I started one of these with NBA 2K11 and I had a lot of fun with it so I figured I'd try it again on 2k14. We are not taking the conventional road to the NBA. The player I've created is a bit older than most and he's played two seasons in Spain's ACB League before coming back to play in the NBA (think Udonis Haslem). Still trying to figure out how I want to report this. Probably going to go with story for behind the scenes stuff, mixed with game reports. Best of both worlds, association mode and RTG type storytelling. Definitely want to throw in some social media action. Just having some fun with the whole thing. I hope everybody enjoys it. If not, sucks to be you.
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Game Over
This is it. It's really over, I think to myself as I watch confetti falling from the ceiling of the arena. I look over at the bench that has cleared out before looking to the center of the court to watch Real Madrid basketball team celebrate winning the Spanish Cup. It was a back and forth match, the entire series. A real uphill battle, but we made it past the semifinals and I was feeling good about our chances to finally take it all. Tied two games apiece, this was really win or go home for us. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see my opposition for the entire series, Marcus Slaughter standing behind me. I give him the customary one armed “bro hug” and we exchange a few post game pleasantries.
“You doing another season,” he asked.
“I don't know, man. We'll see what happens. Draft is at the end of the month. I'll catch up with you later, okay? Congratulations.”
“Hell of a series, man. It could have gone either way. You owed us from last season anyway.”
I give a quick nod and then I make my way towards the locker room, shaking hands with the opposing team along the way, but not really stopping to speak with anyway. Once I pass our bench, I see my agent Oliver Tate, in the stands waving at me. He certainly looks the part with his ear piece in and his iphone clutched in his hand. He walks down to me and holds out his fist for me to bump against mine.
“Tough loss, man. I definitely thought you guys had it in the bag.”
“Yeah, me too. Thanks for coming. Sorry we don't have much to celebrate.”
“Well, I wouldn't say that. There may be a little something to celebrate.”
“Something like what?”
“Go put on some real clothes and I'll meet you in the parking lot. We can talk at El Gran Barril.”
#########################
It is a short ride to the restaurant and we are seated quickly once we get inside. I’ve always liked this restaurant. Whenever I was in the mood for seafood this was one of the first places I would go to. The food is great, the staff is friendly. I have taken a fair share of my dates here. A few minutes later, I find myself pulled from my thoughts by the waitress taking our order. Surprisingly, Oliver orders a bottle of wine.
“If you haven’t noticed, we didn’t win the game tonight.”
He nods slowly. “And in case you forgot, I told you that there were other reasons to celebrate tonight.”
I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.
“Well?”
“You don’t want to wait for your food? I heard the lobster here is delicious.”
“I could use some cheering up, Ollie.”
Just as he was about to speak the waiter comes back with our wine. We sit in silence for another five minutes as he sips from his glass. It’s times like these when I don’t know why I put up with him. But he works hard for me. I go to speak, but Oliver speaks before I do.
“It’s time for you to go home, Derek.”
“I know that, man. The season is over. I’ll probably hang around for another week.”
“No, you need to leave like in two days. That’s why I’m here. Well, that and the championship game, but mostly you leaving as quickly as possible.”
“Why? Did something happen at home?” I pull my phone from my pocket, but I don’t see any text messages from my brother, my parents, or my cousin. “Stop talking in riddles, man.”
“Okay, look. Remember how I told you that I was going to get your stats and some film out to some scouts and teams?”
I nod and wait for him to continue not wanting to get ahead of myself.
“Well……a few teams liked what they saw and they want you to work out for them starting next week. Then we have the Rookie showcase coming up after that and the actual draft will be after—“
“Wait,” I interrupt him. He just said so much so quickly and I was trying to process it all. The draft? As in the NBA Draft? “Are you serious right now?”
“If I’m lying, I’m flying. I told you to just keep putting in work. You had solid numbers this season, man. You guys went to the finals. You won the championship last season. Coaches like your work ethic. You’re a rookie, but still a veteran in a sense, so you’ve gotten all that craziness out of your system unlike some of these kids that are going into the league right now. I think this is excellent.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say, man.”
Before he could respond the waitress places our entrees in front of us.
“Disfrutas.”
“Gracias,” we say simultaneously.
“Say ‘Thank you, O Dawg. I can’t wait to get back home and hear my name called in New York in three weeks’ or ‘I can’t wait to make you a super mega agent, O Dawg’ That would be a great place to start. Take your pick.”
