The mood in the locker room was horrible as no one had the heart to say anything after hearing Donte''s anger filled explosion.


    After a few awkward seconds of silence Jason walked to the very front and pped his hands together "Listen up guys.??


    I understand that everyone is feeling some type of way right now. Whether you''re angry, embarrassed, or confused, none of that matters right now.


    At this moment we are in the middle of a game. And that''s all you need to focus on right now. Don''t get me wrong.


    There are definitely some things we need to talk about and some problems we need to address. But we''ll take care of that after.


    Is that understood?" Everyone nodded their head as they spiritedly yelled out "Understood!" Jason then turned his attention to Donte.


    "Starting the next quarter you''re going to be sitting on the bench Donte, do you have a problem with that?"


    Donte felt a sharp pain deep down inside of him when he heard Jason say that. He gripped his fist so tightly that they began to shake.


    ''Why? All I was doing was calling these fake ass pieces of shit out. I''m not the one that betrayed the team, they are.''


    But despite theints that he had in his heart he swallowed them down as he forced himself to nod his head "Understood..."


    Jason''s face didn''t change as he began to exin their n for thest half of the game "So the lineup we''ll use to start the third quarter is-"


    - - -


    As Jefferson''s lineup went out to the court Donte sat on the bench next to Jason. He was watching the game but it was clear that something was on his mind as he bounced his leg nonstop.


    Jason turned his head to the side and looked at Donte "You got something on your mind?" Donte''s leg stopped moving as he hesitated to speak.


    Jason saw Donte''s hesitation and let out a sigh "You probably feel like I did you dirty right?" Donte immediately shook his head.


    "No! I understand that I messed up the team chemistry and that you needed to do something to set an example.... It''s just...."


    Jason shook his head "You''re wrong Donte. I didn''t bench you to set an example." Donte looked at him surprised by what he had said.


    Jason continued "I benched you because I want you to learn something from this. Because I want you to reach the best version of yourself that''s possible."


    Donte fell silent after hearing Jason say that. The game continued on but there didn''t seem to be any concern in Jason as he continued to talk to Donte.


    "Let me tell you a story Donte. There was a kid who transferred to a new school at the start of the school year.


    The first thing he did was join the school''s basketball team. The school''s basketball team had always been one of the worst in the city and all of the yers on the team just treated it as a casual thing that they did for fun.


    But now that they had the new kid the basketball team started to win games and more expectations were ced on the basketball team.


    And as the expectations began to grow so did the anger and annoyance in the new kid that transferred at the beginning of the year.


    He was angry that even though he tried to lead by example being the first to show up to practice, being the hardest worker at practice, and going home thetest, no one followed his steps.


    He was annoyed that he was the only one that seemed to care about the team and how well they did. He was annoyed that even though the other kids didn''t work as hard as him they were still able to smile the same as him after a win.


    And that continued until he couldn''t take it anymore and he challenged some of those kids in front of the whole team.


    He thought that by beating those kids down and showing them how much better he was that they would want to work harder to reach his level.


    But despite thinking that he always knew what was best for the team his n went wrong. Those other kids decided to quit along with some others.


    What do you think? Was the new kid wrong?" Donte knew that the story that Jason had just told him was actually his story from when he first transferred to Jefferson.


    Donte shook his head "The new kid didn''t do anything wrong! If anything it''s those kids who didn''t take basketball seriously that were wrong. Why even be on the team if you don''t want to put in any work?"


    Jason smiled as he patted Donte on the shoulder "That''s what the kid thought too. But the hard truth is that he was. The new kid was wrong."


    Donte looked at Jason as he continued to speak "The new kid thought that he was being a good leader by trying to force his way on to the rest of the team.


    But he failedpletely. Because a good leader is someone who can get his guys to follow behind him and get the work done.


    And by failing to find the right way to reach his guys he ended up pushing them away. Thankfully there were still some good guys left on the team who were able to see his vision and chose to follow him.


    But what if that didn''t happen? What if no one decided to stay with him? He would have be one of the most useless things on the. A leader with no one behind him."


    Donte looked down at the floor "Why? Why are you doing so much for me?" Jason asked "What do you mean?"


    Donte replied "Why are you going so far just to try and teach me? You''re risking not making the state tournament just to try and get me to learn from this."


    Jason chuckled "I already told you that I want you to reach the best version of yourself. And I think that that best version of you includes being a leader.


    And besides, I''m not really risking much. I told you didn''t I? I''m always thinking of what''s best for the team."


    Jason then pointed out to the court. Donte followed Jason''s finger with his gaze and saw Sam out on the floor with the rest of the seventh graders.


    Jefferson was on defense as Sam yelled out and called to the other guys. He wasmunicating on screens and telling the others what to do.


    "Even though Sam isn''t as talented as you and the quality of yers around him are worse he''s still doing better than you during thest half of the second quarter. Do you know why?"


    Donte looked down at the floor "It''s because he''s a better leader than me. He understands the guys and how to reach them.


    Maybe you should just focus on Sam Jaya. I don''t have what it takes to be a leader. At least not one as good as you."


    Jasonughed before ruffling Donte''s hair with his hand "You dumbass, not everyone is born to be a leader. Especially not me. Just ask any of the guys that were on the teamst year.


    I don''t know if I can even say that I''m a good leader now but everything I know I learned from someone that just naturally knew how to talk to people.


    Sometimes just like with a team, if a person wants to be the best version of themselves they need other people to help them.


    You may not have the ability to lead a team off of the court, but Sam doesn''t have the skills to lead them on the court.


    You two are like two sides to a coin. You guys have the ability to make up for what the othercks. And hopefully by being around each other you two start to learn from each other."


    Donte was silent for a moment but then he looked at Jason "Thanks Jaya." Jason smiled "You don''t need to thank me.


    I''m just doing what someone else did for me." Jason thought back to his first year at Jefferson and all the different times where Udonis had to step up as captain.


    ''Is this how you felt UD? Scared that you might not have the right advice to give and excited at the thought of someone growing from your guidance?''


    The third quarter came to a close as Sam lead to seventh grade bench yers to y the whole quarter.


    They managed to keep a fifteen point lead by ying hard tough nosed defense and capitalizing off of fast breaks for easy buckets.


    During the short break Donte walked up to the seventh graders that he had called out in the locker room and apologized to them.


    Starting the fourth quarter all of Jefferson''s starters went back out to the floor as theypletely demolished Nashton Academy.


    And for the second time in Jefferson Middle School''s history the basketball team gathered together to take a celebratory photo with the county trophy.


    With Jason and his joggers and hoody sticking out amidst the yers in uniform.


    - - -


    During the bus ride home Jason got a notification in the corner of his vision.


    [Congrattions on clearing the following mission: Fixing the knots in Donte''s heart.]


    Before the list of rewards coulde up Jason closed his eyes as he went back to sleep ''I would have done that shit even without you making it a mission.


    Who knew pep talks were more draining than ying in an actual game. I need to get some sleep. I''ll just check the rewards when we get home.''