The Greatest Assist (Patrick Kane)

18| Basketball God

Patrick

Even though I was able to celebrate my birthday before leaving on this trip, this birthday was still kinda sucky. We ended up losing the game we played on my birthday and these 6 away games in 11 days was starting to wear on me. We were in LA for our last away game before we could come back home and I couldn't be more excited to leave this place. It was nice and warm for late November but I was ready for this trip to be over even if that meant being back in the cold.

Early this morning I go down to the main floor for breakfast. We usually have it at the arena but they're still tearing up the floor from the basketball court that was up last night. And since the time zone was two hours before Chicago I was wide awake before anyone else. So I let myself down to the lobby to grab some food before we bused over to the arena.

"Patrick Kane" someone asks and I stop. I turn to see the guy at the front desk saying my name. So I walk over to him and pray that this wasn't one of Sharpys pranks that's going to cost me a lot of money. Again.

"What's up" I wonder.

"There's a woman asking to see you but I couldn't get ahold of you in your room. I was wondering if it was okay that I let her see you" he says.

"Well that depends. Who is she" I question. Because one time it was Sharpy disguising himself as a girl and I foolishly let him in. He's never going to let me live that one down.

"She's over there" he says.

I turn and see Chelsea in a Blackhawks jacket standing by the window. She looked out over her city probably getting familiar with it again.

I don't even say anything to the front desk guy as I walk over to her. I quickly pull her into a hug and once she realized that it was me she hugs me back.

"Oh goodie, you are up" she giggles.

"Bright and early as always" I assure her as we break apart. I keep her close a little weary to have to let her go. "What are you doing here" I wonder.

"Well I wanted to come give you your birthday present, I wanted to give it to you closer to your actual birthday but I had to set up some meetings for you and all that good stuff. I figured since your last game was in LA I could come catch up with some of the Lakers guys and watch you play" she says pointing to the Blackhawks symbol on her jacket.

"Did you buy this" I ask as I pinched the material between my fingers.

"I did" she smiles big. Damn she was cute.

"You said you were meeting with old friends" I start. "Is.. is Jordan still here" I whisper.

She shakes her head as she looks at the ground. "He plays in New Jersey but he still lives here. Since they're in season he's not around" she explains.

"Good" I sigh. I didn't want her risking being around him just for me.

"I do have a surprise for you though" she claims and I smile. "A little belated birthday gift."

"Oh sweet. Where is it" I wonder.

"The Staples Center" she says.

"What's there" I question.

"Go eat your breakfast and you'll find out" she claims.

So we eat breakfast and I change into warm ups before we go to the arena. She gets us in with her credentialing and we go up to the boxes. When we get there I see Kobe Bryant standing there and nearly passed out. He was the closest thing to a basketball superhuman right next to Michael Jordan right now having won the last 2 NBA championships and 5 in total. He was basically a basketball god and I did not deserve to be in his presence.

"Holy shit" I whisper as Chelsea giggles at me.

"I didn't know you could get star struck" she teases.

"I didn't either" I choke.

He sees her standing in the doorway and smiles big, kinda like when I saw her earlier today. He comes over and pulls her into the tightest hug.

"Oh man we have missed you so much Little Star" he says. And I thought I was the only one with a cute nickname for her.

"I've missed you two. How are the girls" she wonders.

"They're doing great. My wife is going to be jealous I got to see you today" he claims.

"Bring her by the game tonight and we can all hang out" she cheers.

"I'll text her to bring the girls too. Then we can go get some drinks after" he insists.

"Thanks for the offer, but I was actually planning to hang out with Patrick some. I missed his birthday and I have a lot of work to catch up on" she claims. She did not just turn down Kobe Bryant to be with me...

"Of course. You're Patrick Kane right" he asks as he sticks his hand out.

"I think so" I whisper making him laugh.

"It was cool to watch you guys win the Stanley cup earlier this year. I have a feeling this team is going to be a pain in the King's side for years to come" he claims.

"You think so" I ask.

"Of course. I'm actually a fan of yours. Any American born player in your line of work is something special to watch. And you're so young, to be doing what your doing is great. Who knows, maybe one day you'll have as many rings as me" he winks.

"A guy can dream right" I laugh.

We talk for about a hour before he had to go. So I get some pictures and I try to focus on the game tonight. But that's impossible now.

"That was insane" I sigh as I lean against the wall.

"I remember you told me that when you were little you wanted to play basketball. That you used to play outside with your dad and your sisters during the summer when hockey was only played indoors. So I figured that a good birthday gift would be a meeting with one of the best to ever play the game. Plus he was a fan of yours too and wanted to meet you" she explains.

"He... wanted to meet me" I croak.

"Yes" she laughs. "I know my gift didn't really cost much but I hope you liked it" she says.

"It's the best gift ever" I say making her smile. "People never listen when I tell them stuff like that. It seems so small compared to the big picture. But of course you listened and you just so happened to have the coolest connection ever."

"He's a great player but a even better person. His life hasn't been perfect either, you know? He's made some mistakes, he was told that his love life was wrong and that he would never be a good basketball player. But he turned the losses into lessons and now all he can do is win. That's where you want to be" she notices.

"I have a ways to go in order to live up to him" I scoff.

"You do. But I really believe you can do it" she promises.