Always Looking Ahead
“So, what time are y’all leaving?” Remy asked Derek and Noah while looking at his watch. The team had just finished a film session and were about to leave the arena.
“Probably in about an hour and a half. You rolling out?”
“This game is going to be big. I’m not missing this.”
“That’s what’s up. Think you could be at my place in like forty-five minutes?”
“Where you guys headed, Noah?” Anthony Howard asked. He had practically become Noah’s shadow this season.
“Jersey. Rutgers versus UNLV. This is going to be a big game.”
“You guys got room for one more?”
“Sure, Rook. You gotta ride bitch though.” Noah said, causing everyone to laugh. “And lunch and dinner are on you today.”
“Good thinking,” Remy chimed in. “Grab some Chick-Fil-A for the ride.”
“Aht. Aht. Get your own rookie, Remy.” He turned to Anthony. “But you can grab some SoCo for me. The spot we went to for my uncle's dinner? We’re meeting up in Brooklyn anyway. Get me some of those wings.”
Anthony pulled out his phone to start putting in the order. “Did you want anything, Cap?” He asked Derek.
“Chicken sandwich and some mac n cheese.”
“What about me,” Remy asked. Noah nodded, as if giving him permission to order. “Get me some of those wings too. Noah ain’t gonna share his.”
The four of them started to walk to the door, when Coach Silas stopped them.
“Derek, can I speak with you for a second?” Coach Silas.
“You want us to wait, Unc?”
“Nah, I’ll catch you guys at the house. Go get changed.”
He followed Coach Silas to his office and shut the door.
“What’s up, Coach? I promise I won’t have the fellas out late. We’ll be back in plenty of time to get rest for Sacramento tomorrow.”
“I don’t doubt that. You’ve been great with the guys all season. I can tell they’re learning a lot from you. You’re really changing the culture around here.”
“I’m just doing what I do. I appreciate you letting me come in and do my thing. Not to rush, but I’m sure you didn’t just call me in here to sing my praises.”
“No, no I didn’t. We had an interesting trade offer come in and I wanted to know what you thought about it.”
He hands his tablet to Derek to show him the trade details.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, they’re trying to plan long term. They have a couple big retirements coming up and they don’t want to leave the future of the team to the Draft. Not everybody can be as fortunate as we were last year.”
“That’s facts. You got anybody in mind?”
“I have a few guys.”
“A few? Damn.” Derek chuckled.
“As somebody who has a little more insight on the inner workings of the team, I just wanted to ask your opinion. See if we were on the same page.”
“Well, if this is who they’re willing to trade, then I do have a player in mind that we could send over that I think would work well for both sides in the long run.”
Coach Silas nodded when Derek revealed his choice.
“Interesting. He was one of the names on the list. But why would you want to move him?”
“Well, he’s a solid player. Don’t get me wrong. He has a lot of potential, if he would just be willing to tap into it. He rests on his laurels if I’m being honest. And I don’t know what’s going to happen once I retire, but the culture that you’ve started, the culture that we’ve been building on this season….I don’t think he fits that. The other guys are hungry. They’re putting in the work. They don’t come in like we’re undefeated on a twenty-three game win streak. Like they went to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. They are working. I don’t feel like he’s committed for the long term.”
Coach Silas nodded.
“So, it has nothing to do with the rumored grumblings in the locker room?”
“Come on, Stephen. You know me better than that. I’m at a point in my career where I can’t focus on that type of talk. I got six months left on this contract and a championship to get before it’s all over. I can’t get caught up in who does or doesn’t like me. He’s turned down every opportunity to get in extra work. I think he feels like he’s bigger than the team. He hasn’t earned anything yet.”
“That’s a fair assessment. Not to mention what happened in practice.”
“Yeah. We should have let them go at it. But it’s only gonna get worse. I say we cut the cancer out before it’s too late. And I’m not saying let’s make him someone else’s problem.”
“That sounds exactly like what you’re saying.” Coach Silas laughed.
“Nah," Derek laughed as well because that is what it sounded like. "I mean maybe a new environment will work for him. He thinks he deserves to run a team, that one doesn’t really have a clear cut leader. Let him prove himself there. Hopefully, he’ll see how much work this shit really is. I know at the end of the day, it’s up to you and management. But you asked for my two cents.”
“And it is much appreciated. That’s all I had. Enjoy the game.”
“You wanna come with us? R.J. Green and Willie Edwards.”
“Nah, I got some family stuff to do tonight. I’ll catch it on ESPN. It’s not like we’ll be able to draft either of them anyway.”
“Yeah, it’s too late to start tanking.”
They laughed.
Derek stood to leave. “Don’t work too hard, Coach.”
“Y’all are making my job too easy this year.” He laughed. “You sure you don’t want to join the coaching staff next year?”
“Nah, I’m good right now. I’m more into player development, but I don’t want to limit my services to just one team. There’s so much talent across the league. I think we should grow the game. Increase the competition.”
“If you ever reconsider...”
“You’ll be the first person that I call, Coach.”
