Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 269 - The Media Initiates Their Offense: Part-2

After the commercial the show resumed as Kelly smiled at the camera "Thanks for tuning in to The Dribble.

For our next topic we'll be talking about a middle school basketball team that has gained major popularity due to their star player Jason Yang and his appearances on the TV show all about following the life of young talented prospects.

Jason is actually the youngest player that the show follows but because of his entertaining personality and his abilities on the court he is one of the most popular players on the show.

For some players the spotlight might be a strange and unfamiliar thing. But for Jason Yang the bright lights are nothing new."

They then began to play a short clip. It was a video montage consisting of clips of various interviews and news segments of Jason.

After the clip was done playing Kelly resumed speaking "Even starting from last year Jason had been taking the world by storm.

As a complete rookie who had never played any form of organized basketball he joined the worst team in his county and completely changed their fortunes.

He would lead Jefferson to their very first undefeated season as well as help crown them as the county champions. Which was another first in their school's history.

And just when disaster had struck and everyone had counted them out Jason put the team on his back and carried their short roster all the way to the top eight of the state tournament.

Even when the odds were stacked against them Jason pushed and persevered as he played through a badly dislocated finger.

But despite his best efforts the heavens didn't seem to favor him as he suffered another bad injury which ended up putting an end to an otherwise unbelievable season."

Kelly then turned to both Shawn and Logan as she asked "What are your thoughts on Jason's story so far?

And how do you feel about such a young athlete being scrutinized under what seems to be a microscope at this point?

I mean, just from the comments tagging the show as well as Jason it seems that he has a large number of fans but an equally large number of.... Let's be kind and say skeptics."

Logan began to talk "Well Kelly, I would say that this is a tricky subject. On one hand just like you said Jason is such a young athlete.

It almost seems crazy that people would have such harsh opinions and feel so comfortable with not only saying them but even trying to get him to see them by tagging him.

It can't but help but seem as an attempt to tear the young man down and attack his confidence. Having said that I think part of the blame also lies in Jason himself."

Shawn's eyes opened wide as they seemed like they were about to pop out of his head "What!? For once I was actually in agreement with everything you were saying Logan.

But then you started spewing nonsense. How in the hell is it Jason's fault? Or better yet let's address him by the nickname that he has so rightfully earned, Young Buckets."

Logan responded "While I will refrain from using that nickname I will elaborate on my previous opinion. Jason seems like a smart young man.

At least that's the impression that I was given after seeing how eloquent he is in all of his interviews as well as from watching Through the Hoops.

So someone as intelligent as he is should have a pretty good understanding of how people perceive him.

That means that even though he knows what kind of image he has in the public's eye he continues to fan the flames with all of his antics."

Shawn started looking through the stacks of paper in front of him. After shuffling through a few pages he looked at Logan.

"And just what exactly are these antics Logan? Because I've been following this kid ever since he first started getting some shine back when he hit that incredible shot to clinch the county title and from what I've seen he's not the type to get in trouble.

Well, at least he's not the type to start trouble is what I meant. We all know that the bathroom incident was just a case of self defense."

Logan nodded his head "Yes, the bathroom incident was clearly self defense. I don't fault him for that. But how about his antics on the court?

All the trash talking, getting in your opponent's face, all the chest thumping and floor slapping. And even when he's on the bench he does all sorts of outlandish things."

Shawn had a exhausted expression on his face as he rolled his eyes "Really? You were around the game Logan.

You know that trash talking and celebrations are all just normal parts of basketball. So what if he thumps his chest after getting a clean block?

So what if he does a bit of chirping? Are you telling me that it's wrong to do celebrations on the sidelines when your teammate does something amazing?

If that was the case we would have to work 24/7 talking about all the pro and college level players that do the exact same thing."

Logan shook his head "He's a kid though Shawn. He shouldn't be acting like that when he hasn't proven himself or done anything beyond the middle school level.

You know who my favorite player of all time is? It's Tim Duncan, the Big Fundamentals. He was a class act who was always a professional whenever he stepped on to the court.

That's how Jason should be acting. Especially knowing how much of a negative image he had in some people's minds."

Shawn shook his head as he looked at Logan "I can't believe you are actually saying all this. You want the kid to act like someone he's not?

He can't help it if he's the passionate kind of guy that shows emotion when he's out on the court. I am not going to blame a player for being human and showing some emotion."

- - -

Jason was lying in his bed as he watched the video on his phone. Hearing Shawn and Logan argue about him and the team he couldn't help but grin.

This wasn't the only video or sports program that was talking about him. Just about all of the local news stations were talking about him and the team.

Granted, not all of the attention was positive but Jason had already expected the backlash that would come with his style of play and behavior on the court.

'Looks like the plan is working perfectly so far. I can't believe it's this easy to manipulate the media and all those goofballs on the internet.

But this still isn't enough. I want us to be the biggest story leading up to the state and national tournament.

I guess its about time we kick things up a notch.' Jason then turned his phone off before tossing it to the side of his bed.

As he fell asleep all he could think about was what kind of reaction would everyone have after the next phase of his plan.