by Fresh8 on Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:42 am
Chapter 12
Durant held his follow through as he landed back on the court.
“Yes!” Marv Albert yelled as the ball dropped through the net.
The crowd was on their feet and cheering. Then the ‘Kevin’s team’ chants began to rain from the upper sections of the stadium. Nate McMillan threw his clipboard on the ground. Brandon Roy slumped down on his knees and buried his head in his hands. Durant punched his fists in the air and yelled. The buzzer sounded.
“My team baby!” Durant yelled and started to repeatedly pound at his chest.
After violently pounding his chest several times, Durant pointed his right index finger in the air towards the jumbotron screen as it showed a replay of his game winning turnaround j. The Stealth faithful were in Euphoria as the chants of ‘MVP’ started to drown out the ‘Kevin’s team.”
Durant looked around but all of his team mates had left him alone out on the court. He shrugged and threw both arms in the air; signaling for the crowd to get even louder. He was loving the atmosphere.
Craig Sager had slid up beside him, “Kevin, incredible shot. How are you feeling?”
Durant ignored him, “You feeling the most valuable player baby? The most valuable player baby! That’s me! Number one!”
Durant put his finger up in front of the camera, “Number one baby! Woo!”
Sager tried again, “Run us through that last play Kevin.”
Durant threw his right fist in the air and flashed a ‘peace’ sign before answering, “Oh you know. The best players come through in the most important moments. I showed that I got to do what I got to do. I showed that I’m the best player in the league man.”
Sager decided it was pointless, “Thanks Kevin.”
Durant put his finger up in front of the camera again, “Number one baby! My team baby!”
He ran towards the tunnel to join his team in the team change room.
Sit wasn’t happy with his team’s performance as he lambasted them, “We nearly lost that game! Where was our defense?”
He started to single out individual players, “Iverson! Shooting us out of the game like that! What the hell was with that?”
“Andrew, David. You two played like pussies out there! It’s time to harden up a little bit. God damn it!”
He turned around and spotted Sheed, “Get that grin off your face!”
Sheed hid behind his clipboard as Durant skipped through the door.
“What did I miss?” Durant yelled out.
He saw Sit staring and the rest of the team looking away.
“Oh…” Durant stated, “Sorry Coach.”
“Take a seat!”
Durant sat in front of his locker as a trainer rushed from the back of the room and have him a sports drink.
Sit continued, “We come back to training tomorrow and we are going to be working on defense. That was an absolutely shocking display tonight. You all should be ashamed of yourselves!”
Before Game 2, Sit pulled Jason Kidd aside.
“Jase,” he stated, “I need you to lead the guys tonight. We’re leaning too heavily on Kevin.”
Kidd nodded, “Leave it to me.”
The Stealth were warming up and Iverson was sitting on the bench; putting on his sleeve. Coach Karl delivered to him the bad news.
“Coach Sit isn’t going to play you for big minutes.”
Iverson wasn’t happy.
Karl put his hand on Iverson’s shoulder, “Chin up. Show him what you got.”
Iverson got up and walked past Sit and joined his teammates on the court. Sit was barking orders to his players. Defense was the focus. The Stealth were magnificent for much of the game. Kidd finished with 21 assists and they held Portland to just 65 points for the whole game. Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the series before storming to victory in Game 3. Durant would score 46 and Iverson got off the bench to get 25. Sit was stubborn and refused to play Iverson big minutes despite pressure from the front office.
“Can you believe it?” Sit slammed the phone down.
Coach Karl sat silently. Unfortunately, he didn’t share the same sentiments as Sit. He wanted Iverson to play. Meanwhile, Ty was fighting off reporters trying to figure out if he would commit to staying in Seattle.
“I already told you,” the young swingman stated, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Ty got up and dodged the media pack. He hopped in his car and began driving off. His phone rang. It was Martti Must.
“Hey man, what’s up.”
Ty listened for a moment then replied, “Man, everyone’s on my ass asking me what I’m going to do. I don’t want to talk about it.”
He hung up.
A dejected Brandon Roy faced the media after an embarrassing Game 3 loss.
“I promise you that I am going to step up in Game 4,” he announced, “With our backs against the wall – it’s time for me to lead my team better.”
Roy was a man on a mission and he delivered in Game 4. He poured in 52 points. Durant had 47. The Blazers won and stayed alive in the series.
“How do you feel going into Game 5 down 1-3?”
Roy was back on the podium, “I’m confident. I guess I was on fire tonight. I hope it carries into the next game.”
Durant was outside in the corridor as Roy finished his interview. The two crossed paths.
“Nice game,” Roy was being courteous.
“I wasn’t trying,” Durant snorted.
“Go fuck yourself,” Roy wasn’t going to pretend to be nice to him anymore.
Durant laughed, “I could beat you in my sleep. I let you have this one tonight. I hope you sleep better.”
Roy ignored him and continued walking. Two nights later, Roy and the Blazers were eliminated by the Stealth.
* * *
“How do I look?”
Sit had one of his best suits on. His personal assistant gave him a thumbs up.
“It looks great!” she stated.
“Better not be lying,” he winked.
“You look very good,” she smiled.
“Alright, here it goes,” Sit stated before walking through the doors into the room.
She followed him in, “Go Coach!”
Cameras were flashing and everyone was chatting. It was the press conference to introduce Sit as the NBA’s Coach of the Year. Sit took his seat in front of the media.
“Coach Sit, how are you feeling right now?”
“Pretty shit, all of you are taking away valuable practice time. We need to work on defense remember,” Sit stated, laughing and pointing at his watch.
Everyone laughed before another question was asked, “You’ve made some huge strides with this team Coach. What has been your most satisfying moment so far with the Seattle Stealth?”
Sit took a sip of water, “Well, winning Coach of the Year of course!”
He grinned as everyone laughed again.
“I’m joking. Beating Portland last year. That was a huge step for us.”
“And most disappointing?”
“2012 Western Conference Finals,” Sit stated, the memory of losing Game 7 to a cocky Moses Chara and the Kings still stung after nearly a year.
“What does this award mean to you?”
Sit held the trophy up, “This would not be mines if it had not been for my players. I owe it to them.”
Sit was still holding the trophy up the following night. This time it was in front of his home fans. He handed the trophy to Jason Kidd so that he could get a hold of the microphone. Sit looked over at the Golden State Warriors and then looked back at his players standing near him.
“I thank all of you,” Sit addressed the crowd, “I thank all of you for your continued support. I dedicate my award to everyone part of this organization. Now it’s time to kick some bay area butt!”