by Fresh8 on Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:46 am
Chapter 34
George Karl had just arrived.
“Here to see Mr Sit?” the lady at her desk asked.
Karl nodded.
“I will let him know that you are here, please take a seat,” she motioned to the couch next to the coffee table; on top of it was a purple Los Angeles Lakers 50 Years scrapbook.
Karl sat down and looked around at the jerseys hanging off the wall. One of them was Gary Payton’s; Karl sighed as he remembered the good old days. Back in 1996, he had led the Sonics to an NBA Finals appearance against the Chicago Bulls. He wished he could do it again with the Stealth. They were in a 2-1 hole but he knew his team was capable of squaring the series at 2 apiece. The secretary had returned from Sit’s office.
“He will talk to you soon.”
Karl did not know why Sit was so anxious to see him but decided that it must have been quite important.
Ty finished off the glass of water that Sit had poured for him.
“I can’t overrule what George says,” Sit explained, “But I do want him to play you. All I can do is ask him to let you take a physical. It’s up to you to prove that you are fit enough to play.”
Ty nodded.
“Don’t let me down,” Sit pointed at him and then nodded.
Ty smiled, “Thanks. This means a lot to me.”
Sit picked up his phone, “Hey. Ask him to come in to see me.”
Sit’s secretary had opened the door now to let George Karl walk in. Karl saw Sit and then Ty sitting opposite him. Karl took the seat next to Ty’s.
“George,” Sit said, “I want you to get Reshawn to undertake a physical, which will help ascertain whether he is fit to play.”
Karl argued, “I don’t have a need for Reshawn.”
Sit retorted, “Kevin is not going to score 50 every night.”
“I’m the coach around here, you can’t tell me who I can play and who I can’t.”
Sit laughed, “Come on Karl, you and I both know that Ty did not play because of that fracas the other day. Don’t let those guys push you around. You got to stand up for your players.”
“I’m sorry,” Karl said to Ty before turning his focus back to Sit, “But Ty is not a popular decision. I’m helping him by sitting him out.”
“You’re not doing any favors for him or the team,” Sit pleaded, “Let Ty play. He needs to prove that he is a valuable player on our team.”
Karl was silent. Ty listened intently.
“Look, if Ty passes a physical, no one can argue with you about nothing. He doesn’t need to start but I’m sure you could use a player of his talent.”
Karl remained silent and Sit concluded, “Have you guys put him through a physical this afternoon. If he passes, I expect Ty on the roster for the fourth game.”
And with that, Sit waved both Ty and Karl off. Ty would pass his physical that afternoon and earned his spot back on the team. He would play in Game Four.
* * *
After lining up for the national anthem, the fans cheered as the game was about to start. The players were high fiving each other and starting to fill the benches. Durant pulled Ty aside and whispered to him.
“Don’t come here and fuck up my show. Remember this is my team,” Durant warned him in a menacing tone.
Ty replied, “Go fuck yourself.”
The second year guard turned and returned to the Seattle bench as Durant had his gaze on the fans in the stands. He pointed to a small pocket of fans and they started chanting, ‘my team baby, my team baby!’ Durant smiled and sought out Greg Oden. Oden was at half court and preparing to line up for the jump ball.
“I hope your knees stay intact tonight,” Durant said to the big man.
Oden looked at Durant, “What did you say?”
“Hey, you can’t stop me man. You can’t stop me. You’re a bust,” Durant taunted.
Oden exclaimed, “The only thing busting will be your head. Watch out for it loudmouth.”
Durant laughed and looked for Brandon Roy. He stuck near him as the refs got the game under way. Bogut lost the tip to Oden and Oden would dunk to score the first basket of the game. Seattle’s efforts would prove futile as Portland ran away with a double digit win. Their win seemed almost effortless. Oden was brilliant as he notched a career high 28 points. After the game, he went to rub it in to Durant.
“You wish you saw me get hurt tonight,” Oden laughed, “The only thing hurt must be your feelings.”
Durant didn’t have anything to say back.
Oden had the last laugh, “What’s this? You’ve shut up for once!”
Oden and Nash were fielding questions from the media. Nash got quite a bit of a reaction after answering a question about Kevin Durant.
“I just think that,” Nash paused for a moment, “Just maybe. Maybe Kevin Durant was not hugged enough when he was a child.”
The room burst into laughter as Nash continued, “With all due respect, he is a great basketball player even if he is one-dimensional. But he is a joke. A big walking joke.”
Oden ended the interview by explaining why he was so motivated, “I wanted to prove to everyone that I can lead a team if I had to. I feel like a lot of people are doubting my abilities. Plus Kevin helped too.”
