Swish

by Elena Delle Donne

  I nodded. I wasn’t being conceited; that was just a fact.

  “People say that NBA players get paid more because their games earn more money. They get more fans and more advertisers,” I went on. “And yeah, that’s true. But is it because the guys’ games are more exciting? Or because women’s sports don’t get enough attention—not in the pros, and not in schools.”

  Blake shook his head. “You definitely deserve a pep band. You deserve more than a pep band.”

  “Yeah!” I said.

  Avery walked up to us. “What do you deserve?”

  “Cookies!” I said, grabbing her by the arm. “Let’s go get some cookies!”

  We raced across the gym, and I thought about how tomorrow, I’d be racing across a gym with a basketball. It wasn’t all about a pep band, or cheerleaders, or whether I would someday be in the WNBA.

  It was about winning for the Nighthawks.

  10 The Ball Stealer

  Those are the Mavericks? They look small,” Avery said.

  I dropped my duffel bag on the visitor’s bench and followed her gaze to the opposite side of the Middletown Middle School gym. The Maverick girls’ team was warming up with stretches.

  “You think?” I asked.

  “Definitely,” she said. “Look at them compared to their coach. None of them are as tall as she is, and she’s not even as tall as you!”

  “You’re right, but it’s weird,” I said. “There are some schools where the girls are all really tall. And now here they’re all shorter. What’s up with that?”

  Avery shrugged. “I don’t know, but a team of shorties is a slam dunk for us,” she said, and she high-fived me.

  “Come on, Avery,” I said. “I know better than anybody that you should never judge anybody based on their height, right?”

  She sighed. “Sure, get all mature on me!”

  “Nighthawks on the court!” Coach Ramirez barked.

  We all scrambled onto the court and launched into a shooting drill. While we warmed up, the volleyball team arrived with a bunch of girls from the track team, and a banner. The pep band kids came and started to play.

  Avery shot a basket and ran down the sidelines. “Nice banner!” she called up to Kenya. “But where’s the glitter?”

  “We’ve got something better than glitter!” Kenya shouted back.

  She motioned to the band, and they stopped playing. Then she and the other girls stood up and started clapping. Then they began to chant.

  “Come on, Nighthawks!

  Let us hear that sound we love.

  I’m saying Swishhhhhhhh!

  Swishhhhhhhh!

  Let us see two points.

  Two points on the board.

  I’m saying Swishhhhhhh!

  Swishhhhhhh!”

  I couldn’t believe it. They swung from side to side whenever they said “Swishhhhhhh!” It was awesome!

  We all started clapping, and Kenya and the girls high-fived each other.

  “We’re going to have to beat that at the next volleyball game!” I told Avery.

  While we did our shooting drill, the stands kept filling up. Jim came with Mom and Dad. Caroline’s family was there, with Pete, my personal cheerleader. And right before the game started, Blake showed up, with five boys from the basketball team!

  “No way!” I said. Blake gave me a thumbs-up. My heart melted. I was so lucky to have a great friend like him! I had no idea how he convinced the boys to come with him, but I was glad that he had.

  Coach Ramirez called us into a huddle.

  “I want everyone to give one hundred percent today,” she said. “When we win this game, we will be in a great position to start the playoffs. I’ve seen the Mavericks play, and they’re fast! I want to see a tight passing game today. Got it?”

  “YES, COACH!” we replied. Then we put our hands in for a cheer. “Gooooooo, Nighthawks!”

  The buzzer blared and we ran out onto the court: me, Bianca, Tiff, Avery, and Dina. I faced off against the Mavericks center. The top of her curly red hair barely reached the nape of my neck. I couldn’t help thinking that maybe Avery was right. Was this going to be an easy win?

  The ref threw up the ball, and I reached it easily before the center, number 17, did. I batted it sideways to Bianca and ran forward. Bianca passed it right back to me.

  Only I didn’t catch it. Number 17 darted in front of me and grabbed the ball before I could! She dribbled down the court, hugging the right sideline. I tried to catch up to her but Coach was right—she was fast! Then she stopped and made a short pass to one of her teammates, who dribbled up to the basket and made a layup. The Mavericks had scored first!

