Love and Basketball: Freshmen Year

Freshmen 63

"Alright, let's finish up this practice with a few more drills. We have a game tomorrow, so we should at least look like a team out there." He said, nodding his head again. He walked off rubbing the back of his neck, heading to his office.

Shai turned around to watch Adams leave. He shook his head in disbelief at the team and Adams. Facing everyone else, he saw the boys making their way to the bleachers where their stuff was at. Practice wasn't over. They had a game tomorrow and was nowhere near ready. Shai couldn't stand the way they were acting and for once, put his foot down.

"Y'all serious?" He asked, holding his hand out.

"Practice isn't over. We still have plays to tighten up for the game tomorrow." He reminded them in case they forgot.

Dustin shrugged, taking a seat. "Does it matter? We gon' lose anyway. It's a waste of time to be honest." He admitted.

Shai squinted his eyes at him. "What?" He aggressively asked.

"What do you mean it's a waste of time?" He asked, walking towards them.

"Kill it, Shai. You were never on the team in the first place, so don't come here trying to be team captain. Our captains are gone because of their dumb decisions." Ameer spoke up.

Shai suck his teeth. "Our captains are gone because your dumbass friend spoke on shit he had no business speaking on. If you're gonna keep taking up for his ass then go be with him in the hospital!" He raised his voice.

"Man, chill with that shit!" Ameer stood up and bucked at Shai.

That did nothing to him. Shai was no longer allowing people to walk over him or kill his dream. He was thinking about himself now. Everyone else he knew did it, so he was joining them. He didn't care to be called selfish or self-centered because that's exactly what he was. He came to play basketball and he was going to do that whether the team wanted to or not.

"Ameer, let's not do this." Dustin told him. He was exhausted with the fighting and bickering.

"Yeah, Ameer, let's not do this." Shai remarked, staring him down.

"I'm not afraid of you. I don't care for you either. If you wanna have a temper tantrum cause you're best friend ain't here no more then take that shit somewhere else. But, if you wanna play ball and actually win a fucking game then shut the fuck up and listen. For once!" Shai ordered, standing his ground.

Ameer stared at him. He scoffed, sitting back down and keeping his mouth shut. Julian, Michael, and Parker chuckled. Dustin and Skeeter look at each other, stunned that Ameer actually did was told. Shai didn't allow that to get to his head. He was trying to make a much needed point.

"Listen, I came here for one reason and one reason only...to play basketball. I don't care for the other shit. Playing college basketball is completely different from high school. I came here for myself and I'm sure it's the same for y'all. Yes, our captains and coaches fucked up but that doesn't mean we give up. Because then what the fuck is the point in all of this?" He rhetorically asked.

"We just sat here and wasted our time during suicides, running through plays up and down this damn court. Well, I'm not wasting any more time doing pointless shit if we're not going to get a reward out of it. That's ridiculous. How many games do we have left before the season is up?" He questioned.