" Jason stood up and put his hand out "Jefferson on three!"

The boys huddled around him and placed all of their hands on top of his "ONE! TWO! THREE! JEFFERSON!" The boys all threw their hands up before making their way out of the locker room.

As soon as they made their way out the crowd started to make some noise as they all clapped and cheered for them.

They rolled out the same lineup that they used in the scrimmage against Mt. Vernon as Alex, Matt, Jason, Danilo, and Kyle walked out on to the court.

For their first game they were playing against Rosewood middle school. They were a school known for being one of the stronger teams in the county.

Before Jefferson rose to fame they were widely recognized as the strongest school in the city when it came to middle school basketball.

Last season Jefferson managed to beat them pretty easily but a lot of people didn't consider it a real win because their best player had gotten suspended and ended up not playing in that game.

However things were different this time around as they were at full power with their star player playing in tonight's game.

Other than Jefferson they were the only team that had managed to play in the county tournament last season. A lot of that was because of their star player.

As Jason and the rest of the boys from Jefferson shook hands with Rosewood's players Jason's gaze changed when he saw the last player.

He was 5'9 (1.75m) with a hefty and muscular build. He was light skinned and his hair was braided in a similar manner to AI's back when he played for the 76ers.

Jason narrowed his eyes 'Zhaire Randolph. In my past life he was hailed as the second coming of Tyreek as he showed an incredible amount of talent.

He was believed to be even better than Danilo who was very talented in his own right.'

Zhaire was athletic with good size and a decent wing span. He also had a combination of tight handles and post moves that made him a matchup nightmare most nights.

But despite his god given talent and advanced abilities he never achieved much until he reached high school where he played for Sierra Canyon.

The reason for which was widely recognized to be his personality and attitude. He was known to have a short temper and he often ran in to trouble off the court.

It wasn't surprising to hear his name in the news for getting suspended a few games at a time at every level that he played.

He was also known for clashing and butting heads with his teammates. And although he had all the physical traits to be an elite defender he often played with a low motor on that end of the floor.

He would sometimes show flashes of the elite defender that he could be whenever he played a game with a star matchup.

But for every game where he flashed that potential he would play a string of games where he would return to his old ways.

But even with all these problems being widely known it didn't stop Portland from drafting him with the 19th pick.

Jason stuck his hand out as he gave Zhaire a nod "Good luck out there." Zhaire reached out and shook Jason's hand.

'Hmm?' Jason could feel Zhaire increasing the strength of his grip. It was to the point where this was clearly more than just a simple handshake.

Jason took a quick glance at Zhaire's arm and saw that the muscles on his forearm were clenched tightly. Jason began to put more strength in to his grip in return.

Because of the height and weight difference he seemed like a hulking mass in comparison to Jason's more slender build. Zhaire smirked as he looked down at Jason.

"I would save all the good luck for yourself. You gon need every last drop."