The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 10 Apr 2022, 10:54

The JZA wrote:
10 Apr 2022, 00:54
Unc still putting Noah in his place. Gonna be a minute before he hand over NYC.

Noah took all that frustration out on Randle tho :obama:
Hopefully, not too long. He's 41 now.

Somebody has to be on the receiving end of his ire. Whole Lakers squad got that work.
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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 10 Apr 2022, 11:31

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Hey Now, You're An All-Star

“You ready for this, kid?” Uncle Derek looked over and asked me.

Our private jet was starting its descent into Las Vegas, Nevada for the 78th Annual NBA All-Star Game. I had gone several times growing up, but this time I’m on the other side of the curtain. If I was being honest, I was a little anxious. The flight was a quick one since we were coming in from Los Angeles. I played the Lakers two nights ago and Uncle Derek flew into L.A. from Portland after their game.

“This is supposed to be fun, right? Just some guys hooping,” I said.

“Yep. The best pick-up game you’ll ever play in your life. Enjoy yourself. Give the fans a good show.”

I slid a pair of Versace aviator sunglasses over my eyes before stepping off the jet.

There were two black SUVs waiting for us when we landed. My mom, Aunt Naya and the kids climbed into the back of one and my uncle, our cousin Devin, and I climbed into the other. There was a bottle of champagne in the back that Devin immediately opened.

“Congratulations, Noah. This is the first of many accomplishments. Not a lot of rookies can say they made the All-Star team. Jordan, Shaq, Yao, Blake Griffin and a few others have the honor. Not even your uncle has the distinction.”

I thought about it for a second and realized Devin was right. Uncle D wasn’t named an All-Star until his third season in Chicago.

“Finally, something he hasn’t accomplished. Maybe I can start to separate my career from his.” I said laughing. Our first meeting back in December has long since been put behind me. My team was doing well. We’ve made some adjustments and we have a solid record.

“Damn, talk about me like I’m not even here then.”

The rest of the ride to the hotel was spent with Devin going over our itineraries for the weekend. I had meetings with Beats by Dre and Stance Socks. I had an appearance to make for Body Armor and a sneaker pop up shop at Feature with Dark Horse Brand. My Ruffles chips commercial was also airing this weekend, so I also had an appearance to do with them. Factor in practices and a couple autograph signings, not to mention the events themselves, I didn’t know when I was going to really have time to relax.


###########################


“I wish you would have flown out here with me.”

“I have a two-year old remember?”

“Bring Bella too. I would love to officially meet her. It’s not like I’m going to any casinos or anything this weekend.”


I was sitting in my hotel room after a relatively chill first day in Vegas. We checked in at the Aria, then I met up with the reps from Beats by Dre. We stopped by T-Mobile arena to sign a few basketballs for Spalding and cards for Panini. Finally, we headed to STK for dinner. My uncle and cousin decided to hit the casino with some of their friends. They had a poker table reserved at Caesar’s Palace or something. Seeing as how I didn’t turn 21 until next week, I returned to my room and scrolled through Netflix. A few minutes into a movie starring Shay Mitchell, I decided to give my favorite teacher a call.

We hadn’t seen much of each other since that night we went out for pizza. The “what happens next” wasn’t much of anything. I got to see where she lived and I got a chance to meet her friend Iris, who rented the apartment below her, and who was watching her daughter, Isabella, for the evening. I was vetted for about 10 minutes before I said goodnight and was rewarded with a hug. Yep, just a hug. Things were progressing slowly, fortunately I had basketball to focus on.

Kori laughed. “I’m sorry to hear that. Next Thursday, right?”

“Yeah. I wish the game was next weekend, then I could have really enjoyed Vegas. My uncle is playing poker with Kobe, Jordan, Carmelo, LeBron and bunch of his retired NBA friends tonight.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be busy starting tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I got an early day.”
I looked at the clock and noticed it was after 10pm. “Shit! It’s like one in the morning over there. I’m talking to you like you don’t have to go to work tomorrow. My fault.”

“No worries,”
she said while yawning. “But I’ll be watching the game tomorrow night, if I can stay awake.”

“You’d better stay awake, girl. I’ll text you after the game.”

“Send lots of pictures. Congratulations, again.”


###########################


Friday morning and I am heading to the Dark Horse pop up shop at Feature inside the Wynn Plaza. My role was to basically hang out, sign a few autographs and take a few pictures as one of the signature Dark Horse athletes. Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook were both there. They were the first athletes my uncle had signed to his brand after exhausting their deals with Jordan. Jaylen Green, Cayden and Cameron Boozer were scheduled to show up at noon. Even my guy Remy showed up. He had an endorsement deal with the brand, but he wasn’t a signature athlete yet. So, he wasn’t required to be there, but getting more face time wouldn’t hurt.