I laugh and shake my head. He explains to me that I will probably go late first round, early second round. I would love to get to shake Commissioner Stern’s hand on draft night. That would be amazing. Not sure where I’ll end up. By this time next month, I could be in Cleveland, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. The possibilities are endless. It doesn’t matter at this point though. I just want to play.
By the time we make it back to my apartment, I feel exhausted from all the excitement. Oliver crashes on the couch as usual and says he’ll help me start packing tomorrow. Once we get back to the States, it’s going to be a whirlwind before the actual draft. I have all of about 5 days before the showcase and then the draft is on Thursday. -
Family Ties
“Yeah, I got it. I fly in on Sunday, do some press on Monday morning, practice on Monday afternoon. Light practice on Tuesday morning, Rookie Showcase on Tuesday night. Doing interviews with the teams on Wednesday, NBA Draft on Thursday. We’re staying at The New Yorker on Eighth Avenue. When are you coming out there?”
“I’ll be out there for the game on Tuesday. Early enough to take you to lunch.”
“Thanks, Oliver.”
“You know I take care of my clients, man. Especially the ones that are bringing in the big bucks.”
“Good to know. What did the teams say about my film?”
“I got really good feedback from all of them. Your distance shooting could use some work, but they do like the fact that you tend to drive to the basket with no fear. Your age is actually a plus, while they don’t feel like you have as much upside as the younger guys, you do have some potential, and a maturity level that’s rare with rookies. So that, like I said, is working in your favor. You’ll be fine, Derek. Just remember that the Showcase is to improve your stock. You’re going to get drafted, the better you perform, the higher you’ll go. Who knows? You may end up in Atlanta with me.”
“Or I may end up in Charlotte,” I said laughing. “But as long as I end up on a roster, I’m good. As crazy as it sounds, I would love to come back home and play for the Pelicans. Bring some glory to New Orleans. Chicago would definitely be my second choice. You know I am a huge Pippen fan. Playing with Derrick Rose? That would be crazy.”
“So you didn’t mention the Hawks.”
“Atlanta is cool, man. We’d probably make the playoffs more often than not considering that we are playing in the East. But I’m tired of the happy to be here ****, I want to get to the Finals.”
“Well, let’s get through the Draft first. I got some more work to do around here. Call me before you leave on Sunday and when you land. I will see you on Tuesday.”
“Later, O Dawg.”
############################
Two hours later, I find myself sitting in a restaurant enjoying some fajitas with my cousin Devin, who’s more like a second brother to me than my own brother. More on that later.
“I can’t believe you’re going to the NBA, man.”
“That’s what they say, Dev. You’re coming with me, man. I couldn’t have done this without you. I need somebody to keep the women at bay.”
“I’m trying to turn us into Lebron James and Maverick Carter and Paul Rich. At the same damn time.”
“I think you can do it too. You’re smart. You got that business degree from LSU while I was busting my *** at Nicholls.”
“I did that for us. Now look at you. Three years later and the thing is finally going to come in handy. Me and Ollie are gonna take care of you, man. You just gotta play ball.”
“I know.”
“What about Dax?”
I shrug my shoulders because I don’t know what to say. Dax is my twin brother. Great guy. He probably could have been a major league baseball player, but when my parents divorced when we were in high school, he got into some "other things". He’s 25 and he has three kids under the age of six by two different women. Typical. He’s still my brother and I love him though. He’s currently working at a barber shop, so I guess he’s moving in the right direction. I still don’t like the people that he hangs around.
“I want to help him out, but I can’t have him wherever I am being a distraction.”
“I get it, but I don’t want him to feel slighted that I’m going on this wild ride with you and not him.”
I nod my head. “I know. I’ll figure something out.”
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Re: Derek Baldwin|Been Around the World (NBA 2K14 MyCareer)
Great writing so far keep it up.mike-in-wonderland.tumblr.com
Get to know the real meComment
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Re: Derek Baldwin|Been Around the World (NBA 2K14 MyCareer)
I like this so far, it's a good read!Comment
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Welcome to the League, Mr. Baldwin
My first two days in New York were a breeze. The reporters were easy enough to handle, I’d done plenty of interviews during my time in Spain. The trick was to remember not to answer the reporters in Spanish. I let it slip a couple times. It was all good though. I was finishing up a photo shoot for a sports magazine and then we were headed out to eat.
I’m having lunch at a sandwich shop on 9th avenue with Trey Burke, Nerlens Noel, and Cody Zeller. We hadn’t really gotten a chance to hang out much because, well, I didn’t know what 20 year olds were into and we were pretty busy doing media stuff. Those guys were also busy with their agents and magazines and things like that. Aside from the shoot that we all did today, I hadn’t really done much promotional stuff. Just the usual stuff for NBA.com. But I’m not worried about all that. I’ll get to that in due time.
