Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Kyle began to cry as Jason hugged him. He patted him on the back "I heard from the guys. Great job."

His voice began to waver as he shakily said "I-I\'m sorry. I should have been more careful. I should have paid more attention while I was on the court. Now I can\'t-"

Jason stopped him as he then looked him straight in the eyes "It wasn\'t your fault Kyle. You played your heart out while you were on the court and that\'s all that matters.

Now it\'s up to us to keep on winning and to make sure that we stay in the tournament long enough for you to make a full recovery. You did your part now the rest is up to us."

Now that the game was officially done and Kyle got to hear the good news his mom took him straight to the hospital to get his ankle checked out.

Jason and the rest of the guys felt that it wouldn\'t be right to celebrate without Kyle so they decided to save the party for another time.

The guys just washed up and changed into a fresh change of clothes before saying goodbye to each other.

As Jason stepped out of the locker room he was surrounded by a crowd of people. They all asked to for a picture, a autograph, and sometimes both.

Jason saw that his parents were standing at the side with big smiles all over their faces. He turned to the crowd "Wait, I need to ask my parents."

He walked over to his mom and dad. Jason\'s mom immediately wrapped him up in a tight hug "I can\'t believe my little Jaya is the new county champion. I am so proud of you baby."

Jason\'s dad joined in on the hug as he wrapped his arm\'s around his son and wife "I second that motion. We were so proud of you Jason. You worked so hard to get to where you are. You definitely earned it."

Jason hugged his parents tightly before pulling away. He smiled at them "Thanks mom. Thanks dad. That means the world to me.

There are a bunch of people that waited for me. They\'re asking for some pictures and autographs. It might take a while. Is that okay?"

The two of them nodded their heads. After getting the okay Jason gave his parents one last hug before making his way back to the crowd.

The crowd cheered in excitement as Jason began to take pictures with them. Some of them asked if Jason could pull out his jersey from his bag and to hold it up for the picture.

Jason didn\'t think much of it so he went ahead and pulled out his jersey as he then held it up for the pictures.

All of the guys were hyped as they threw up peace signs, and did different poses as they took their pictures.

After the guys were done it was just a bunch of girls left. One girl smiled as she asked Jason "Hey Jaya um... Is it okay if you take off your headband and put your hair down?"

Jason was surprised by the request but he didn\'t mind. He shrugged his shoulders "Sure." He took of his headband and removed the hair tie that was holding his hair together.

Jason had been maintaining the sides so they were short and freshly cut. But his top had been growing out.

His hair fell down as they reached his cheek bones. His hair naturally parted in the middle. The girls screamed as they saw this "Kyaaa!!!"

Jason covered his ears as he looked at the girls with a confused look "What the hell was that?"

The girls laughed as one of them said "Sorry, we just got a little excited. Congrats on winning the county title."

Jason paused for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. He then proceeded to take some pictures with the girls.

Jason noticed that the girls were a lot more touchy than the guys as they hugged him from the side, asked him to put his arms over their shoulders, and stuck close to him.

\'These girls sure are touchy.... Could it be that they like me? I hope not. These are a bunch of little girls. Maybe that\'s just how girls are and I don\'t understand.\'

As he was in the middle of taking some pictures with two girls they suddenly kissed him on the cheeks.

Jason backed away. The girls giggled as they said "Sorry that was just for the picture. I hope you don\'t mind."

Before Jason could say anything a figure pushed her way through the crowd of girls until she was in front of Jason and the girls who had just taken the picture.

Her long red hair covered half her face as he she walked up to the girls. As she came face to face with them she blew the hair out of her face before giving a polite smile "Is it okay if I get a picture too?"

Jason laughed "Haha, what are you doing Sammy?" She smiled as she put herself between Jason and the girls.

"Oh nothing. I just thought I would get a picture with you to celebrate your big night." She didn\'t wait for a response as she nudged the girls out of the way with her hips.

Samantha then handed the girls her cellphone "Thanks." Before posing for some photos. She took one where Jason and her were holding up peace signs.

In one picture she was hugging Jason from behind as they both smiled. In another one she jumped on his back before putting up another peace sign.

Jason was most likely the only one who thought that he was still just taking some simple pictures. All of the other girls got a clear message \'This is how close we are. So back off.\'

After Samantha was done taking the pictures she took her phone back before waving off the crowd "Alright girls shows over.

Thanks for coming to the meet and greet we appreciate all of your support. Have a wonderful day. Don\'t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya."

Jason didn\'t even have to say anything as Samantha got the girls to disperse on her own. He smiled at Samantha "Thanks Sammy."

She lightly punched him on the shoulder "Thanks my ass. What the hell are you doing letting those girls get so close to you for?"

Jason acted as thought he punch actually hurt as he rubbed his shoulder "Ouch Sammy. We were just taking pictures. Geeze."

Samantha laughed at Jason\'s acting. She flipped her hair before smiling at him "Whatever. Go home and get some rest. I\'m sure aunty and uncle are ready to go."

As she walked away Jason waved "Night Sammy. Have a good one." Without looking back she just raised her right hand before throwing out another peace sign.

Jason then walked back to his parents as they then walked to their car. After getting home Jason\'s dad cooked up up a quick meal.

After finishing up three full servings Jason took a shower and went to sleep.

- - -

It was a nice and sunny Saturday. The day passed as Jason was deep asleep. It was already three o\'clock in the afternoon and Jason was still asleep.

He had woken up at ten to eat breakfast and after that he had gone back to sleep as he napped in the living room.

His parents understood that he must have been tired from playing almost the entire game yesterday so they let him sleep in peace.

It wasn\'t until Jason felt his phone vibrating in the pocket of his shorts. With his eyes still closed he pulled out his phone and answered the call.

"Hmmm hello?" Kyle\'s voice replied "Yo Jason you\'re on TV! And it\'s not Through the Hoops. You\'re on ESPN!"

Jason was jolted wide awake as he sat up in a hurry. He grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. He then set the channel to ESPN.

The screen transitioned to show four people as they sat in large brown leather chairs. The one sitting on the chair at the far right spoke first.

He smiled at the camera "Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Big Dogs Big Talk. I am one of your hosts Karl Anthony Towns aka Kat."

The one sitting to his left then spoke up with his deep voice "I am your other host as well as the funniest guy on the show Joel Embiid."

The person to his left laughed "I don\'t know about funniest but you\'re definitely the one that cracks the most jokes. I\'m your other host Nikola Jokić but you can just call me Joker."

Then it was the last person on the left. He was the shortest one out of all the others but his suit was the most filled out as his muscles threatened to burst through at any second.

"And I\'m your last host Zion Williamson. And for today\'s show we have some basketball to talk about as well as a great clip from an incredible young player."