  Avery took the ball out and passed it to me. I charged across the court, making it to the Mavericks basket in four bounces. I stopped and dribbled once to prep for my shot. The ball bounced off the floor but didn’t reach my fingers. 17 had stolen it away from me!

  “Elle, keep the ball close to you!” Coach yelled, and I nodded, feeling a little bit in shock. Was this girl some kind of magician?

  The Mavericks made their way down the court with four short, tight passes. This time, Tiff blocked their shot attempt and hurled a long pass down the court to Avery. It hit the top of Avery’s fingers and bounced out of bounds.

  The Mavericks had control and missed another shot attempt. Dina caught a rebound and dribbled it, then passed it to Bianca. I used my long legs to my advantage and blazed past 17. Seeing me open, Bianca passed me the ball.

  I dribbled toward the basket, and 17 was right on me. I tried to zigzag around her but I tripped and ended up on my knees. Great! But I still had the ball. Twisting around, I passed it to Avery. She took a shot and made the basket. The game was tied, 2–2.

  Coach Ramirez called a timeout.

  “These girls are all over the ball,” she told us. “Pass high, not low. Elle, when you’re dribbling, aim for better control. Don’t give her a chance to steal it from you. And when they’re in shooting range, block them!”

  I nodded. “Yes, Coach!” Then I took a quick swig of water before we went back in.

  Avery passed the ball to Bianca. She lobbed it over the head of her defender to Dina, who fumbled it. There was a mad scramble as everyone on both teams tried to get the ball. One of the Mavericks got it and rocketed down the court. She shot, missed, and 17 got it. I moved right in front of her and mirrored her moves as she tried to reach the basket. Finally, she twisted around and passed to a girl behind her.

  The defensive possession felt good, but I wanted to score! I had my chance when I caught a pass from Avery, but I shot too far to the left. Tiffany scored before the quarter ended, but so did the Mavericks. We went into the second quarter with a 4–4 score.

  I say “we,” but Coach didn’t put me in. She benched me, probably unsure if I could handle 17. But the Mavericks moved 17 to Bianca, and 17 stole the ball from her twice. So it wasn’t just me. At the end of the second quarter, the score was Nighthawks 14, Mavericks 16.

  Bianca came back to the bench, shaking her head. “That girl is unbelievable,” she said.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know what to do about her. She’s relentless!”

  “Well, I hope Coach puts you back in, so she’ll be your problem again,” Bianca said with a grin. Her wish came true. Third quarter it was me, Avery, Dina, Caroline, and Amanda. The Mavericks still had 17 in there.

  I tried a new strategy. Since shooting is my strength, I took a shot whenever I got close to the key, before 17 had a chance to get in front of me. I made four out of the seven baskets I attempted. I’m not sure if that was Coach’s plan, but she didn’t complain. The Mavericks might be fast, but at least I could shoot over all their hands!

  The third quarter ended in a tie, 28–28. Coach put me back in, and I was psyched. I wanted to finish out this game! I ran onto the floor with Bianca, Amanda, Patrice, and Tiff.

  Number 17 was benched, and they put number 23 on me, a girl who wasn’t much taller than her teammat
e. She stole the ball from me once, right after I caught a pass from Tiff. That was the only time I let that happen. I stuck to my strategy of shooting whenever I was free, and racked up five points pretty quickly. Nighthawks 33, Mavericks 28.

  Then the Mavericks had the ball in the key. Number 23 passed to 4. She passed to 6. She passed it back to 4. She passed it to 12.

  I launched myself in front of 12 as she shot the ball, and stumbled. I felt my elbow jab right into her side right before I saw the ball sink through the net. The ref blew his whistle. I had fouled the shooter.

  Number 12 made her free throw to give the Mavericks an extra point. Now the game was 33–31. Too close. In the stands, our friends were stomping and yelling, “Go, Nighthawks!”

  The next time we had the ball, I took it to the foul line and stopped. I had a clear shot, but Amanda was right under the basket, open. I passed it to her. She leaped up and sank the ball.

