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

[chosenone58]

V dope offseason addition to the franchise

Appreciate that.

Thought I'd bring a little something extra instead of jumping right into the next season. I missed putting in the 2028 Olympics.

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

California Dreamin' (Part 1)

The summer was going great. We spent some time in New Orleans for the Essence Festival and then it was off to Los Angeles where I played my first game at the infamous Drew League alongside my uncle and my best friend. My stay in Los Angeles is definitely going to be longer than the week that I planned. I hadn’t been here since I was a kid and Uncle Derek played for the Clippers. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Aunt Naya is filming a movie out here, so the family is spending the whole month in L.A. I was even able to convince my mom to come out here and get some sun. I’m trying to get Kori to come out and kick it for a few days too. Devin agreed to let Remy and I use his condo at the Carlyle since he assumed we didn’t want to be in the house with my uncle and his family. It wasn’t far away, but having to take the 405, it felt like I lived in another city.

My barber had finished trimming my beard when Remy walked on to the patio, shoving his phone in my face.

“Tell me you’ve seen this?”

“I can’t even see what this is, man.” I said as I leaned my head back to get a better look at the phone. It was an Instagram post from my uncle’s page announcing that he was going to play one more season in the NBA. Remy shoved his phone in my hand and headed to his favorite place, the refrigerator.

“Okay, so Brooklyn goes for a fifth straight title. We’ll be ready.” I said as I followed him into the kitchen.

Remy shook his head at me. “Read the caption.”

I looked at the phone again. “Let free agency begin.” I laughed. That guy.

“Does he realize that most teams have already made their moves? Free agency started two weeks ago. Everybody has pretty much locked up everyone that they wanted.”

“Not us.” Remy reminded me. “I mean, we’ve made some signings, but we still have a ton of cap space since we don’t have Bash and R.J. on the payroll.”

He was right. I headed back to the terrace where my barber, Davey, was checking his phone.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Aunt Naya, asking if I had talked to Uncle D. I responded that I hadn’t, then I heard Remy’s voice behind me.

“Speak of the devil. Look who’s here, Noah.”

“Davey, you got a minute to hook me up? I have a meeting with Nike this week and I want to look nice.”

“Sure thing, D. Just got done with your boy. The chair is all yours.”

“What’s up, Uncle D?”

“Nothing much, Nephew. I was on IG earlier and saw that Davey was over here, so I thought I’d come through.”

“IG. Right. Speaking of, I saw your post.”

“Oh, yeah? After working out with you guys this summer and running at the Drew, I just got the itch to do one more season.”

“So, you doing the drive for five with Brooklyn? Or would you consider pushing another young, hungry franchise to a championship?”

“Damn, Remy, just jump right into it.”

“Don't know if you don't ask. ” He shrugged.

Uncle Derek laughed. “I don’t think I’m gonna go back to Brooklyn. But don’t rule anything out. If nobody else wants an aging shooting guard, I may re-sign with the Nets or retire all together.”

“So, you really been on your mixtape shit out here in L.A. I feel you, O.G. You ever think about coming across the bridge? You don’t even have to change your address.”

“Remy!”

“Closed mouths don’t get fed, Noah. When else am I going to get to pitch to the legend like this? This is sincere, man. No suits around. This shit would be dope. And I’m just thinking about it from a developmental perspective. I mean this would be like the camp we did, but for an entire season.”

As Remy, Davey and my uncle talked about potential landing spots for him, including him possibly returning to Chicago or Los Angeles, I thought about what it would be like to have him in the locker room for a full season. I had already lost my mentor in Ryan at the end of last season. There wasn’t much leadership on the team in my position. Shaquir and Seth will be there, but they’re role players at this stage. They won’t be able to take my game to the next level. We’ve drafted two rookies at point guard, so of course, I’m gonna be the lead guy. Coach Silas already called and talked to me about it. Having Uncle Derek to help ease that load would be kind of dope. Our team is fairly young. The only other “veterans” are Obi and Mitch.

“What you think, Noah?” Remy asked.

“About what?”

“You weren’t listening to anything were you?”

“I just got lost in my head, man. I think it would be cool, Unc. We’d be making history for sure.”

“I guess we would, huh?” He took a seat in the chair and closed his eyes. “Never had an uncle-nephew duo in the league, let alone on the same team. Just brothers.”

“You think you got another 82 games in you, old man?” I asked.

Uncle Derek’s phone buzzed and he looked at it and smiled. He put it on speaker. It was our cousin, Devin, who also serves as our manager.

“D, we got meetings, baby.”

“Say word? I’m over here at your place getting a haircut. You should come out to L.A. We can really make it a family affair. I got you on speaker by the way. Your other clients are here.”

“What up, fellas?”

“Get him to sign that contract with the Knicks, Dev.” Remy said. “I know Naya don’t wanna pack and move.”

“We got people for that. But we’ll probably keep the condo.” Derek said.

“Knicks are actually on the list. Everybody is really, but the front runners are Chicago, Vegas, Clippers and Lakers, and of course Brooklyn.”

“Set it up. We’ll knock ‘em down this week. Then jump on the next flight out. Let’s have a guy’s weekend.”

“I don’t know about the next flight out, but I’ll see you guys by the weekend.”

My uncle disconnected the call and looked over at Remy.

“Hey, your dream might come true, kid.”

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

[Agent]

[chosenone58]

I couldn’t let Dub leave the chise without making this happen.

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

[mvp]

drew league is a dope touch