by Fresh8 on Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:38 pm
Chapter 28
“What were you two thinking?” Sit quizzed Durant and Ty.
The two of them sat in Sit’s office. After the trip from Miami, the rest of the team was allowed to go home but Durant and Ty were whisked back to Seattle headquarters for a meeting with the boss.
“You two are going to be the death of me!” Sit stated.
Durant and Ty did not look at one another; both of them were dead silent.
“What the hell were you thinking Durant?” Sits asked, “You ever heard of respect around here? George is your coach and you’re trying to speak over him?”
Durant argued, “This is my team. I get my say!”
Sit mocked him, “My team? My team? If you were a true leader, you wouldn’t be acting like a teenage girl and trying to show all the others who has authority!”
Durant hit the table with both hands hard, “Don’t call me a girl!”
Sit jumped out of his seat and pointed at Durant, viciously yelling back, “Don’t tell me what to do!”
Durant pulled his arms back and sank a bit lower into his seat.
“You’re lucky I’m not going to suspend both of you. I would learn to shut it for once!”
Ty spoke up, “I’m to blame for fighting. I’m sorry.”
Durant cast a glare sideways at Ty but kept quiet.
Sit said, “I expect both of you to make an apology to your teammates and coaches tomorrow. I will make sure that it’s been done. Get out of my office.”
The two players got up and left. As the door closed behind them, Sit sat back and poured himself some rum. He took a sip and placed the glass down on the table. He sat back and sighed, then said something to himself.
“This is impossible.”
After getting back into playoff contention, the Stealth continued their spirited play but a looming five game road trip had Coach Karl worried. His team had been a terrible road team all season and Karl knew that his team could not afford to drop too many games. His fears ended up true as Seattle began their road trip with a 35 point loss to the cellar-dweller Toronto Raptors. Two nights later, they would fall by 9 to LeBron James and the Cavs and then the next night; a 13 point loss to the Detroit Pistons. It was midway through this road trip that team morale began to rapidly drop. Chemistry was so low that not even Rasheed ‘Mr Top 50’ Wallace could help lift spirits. The worst part was that the rift between Durant and Ty widened even more with all of the team’s lack of success.
“See what happens when we give him the ball?” Durant said to Andrew Bogut and Raja Bell, “We start losing.”
Durant said directly to Bell, “Tell me that we would be losing if you were starting. Karl don’t know what he’s doing.”
Some of the others tried to get a reaction out of Ty but he was mum on the topic as usual, “We just got to play better as a team if we want to win.”
Practices were brutal as Durant was always elbowing and ankle tapping any of the players who showed some sympathy towards Ty. The amount of times Durant did it, the better he was at it. DJ White began to compare Durant to Bruce Bowen.
“He’s one dirty bastard,” White stated in disgust one night.
Sheed decided to try and take things into his own hands. During the practice before the game against the Portland Trailblazers, Bogut had blatantly shoved Ty on his way to the hoop. Bogut stood defiantly over the swingman and Durant walked over to give Bogut a high five. Sheed, on the same practice team, walked over to try and be diplomatic.
“I think that was a bit over the top.”
Bogut glanced at Sheed, “If you came to lecture me, you should turn around.”
Sheed, always impatient, shot back, “Maybe you should go and high five yourself. You do it all the time anyways.”
Bogut shouted as Sheed helped Ty to his feet, “Shut up old man.”
Sheed swiftly turned around and slapped Bogut in the face, “You shut up or else I will slap you like a bitch again.”
Bogut was speechless as the rest of the Stealth players laughed in a bid to try and make it seem like a funny scene. They did not want it to escalate further. Durant was kneeling to the side and tying a shoelace. He did not want to get involved in any disagreement with Sheed. Inside, he was fuming that Sheed was defending Ty. Coach Karl, meanwhile, watched on from the sidelines. He didn’t say anything because he simply had no control of the situation. Kidd was not around to step in as he was excused from training due to a sore knee. After the players had stopped laughing, Karl decided to get them all to continue with training.
“That’s enough talking! Let’s get back into it!”
The next day, a 12 point loss to the Blazers dampened moods even more but there was light at the end
of the tunnel. The last game of the road trip was coming up and it was against a very average Chicago Bulls team. The Bulls were off to a great start. Chicago finished the first quarter 38-23 on top. Seattle was then led by the hot shooting of Raja Bell and Kevin Durant to come back. Seattle was able to narrowly come out with a 5 point win against the Bulls.
As the teams walked off the court, Cheryl Miller interviewed Durant at midcourt.
“Kevin, your team came out slow but you were able to come back,” Miller said, “What do you attribute to your come from behind win?”
Durant didn’t hesitate, “Coach took off our starting shooting guard and replaced him with a true pro. Raja got us back in the game. He should be starting.”
Miller, a bit taken back, asked her second question, “What happened in the locker room at halftime that really got you guys going? What did Coach Karl say?”
Durant laughed, “I wasn’t listening. This is my team and I tell the guys what to do. I told them we were going to win if they gave me the ball and that’s what happened. Coach is always supportive but I’m the real leader. This is my team.”
“28 points and 9 rebounds. Kevin Durant, thanks for talking to us,” Miller thanked the swingman.
Durant looked into the camera as if peering into everyone’s living room, “Thanks Cheryl.”
He then clenched his right fist and hit it twice onto the left side of his chest, “Seattle Stealth, my team baby!”
