A LEGEND IS BORN II

[The X]

My picks:

Heat in 6
Stealth in 7

[puttincomputers]

Stealth beat Blazers 4-2

Heat beat Celtics 4-3

[Valor]

Seattle Stealth in 7
Boston Celtics in 6

damn, from 2nd to 8th 0.0....anyhow, hope you can get into the finals

[Martti.]

Heat in 6.
Stealth in 6.

The Finals are so close!

[hova-]

Celtics in 6.

Stealth in 5.

[Cartar]

Celtics in 6.

Stealth in 6.

[KlemenPipic]

Celtics in 6
Stealth in 6

[C-77]

Heat in 7
Stealth in 6

good luck man

[newc]

Third Round Predictions

Stealth beat Blazers 4-2

Celtics beat Heat 4-2

[homicide1550]

Blazers in 7
Heat in 6

[kibaxx7]

Stealth in 6
Heat in 6.

[XpLosibo]

u have the momentum after that sweep so its
stealth - 5
heat - 7

[StupidBoy]

Stealth in 6
Boston in 7

Good luck, I know you'll make it

[Fresh8]

Chapter 19

“Beat LA! Beat LA!,” chanted the crowd.
Kevin Durant smiled as he walked up towards the midcourt and greeted Kobe Bryant.
“You don’t stand a chance,” Bryant said as he gave Durant a hug, “Remember last Summer?”
Durant remained cocky in front of the three-time NBA champion, “I’ve gotten a lot better since then. I’ve got you.”
Bryant laughed out loud, “Good luck slowing me down.”
Durant went on to fist bump the remainder of the Lakers starters and as the players lined up for the tip off, Jason Kidd came up to Durant.
“This is it kid,” Kidd exclaimed, hitting Durant on the chest twice, “Let’s make this count. I got your back if you need it.”
Durant nodded to his captain, “Yes sir.”
He thought to himself, I’m glad I got Jason. He’s been to the Finals before; he knows what he’s doing.
Brad Miller lost the opening tip but was able to grab the ball courtesy of a Luke Walton airball from beyond the arc. Miller passed it to Kidd who threw a lob pass to Jeff Green who scored the franchise’s first ever playoff bucket and the game’s first points. The crowd went wild and cheered even louder as the Stealth players backpedaled down the court. Kidd gave a high five to Green. The Lakers knew they were in for a very long night. Kidd went on to record 18 points and 15 assists and the Stealth won Game One 116-95.

“Yeah baby,” Durant was celebrating with his boys, “We’re going to win this series.”
Kidd was getting and changed and yelled to Durant, “It’s only the first game man. Don’t get too excited.”
Durant replied, “Can’t you let a brother be a little bit optimistic here?”
Kidd laughed, “You played shit man. You should keep your mouth closed.”
Durant smiled and didn’t say anything. If there was anyone on this team he would listen to and respect, it was Kidd. Adam Morrison walked in and Durant patted him on the back.
“Good foul dude,” Durant said, referring to Morrison’s hit on Lakers starting point guard Jordan Farmar, “I heard he’s out for the series.”
Morrison felt a bit guilty, “Man, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Durant put both hands in the air, “Hey man, I was just playing. You know what I mean?”
Morrison shook his head and looked disappointed; he took a seat next to Brad Miller.
“What did I say?” Durant looked confused.
Meanwhile, Tyson was looking a bit lost at his locker. His best friend Rocky sat beside him.
“You all right man? You been looking a bit down all game,” Rocky asked his friend.
Ty forced a smile, “I’m ok.”
Akonnor tried to console Ty, “Cheer up man! We had a big win tonight.”
Ty nodded, “I guess so.”

Seattle was in high spirits and that helped them put in another tremendous effort in the second game of the first round series. Durant, who still had a bum ankle, put in a good scoring effort and finished with 22 points. The Stealth won by 18 and headed to Los Angeles with a 2-0 lead for the series. Then they were brought back to reality with a crippling 41 point loss to the Lakers in Game Three at the Staples Centre.
“How are you supposed to stop Kobe playing like that?” Jack Nicholson heckled Durant.
Durant walked up to Nicholson and stared him down, “What did you say?”
The crowd cheered as officials came to break the pair up.
Bryant had scored 48 points in that Game Three thrashing while Durant made it to 33 but received next to no help from his team mates. Durant was frustrated and let it be known after the game. He was shouting at the team’s coaching staff before beginning to blame Ty for the loss.
“You rookie! You think you’re so good hey?” Durant was screaming at Ty.
Ty was leaving the change room and heading towards the team bus with Durant still screaming at the top of his lungs, “Tyson! Come back and get me my shoes damn it!”

