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~~~(POV: Ulysses Kennedy)~~~
~~~(Date: September 25th, 2025)~~~
~~~(Time: 3:13 PM)~~~
~~~(Location: Rucker Park)~~~
Now that we are back on defense and up 3 points, the pressure to respond to my disrespectful play is on. The point guard brings the ball up the court and quickly passes it to the team's Center. I switch on defense with Center, and I take the guy with the ball. He tries to back me down, but I don't budge. He kicks it back out to the shooting guard, and he puts up a decent 3. He was partly open, but not enough to sink the shot. It comes off the front of the rim, and I grab it. I wait for the other team to start shifting on defense before I start to move.
I start dribbling and make my way down the court. Now that it's my team's turn for some offense, I feel like I should include some others. The show at a park shouldn't be all about me. I start to perform hesitations and between the legs moves to sneak my way into the post. I perform a spin move, and I get an easy jump shot for 2 points, but instead of shooting. I pass to the shooting guard as his defender left to help on defense guarding me. My team's shooting guard gets the ball and shoots an open shot. It sinks, and now we are up 8 to 2.
The crowd that doesn't want me to win at this court is trying to motivate the players I'm playing against. Calling them soft and weak for letting me come onto their court and do this. It's all harmless fun to me, but to them, it's serious. The defense is set, and the other team brings the ball down. I stay with my match-up Lemar and guard him. "How can you even play like that? You're too damn tall to play this way..." He decides he wants to talk. He complains like most of my match-ups. Defending me is a nightmare one on one.
I decide not to respond and just play defense. The point guard passes the ball to Lemar. He is their tallest and biggest player. Still several inches shorter than me. His friends immediately start to talk to him from the sidelines. "Drown them out. Listening to them will only cause problems." I try to offer some advice, but the pressure put on by his friends has already gotten to him. He does a double behind the back and steps back, throwing up a bad shot. It air balls and goes out of bounds. Many laughs break out, and I sigh.
The poor guy has no support from his own home crowd. It's rough out here in New York. I head out of bounds and toss the ball to the point guard setting the ball in play. I jog ahead of the point guard and stand at the right-wing. Once he crosses half-court, he tosses the ball to me with a bad pass, but I still get it. Lemar is pushing hard against me. Looking to wipe away that bad play last possession. I'm done playing the nice guy. I rise and start my beautiful shooting form. The ball swishes into the net, making a nice loud sound.
I hit that shot right in Lemar's face. He was too small to get a hand even close to the ball. The crowd goes crazy, and I jog backward to get on defense. It's now 11 to 2. We are crushing them right now. The only time they scored was a good pass from their point guard to their center. I look to the sidelines and see Ellie bouncing up and down in happiness. She's sitting in the make-shift private area. Being protected by security. I can see people trying to talk to her and record her, but she's ignoring them.
I also see an ESPN reporter and camera. There are actually lots of ESPN cameras. I'm going to be pissed if they try to monetize me on ESPN without paying me anything. They've done it countless times in the past. I focus back on the game, and the shooting guard brings the ball down this time. He immediately throws up a shot and goes off the backboard. Now the score is 11 to 5. At least they aren't doing as bad as before, which isn't saying much. The power forward inbounds the ball to me, and I'm getting guarded by Lemar as I dribble down the court. He isn't guarding as close as last time.