Schooled by Amar'e Stoudemire

Author:Amar'e Stoudemire [Stoudemire, Amar'e]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2013-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

“Nice to have someone actually pass to me,” I said.

“Yeah, what was that all about?” said Deuce. “What were you in the game for yesterday, like a minute?”

“It’s not about the playing time,” I said, “I just wish they’d look for me when I’m open.”

“Yeah, you were wide open a few times,” said Mike. “That was lame.”

“I felt bad for the people who came to see me.”

“Yeah, well, they’d probably heard about the permission slip and the special invitation and all that,” said Mike. It was pretty obvious he was talking about himself. “So they thought you’d be in there.”

“Yeah,” I said, wondering just how many people he’d told that part to.

“I just think it’s crazy that they’re not letting you do your thing,” said Deuce. “That game was too close to have you sitting on the bench.”

I didn’t really want to talk about it. I wasn’t big on complaining, but these were my best friends, and I wanted to be honest about it. “It’s just frustrating,” I said. “I feel like they’re not even giving me a shot. It’s like Coach brought me in this year, but the team just wants me to wait till next year, anyway.”

Deuce looked over at me and shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe you should.”

“Yeah,” said Mike. “We’ll all be there next year. It’ll be a whole new ball game!”

It was quiet for a while. We were all thinking the same thing. It would definitely be better next year, and I could hang out and have fun with them until then. I looked at both of them. I’d had more fun in this one day than I’d had in a week’s worth of practice.

I thought about it and shook my head. “I’m no quitter,” I said. “I’ll be a good teammate even if they’re not. That’s just me.”

“It’s not quitting if you’re going back next year,” said Deuce. “It’s timing, like stepping back before you start your drive.”

I let out a little laugh. He could make anything sound reasonable. “Man, D. You should go into politics.”

“Or coaching,” said Mike.

“Naw,” I said. “All his best players would be taking the year off.”

They let it drop after that. Mike stood up, ready for round two. “Hey, guys,” he said. “Anyone else hungry?”

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