Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Chapter 97 - End Of The First Day

Jason's mind went blank after hearing that. It took him a few moments to regain his senses 'I can't believe Kawhi is really offering to tutor me one on one about basketball.

This is like a dream come true! I never even came close to guys like him in my past life. I guess this means that all the changes I've made are really making a difference.'

Kawhi went back to walking around the gym and watching the different groups play. But not before adding Jason as a friend on his social media.

Jason stared at his phone screen for a moment 'I can't believe Kawhi added me as a friend. This must be how it feels to fanboy over a celebrity.'

After a while Jason put his phone away as he began to watch the rest of the guys play on the court.

The only people that caught Jason's attention were Nav, Darnell, Ricky, and Justice. Ricky was interesting to watch because of his lanky body giving him a unique playstyle.

Ricky had a respectable jumper but because of his long and effortless looking strides a majority of his shot attempts came at the paint.

He was deadly with his euro-step that allowed him to maneuver around his defenders. And it looked like he had been working on his ability to finish with both hands.

Although it was clear to see that he was most comfortable finishing with his right he flashed the ability to change things up every once in a while with a left handed finish.

Nav was fun to watch because of the stylistic flare in his play style. It wasn't the most efficient as there were definitely moves that could be cut out. But he still managed to get the job done all while putting on a show. 

His ball handling was full of creativity as he showcased moves ranging from the ordinary crossover to more saucy moves like the shamgod to moves that were just straight disrespectful like the off the heezy.

For some of the people that played against him they didn't seem to mind all that much. However a few of them took it up with Nav after having bounced the ball off of their foreheads.

Nav's response to them was always the same "Stop bitchin bruh. If you got a problem with it then you shouldn't have let it happen in the first place.

How slow do you gotta be to let someone bounce a ball of yo damn head? If you got the skills then you can go do that shit to me.

But best believe that you losin the ball tho if you try. Cause I actually play D unlike you bums. Y'all been coming to these camps for how many years and I stay saucin on all y'all."

The king of the court usually alternated between Nav and Darnell when it came to their court.

Darnell was just a big guy with solid post moves. He also had a soft touch around the rim and a bit of a jumper when it came to the mid-range area.

Justice was the most surprising one to Jason. Justice didn't have one area that he excelled in like posting up or dribbling around his defender.

However he was solid enough in all the different areas of the game that he could take advantage of the mismatch.

If his defender was smaller than him he would back him down and post him up. If his defender was bigger but slower than him he would break him down with his handles.

If his defender wanted to sag off of him to prevent the drive then he would just pull up with the jumper. If his defender guarded him tight to protect against his jump shot he would drive past him.

The only weak point in his game was that since he wasn't elite in any of these categories sometimes he couldn't make the shot even if he took advantage of the mismatch. 

The king of the court games went on for over two hours. After they were done Kawhi and the rest of the trainers gathered the kids back up as they turned off a few of the lights.

They wheeled in a projector and began to play some old iconic footage of Kawhi Leonard as he defended some of the NBA's greatest stars

They showed the Finals series in which a young Kawhi Leonard, who had yet to reach his super star franchise player status, guarded LeBron back in 2014 when LeBron was still on the heat.

Kawhi broke down the game play by play as he described what it was like to guard a LeBron James who was in his athletic prime as a basketball player.

He explained the Spur's defensive philosophy that series as well as all the adjustments that coach Gregg Popovich, one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, made during those games.

There seemed to be a complicated current of emotions flowing through Kawhi as he talked about his days as a Spur.

Kawhi talked about how he came in to the league as a raw defensive specialist and how he began to develop his offensive game while continuing to play incredible lock down defense.

He also spoke fondly of the Spurs culture and how they played a big part in his development as a player.

The film session went on for a little more than an hour and a half as Kawhi and the trainers ended it by telling the kids to go back to the Canteen for dinner.

They also told them that after they were done with dinner they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't leave the campus. 

However they also suggested that they shouldn't stay up too late as training would begin bright and early tomorrow as the trainers would get them up by five.

- - -

Jason sat at the table with a smile on his face as he looked at his tray 'Two double cheeseburgers with a side of fries and a salad. And to cap it all off a protein milkshake.' 

Justice sighed as he looked at his plate of Grilled chicken breast and rice pilaf "I thought this was a basketball training camp. Not a weight loss program."

Jason just chuckled as he shook his head "Man you must have a terrible diet if this is the type of food that they're giving you. What did you tell them?"

Justice shrugged his shoulders "I don't know what their problem is. When they asked me about my eating habits I just told them what I normally eat.

I start off in the morning with a stack of pancakes topped with butter and drowned in syrup. Then for lunch I eat the sandwiches that my mom packs for me along with a slice of whatever kind of pie my mom decided to bake that day.

When I get home I eat a bowl of cereal and have a bag of starburst. And for dinner I eat whatever my mom cooked and some more pie."

Jason shook his head "And you're wondering why they didn't include any sugar in your trays? I'm more surprised by the fact that you don't have diabetes or liver problems." 

Justice looked at Jason with a fake hurt expression "Hey! I work all that sugar out of my system at practice okay?

And besides I need the energy. I have five siblings back home that I need to look after when my mom and dad go to work."

During the meal Jason was taking another look at the system 'There really isn't any info on the Wingspan and Hand Size section of the body modifications.'

After contemplating for a few minutes Jason decided to put some points into them anyways to see what would happen.

All thought the system hasn't been as active lately in giving him missions Jason currently had 332 Body Modification Points from all the practices and workouts that he had been doing.

Jason put one hundred points into the Wingspan category and hundred points into Hand Size.

After Jason put in the points he checked to see if anything changed.

[Wingspan D

 Hand Size D]

Wingspan had gone up from a D- to a solid D where as Hand Size had stayed the same 'Maybe the higher the grade the more points are required to move up?'

After finishing all the food on his plate as well as his protein milkshake Jason rubbed his stomach in satisfaction.

Justice asked "So what are you gonna do with your free time? Some of the other guys from the 13 and under group wanted to run fives. You down?"

Jason shook his head as he politely rejected Justice's offer "Sorry Justice. Maybe some other time. I have someone that I need to talk to tonight."

Justice smiled "Alright man. The invitations still open. We'll be in the gym if you change your mind."

Jason waved goodbye to Justice as he left the Canteen. He walked into the main building and began to walk toward Kawhi's office.