The Starter                 By Caleb Poetzl

 

With only 20 seconds left on the clock, it was hard to even choose what option we should take. We were down 2 points against the Ringerz in our championship game for pick-up 3v3.

I could drive baseline, get a reverse layup… or I could kick it out to Benny for the three… or pull up for a three… or pick and roll to Kenneth, give him that alley-oop…

I felt overwhelmed, and then decided that we would just play the game, see what open shots I could get, open teammates, etc., just play the game. Considering the time we had left, it definitely was more than enough for a play.  Ref called both teams out, and we headed to the blacktop. I made sure to identify Benny on the left wing and Big Kenny on the right post. My heart pounded with the pressure on my chest. I was definitely nervous. The ref handed me the ball. 

“Good luck,” he said with a wink, “Don’t mess up.” Harry has been a ref since I was in kindergarten, being there in my most important games, even if he couldn’t wear the stripes. He’s my number one fan.  He has made it clear multiple times that just because I’m his favorite on the court, it does not mean he will be playing favorites when it comes to calls. We joke about it once in a while.

The fresh leather on the ball made me feel in total control, as I spun it around on my finger, until my defender came up to start. I checked the ball to my opponent, he returned it, and got up in my grill right as the clock started. He made it clear there would be no three’s. Fine by me, I thought, smirking at him. Kenneth recognized the pressure on the ball and moves out to right wing. I had an open lane. 

I jabbed at him a couple times, with my right leg to push him off, but he just kept coming back.

Obviously this dude does not get it. I swept my leg to the right and up, and took off toward the hoop. I beat him as I expected, having a completely wide open hoop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Benny’s man coming to help. He was too far away to kick it out, and I could get this easy layup. I got close enough where I picked up the ball, and took two long strides, lift up my right hand with the ball, brush the ball up against the glass… Blocked. Ball came straight down like it was shot with a rifle, just dead. Ball hit the ground, they got the rebound, game over. The buzzer rang in my ear as the crowd erupted. 

“Ringerz win!!” the announcer called. Cheering, booing, I was so caught off guard, I had no emotions at the time.

“Ref, that had to be a goaltend, right?!?” I was looking for an excuse, something didn’t seem right.

“Nope. Ball, then glass. Clean block.” He looked at me with the kinda, ‘sorry ‘boutchya’ look. I was stunned, still standing under the basket with my hands over my head. We lost…

Ben and Kenneth met me under the basket, putting their hands on my shoulders.

“Sorry fellas. I thought I had that. I shoul-”

“You did good. Great play from them on defense. You made the right call, Donovan. You had that layup.” Benny’s always been supportive, no matter what the situation, so this didn’t mean a lot to me. I could kill a man and he would be on my side when I’m locked up.

“I just shoulda known. One of you was open, right?” Big Kenny walked away after I said that, cursing and spitting. 

“We should have ran a pick and roll. It would have been a perfect mismatch for me if they switched.” Kenny seemed frustrated and disappointed, but not in himself.

“I thought about that, I just had the wide open la-”

“You should’ve thought longer then,” said Kenneth, raising his voice to where he sounded intimidating.

“Chill, Kenny, anything could’ve happened.”

“This was for the championship, Donovan! The only things that should happen is running a good play call. As a point guard, you need to get better at that, know what will and won’t work.” Kenneth really started to get on my nerves, but I decided to stay calm because I knew we’d be back next year, and I wasn’t trying to start any real beef between any of my teammates.

“Okay, Kenny, I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” he said quietly while he headed back to the bench. He grabbed his bag, water bottle, and keys, then he left the blacktop, and was lost in the sea of celebration and mourning fans.

“You should probably head home too,” Benny said to me with a pat on my shoulder. “We’ll be back next year, Donovan.” Benny headed to the bench to untie his shoes, and then went to the opposing benches to shake the other team’s hands. I guess that’s the right thing to do.

I went over to join him and we spoke to the other team for a bit, about the sick moves and the clean shots during the game. We shook hands once more, and then headed back to our bench to collect our things.

As I’m walking out of the courts and headed to my car, somebody stopped me right before I unlock it. He grabs my shoulder, to which I turn around to a man a little smaller than I, with black hair with strains of grey. He wore khakis with a Portland Trail Blazers polo on.

“Hey, those were some pretty impressive moves, stats, form, almost everything. However, I think you still have more to offer, and more to improve on. I’m t-”

“Listen bro, I’m really not looking for a trainer right now. I think I have my moves down more than you think so how bout we just go our separate ways from this point.” I was a little confused why a dude like this would have the nerves to come up to me and my car to talk about improvements.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m a scout for the Blazers. I am very interested in you maybe coming to the practices for our local D-league team and show some of the coaches what you can offer.”

This guy has got to be joking, I thought, caught a little off guard, confused on what I should say.

“Uh… yeah.. I mean, I am very interested in showing my talents. What do I have to do?”

“Well, I could use some form of contact to your agent. You do have an agent, right?”

“Um, yeah. Yeah of course. You need his number or email or..?”

“Both would be great.” I handed him Terry’s card, my family agent. He’s my uncle in law that works in the field of agency, but we haven’t really talked about him being my agent for real, so I’m a little hesitant, but this practice is not something I would want to miss for anything.

“Awesome. Listen, I need to get back, but I’ll make sure to contact him as soon as possible. We’ll keep in touch. Thanks for letting me talk to you.”

“Of course! No problem at all.” He walked away, back to the blacktop. I turned back to my car, trying not to freak out. You’ve gotta be kidding me, you’ve gotta be kidding me…

As I drove home, I couldn’t stop grinning. I just kept thinking about the future, what I had to offer to the coaches, what I would say, what would I do, who would I practice with, everything I could think of. My smile just kept getting bigger and bigger as I think about how this could change my life, how I could be able to prove everyone who doubted me wrong, this could be my time. I’m almost there… I am going to make it… I’m getting closer… I’m almost there…