“So you’re the dark horse, huh,” Cody asked as he sat down across from me.
“I don’t think I am. I’m chasing a dream just like you all.”
“But you’re like 25.”
“Yep. That just means I gotta move and move quickly. So while y’all are still developing, expect a championship in my first three seasons,” I said with a smirk.
“Damn. It’s like that? I like this guy,” said Nerlens. “What was Spain like?”
“Spanish,” I said, getting a laugh from the guys at the table. “Nah, it was cool. I enjoyed my time there. I won a championship last season. We lost in the last game of the finals this year though. That was tough.”
“Is it weird being like the oldest dude here, even though you aren’t really that old,” Trey asked.
“I guess you can say that. I mean, you guys aren’t that young. You guys will be drinking and partying in no time. At least you and Cody will. I mean, I did my four years of college and then three more years as a professional overseas. Mason Plumlee gets it. He did the whole four years at Duke.”
“I feel you, D,” said Trey. “But I like your style man. We watched some of your film when we were hanging out. You play aggressive, but you’re in control though.”
“Thanks.”
“I just wanna know,” said Nerlens. “What were the girls like out there?”
“In Spain? Nice. They have beautiful women out there.”
“I know you must have hooked up with a lot of girls out there.”
“Not too many. I made friends with a few of the WNBA players since I would to their games every once in a while, so I got to hang out with their teammates. I tried to keep a low profile out there. As well as you could when you’re surrounded by a bunch of women that are around six feet tall,” I said as I pulled out my phone. I flipped through to some pictures of myself with Monique Currie and her teammates.
The conversation flowed between the three of us pretty well. A few people came up to our table asking for autographs, instantly recognizing Trey, and Cody. I even signed a few. I figured people were just being polite since they knew we were all there for the NBA Draft.
######################################
The showcase wasn’t too bad. I had a solid outing and I think I may have increased my stock a little. Probably not a lottery pick, but my name will definitely be called before the end of the first round.
After the game, Oliver took me out to dinner and gave me a quick rundown of what I was to expect on tomorrow.
“You impressed a lot of teams out of there tonight. You played like a bat out of hell and left it all on the court. I like that. Everybody was trying to figure out who number 9 was. You are the dark horse, my man.”
“That seems to be the recurring theme.”
“Um, yeah, who do you think came up with that? I want to get you on a blog or at least have somebody chronicle your rookie season wherever you land. I know you’re already on all the social media sites. You don’t have as much pre-draft hype surrounding you as these other guys, especially since you’re twenty-four and you’ve been playing in Spain for the past two years. But I think it’s going to work well.”
“I trust you, Ollie. Get with Devin on all that. So what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”
“Simple. You’re going to meet with some of the teams that are interested in drafting you and we will go from there. It’ll probably be about three or four interviews. You’re stock is moving up a bit, so now these teams wanna make sure you have your head on straight. Coming in at 25, you probably have high expectations. And I’m sure they have high expectations of you. They probably want you to make an impact early. Like sixth man, possibly moving into a starting role by all-star weekend early.”
“I can live with that. Which teams?”
############################################
It was finally time. I was sitting in the green room at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn waiting for my name to be called. I looked around the table at the people who meant the most to me: my parents, my brother, my cousin and my agent. My cell phone rang and I looked down to see that I was getting a video call from a number that I didn’t recognize. I pushed the green button on my phone and waited.
“Are you nervous?”
I smiled at the face on the screen. Carmen Calvo. She was one of my best friends overseas. She played with Monique Currie in Spain. We became fast friends after she tried to beat me in a dunk contest. She’s six foot three, so it could have happened. And I almost let it.
“Hell, yeah.”
“Don’t be. You’ll be an important piece to any team.”
“Have you talked to Alex?” Alex Abrines is a 19 year old shooting guard from Spain. He played for FC Barcelona. He’s a good kid. Has a quick game. Shoots well, runs well.
“Earlier today. He’s nervous too. You boys are silly.”
“This is my future I’m talking about, Carmen.”
“I know. I know. If you get drafted high enough, you can pay for my plane ticket to the U.S. I haven’t been there in years. Have they started yet?”
“Commissioner Stern just finished his speech. Cleveland has the first pick.”
“Okay. Well call me when it’s all over. Good luck even though you don’t need it.”
