Hoops

Chapter 1: Isaiah And Me

(Garrett's perspective)

6:47 AM, November 25, 2020. Isaiah's house, Stockton, California  

Flight Gang DRaE- Hoop Dreams

I woke up to gunshots. 

Terrified, I began preparing myself and looking for a weapon to retaliate from whoever was shooting me. Fortunately, I realized that it was 6 AM and Isaiah Gonzalez, my best friend was sitting on the couch next to me playing Call of Duty. 

"Morning!" Isaiah didn't bother looking away from his screen. Last night, after intently watching our beloved LA Lakers beat the cross-town rival Clippers in a thriller, we had both fallen asleep in our Lakers jerseys. I was LeBron and Isaiah was Anthony Davis.  

We were both excited to make our mark on today's league combine, the preseason event where players showcase their skils to the coaches and then learn their teams. Players would run 40-yard dashes, shuttles, and scrimmage before the big draft, the main event of the afternoon.

After 4 hours of drowsy gaming, Isaiah's mom called us upstairs. Breakfast was ready, some tasty-smelling omelets and bacon. Isaiah and I inhaled them within seconds, while we both slipped on our shorts and sneakers. As if telekinetically speaking to each other, we both sprinted outside to Isaiah's basketball hoop without a single word spoken. I grabbed the ball, and a pickup game started. I posted up on him and he swiped the ball from me, laying it up and scoring. I got the ball, and attacked the left side. Isaiah was too quick, though, so I had to roll out to the lane. I shot it, but Isaiah swatted it off course, grabbed it, and launched it. Before long, it was 3-0 Isaiah. I still had fun, though, and we chatted as we went inside, after getting beat 21-13 due to Isaiah's premier paint scoring. 

Isaiah booted up NBA 2k20. After flipping a coin to see who would be playing as the Lakers, I won and whooped him handily. "Looks like you have the wrong skillset!" Isaiah giggled. 

"Do I?" I laughed. "Or do you just not know how to shoot with anyone but Curry?" 

After a few intense rounds of video gaming, Isaiah's mom Isabella called us up for the combine. Isaiah and I hustled upstairs, tearing through the kitchen and the living room to our basketball bags. Isaiah's older brother Jonathan was laying on the couch with his phone. 

"Where's the fire today, boys?"

I resisted the urge to say 'my jumper', ignoring him instead.

I saddled my bag on my back. Isaiah did the same as his mom walked out to their red Toyota. We both checked for all our gear. I had mine but Isaiah nearly forgot his shoes, and as such I poured on teasing as he sheepishly jogged back inside. I walked out in my sweats. It was a short ride to the community rec center where the draft and combine was. 

Isabella dropped us off at the locker room entrance, where a coach intercepted us inside. "Names?" He looked to be a hearty gentleman in his early fourties, some gray whiskers beginning to frost his hair. "Garrett Fletcher and Isaiah Gonzalez." He checked his clipboard, and flipped through a couple pages. He shot a look at me, and then handed us two black uniforms. I was number 1 and Isaiah was number 33. Our favorite numbers. I knew that was a good sign. I slipped the jersey on over my tight dri-fit tee. Isaiah popped his feet into his favorite Curry sneakers. 

We both came out of the locker room, picking up a basketball off of the rack. After crossing up imaginary defenders and swishing free throws, I dapped up Isaiah at center court. Soon enough, the last players trickled through the locker rooms and the coach blew his whistle. 

"Okay, 5 on 5 scrimmages! White and gray teams over here on this court, black and blue teams, this way!" The coach led me, Isaiah, and some other black jerseys to an auxiliary court, along with a blue jersey squad. A few coaches had clipboards in their hands.

"Ok, ok, 5 on 5. Blue team on this bench, black team on this bench.  You got 5 minutes to talk it over. Let's go!" 

The coach, who I noticed to be the same one as earlier, pointed to me, Isaiah, and 3 other skilled-looking players, and said "Ok, you guys start." There were 15 or so players on our team. Before I knew it, the 5 minutes were up, a horn honked, and we trotted out onto the floor. 

Isaiah, surprisingly the tallest on our team, lined up to tip-off with a, woah, a MONSTROUSLY tall kid. This guy was FREAKISHLY huge. He had to have been from another planet. He at LEAST cleared 6 foot 6. Not surprisingly, he easily plucked the opening tip and threw it like a baseball at the point guard. 

I played defense on the guard that took it up, a smug looking kid. His juice-box fade bounced around as he tried out some fancy moves on me. I easily plucked it from him and pounded the ball down the court. He couldn't keep up, but the monster did, and blasted the ball out of my hands. I didn't really mind,  good for him. The coaches liked my steal, and that was what stood out. Isaiah snatched the rebound and dropped a midrange jumper. For 5 minutes the game went on, neither team really trying, just wanting to show the coaches their skills. After the game, our team had won by a score of 26 to 20. 

I put on my headphones. The coach of my team beckoned us into the main gym, where the White team was giving the Gray team a slapping. 25 to 4. I walked into the main gym as the Grays walked off. After losing to the Whites and beating the Grays, we all lined up. After the coaches made their decisions, the draft started.  There were going to be 8 teams. Suddenely, a red, green, purple, and yellow team walked in to constitute the other conference. 

"Players, one of these 8 teams will draft you, but I can assure you, each team is equally desirable. 

You could be drafted to the Patriots, with a winning tradition,

the Yellowjackets, with a long line of strong bigs,

the Lakers, the heavyweight contenders,

the Skulls, with heart that could beat anyone,

the Sharks, who never stop fighting,

the Hoopers, our defending champions,

the Knights, with a surprising turnaround in 2019,

or the Cruisers, with their famous 'small ball' lineup.

In accordance with last year's standings, this will be the pick order. 

First the Skulls, then the Lakers, Patriots, Sharks, Cruisers, Knights, Yellowjackets, and the Hoopers.

Without further ado, the Skulls draft with their first round pick, Garrett Fletcher!"

I walked up to the front desk. I thought it was pretty weird that Isaiah was going to go onto the second round, because I could feel we were going to be on the same team for sure.

"With the second pick, the Lakers draft Isaiah Gonzalez!"