  “Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!” yelled Kenya and the other girls. Amanda beamed at me and I slapped her hand.

  Now we had a four-point lead: 35–31. The clock ticked down. Bianca tried to score and missed. The Mavericks kept up their passing game and scored. We took it back across the court and Patrice lost control of the ball. The Maverick player next to her grabbed the ball and passed it. Patrice leaped and stole it! Then she dribbled past the startled Mavericks and made a layup.

  We were back up by four points. But the Mavericks came back strong, scoring twice, so quickly we didn’t know what happened. The game was tied, 37–37.

  We got the ball back. Patrice passed it to me and I dribbled down the court. I stopped just before the three-point line and decided to shoot. I felt a tug on my jersey and watched the ball miss the basket.

  Tweet! One of the Mavericks had fouled me. Because I was in the three-point zone, I got to make three free throws, and I wanted every one of them to count.

  The crowd got quiet—eerily quiet. I tried not to think about them and focused on the basket. I took a deep breath and shot.

  Swish!

  “Swiiiiiiiiish!” my friends yelled in the stands.

  I bounced the ball a few times and took my second free throw.

  Swish!

  “Swiiiiiiiiish!”

  Now the crowd started to make noise. People were clapping, stomping, and cheering. I know they didn’t mean to be distracting. They were all wondering: Can she make all three?

  I shot.

  Swish!

  “Swiiiiiiiish!”

  Kyle in the pep band starting pounding on his drum. I saw my mom and dad jump to their feet. The ref’s whistle blew, and I ran down the court, adrenaline racing through my veins.

  Caroline had the ball, took a shot, and missed the basket. But it didn’t matter. The buzzer blared. We had won by three points! Maybe we didn’t need all those points, but I was sure glad that I had made them.

  I wanted to scream with happiness or jump for joy, but first we congratulated the Mavericks. When it came time to slap hands with 17, I looked her in the eyes.

  “You were awesome,” I said, and she just nodded. For a second, I felt really bad for her. I knew what it was like to play my heart out, without being able to take home the win.

  Then everyone on the team came together, crushing one another in a group hug.

  “We did it!” Bianca said.

  “Everyone played amazing!” I added.

  Coach Ramirez was grinning harder than I’d ever seen her. “Great job, Nighthawks. Playoffs, here we come!”

  11 What’s Next?

  Happy! Basketball! I formed into Beth’s hand.

  Beth smiled at me. Happy! she formed back.

  It had been such a crazy day! After the game, everybody had gone out to celebrate: the team, the boosters, and Blake and the basketball boys. We got really loud and ate a million hamburgers and most of us promised that we would try to get to the boys’ game later that night.

  That meant I had a few hours of free time, and I knew I’d been ignoring two very important members of my family: Beth and Zobe. So when I got home, I hung out with Beth for a while. Then I decided to take Zobe for a walk while it was still light out.

  It was chilly, so I put on a puffy vest, a beanie, and slipped on some gloves. I could see my breath as I walked down the street toward the park.

  “How are you doing, Zobe? Do I need to buy you a sweater?” I asked him, but he looked pretty happy as he trotted alongside me toward Greenmont Park.

  Because it was cold, only a few people dotted the walking trail that circled the park. I could make out a girl, and a dog with droopy ears inside the fenced-in dog park across the field. My heart jumped a little when I realized who it was.

  “Amanda!” I called out, and Zobe and I jogged across the field. She looked up and smiled at me.

  “Thanks for that pass today,” she said when I reached her.

  “You’re the one who got open,” I said. “Those Maverick girls were hard to shake.”

  She nodded. “No kidding!”

  I opened the gate and walked inside with Zobe. I took him off his leash and he trotted up to Freckles. They sniffed each other and then took off running.

  “Just thought I’d take Freckles before I head out to the boys’ game,” Amanda said. Then she shivered. “Brrr! It’s cold out.”

  “I’m going too,” I said, and then there was a short, awkward silence between us. It was the first time we’d been alone since Friday night at the volleyball game. I wasn’t going to let her get away without finishing the conversation this time.

  “So, you know, the other night …” My voice trailed off, but I found my courage. “You said things between us were complicated. What did you mean?”

