บท 20: Smile for the cameras

Jason and Tory walked up to the crowd. The section of the parking lot that was right in front of the mall was closed off.

There was one of those backyard basketball hoops standing in front of the crowd along with a three-point line and free throw line that was drawn on the floor with some chalk.

Jason and Tory joined the crowd. A middle aged man with a mic walked up and started speaking "Hello people of Riverside California. Thank you so much for coming out to our shooting"

He wiped some sweat off his forehead before resuming "The basis of our show is following talented young people through their journey with basketball. I would like to introduce our star from L.A. Jerome Bonner"

A young man walked up to the front of the crowd. He had brown skin and an athletic build. He was tall at around 6'3.

His black hair was styled into a frohawk with the tips bleached blonde. He was wearing red basketball shorts and a white workout shirt that showed off his well developed muscles.

He smiled and waved at the crowd before taking the mic from the man "Thank you all for coming out. As the producer said my name is Jerome and I'm currently a top 20 ranked player in the nation"

Jerome stopped for a moment as the crowd drowned out his voice with their cheering. After they quieted down he began speaking again "I am currently here with the crew to shoot some promotional material while also spreading the word about our show."

Jerome passed the mic back to the producer "Jerome will be here today to play against anybody who wants to take the challenge. And to make things fair you only have to score 1 basket to win while Jerome will need to score 21 points."

The producer continued "And for anyone that manages to win we have a special prize" The producer then gestured for the crew to take something out. The crew brought out a giant check that said 1000 dollars.

Everyone erupted into a frenzy once again as they saw the giant check. People started lining up to take the challenge.

Jason laughed at all the people who thought that they actually had a chance. He used Heart's eye on Jerome.

[Skills

Free throw: SS+

Lay Up: SS+

Dunking: SS+

Close Shot: SS+

Mid Range Shooting: SS+

Three Point Shooting: SS+

Dribbling: SS+

Passing: SS+

Ball Handling: SS+

Play Making: SS+

Post Scoring: SS+

Rebounding: SS+

Post Control: SS+

Perimeter Defense: SS+

Post Defense: SS+

Steals: SS+

Blocks: SS+

Athleticism: SS+ ]

It looked the same as Tyreek's. Jason also knew Jerome from his past life. Jerome was a talented scorer that became known for his ability to attack the rim at will.

He had a great handle and combined with his insane athleticism it was hard for opposing teams to keep him out of the paint.

In college he was a decent three-point shooter but once he got to the professional level he couldn't adapt.

But even without a great three-point shot Jerome was able to lead the team that drafted him into the playoffs his rookie season.

While in college he wasn't known for his defense but after getting drafted he gave more effort into that side of the ball and became an elite defender.

The only downside to his game besides his three-point shooting was the fact that he wasn't a great play maker. And although he was a great defender he would sometimes struggle guarding bigger guards.

He wasn't a good enough play maker to run the point but he was too undersized to slide over to the SG position. This lead to some awkward rosters being built around him.

Jason watched on as the first person stepped up to play against Jerome. Jerome gave the guy a couple feet of space.

The person looked at Jerome and then at the court. After a few seconds he decided to try taking the three. His form was horrible. You could tell he had never played at any kind of competitive level.

The ball didn't even hit the backboard as it flew to the left side of the basket. One of the crew members got the ball and passed it to Jerome.

He started off with a jab step before driving right to the basket. The guy didn't even have a chance as Jerome drove right passed him before scoring with a thunderous tomahawk dunk with his left hand.

Jerome made easy work of all the people who went up to challenge him. Meanwhile the camera man was busy moving around trying to get the best angle of all of Jerome's highlight plays.

Not everyone played against Jerome until he scored 21 points. Some of them quit after the first bucket. But after thirty minutes it looked like Jerome was all out of challengers.

Tory was about to pull Jason to the mall "Well that was fun while it lasted-huh?" but when she reached out to grab his hand she found that Jason was gone.

"I want to try" She turned around when she heard his voice. Jason had walked up to challenge Jerome.

The producer smiled seeing Jason "Looks like we have one last adorable challenger. You up for it Jerome?" Jerome nodded before walking up to Jason.

He extended his hand forward with a smile "What's your name little guy?" Jason shook his hand "My name is Jason. Jason Yang"

Jerome smiled "Jason is a cool name. I would love for my last game to be against a kid as cool as you" Seeing Jason brought Jerome back to when he was a little kid meeting the basketball player that he idolized.

It was that moment that drove him to be where he was today. And if he could make today mean just a fraction of what that day meant to him he would gladly play no matter how tired he was.

The producer walked up Jerome and whispered in his ear "Take it easy on the kid okay? It would make for some bad PR if we made the kid cry. Let him shoot a couple of shots but don't let him score"

Jerome nodded "Don't worry sir. This isn't my first time playing with a little kid. I host training camps for the kids in my neighborhood every year"

Jerome tossed the ball to Jason "You get the first shot big man" Jason looked at Jerome standing 3 feet away "You sure?" Jerome nodded.

Jason turned to the producer "I just need to make one shot for the check right?" The producer laughed "Yup. Just one shot. Doesn't matter if it's a lay up or a three"

Jason nodded after he heard the producers response. He passed the ball to Jerome who then passed it back.

As soon as the ball came back to his hands Jason started his shooting motion. Jerome was so startled by how quickly and fluidly Jason started his shot that he was a fraction of a second late in closing out on Jason.

Jason dipped his knees and aligned his elbow and wrist to the basket. His body shot up as he launched the ball with the flick of his wrist.

The ball flew in a straight high arc before finally swishing through the net. Jason turned around to the crowd. When he found Tory he smiled as he yelled "I did it Tory! A thousand bucks!"

Tory was stunned silent and the rest of the crowd was just like her. They all stared at Jason in amazement. After a while the crowd started going crazy again as they cheered and screamed.

After a few seconds Tory was able to process the situation. She started jumping up and and down as she yelled "He did it! Jason you did it!"

Tory ran through the crowd. As soon as she reached Jason she pulled him into a tight hug "Oh my god Jason! I can't believe it! You won a thousand dollars!"

Jerome watched in silence 'Damn! Little dude actually did it' The producer walked over to Jerome "It's okay Jerome. We knew there was a chance someone would get lucky. It would have been nice if we could have kept the prize but this also makes for some good promotional material."

The producer then walked to Jason "Congratulations little guy. You just won a thousand dollars. What's the first thing you're going to do with the money?"

Jason thought for a second "The first thing is probably a haircut. Then I'll probably go shop for some clothes."

The producer gave Jason a regular sized check for a thousand dollars. The giant check was just a prop. They took a couple pictures of Jason with the producer and Jerome. Jason and Tory were about to leave when they heard a voice "Wait!"

They turned around and saw Jerome "Jason right? If you don't mind I would love to play against you again. No prize this time. Just for fun."

The producer looked at Jerome questioningly "What are you doing Jerome?" Jerome leaned in and whispered "You said you were looking for someone to fill in a empty spot right?"

The producer whispered "Yeah but what does that have to do with this? You think the kid is good enough?"

Jerome shook his head "I'm not sure yet. That's what I'm trying to figure out." He looked at Jason as he awaited a response.

Jason thought for a second 'I don't see a reason to say no. This could even be a good chance to see what my limits are' Jason nodded his head "Sure. I don't mind playing a quick game"