As the two Blazers walked out of the room, Durant would enter from the other side. It was his turn to do the podium interview. He sat down and adjusted the microphone, then slouched forward and began to talk.
“Before any of you fools ask me anything, I want to make one thing clear. Portland is not that much better than us. Portland was lucky. They just made some lucky shots. They’re not better than us. We just had a bad game.”
One journo yelled out, “You’re one game away from elimination!”
Durant shouted back “So what? It ain’t over till one team gets to four games. I’m going to get us to the next round. It’s my team baby.”
Cameras were going off as Durant pointed into the air and shouted, “My team baby!”
One beat writer interrupted Durant’s Kodak moment, “Kevin, what was the reason for you losing tonight then?”
Durant was blunt, “Let me be real with you. Reshawn Tyson? Are you kidding me? I don’t know what he was thinking. We were on a roll but Tyson has come in and ruined the flow and the chemistry of this team. We didn’t need him and he’s just fucked up the series for us.”
Durant realized what he said so he quickly added, “But this ain’t over yet. We’re going to come back here for Game Six.”
Ty was waiting for Durant.
“If you got a problem with me, then you better say it to my face,” Ty yelled at Durant as he walked into the change room.
“Worst kept secret kid,” Durant laughed.
“Don’t go talking shit about me in the media,” Ty challenged Durant, “Be a man and tell me what your fucking problem is with me!”
Durant stated, “Sure. I will tell you what my problem is with you.”
Everyone in the room looked over at the two players.
“You’re stepping on my toes. I don’t like it. You shouldn’t be playing after demanding a trade. The only reason you played tonight is because your little high school girl act worked with management. But I see through that shit.”
“Man, stop accusing me of crap I didn’t do!”
Durant charged into Ty and pushed him up against the wall, “You think you’re some kind of hot shot around here. I’ve told you to watch what you do.”
Wilcox and Ariza had come to break the two players up, each pleading to Durant and Ty to calm down. Ty stormed out of the room, followed closely by Rocky Akonnor. Durant returned to his locker and slammed it shut. He was the last player to leave the change room.
* * *
Game five was in Portland and the Blazers had made a scorching start to the game. Not before long did the Stealth find themselves trailing by 18 points in the second quarter. George Karl rallied his troops and everyone, bar Durant, was listening.
“We can’t give up now. It’s been a long season,” Karl shouted above all of the noise, “Let’s try and get back into this one. At least give these guys a challenge.”
Karl’s words must have had some kind of positive effect as Raja Bell hit some big shots to end the quarter. He was even fouled on a three point attempt and went on to sink all three shots from the charity stripe. The Blazers led by just 12 points at the halftime break. Karl was pleased because it was a lead that was able to be broken down. Karl gave a passionate halftime speech to his team.
“We didn’t come here to lose! We came here to win and to extend this series! We have to prove that we belong here!” Karl was yelling and throwing his arms in the air, “We’ve had a lot going against us and I know that you are a tough squad. Let’s not let all of our efforts go to waste! Go out there and play hard. If we play soft, the campaign will be over.”
Kidd looked around and pointed at each and every player, “All of you are responsible to help us pull out a win. I want to win a title. I want you guys to help me. I am begging you to help me.”
Rasheed Wallace, injured but travelling with the team, blurted out, “If we win, we will probably get new jerseys! About time!”
Everyone laughed before Sheed stated, “If we lose, I’m driving us to the airport!”
Karl was more vocal, “Defence wins championships. We’ve let Portand walk all over us all game, it’s time we knuckled down and play a bit more tough. I didn’t come here to lose this game!”
After halftime, Kevin Durant and Trevor Ariza would take over. The pair came up with multiple steals and fast break buckets. Ariza had a few dunks while Durant added plenty of great buckets.
“We’re only down by one point!” Durant high fived Ariza as they both backpedaled back down the floor.
The clock read 3:17 and Durant’s layup had brought Seattle closer to Portland at 61-60. They still trailed but it was by a meager point. Portland called a time out.
“We can’t keep letting Seattle have all the momentum!” Nate McMillan said, “Brandon, I need you to shut down Durant. Nash, I want us to go with more outside shots so you need to take some and sink them.”
Nash was drowning in sweat and he wiped his forehead with a hand towel.
Nash said to Gordon, “Time to shoot the lights out.”
Portland didn’t get very far ahead of Seattle for the remainder of the quarter. At the end of the third, Portland led by just three points at 67-64. The two teams were back on their benches for the break. George Karl sat down after telling his team what he wanted to see. Karl looked at his watch and thought, We might just make it.
The other being against the Celtics
