Training Camp
Page 51
Rolabi walked into the locker room. “Full house tonight.”
“We noticed,” Jerome said, rolling his sweaty hands in his lap.
“Why are there so many people?” Twig asked.
“The Bottom has been a difficult place lately,” Rolabi said. “They need some basketball.”
Reggie nodded. Everything had changed. The government had come back for them.
“You have worked hard,” Rolabi said. “I ask that you do the same tonight. The road to the championship is paved with sweat and pain and fear. Tonight, you start walking that road.”
Reggie looked down at his shaking hands. He wondered if the others knew that this season was going to be different. If they knew that the road would be harder than they imagined.
“The time has come,” Rolabi said. “Everything we have learned, everything we have practiced . . . it comes out tonight. It starts here. And now I must ask you . . . are you truly ready?”
Reggie closed his hands into fists. He was ready. He had never felt more ready.
Rain stood up and put his hand in the middle of the room, and soon ten trembling hands were overlapping. Reggie took a deep breath. He had been dreaming of this day for months now.
“Badgers on three,” Rain said. “One . . . two . . . three . . . Badgers!”
Rolabi started outside, and the cheers erupted immediately. Reggie saw his gran and sister shouting and waving from the bleachers. He smiled, but he felt the flicker of concern.
Above all else, he had to protect them.
“Reggie,” Rolabi said quietly. “Hang back.”
He frowned and let the others go ahead. “Yeah, Coach?”
“You will be playing big minutes tonight. You are our first sub for the backcourt.”
“But Vin and Jerome . . .”
“I’ve already talked to them. They agree you can play any spot back there.”
Reggie was speechless. “I . . . Thank you.”
“You earned it.”
Reggie grinned and turned to go, but he felt an enormous hand on his shoulder.
“You know what this means, don’t you? You know where this road is leading.”
“Yes,” Reggie said softly. “I think so.”
“And you still have chosen to take it. Your parents would be proud.”
Reggie felt tears in his eyes, but he just nodded and sat at the end of the bench.
Twig stepped into the circle for the tip. Reggie chewed his nails, his heart racing.
The ref blew the whistle and threw the ball up. Twig and the other center jumped, desperately reaching, and the ball spun in midair as two hands closed in. But Twig was faster.
The ball flew back toward Peño. The game was on.
TO BE CONTINUED WITH REGGIE . . .
WIZENARD PROVERBS
The road is all that matters.
Give your fear a face or you will see it everywhere.
To find the real leader, search where the fight is hardest.
If you don’t like being alone, you must learn to like yourself.
Never let your identity be written by another.
Victory happens in the mind first.
Suffering is our greatest chance for strength.
A true leader stands at the bottom, pushing his team up.
No one wins alone. Those that forget this do not win.
Every grudge is a new weight you must drag along behind you.
If you want to succeed, start by turning your weaknesses into strengths.
Everyone has a choice every moment of the day. Look, or look away.
A person is the same as a tree. Without a strong foundation, they cannot grow.
When you are in a hole, help everyone else first. By the time you are done, the hole will no longer exist.
Anger is just your mind telling you to step away and breathe.
If you chase happiness, you will never let yourself suffer. Chase purpose instead.
You know nothing of your strength until you have felt truly weak.
If your nights feel empty, then your day can still be filled.
We fear what is different only because we think it makes us less.
If you rise above the conflict, you can see who needs your help.
Winning is an empty cup. Fill it with work, struggle, and compassion.
Courage is understanding that it is okay to be afraid, and then to walk on regardless.
If you are afraid of loneliness, spend more time alone.
Even the loudest voices cannot fell a tree.
There is always a deeper darkness. Find it, face it, and know the night will pass.
Your story will be much happier if the writer likes their protagonist.
Complacency guarantees failure.
When we are struggling, we are learning the tools to help others.
If you can’t read minds, put yourself in others and open your eyes.
If you assume someone is perfect, you miss the opportunity to help them.
The past is a gift. It reminds you there is a future.
If you worry about what others think of you, you don’t think enough of yourself.
There is only one critic who matters.
The lone wolf will soon starve.
Never let your desire for more supersede your gratitude for any.
Stare at the sky and choose if you will be a mouse or a mountain. Either way, you are right.
If your road is easy, use the time wisely. Grow strong. There are hills over the horizon.
If you are unsure of your destination, you might as well keep walking.
When we dwell on regret, we make the past our future.
Wake up with a purpose or risk going to sleep without one.
A champion is like the tide. Controlled, powerful, and most of all, consistent.
If you bring too much with you, how will you help others with their bags?
If you want to be stronger, lift the ones who need to be carried.
Spectators can applaud or jeer. Does it matter? Either way, the track remains.
You are stardust and light. If they cannot see that, then you have chosen to hide it.
What you see in the mirror comes from the mind, not the body.
We are made of a million questions that only one person can answer.
You do not jump for the summit. You take hundreds of small, imperceptible steps.
We need not fear what we cannot control, but we can learn to control our fear.
You may tire on the road. It may grow dark. Rest if you must, but never give up. Walk until the darkness is a memory and you become the sun on the next traveler’s horizon.
KOBE BRYANT is an Academy Award winner, a New York Times best-selling author, and the CEO of Granity Studios, a multimedia content creation company. He spends every day focused on creating stories that inspire the next generation of athletes to be the best versions of themselves. In a previous life, Kobe was a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, and two-time Olympic gold medalist. He hopes to share what he’s learned with young athletes around the world.
WESLEY KING is the award-winning author of eight novels. His works include OCDaniel, The Vindico, and 2018’s A World Below. His books have accumulated more than ten literary awards and multiple Junior Library Guild Selections and have been optioned for film and television and translated for release worldwide. When he is not writing, Wesley travels extensively around the world and gives workshops and presentations for thousands of students annually. Wesley is also known for his height (6′7″) and his fondness for all things Star Wars and sports.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964205
ISBN (hardcover): 9781949520019
ISBN (eBook): 9781949520026
Cover and art direction by Jeff Toye and Spandana Myneni
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s and creator’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.