Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 53 - Fame?

The screen faded to black and then transitioned to showing Jason in the dining room of the apartment eating breakfast.

The camera turned to Jason's dad who was cooking in front of the stove and then to Jason's mom who was working on her laptop at the seat across from Jason.

The screen then transitioned to showing Javier sitting in front of Jason and hIs parents who were sitting down in the living room.

Jason and his parents all had their names below them.

Javier asked "So Jason had never played basketball before?" Jason's dad shook his head "No. In our house we're all pretty big basketball fans.

We used to have Jason watch the games with us before he could even talk but he had never played before he went to Jefferson."

Jason's mom added "In fact me and my husband were surprised to hear that Jason had tried out for the team. Not that we didn't think that our son could play. It was just that it seemed so sudden."

Javier nodded his head "So what made you transfer Jason? You weren't originally attending Jefferson middle school correct?"

Jason was about to answer but his mom jumped in "There's nothing much to it really. After Jason's last year at his old school they changed their zoning rules so we ended up having to transfer him to Jefferson."

Javier laughed "I bet they're really kicking themselves over that one. They missed out on the chance of a lifetime."

Javier asked a few more questions before the scene changed. On the screen now was Jason at practice.

They showed him doing the three-level defensive drill. They shortened it and just showed his highlights.

The scene then showed them interviewing Udonis in the gym. They put his name and the title 'Team captain' underneath him.

Javier asked "So Udonis how long have you known Jason?" Udonis wiped the sweat off of his face with his jersey.

"Uh- a couple weeks I guess? I met him for the first time about 5 minutes before we played our practice game against Mt. Vernon."

Javier nodded "So in the weeks that you've known him what is your impression of Jason? As a basketball player and as a person."

Udonis smiled "I honestly ain't got nothin negative to say about the guy. As a basketball player I don't think I've seen anyone as good as him at his age.

He gets things done on offense and on defense. He can get you a bucket when you need it, he runs the offense and gets everyone involved and right after that he'll lock down his man on the other side.

The craziest part to me is that he manages to do all that while being the smallest guy on the team. And it's not like he's the fastest guy on our team. That title would have to go to Trell.

Jason is the type of dude that shows you the difference between an athlete and a basketball player. The way he does things is always big brain type.

As a person I would have to say that a lot of people misunderstand Jason. They see his cold face and intense eyes and they immediately think that he's a mean guy or that he's not friendly.

But if you get to know him he's actually the opposite. He's a super chill guy that can get along with just about anybody.

I mean he managed to get Trell to join the team and they didn't exactly have the best first impressions of each other."

Javier then asked "You said that he can get along with just about anybody but I heard that there was an incident involving Jason and some former members of the team?"

It was obvious that Udonis was surprised. He paused for a moment before answering "Yeah there was. I won't go into details but all I can say is that there was a difference in opinion about the goals of the team.

Jason thought that practices should be taken more seriously so that the team could improve.

While the other members thought that the whole point of playing was to have fun. They also believed that the changes that Jason wanted to make would make it impossible for them to enjoy being on the team.

I won't say that one side was wrong and that one side was right but I believe that both sides could have handled the situation better. But I know that Jason did what he thought was best for the team."

After they were done interviewing Udonis they went around and interviewed the whole team while introducing them and showing clips of them practicing.

Matt: "Jason? He's crazy but in a good way. He puts in way more work than anyone else on the team."

Kyle: "Uh- Jason's best attribute? I guess it's the fact that he always does things with a hundred percent effort. Oh and he's pretty funny in like a sarcastic way."

Nick: "Jason's a cool guy. He's a great basketball player but he's super smart too. He organizes these group study sessions and he always helps everyone with their homework."

DJ: "Jason is probably the only dude that I know that can pack away just as much food as me haha. Oh and his jumper is wet. He's probably the best shooter on the team."

Vince: "Jason doesn't care how much size he's giving up. Have you seen him guard UD? That [bleep] is wild. Even me and Kyle have a hard time guarding his fat [bleep] in the paint. Am I allowed to swear? Hehehe my bad."

Trell: "What makes him so good? Why are you asking me? You should go ask him that."

- - -

In the house everyone was getting excited and making some noise whenever one of the guys from the team showed up on the TV.

Udonis teased Trell "You act like you don't like Jason but you showed up to watch his first episode." Trell rolled his eyes "I just wanted to see how I look on TV. Don't get it twisted Udonis."

- - -

The screen then changed and showed Jason sitting down on the bleachers and drinking some water.

Javier looked at Jason"So I noticed that a lot of your teammates loved to talk about your tough mentality and your gritty defense but I also heard that your offense is just as good. Is that true?"

Jason wiped his face with his practice jersey "I' don't have Trell's crazy bounce, I'm not as tall as Kyle, and I can't post people up like UD.

But I think my jumper is pretty wet and my handles are tight. Other than that it's just the way I put those two together that lets me score."

Javier smiled as he asked "Even against high school level competition?"

Jason smiled and shook his head "Are we going to talk about that now?"

Javier nodded his head "I'm sure our audience would love to hear the story. Do you mind sharing it?"

Jason shook his head again "No I don't mind. I even asked Ricky, the guy that I played against, if it was okay and he said no problem. He was even excited about being on TV. So for a reason that I won't say I ended up going to Newberry high school-"

- - -

The guys from Newberry were whistling and making noise at the mention of their school. Hash put his arm around Ricky's neck and started teasing him "Looks like you about to be on TV bruh."

Ricky pulled out his cellphone and started recording "I need to get this. Ima show this to my whole family."

Tyreek laughed "You didn't tell em to watch the show tonight?" Ricky shook his head "I told em but they wouldn't believe me.

