Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason's legs were trembling as he was defending Vince in the post. Maintaining his position was getting harder and harder with each push.

Vince felt Jason lose his balance for a moment as he used that opening to spin out of the post and towards the basket.

Just as Vince felt like he had finally gotten passed Jason he felt the ball get heavier for a split second before it got ripped away by Jason.

Jason immediately repositioned himself to guard the paint against DJ as he tried to cut baseline. Jason initiated contact and stuck as close as he could.

DJ tried to use a spin-move to seal Jason's lead foot but he was able to read the move ahead of time and counter by moving into the space where DJ was going to move to.

By occupying the spot before DJ could get there Jason jammed him up and forced him to take an awkward and off-balance shot.

If DJ hadn't taken the shot he would have lost his dribble and been in an even worse position. The ball hit the right side of the backboard before coming back down.

In the edge of his periphery Jason could see Nick as he was catching the ball. He immediately ran toward him. Jason soon closed the distance between them but Nick had already started his shooting motion.

Jason managed to get a hand in Nick's face before the ball left his hand. The ball flew toward the basket but missed as it was slightly short hitting the front of the rim.

Everyone expected to see Jason get back into position and defend for the 6th round but instead he started walking off the court while crossing his arms signaling for a timeout "I'm done."

Udonis walked up to Jason and worriedly asked "You okay?" Jason pointed to his calves which were clearly tightened up "I got a nasty cramp in both of my calves. I can hardly walk right now let alone defend."

Jason took a seat on the bleachers next to Coach Swendel who smiled at him "You looked great out there Jason."

Jason nodded "Thanks Coach." Kyle took a seat next to Jason as he looked at him with amazement "That was awesome Jason! How were you able to defend like that for so long? Did the drill not tire you out?"

Jason rolled his eyes "Of course I got tired Kyle. Playing good defense drains your energy and I'm no exception.

The reason I managed to last so long isn't because I don't get tired or because I'm a great athlete. If we're talking about what kind of engines we're rocking I would probably be way behind you or Trell.

I just know how to keep mine running longer. I know when to conserve energy on defense and I know how to push through fatigue.

If we use another car analogy it would be like you and Trell stopping for gas when you still have a third of the tank left. I just pushed until I hit E and then some.

And if you don't stop even after you run out of gas you end up like me. Your car will stop for you whether you like it or not."

Kyle was looking at Jason and shook his head after Jason finished talking "I thought your explanation would make sense. But now I just have more questions."

Jason laughed before pointing to the court "It's okay if you don't get it yet. You'll get it eventually after running the drill a couple of times. Pay attention. You can learn something even if you're not the one playing."

The team ran the drill a few more times. It might have been because of Jason's inspiring performance or because they got a sense for the drill after having ran it a few times.

But everyone made it a little further than they did on their first try. Some of them even managed to get past the first round. Udonis was the only one to make it past the 2nd round besides Jason.

Coach Swendel smiled as he got up and blowed his whistle. The team stopped the drill and started to gather around him. Jason got up from the bleachers and joined the rest of the team.

Coach Swendel still had a bright smile on his face as he looked at the exhausted players around him 'These guys almost seem like a completely different team. I've never seen them go this hard at practice before. To think that one kid caused this huge change is crazy.'

After he saw that everyone was giving him their attention he spoke "That was a good practice but that was just the start.

This is the kind of intensity we need to have all year long if we want that county title. But if we can keep this up I guarantee you that not only can we shoot past county title.

We can aim for the state championship! So what do you guys say!? Do you want to aim for that state trophy!?"

Everyone was hyped up by Coach Swendel's speech. They started yelling and fist-pumping. But their enthusiasm quickly died down when they heard a voice "No"

Everyone turned to Jason in surprise. Jason looked back at them "I don't think we should aim for a state trophy."

Coach Swendel was sweating bullets as he cursed in his head 'Damn it! Even if I said something unrealistic you should just go with it! Why would you kill the mood you little shit!?'

Jason smiled as everyone looked at him "I don't think we should aim for a state trophy. Because if we keep practicing like this I think we could go all the way. We should be aiming for a national title."

- - -

Jason was sitting at the dining table at home. He had just gotten a ride back from Coach Swendel. Both of his parents happened to be home today as they all sat down for dinner.

Jason's father passed him a bowl that he had just filled with rice "So how was practice today?" Jason took a bite of mixed veggies before shoveling some rice into his mouth with his chopsticks.

After he swallowed the food in his mouth he answered "It was good. Everyone definitely worked up a sweat today. We ran a pretty intense drill."

Jason told his parents about their practice and the drill. Jason's mom laughed as she listened to her son talk.

"Oh my god Jaya! That's hilarious and adorable all at the same time. That sounds just like something Kyle would do."

Jason laughed "Yeah. It was pretty standard Kyle behavior." The three of them happily conversed and talked about their days. All of a sudden Jason felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Jason pulled out his phone and saw that it was Giorgio calling. He looked at his mom "Sorry mom. I think this is important. It's Mr. Giorgio."

Jason's mom looked at him seemingly a little upset "Alright Jaya but hurry up. Your dad's cooking might get cold."

Jason smiled gratefully at his mom before picking up the call "Hello? Is this Mr. Giorgio?" Shortly after Jason could hear Mr. Giorgio's voice through the phone.

"Yes it's me. How are you doing Jason? I heard that you were able to attend practice for the first time since the little mishap at the mall. How did it go?"

Jason answered "Practice went well. I think I've made a full recovery from the concussion. We went at it pretty hard today and I felt perfectly fine."

Giorgio happily responded "That's great to hear Jason. I was thinking of sending a crew over so that we could get some film of your first practice back.

But then I thought that it would be better to make sure you were back to a hundred percent before we officially start shooting with you for the show.

So what do you say? Are you ready to start filming? It's just going to be when you're at practice and maybe a few minutes of you outside of basketball."

Jason thought about it for a second before answering "Let me just ask my parents if it's okay to start tomorrow.

Jason looked up and asked his mom and dad. After both of Jason's parent's gave him the okay he immediately told Giorgio to send the crew over for tomorrow.

Jason didn't see anything wrong with the show. The station was willing to pay him 300 dollars a month just to record his practices and it was a great way to spread his name and get on other people's radars.

Just as Jason was about to hang up and end the call on a good note he remembered something "Uh Mr. Giorgio. So what's the word on adding Tyreek to the show?"

Giorgio went silent for a second before answering "I thought you would have heard about it from Tyreek himself.

I got the okay from the station and I even went to him in person to invite him to the show but he refused. He said that he didn't have time to waste shooting some TV show."

Jason had shoveled some food into his mouth while Giorgio was talking. As soon as he heard what Giorgio had to say he started choking and coughing up the food that he was eating.

He dropped his chopsticks as he rushed to pick up his glass of water and chug it. Jason couldn't believe what he had just heard "What did you say!? He refused!?"