Ty did not seem to be himself and Rocky could see through his masquerades. The two stayed behind on the practice floor after training to shoot around.
“What’s wrong man?” Akonnor asked him.
Ty took a shot and watched as it swished through the hoop, “Nothing.”
“You’re like a brother to me man. If you don’t tell me, who are you going to tell?”
Ty watched as the basketball rolled to the edge of the empty gym. He sighed loudly and pondered for a while to collect his thoughts. He did not know how to explain a story that he had explained so many times to his childhood friend.
“Man, you’ve been acting weird for a long time now. I don’t know if we’re even tight anymore,” Akonnor boldly commented.
“We still brothers man,” Ty looked up at Rocky, “Ok…”
“Ok what?”
“… I saw him before Game One.”
Rocky knew who Ty was talking about from the way he said ‘him’, “Your dad?”
“He’s not my dad.”
Rocky knew it was a touchy subject so he did not push the topic, “Did he try to talk to you?”
“No, I only saw him briefly.”
“If you don’t want him around, maybe you should tell someone?”
Ty didn’t want anyone to know about it, “Let’s just keep it between you and me.”

“Reshawn!”
The Stealth were running onto the Staples Centre hardwood when George Karl called to Ty to stop.
“Coach?”
Karl tugged at his jersey, “It’s inside out.”
Ty sounded monotonous, “Oh.”
“And you’re starting tonight.”
Ty was surprised, “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
The Stealth ended up winning Game 4 and took a 3-1 lead for the series. Ty played great and finished with 20 points and Kobe even sought him out after the game.
“You’re a great player,” Kobe said to him before giving him a pat on the back, “Keep working hard at your game.”
Ty smiled for the first time in what seemed to be an eternity. The smiles didn’t last long as the Lakers won the next game in Seattle and then forced a seventh game by beating Seattle at home. After the 104-91 Game Six loss, tempers flared in the Stealth locker room.
“You cost us the game!” Durant was yelling at Ty again.
“Don’t talk to me like that you freak,” Ty shouted, “I started because Coach told me to which means I’m good enough.”
“How much did you pay him?”
“Fuck you.”
Durant swung his right fist at Ty’s face. Ty dodged it and then wrestled Durant onto the floor. The two were separated by team mates and coaches. Tyson was led out of there first and as he walked out the door, Durant was taunting him. Surprisingly, Seattle won Game Seven but mainly thanks to Jason Kidd’s 17 points and 16 assists. Durant did score 20 points though as Seattle set up a second round encounter with the defending NBA champions; the New Orleans Hornets.

* * *

Seattle was never given much of a chance against the Hornets but they used their size advantage and a breakout series from David Lee to complete a sweep of New Orleans. Reshawn Tyson started all four games and was a major factor. He reminded everyone of his North Carolina days with his scoring and showed how good of a defender he was by taking on Chris Paul. Durant was hurt with a strained MCL and that slowed him down but Ty’s 22 points a game for the second round certainly picked up the slack. Despite Ty’s efforts, it did not seem to make Durant soften his approach towards the rookie. Everytime the media asked Durant a question about Ty, he would snarl and pretend not to hear it.
“You are all here to ask me about him? Stop wasting my time,” Durant even told one reporter.
Thanks to the sweep, Coach Karl allowed the players to have two days off to spend with friends and family. After the game, Ty decided to take the next plane to New York and was out on the town that evening.

* * *

Ty was trying to keep his gaze focused on the road but he found it difficult. His eyelids were feeling heavy and he couldn’t help but feel that the world was spinning in his head. He pushed his foot harder onto the accelerator and could feel the car speed up; he had to be speeding. Ty looked to his right at the passenger seat and smiled. She was sound asleep. Suddenly, Ty’s eyes were wide open; he must have passed out for a few seconds. A bright set of lights blinded him and he tried to swerve to one side.
“Man…” Ty groaned as he regained consciousness.
Blood dripped down the side of his head and he could feel that he was lying sideways. The cold pavement was all he could feel on the side of his face.

For easy access to other chapters, please visit here

[kibaxx7]

Wow man... so is he gonna be out for some games?

[Hedonist]

Nice story. Congrats on the Conference title!

[Donatello]

Holy crap Didn't expect that.

[Lamrock]

Fuuuuuck. The plot thickens. Great chapter.

[C-77]

yeah is he gonna be out that's shit man

[kaiser_kobe]

my predictions would be: Stealth in 5 and heat in 7. gud luck...hope that your legend will born this playoffs, and possibly in finals...

[Martti.]

Damn, Durant sure has a crappy and incomprehensible attitude towards Ty. The writing A+ as always. The car crash sure makes things interesting, yet sad.

[homicide1550]

Hmm.. Intereseting.. I think Ty will miss the entire playoffs now, right? Hmm.. Which means there will be a great chance Portland will win the series..

[newc]

Agree to others - great writing. But I think maybe the crash will explain how Ty's mother and brother died...

[XpLosibo]

Ty will surely be out.. That means KD will get all the scoring and the spotlight

[Fresh8]

You guys will need to wait and see in Chapter 20 re: Tyson and whether he will be able to play!

Thanks for reading!