The Heart of A Champion (An NBA OC X Hailee Steinfeld Romance)

Sweet Victory; League-Wide Tragedy

(First off as I begin, let me dish out my congratulations to our NBA World Champions, The Golden State Warriors as they rose from the ashes to claim their seventh franchise championship over the Boston Celtics 4-2. Curry finally got the so called monkey off of his and got that elusive Finals MVP, Klay returned from adversity. As a Mavs fan... job well done Dubs Nation; As you can also tell by the second half of this titled chapter, it does deal with death and how one can cope with it even if they're directly affected by it. In this case you know what event I'm referring to, most of still know what we were doing when we even got the news, and even if you don't watch sports, you in some way heard of Kobe Bryant. With that enjoy this new chapter and may those we lost on January 26th, 2020, continue to rest eternally. And before you say I'm using their deaths or you even think that, I want you to slap yourself cause that's not the goal here. This is my tribute somewhat to the Black Mamba.)

Rest in Peace to Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, Alyssa Altobelli, her parents Keri Altobelli and John Altobelli, Payton Chester and her mother Sara Chester, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan. The world is lesser for all of you.

WOOOOOOO WOOOOHHHH! HELL YEAH, MMHM! UP HIGH BABY! LET'S GO! THAT'S HOW YOU GET IT DONE!

The Dallas Mavericks were coming down off the emotional high of such a thrilling come from behind victory against Western Conference foe in the Trailblazers. It also served as the highly anticipated of hometown kid Dante Butler, who in his own right did not disappoint yet another near triple double with a 28 point, 13 rebound and 8 assist outing as the Mavs boosted their win total by one. He was apart of the celebration train as they ran into the home team locker room.

Dante: MAN OH MAN! It's too different when you're home and YOU'RE. APART. OF. THE. HOMECOOKING!

Luka laughed as he sat in his respective gaming chair, using the towel wrapped around his neck to wipe the remaining sweat off of his face.

Luka: Now you've seen what you've been missing out on while you played in Detroit.

Dante: Listen now, I'm grateful for what they gave me but goddamnit it's not like Dallas, holyyyyy shit. Y'all were on fire before I even got here. You guys were just missing.... a natural kickstarter.

Luka:  You wound my heart, friend.

Dante: I jest surely, come on. We both can run on the offense, no one stopping this squad unless we both are either sick, tired, dead or a combination of both.

Luka: So... a zombie?

Dante: Sure, buddy let's go with a zombie.

While they continued catching up with each other, the media specialist for the team entered the locker room as players slinked into their chairs or handled other neccesities.

Allison: Luka, Dante? They're ready for you two.

Dante: Sure, lemme get finished dressing up. Ya boy gotta always look his best.

He winked causing the young woman just a few years older than him to blush a bright red as she hid her face behind the clipboard as he looked between Luka and Tim.

Dante: What?

Tim: So does making women almost faint, blush or drop their panties come natural to you or what?

Dante: I mean, I try not to think about it. My mom was a natural flirt before my dad got ahold of her. Guess it's just byproduct.

He slipped his VLone hoodie over his Kobe Bryant 2002 NBA Championship T-shirt. It was no secret the Black Mamba and soon to be first ballot Basketball Hall of Famer inspired a many professional hoopers not just Dante himself. After putting on his drip on, he exited the locker room, proceeding to get a bone crushing hug.