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“What the…” Brooke starts. “What are they wearing?” she asks as she sees Atlas, then Miles bound onto the floor.
“Oh shit, Nova. Those are fierce.”
Their normal playoff jerseys have been replaced with new ones: purple and gold with a gray bear in honor of Coach. The design is mine, and Harlan personally called the league to get approval for the team to wear them. Chloe worked around the clock to get the jerseys prepared.
I grin, cheering for every player. Clay is announced last, and I jump up and down, screaming until I’m hoarse.
“If the crowd could win it for them, we would,” Brooke says.
The entire arena is standing from the moment Atlas takes the jump ball.
It starts out tight, back and forth.
Two points here. Two there.
Then the Kodiaks move the ball, setting Miles up for a perfect three…
And he misses.
A collective groan goes up.
The next play, Atlas trips trying to guard and they get a dunk.
Brooke grabs my hand.
By the end of the first quarter, small mistakes are adding up to a six-point deficit for the Kodiaks.
“Damn it,” I whisper.
I look up at the jumbotron for a closeup of Clay as he heads back to the bench. His expression is tight as he and Jay confer.
The teams go back at it in the second.
This time, Rookie tries to take over and get his.
“Come on,” I call, clapping.
Isaac, Clay’s former teammate, steals the ball from him and takes it back the other way for a three.
No.
I see the moment Clay decides to make a change. His face goes from tight concern to impenetrable resolve.
He takes over in the third quarter. Puts the team on his back and carries them to even ground.
“He’s playing out of his mind!” Brooke hollers. I can barely hear it over the roar of the stadium.
At the end of the third quarter, it’s a tied game. Clay goes up for a dunk, and one of the LA guards goes up for the block.
“Look out!” I scream as if they can hear me. As if they’re not already committed.
My heart stops as the two huge bodies fly toward one another.
Clay is focused on the basket, the other man intent on bringing him down.
They collide in mid-air.
The ball finds the hoop and cheers erupt as both players crash to the court in a pile of limbs.