I walked into the shop and I was really impressed with how they transformed the space. There were pictures of my uncle and a few of the other signature athletes blown up and placed all over the shop. B. Mike, an artist from New Orleans, had done some custom pieces as well. The Dark Horse merch was in the middle of the store, including the new women’s flight suits which I thought were dope as hell. I saw my uncle sitting behind a table that was off to the side with two chairs and a box of small posters. There was a DJ and they even set up a small basketball court. I sent some pictures to Kori as requested. But the best thing was the wall of Dark Horse shoes on display in the back. There was a pair that looked really familiar sitting right in the middle of the display. The logo on the tongue all, but confirmed it, but I still had to ask.

“Yo, Unc,” I yelled out. “What’s this?”

“What’s what?” He asked standing directly beside me. I was so stuck looking at the shoes that I didn’t noticed he had made it over to me.

“The kicks. Are these?” I trailed off as I turned the shoes over in my hand looking from the NB logo and noticed the phrase, More Than My Name imprinted at the bottom.

He just smiled. “You deserve it. First All-Star game as a rookie? That deserves a celebration. And consider it an early birthday gift. We're gonna release it on the twenty-second.”

I just shook my head, I couldn’t believe it. When I first signed with Dark Horse, my uncle introduce me to Rox Brown. Rox had designed a pair of Air Jordan 1 sneakers about a decade ago and when my uncle retired, he hired her to design shoes for him. So, that first day I signed my deal this summer we just sat around talking about my game and my style. Different shoes and designers that I liked. How I felt about playing in New York. I was wearing a pair of Jordan 3 sneakers that day. As we were talking she was scribbling notes on her tablet. I finally asked her what she was working on and when she showed me, I was in love with it. I made a few tweaks to it and she told me she would save it for when the time came. I was thinking after my first playoff run or even my first championship, but I guess the time is now.

I held the shoe in my hands and just stared at. I couldn’t believe it. I had my own signature shoe. I was fighting back tears because this was such a major moment, but I was still well aware that we had an event happening in less than 30 minutes. And if I wasn’t, Remy was there to remind me.

“I know you got some size fifteens for your boy.” Remy said. “It’s cool if I wear these right, D? It’s still part of the brand.”

We all laughed.

“You get access to all the shoes, Remy, these included. But you can’t wear them before Sunday.” He turned back to me. “We got a few colorways lined up for you, Noah. We wanted to make sure the guys that are on the roster have the option to wear them. Most of them will be here this weekend so we’ll give shoes to them before the All-Star game. Everyone else will get their shoes hand delivered on Monday. I’ll be wearing a pair Sunday night.”

“Really? You’re gonna wear my shoes, Big Dog?”

“You wear mine. Why not?”

“This is beautiful fellas, really. Congrats again, my guy. But the pop up shop starts in like fifteen minutes and the people are waiting. So, hug it out or whatever and let’s get to it.”


A line had started to form about an hour before the pop up shop opened. I quickly sent a few pictures of myself and my shoes to Kori. She quickly responded back that she liked them and that she would get a pair. I sent a picture and a text to Rox telling her that the shoes were better than I imagined. Then it was time for business. Fans flooded in once the doors were opened. I was in the middle of a free throw shooting contest with a 10-year old kid when I heard a familiar voice behind me causing me to miss my last shot and lose the competition. Which was fine by me, the kid was able to get a free t-shirt.

“I got next.”

I turned around to see Sydni and she wasn’t alone. She was with the same guy that was with her in New York for WNBA All-Star Weekend this past summer. He’s a cornerback for the Raiders. He was from DC, played football at Howard and managed to snag an NFL roster spot. Apparently, they reconnected when she moved to Vegas to play for the Aces. When they first showed up in New York, she said they weren’t serious, but here we are, seven months later. Must be serious.

“Nah, babe. Let me have a shot.”

“Football is more your speed, Brady.”
She said to him.

“Yeah, leave it to the professionals, man.”

The warning seemed to just spur him on. He pulled off his jacket and handed it to Sydni. “I got this, Syd. It’ll be quick. First to five?”

He was right about one thing, this would definitely be quick. “First to five it is. Check.” I said tossing the ball to him.

I saw Remy pull his phone out. “For the archives,” he said. I gave a quick nod and got into a defensive stance.

“No dunking on that rim, Noah.” Eric, the event coordinator, called out causing the crowd that had now gathered to laugh. “We didn’t secure it well enough for all of that.”

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 10 Apr 2022, 11:32

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 10 Apr 2022, 11:34

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by Agent » 10 Apr 2022, 22:19

26 points on Friday night. Looking forward to what he does on Sunday night.
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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 13 Apr 2022, 19:27

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 13 Apr 2022, 19:35

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 13 Apr 2022, 19:44

Agent wrote:
10 Apr 2022, 22:19
26 points on Friday night. Looking forward to what he does on Sunday night.
They had my guy locked up. They were not giving All-Star Game vibes
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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 13 Apr 2022, 19:48

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The Mis-Education of Noah Baldwin (2027 - ???)

Post by chosenone58 » 13 Apr 2022, 19:53

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