  Amanda looked at me, and I couldn’t help noticing how green her eyes were. Not watery green, like some people’s eyes, but bright green, like jewels or something.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just me being weird,” she said. “I guess I just got really confused about our friendship after you left the basketball team. Even before that … we keep trying to make plans together, but we only really hang out when we walk our dogs.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’ve been having a problem fitting in everything I want to do. Even Avery was really mad at me.”

  “I know you’re busy,” Amanda said. “And I understand. I was really happy when you came back to the team, but I miss playing center. Coach doesn’t put me in as much anymore.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. I knew how much it stunk to be kept on the bench when you wanted to play. I nodded, not sure what to say.

  Amanda threw up her hands. “That’s silly, I know it! If I want to play more, I need to practice more. That’s why I said it’s complicated. Plus, the season will be over soon. Then what happens? Will we even be friends? Or will I go back to hanging out with the band kids while you hang out with the sports girls?”

  “Of course we’ll be friends,” I said. And then I blurted out, “I like you, Amanda.”

  I felt my face get hot. Why? Why was me liking Amanda any different than the way I liked Avery or Blake or Dylan?

  “I like you, too,” Amanda said, and a blush spread across her freckled cheeks.

  What was this feeling I was having? Was it a crush? I’d never had one before, so I wasn’t sure what that should feel like. Was this how Blake felt when he was around Bianca? I’d have to ask him—or wait, that would be too awkward!

  I had the strange urge to just run right home. Then Zobe ran up to me and nearly knocked me over. Amanda and I both laughed.

  I suddenly felt something cold on my cheek and looked up. “Hey, it’s snowing!” I said.

  Amanda stuck out her tongue and caught a snowflake. “Icy!”

  “Is it supposed to snow a lot?” I wondered. “I hope we can get to the boys’ game.”

  She checked her phone. “Just flurries. It should be good. Do you want a ride?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure my dad could use a break.”

&n
bsp; We leashed our dogs and walked out of the park together as the snow fell around us. Zobe started to do a happy dog dance.

  “Look! He loves the snow!” I said.

  Amanda laughed. “Snow doggy!”

  We both stopped in front of Amanda’s house.

  “I’ll text you before we pick you up,” she said.

  “Great,” I said, and I almost turned to go, but I hesitated. “Amanda, I promise we’ll still be friends after the basketball season ends.”

  She grinned. “Good.”

  “But the season’s not over yet,” I reminded her. “We still have to win the playoffs!”

  “Go, Nighthawks!” she said, and then she walked inside her house.

  I smiled. Just a few months ago, I had been pretty miserable even though I had an awesome family and two amazing best friends. I was upset that I wasn’t playing shooting guard. Freaked out about wearing a fancy dress to the dance. And not sure if I even loved playing basketball.

  Now I knew that I loved playing basketball, and being center. I had a new friend, Amanda. I still had my awesome family and my amazing best friends. And I also had the best dog in the world, a dog who was just as big and as goofy as I was, a dog who helped me learn to love myself as much as I loved him.

  So much had changed in just those few months! I had no idea what the next few months would bring, but I had a feeling, deep down, that there would always be good things along with the bad.

  “Come on, Zobe!” I said, and he picked up his pace. We jogged home, dodging snowflakes as we ran.

  More from this Series

  Elle of the Ball

  Book 1

  Full-Court Press

  Book 2

  Out of Bounds

  Book 3

  Digging Deep

  Book 4

  About the Author

  Photo by Todd Rosenberg/The Players’ Tribune

  Elena Delle Donne has been a professional women’s basketball player since 2013, when she was selected by the Chicago Sky second overall in the WNBA draft. She was the 2015 WNBA MVP and won a gold medal with the USA’s women’s basketball team in the 2016 Olympics. She is the global ambassador for the Special Olympics and became the first national ambassador for the Global Lyme Alliance. Elena also plays host to De11e Donne Academy, a basketball camp that runs throughout the year, where she mentors and coaches girls ages five to eighteen. She now plays for the Washington Mystics. Visit her at elenadelledonne.com.