Durant turned to run towards the locker room and Miller said, “Back to you guys in the studio.”
Durant was fined by the Stealth the next day.
Ty was over at the Akonnors’ for dinner for the first time in a while.
“Mrs Akonnor, this is delicious,” Ty smiled as he dug into his dinner, “I’ve been missing this!”
Rocky and both his parents burst out laughing.
Mr Akonnor urged Ty to slow down, “Don’t eat so quick son, you’re going to choke!”
Mrs Akonnor said the same line that she had for him every time he visited, “You’re like a second son to me Ty. You’re welcome here any time!”
“So how’s the basketball going?” Mr Akonnor asked Ty.
Rocky laughed, “Dad, you’re always following the team. I’m sure Ty doesn’t need to answer.”
Ty drank the rest of his cup of water and put the empty cup down, “I’m not doing that good but Rocky sure is! Coach has been thinking of giving him a few more minutes.”
Rocky laughed even harder, “Don’t lie man.”
Ty argued, “I ain’t.”
Mr Akonnor said to Rocky, “Good work son. Keep working hard at it.”
Rocky nodded and continued to eat.
“Congratulations on starting,” Mrs Akonnor said to Ty, “We still need to celebrate with you!”
“Oh, don’t worry about it! It’s no big deal!” Ty gushed.
“It is man,” Rocky said, “You should have seen Durant’s face.”
“You and Kevin Durant not on good terms Ty?” Mr Akonnor was confused.
Ty paused then said, “We’re fine. He’s a good guy.”
Rocky was about to say something but Ty shot him an angry look across the table.
Mr Akonnor had started talking again, “Kevin Durant is a class act. He’s much better than those arrogant players like James and Chara. You boys are lucky to play with such a team guy like Durant.”
Rocky kept his head down and continued eating while Ty tried hard not to laugh as Mr Akonnor continued ranting about Durant’s leadership qualities and ‘good guy’ status.
* * *
The win against Chicago was a sign of things to come. Karl looked at the standings and saw that his side was anything but assured of a playoff spot. However, things change quickly in the NBA as Karl and the Stealth would soon find out. The team was on another wild winning run; this one would last eight games. The seventh game, a 115-93 win against the Clippers, would propel the team into sixth place in the West but the eighth win would be the one that had the greatest significance. Marv Albert was commentating on the matchup between 39-33 Seattle and 37-35 Orlando.
“Reggie, what a game from the Seattle Stealth,” Albert was impressed.
Reggie analyzed, “The Stealth have played great basketball to be on this seven game winning streak and it looks like that will go up to eight tonight against the Orlando Magic.”
“The balanced scoring from this team’s role players has really set this side apart,” Albert stated, “Kevin Durant is a terrific scorer and leader. He is showing everyone how great he is tonight. 34 points so far as he takes a seat on the bench with his team up by 36.”
Reggie added, “Marv, ever since those strange comments about this team being his team, I have been impressed with Durant’s dedication to backing his words. He truly is a class act.”
Marv suddenly changed the topic, “Looks like someone was hurt in that collision on Reshawn Tyson’s drive to the hoop…”
Ty caught the ball at the top of the key with Courtney Lee trying to stay in front of him. Ty was in triple threat position and jabbed his right foot right. Lee inched to his left a little bit. Ty took advantage of Lee’s jitters and rose up for a jumper. It was a swish, putting the Stealth up by 36. The Magic crowd booed as Ty backpedaled down the court. Jameer Nelson dribbled the ball up the floor and Sebastian Telfair met him at half court. Nelson slowed down, allowing Telfair to come up close. Telfair took a swipe at the ball. He missed but hit Nelson’s hand. No foul was called.
“Come on ref!” Nelson yelled at the match official.
Nelson was frustrated so he put his head down and dribbled hard towards Telfair. Telfair drew the charge and possession swapped. The ref blew his whistle and signaled for substitutions. Trevor Ariza was coming onto the court for Durant. The crowd booed as Durant started to walk off the floor as both team’s players began running down to the other end of the court. Dwight Howard, Durant’s Team USA team mate, was jogging past Durant. Durant turned and caught Howard’s eye. The big man stopped.
“Foul him hard,” Durant said to Howard.
“Who?” Howard asked.
“Him,” Durant nodded towards Ty, who was on the three point line.
Howard gave Durant a high five before running off. Durant turned, put his hands in the air, and clapped. The crowd continued to boo. Durant finally stepped off the court and returned to the bench. He sat down and pulled on his jacket. He then called over to one of the trainers and asked for ice. He would be calling it a day. Meanwhile, play resumed and Ty got the ball. Ty faked out Lee and dribbled hard towards the basketball hoop. He went up for a layup and was hit hard by the giant Howard. The crowd cheered as Ty fell and landed awkwardly. Ty grimaced in pain as Sheed and Ariza ran over to help him up. Ty tried to stand on both feet; he felt a searing pain in his right leg. Ty looked over to the Seattle bench and pointed to his right leg. He then called over to Ariza and asked him to help him stay upright. The Orlando fans continued to cheer as Ty limped off the court.
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thank you!
If it gets boring in some parts!
Nice to see an article bout my alter ego. The stats aint too bad, still I am shooting at a very low percentage. I hope I can have more impact next season, just like Martti Must 
(do I really have to say this after 38 pages ^^)
Man Ty has 3 big guys onto him now, poor fella.
Do James or Chara or someone. 
