Rebound: A 2nd Chance

After a few minutes Samantha was disappointed to see that they were back at Jefferson middle school.

She turned her head and looked at Jason who was sleeping peacefully on her shoulder 'Why does Newberry have to be so close? I wish this bus ride would go on for at least an hour.'

As the bus stopped Samantha had an evil idea pop into her mind 'If I just pretend to be asleep we can accidentally miss our stop. Who knows how long it'll take for either one of us to wake up.'

But that only lasted for a second. She quickly shook her head and got rid of that idea. She looked at Jason's sleeping face 'I can't do that to him. This guy's a total basketball freak. He'd hate to miss practice.'

Samantha complained in her head 'I hate being such a softy. I'm just way too nice.' Samantha started gently moving her shoulder up and down "Wake up sleepy head. We're back at school."

Jason rubbed his eyes as he slowly opened them "Are we already back?" Samantha laughed "Yeah we're back. And you're still on my shoulder."

Jason raised his head. "My bad. I guess that one on one got me more tired than I thought I was." The two of them stood up and got off the bus.

Jason stretches and yawned "That was a good nap. You're shoulder makes for a good pillow Sammy. I'd give you 10/10 review."

Samantha rolled her eyes at Jason "Sorry to say I can't say the same for you. I'd give your fat head a 3/10 rating. I think I might need to go to a chiropractor after having all that weight on my shoulder."

The two of them walked side by side from the bus stop back to Jefferson middle school. After they reached the school Jason looked at Sammy "Well that was fun. Thanks for coming with me on my little trip."

Samantha smiled at Jason "No problem. It might sound crazy but I actually had fun. I got to see a different part of Riverside, I got a chance to see you beat down a high schooler, and I learned your new nickname Young Buckets hahaha."

Jason smiled after hearing that Samantha had fun. He started waving at her "I still have to go to practice so I guess this is where we split. See ya tomorrow."

Jason made his way to the school's gym. He and Samantha had been gone for an hour. That meant that there was just one hour of practice left.

He went into the locker room and changed into his practice shorts and Jersey. After he came back out he saw Coach Swendel watching the team as they ran the 3 level defense drill.

Coach Swendel smiled as he saw Jason walking toward him "Hey Jason. Were you able to take care of whatever it was you needed to take care of?"

Jason nodded his head "Yeah I did. Sorry about missing part of practice Coach." Coach Swendel shook his head "No problem. You can just jump right into the drill. Go ahead and line up."

Jason lined up behind the rest of the guys. Everyone dapped him up and greeted him when he walked over.

After Jason greeted everyone he saw that Javier and Greg were at the side recording. Jason thought to himself 'They work fast. They probably already talked to the principle and Coach Swendel and got permission to film.'

Everyone went hard during the drill. Unsurprisingly Jason still had the highest streak as he managed to clear 5 rounds of the drill again.

Udonis managed to clear the second round but he got eliminated on the 2nd part of the 3rd round.

Overall everyone had similar results from yesterday. The one who made the biggest improvement was surprisingly Trell. He almost cleared the 2nd round.

Coach Swendel congratulated everyone on another good day of practice before letting the team hit the showers.

Jason had a towel on his head as he dried his hair while walking out of the locker room. He saw Coach Swendel getting interviewed by Javier.

Greg was behind Javier recording as Coach Swendel answered all of Javier's questions cheerfully.

Javier asked "So Coach Swendel. Jefferson middle school managed to beat Mt. Vernon. Although it was just a practice game it must have felt good considering that the last time Jefferson beat them was almost 3 years ago. Can you describe how it felt to win that game?"

Coach Swendel was smiling brightly "Hahaha Yes that was a good game to win. Not only did it feel good because of Jefferson's personal record against them.

We managed to beat one of the better schools in the county. I took that win as a very good sign for whats to come this season.

Jefferson middle school isn't the same as it was last year. I would like to tell our students and their parents that they can look forward to watching us this season."

Javier smiled and nodded his head "That's great to hear. I for one will definitely be keeping my eyes on this team.

Back to the game against Mt. Vernon. Not only did you beat them you managed to win the game by 14 points.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way coach but considering that your team came in very last place the season prior what lead to such a drastic change. What allowed you to beat one of the better teams in your county?"

Coach Swendel puffed out his chest "Well I don't mean to brag but I feel like I have made some major strides as a coach over the summer.

I was surprised by how basic Mt. Vernon's defense seemed to be. It took almost no effort for me to dissect them and come up with the most optimal plan of attack on offense.

That game against Mr. Vernon felt like a chess game that was over by the first 3 moves. I almost felt sorry for them really.

I do hope I can find some more worthy opponents to sharpen my wit against as the season progresses hahaha."

Coach Swendel was leaning back as he bragged but as soon as he looked over and saw Jason standing outside the locker room he almost fell out of his chair.

Coach Swendel sat in a more modest position as he coughed and cleared his throat "Of course I also have to give credit to Jefferson middle school's newest star player Jason Yang.

I would even go so far as to say that this change in performance and team culture can be credited to him. Not only has he made his teammates better this season. I felt like I have become a better coach just from being around him hahaha."

The laughing at the end of Coach Swendel's answer was a lot different to his first laugh. It sounded nervous and guilty.

Javier finished up the interview with Coach Swendel and walked over to Jason. He smiled "That was a great practice Jason. We got a lot of good shots.

Since we'll be recording you every practice do you want us to give you a ride home afterwards?"

Jason nodded his head "Sure. That actually works out pretty well for me." After Jason made sure to say goodbye to everyone on the team he left the school with Javier and Greg.

They got into a pretty decent car. It wasn't a luxury ride or a sports car but it was a brand new car that still had that new car smell.

Greg got into the drivers seat while Javier got into the passengers seat and Jason hopped into the back.

After a few minutes Javier started talking in order to avoid any awkward silence "So you had to do something before practice?"

Jason nodded his head "Yeah. I went to talk with Tyreek about doing the show. I think it would be a waste for him to pass up on such a good opportunity."

Javier nodded his head "You're right. Through the Hoops gives young basketball players great exposure. It could really help him show up on more peoples scouting reports.

So you went to Newberry high school to talk to Tyreek? I heard that it was only about fifteen minutes away. Why did you end up an hour late for practice?"

Jason leaned back into the seats to appreciate the soft leather "Well somehow for reasons that are still unknown to me I ended up playing a quick pick up game against someone from their basketball team."

Javier continued to nod his head "I see. So you ended up playing a pick up-Wait! What did you say!?"

Jason casually retold the story and gave them a play by play account of how the game went. Javier's mouth was wide open as he stared in amazement at Jason.

Javier finally recovered after a few seconds. He asked Jason "Do you happen to have a video of the game? Or maybe your little friend that went with you. Did she record it?"

Jason shook his head "No I don't have a video. And I'm pretty sure Sammy didn't record it either."

Javier dejectedly looked down as he answered "Oh. That's too bad." But then Jason added "But I think one of the guys from Newberry might have a video. Let me go ask."

Jason texted the guys from Newberry in a groupchat asking if any of them had a video of his game against Ricky.

After just a few seconds Jason's phone started to ring nonstop as it seemed like everyone was competing to send their video over.

Jason thanked everyone and started sorting through all the different links. Jason chose the one with the best angle and sent it to Javier.

Javier watched the video. After the video was done playing he was silent for a few minutes. Then he turned to Greg and then to Jason "I think we just struck digital gold! This video is going to make your introduction to the show legendary!"