Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 136 - Big Dogs: Part 2

Zion turned his head to the other hosts "First of all how have you guys been? We had a pretty good week for basketball. A ton of good games."

Embiid slapped the arm of his chair "Good games for you guys maybe. It was rough watching the 76ers go scoreless in the 4th. If they don't fix things soon then this could be another season they spend outside the playoffs."

Joki? chuckled "That's true. They have the talent. They just need to find a way to make things click. If they can't mesh this season then I think they just need to trade some of their pieces to find better fits."

Kat leaned forward in his chair "Are you guys suggesting that the 76ers need to trade away one of their young stars? If so who would you trade?"

Embiid shook his head "I don't want them to trade anyone. It's too soon to say that they need to trade someone. Everyone was doing the same thing with me and Ben back in the day."

Zion laughed "And look how that ended. You guys stayed together but got no rings." Joki? chuckled as he added "No rings but a bunch of 2nd round exits."

Embiid couldn't say anything. Even though he was one of the most dominant players of his time so was everyone else in this group.

He looked at Kat with an annoyed expression "I don't know why you're laughing. You needed a super team to get your only ring."

Kat fired back "Man you act like me and Dlo were still in our primes. We were both old by the time Booker joined us in Minnesota. It was just like the old big 3 Celtics." 

Zion waved his hand "Alright alright. That's enough clowning around. Let's talk about the clip that blew up overnight.

I think this took place in Riverside. Just to give you guys some context this game was to decide who would be the new county champion."

The screen then showed a tiny box in the corner where a video of Jason from last night's game could be seen while still showing the hosts and their reactions.

The video showed as Jason passed the ball because of the double team and how the ball was poked free.

The guys sighed as the saw the ball rolling on the floor but then Jason somehow made it to the ball first.

And then when he began his attack the defender did a great job of sticking with him. Kat exclaimed "Damn that's some good defense!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. But when Jason took the fade away three pointer with the defender's hand right in his face the guys went silent.

As the ball swished through the net all the guys clapped in admiration. Joki? smiled "That was an amazing shot. It kind of reminded me of the shot Booker made over Kawhi and George back in the bubble all those years ago."

Embiid laughed "Damn that was over 20 years ago huh? That virus had everyone ****** up. But if I'm remembering correctly one of us didn't make it to the bubble."

Kat waved off Embiid "Haha real funny. I might not have made it to the bubble that year but who has a ring?"

As Embiid and Kat were beginning to trade shots at each other Zion laughed as he clapped his hands together.

"Alright alright. Enough trash talking. Lets get back to talking about the kid and the clip. I think I remember seeing him before. He's on that one show."

Kat jumped in "Through the Hoops right? I think I remember seeing him. I don't keep up with the show too much but from what I can remember he only started playing basketball a few months ago."

Embiid looked at Kat in amazement "He only started playing a few months ago?! That's pretty amazing. I had a late start in basketball so I can imagine what kind of work he had to put in to get to that level in such a short time."

Zion added "I forgot that you started basketball late. How old were you when you first started to play?"

Embiid answered "I originally wanted to become a professional volleyball player when I was growing up. I didn't start playing basketball until I was 15."

Zion whistled in amazement "Wow I can't even imagine. I already knew that I would be a professional basketball player. I think I told my mom that I wanted to be the number one pick when I was 5 years old."

Everyone laughed after hearing Zion say that. They threw a few more jokes at each other before finally giving the segment a close.

Kat looked at the camera "Anyways, back to the topic at hand. I think that we can all agree that that was an amazing shot that Jason hit."

All of them nodded their heads. Kat continued "I don't know if you're watching this Jason but if you are just know that you got our attention. We'll be keeping our eyes out for you.

Stick to the grind young man and hopefully we'll get to see you taking and making more shots like this on the pro stage.

Now that we're done with that segment. Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen after a short break we'll be talking about Today's Big Men and the evolution of the position."

After they cut to commercials Jason was still staring at the TV with a mixture of joy and amazement 'I was on TV..... And all those past superstars were talking about me!'

Jason was shaking in his seat. Even though he had been on TV plenty of times by this point it still felt different to him to hear his name coming out of the mouths of people who had stood at the top of the basketball world.

He had only ever met one past superstar and that had been Kawhi Leonard. So to hear four past stars talking about him had put him on cloud nine.

And little did he know that this was just the beginning. Thanks to that one clutch shot his name would make its first real splash in terms of national attention.

A few hours after watching Kat, Zion, Embiid, and Joki? talk about him on their show Jason just so happened to be watching TV as another show began talking about him.

- - -

The screen transitioned to show a group of four sitting behind a table. The first one to speak was the female in the middle.

She had dark brown skin that looked vibrant and youthful. Her long black curls playfully bounced on her shoulders whenever she laughed and her figure fully filled out the beautiful yet professional looking red dress that she wore.

She smiled at the camera and waved "Hello and thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Dribble.

I am your host Kelly Johnson and today with me are my friends and fellow basketball enthusiast. To my right is a former NBA champion as well as a former defensive player of the year Bam Adebayo."

Bam was dressed in a classy blue suit as he waved his hand while the camera panned over to him "Thanks Kelly. Always a pleasure to be here."

Kelly then pointed to her left "And to my left is another former champion as well as a multiple time Three-Point Shootout winner Tyler Herro."

Tyler was dressed in a sharp black suit with a red dress shirt underneath. He smiled at the camera before shaking Kelly's hand.

"Thanks for having me Kelly. I know that you said that you were going to have a mystery guest but after seeing Bam and me here I think I know who it is."

Kelly smiled "Well I think that the audience knows who our next guest is but lets go ahead and give him an intro anyway."

The camera then pointed off stage as a figure walked his way over. As he walked Kelly's voice could be heard.

"And for our last guest we have a former NBA champion as well as former finals MVP. He's a legend in Miami. Give it up for Jimmy Butler."

Jimmy Butler stepped on to the set in a dark purple suit with a salmon colored dress shirt underneath.

He walked over to Tyler and gave him a high five and then pulling him into a hug. He then walked over to Bam and did the same.

As he took his seat next to Tyler he smiled "Thanks for havin me on here Kelly. When I got the call and they said they wanted to shoot a reunion episode I was all for it."

Kelly laughed "Thanks Jimmy. Anyways it must feel special to be here again like this. Does it bring back any old memories?"

The first ten minutes was them retelling the story of how they won their ring together and how much it meant for all of them.

They told some behind the scenes stories as well as cracked a couple jokes at each other's expense. Then Kelly changed the subject.

They showed a clip of Jimmy hitting a clutch shot close to the end of the game "So Jimmy. We all know that you're no stranger when it comes to performing under pressure.

So we wanted to get your take on this extremely clutch play." The screen then transitioned as once again as they showed Jason's shot against Nashton Academy.