The rest of the day passed by slowly for Jason. He knew that even though he did what he did with good intentions that he had messed up.
He was operating in the mindset of an adult who had already lived life once. An adult who had regrets and unfulfilled wishes of making it to the professional level.
But the other members of the team were just kids who wanted to hangout with their friends after school and have fun. It was a simple and honest desire.
Jason felt terrible thinking that he had done the same thing that had once been done to him. He might have stolen some precious memories from those kids.
- - -
Back in Jason''s first lifetime. His AAU team had just lost the game by 4 points. It was close until the end but Jason was involved in the ys that lost them the game.
Jason had missed a slightly contestedyup on the fast-break while also allowing his man to score a quick basket on the other end.
One of the parents had stormed into the locker room and started yelling at Coach Butler in front of the team "Why the hell did you take my RayRay out for that little Asian boy!?"
Coach Butler tried to pull her aside "I don''t think we should be talking about this here. I''ll talk to you outside."
She shook his hand off of her "We could have won this game if you had kept my son in. We lost because of you and that little Chinese boy."
Coach Butler had a serious expression on his face "First of all mam he is Korean. Second of all I put him in because I thought that we needed his defense more than your son''s offense as we tried to hold onto our lead."
Thisdy was the same parent that was yelling belligerently throughout the whole game. She was yelling at the kids from the other team as well as the other parents.
She had single handily sucked the fun and energy out of the game. Instead she turned a regr AAU game with nothing on the line into a bitter game with bad blood between the two teams.
Coach Butler continued "I give out minutes based on merit. Jason has been working harder than anyone else on this team and I am very proud of that. He earned those minutes tonight.
The whole point of youth league sports isn''t just trying to win. We are trying to raise respectable young men here. How do you expect me to do that if I don''t reward motivation and hard work?"
Thedyughed "These games might be pointless life lessons for your other yers but my son is a 5 star recruit. Each game that he ys can affect his stock on the college boards.
So if you''re not going to y these games with the intent to win I am going to have to pull my son out of the league. Even if he drops out of here he still has high school ball."
The next day Coach Butler called Jason in to talk to him privately after practice. He looked at Jason with an apologetic expression.
"I''m sorry Jason. I got a call from the higher ups and they told me that under no circumstance could I let Ray drop out. I''m going to have to cut your minutes and give them to Ray."
The young Jason tried his best to hide his feelings but his eyes started to moisten "Okay Coach." Coach Butler put his hand on Jason''s shoulder.
"This is only temperary Jason. I''m sorry that I can''t do much even though I''m the coach. There''s only one thing I can help with. If you want to I can help you get more practice in.
I''ll be honest Jason this whole situation is messed up. It''s not fair to you but sometimes the world isn''t fair.
But that''s when you need to put in more work. That''s when you have to grind even harder. You need to show the world that you won''t back down or be broken down."
- - -
Thanks to that one parent Jason would ride the bench for the majority of the games. Despite the hours of back breaking work that he put in he was robbed of the chance to create memories with his teammates out on the court.
And now he had done the same thing to Manny and the other 8th graders. They didn''t have the skills to make it past any tryouts for a high school team.
This was theirst year to y with eachother and create memories that would be with them for the rest of their lives. And he took that from them.
At this point Jason couldn''t even be mad at Manny for hitting him in the face. He probably would have done the same thing to Ray in his past life had he gotten the chance.
The next day Jason wasn''t as bad as before. He was talking to Kyle and Samantha like normal. And even though they could tell that he was still a bit off at least it looked like he was getting better.
As Jason was making his way to the school bus to head back home he got a text from Udonis asking him to meet up at the gym.
Jason walked over to the gym to find it empy. He flipped the lights on and took a seat on the bleachers.
After a few minutes Udonis walked in. He looked at Jason before taking a seat next to him "Sorry I blew up on you the other day man. You didn''t deserve that."
Jason shook his head "It''s cool man. I could see where you wereing from. A new kides in starts acting like a boss and makes your friends quit. If it was me I would have been heated too."
Udonis looked at Jason and sighed "You got the qualities to be a leader Jason. You have the skills to lead on the court.
You have the work ethic to lead off of the court. And most importantly you ain''t afraid to admit when you wrong.
Not everyone can do that. Some people are too scared to hurt their pride and own up to their mistakes when they mess up.
Hell I been leading this team for 2 years now and I still needed a day before I could talk to you. I needed a day before I could admit that I messed up too."
Jason was surprised to hear Udonis say that "How did you mess up UD? This is all my fault. I thought everyone wanted to win as badly as me.
I thought that I could force my way on them by beating them into submission. I thought that by showing them how big of a difference there was between me and them that they would be motivated to work harder to close the gap."
Udonis thought for a second " I messed up because I thought that you were ready to lead the team Jason. You know how I said you had the qualities to be a leader? Well I wasn''t lying but you arecking something.
Be honest with me Jason. Do you know anyone''s name other than me and your friends? Did you even bother to ask about the three other guys that decided to stay?"
Jason was surprised by the suddenness of the question "Uh-to be fair Trell isn''t really my friend." Udonis didn''tugh.
"Now isn''t the time for jokes Jason. What I''m trying to say is that you didn''t put in any effort to get to know any of the guys on the team.
Let me tell you a quick story. You know who LeBron is right? One of the greatest to ever y the game.
Season after losing the chip to San Antonio hees back home to Clevnd. Him, Kyrie and Kev Love.
The best yer on the ying with two top 5 yers at their positions and they were in the weak East. They should have been stomping everybody right?
But halfway through the season you know what they record was? They was 20 and 20. A team that was supposed to be wrecking their way through the East was barely .500
You wanna know why? LeBron was used to yelling and hollering at Mario Chalmers. His old Point Guard.
Mario Chalmers''s old man used to be in the Air Force so he was used to that kind ofmunication and discipline.
But that method ofmunication didn''t vibe with LeBron''s new teammates. It took him a whole season before he really got to know his team.
What I''m trying to tell you with that story Jason is that you need to put in some effort to get to know your team. Because not everybody built like you bro. Knowing who on your team and how to lead them is part of being a leader"
Jason looked up at Udonis "You right UD. It might be toote to fix things with Manny and the other guys but I won''t keep making the same mistakes. Ima try my best to learn how to be a leader. That is if you''re willing to teach me?"
Udonis smiled before reaching his hand out. After Jason shook his hand he was pulled into a hug by UD "Damn right I''m going to teach you! If I don''t then who will?"