They all told me to shut my lanky ass up. But they gonna be the ones shuttin up after I show them this clip."

- - -

A hip-hop instrumental began playing as they showed the video of Jason going against Ricky in Newberry's gym.

It showed the game from the beginning to when Jason snatched Ricky's ankle and nailed the mid-range jumper for the win.

It also showed the teams' crazy reaction as they ran to the court and surrounded Jason. Javier smiled "So Young Buckets? Hahaha that's a pretty interesting nickname. How did that come about?"

Jason pointed to the camera "Shout outs to Tyreek Hill from Newberry man. One of my friends and one of the top high school ballers in the country.

He's the one that gave me that nickname. I asked him about it and he said that it fits me perfectly because I'm young and I get buckets."

Javier laughed "It does fit you pretty well. Are there any other nicknames we should know about?"

Jason scratched his head in embarassment "I honestly don't know if I should share this but I guess I'll keep it a hundred. My mom and my childhood friend call me Jaya. Ja from Jason and ya from Yang."

Javier covered his mouth and laughed "That is such a cute nickname hahaha. Anyways back to the game. How did it feel to beat a high schooler who had a pretty good size advantage?"

Jason smiled "Before I say anything shout out to Ricky man. Not only did he agree to play me one on one he was cool with me using that video.

That's my dude right there. But back to your question. It felt pretty good to beat someone that played at a higher level. But Ricky was a freshman so the age difference wasn't too big."

Javier smiled "You say that Jason but there's another incident where you played against a high schooler correct? One that was ranked top 20 in the country?"

Jason shook his head "You already know the story Javier. Why do you have to beat around the bush like that?"

Javier laughed "Sorry Jason force of habit. You have to add a little bit of a show when it comes to interviews like this. Besides, some of our audience may not know about this."

Jason shrugged his shoulders "It was all over the news so it would be pretty hard to miss it. Anyways for anyone that doesn't know I played against one of the other guys on the show.

Jerome Bonner and the crew were here in Riverside to shoot some promo stuff for the show. And since I was going to be on the show they thought it would be a good idea to shoot some stuff for my intro too.

It was supposed to be a casual one on one but you know how it gets. Me and Jerome are pretty similar.

Not in skill obviously. He managed to beat me pretty easily. But we're both dogs on the court. When we smell competition we get excited.

Is that too cocky of me? comparing myself with a top ranked high school player? But anyways, just the fact that he thought I was good enough for him to get serious was a huge honor.

It just so happened that during the game there was a small accident." They then showed the video of Jason playing against Jerome. Even the part where Jason and Jerome crashed in the air.

Javier asked "So how bad was that fall? Did it leave a scar?" Jason paused for a second "It wasn't too serious. I feel like the blood and the censoring made it look way worse."

Jason took off his white headband. His hair was still tied up in a small bun so the scar above his right brow was visible.

Jason chuckled "I got the stitches taken out after about ten days. I normally wear my hair down or have a headband on so it's not really all that noticeable but I do have a small scar."

After a few more questions they showed a bunch of highlights of Jason in practice. Then the show transitioned to another athlete.

- - -

The house was shaking from all the noise that everyone was making. Everyone was in high spirits after seeing Jason's segment of the show. The Newberry guys were whistling and clapping.

Jason's parents and Kyle's mom were both cheering while the guys from the team were hugging Jason and ruffling his hair. Trell was the only one silently eating from his plate on the side.

Tyreek pulled out his phone "Yo let's check out what everyone is saying about the show. Who knows? Our little dude over here might become an overnight celebrity."

Everyone seemed to like the idea as they all got on their phones and started checking their social media for anything related to the show.

They soon saw some comments about the show.

- - -

BrandonDuhGOAT: Yo this Chinese kid seems pretty nice with it. JLin 2.0?

OwOBigG: ^ This was the dumbest post. Your probably 5 and never watched him play. First off the kid is Korean they literally said so in the show.

Second, the kid is no JLin. His jumper looks a little better than Lin's was at that age but Lin had a killer first step. Something that the kid clearly lacks.

LeBumForever_40: Kid seems pretty good. He must have something if he could make Jerome take him serious.

GKennedy: Who cares about the kid. Did anyone see that interviewer? Such a hottie lol.

BigBenDPOY: ^ Why would you watch a show about basketball if you don't care about the actual basketball player? Stupid *****

ChristianWu_000: Dang! Jason doing us Asians Americans proud lol maybe there's still a chance for me

CelticsRings4Days: ^ Only if you're another Jason Yang xD. He might make it look easy but don't fool yourself. Not everyone can ball without being a crazy athlete.

JayasBiggestfan: Jaya is such a cute name. I can already tell he's gonna be so hot in the future lol

- - -

They were laughing and having a good time as they took turns reading some of the comments out loud.

But the room soon went silent as they noticed some comments that were a little different.

- - -

LameloTheGoat: What kind of corny *** name is Young Buckets? and Jaya is just as bad loooool

RodricGetsBuckets: Do these stations really think that we're all stupid? Playing for a month and he's this good? Please. Even if you're desperate to give the kid attention try thinking of something a little more believable hahahahaha

CertifiedCaliBaller: ^ This! and the kid isn't even that good. I would beat the dog **** out of him. Did you see how slow he looked? The only thing that was ok was his jumper smh

BigHatJoe: This was 1 of the wrst episodes so far. I thought this was supposed to be a docu-series not a reality tv show. Im sure that scene with him playing at Newberry was staged. Did you see the way the dude hit the floor? totally fake

KDstillAsnake: Bro they probably faked that scene at the mall too. You can see where they cut the video pour the blood. Loooool kid is garbage at ball and acting

- - -

The energy in the room seemed to have dissappeared in an instant.