Cleveland drafted Anthony Bennett first this time around. It looks like they are really building a young competitive team this year. The countdown continued, the Bobcats took Cody Zeller with their fourth pick. I look over to Oliver and we both laugh. Nerlens was taken by the Pelicans with the sixth pick and Minnesota took Trey with the ninth pick. As he headed out to the stage, he shook my hand and said “See you on the other side, D.”
After Atlanta took two point guards with their seventeenth and eighteenth picks, I was starting to get nervous. I kept looking at Oliver’s cell phone waiting for it to ring, but nothing yet. A few minutes later Cleveland was on the clock, it was then that Oliver’s phone finally lit up. I could only hear one side of the conversation though.
“Oliver Tate….yes, he would…..sounds good……that’s great…..thank you. Good bye.”
He put his cell phone back on the table and sat back with a huge grin on his face.
“Am I about to get drafted?”
“Soon.”
This is it.Comment
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House Hunting
“When are you going to find somewhere to live,” asked Devin. We were sitting at an outside table at Park Grill enjoying a couple of pricey hamburgers. I'm currently staying at the W in downtown Chicago. At two hundred dollars a night, the **** is getting expensive fast. Just because I have a three million dollar contract doesn’t mean that I can just do whatever I want now.
“That’s the plan this week, man. I’ve only been here for two days. I want to enjoy Chicago first. Oliver has a realtor looking into some things for me. I want a space in a nice neighborhood that’s not too far from work.”
“This neighborhood is nice,” he says, looking around Millennium Park.
“Yeah, it is. Too nice for my *** though. Derrick Rose just got a spot at the Trump for like three million dollars. I’m looking for something more in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand.”
He raised his hands in defeat and went back to his sandwich. We eat in silence for a few minutes before my phone rang.
“Hello?”
“May I speak with Derek Baldwin?”
“You got him.”
“Derek, this is Cynthia Jacobson with Reliance Realty. I spoke with Mr. Tate and he explained to me that you were moving to Chicago and needed to find a place to stay.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I have a few places lined up for you to look at. Condos, not too far from the United Center. Is that correct?”
“Yes ma’am.”
She gave me the address to the first condo in Ukranian Village where she wants to meet me at 10 in the morning. I tell her that I’m looking forward to it and hang up the phone. I look up to see Devin looking at me expectantly.
“We start tomorrow.”
“Good.”
#####################
I stepped out of the cab and looked at the address to make sure I had the right place. The neighborhood looked nice, but the building was just okay. It didn’t really speak to me. The unit was nice though. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms. Wood floors. But the kitchen was too small.
The second unit wasn’t too far away. It only had two bedrooms though. It was nice, but it didn’t have a washer and dryer in the unit. I need to be able to throw things in the machine at a moment’s notice. That wasn’t going to work for me.
She had one more place to show me. It was in Wicker Park, a few miles north of Ukrainian Village. When we pulled up to the unit, I was impressed with the neighborhood. Trees lined the streets. Perfect for an early morning walk. We head up the steps leading into the apartment and I see the living room and there is laundry room across the hall. At the end of the hall, there’s a set of stairs. The stairs lead to an open space and the kitchen. The kitchen wasn’t massive, but with the layout, I wouldn’t feel boxed in.
“The previous owners used this as another seating area. Couches and chairs,” Cynthia told us.
“So, no dining room?”
“Well they had chairs at the bar in the kitchen, so there was really no need for a dining table.”
“Okay. That could work. Mount a television right there. That’d be nice.”
“Through here, you’ll find the master suite.”
I walk past the kitchen and go to the left and see a massive bedroom with an en suite bathroom with dual sinks. It didn’t look like it would be this big judging from the outside. Coming out of the room, I had back toward the stairs and make my way up to the other two bedrooms.
“This room big enough for you,” I ask Devin. He walks in and looks around with this look on his face like he’s really contemplating something.
“It’ll do.”
“Okay, now, I have something that I think you’re really going to love.”
We follow Cynthia up the stairs to the roof. What we find is a deck that is begging for us to barbecue. The view is excellent. We’re basically looking out over the entire neighborhood.
“We’ll take it,” Devin all but yells.
“Can we think it over first?”
“Do we have to?”
“I’d like to.”
Cynthia laughs at our antics. “The asking price for this place is three hundred twenty-five thousand. But is has been on the market for a while, so we may be able to get that price down a bit.”
“Like down to three hundred thousand?”
“I can ask and see what we can do.”
“Cool. Between us though. I’m willing to do three hundred fifteen.”
By the end of the week, I got a call back from Cynthia saying that they would do it for three hundred ten thousand. Works for me. Las Vegas Summer League is around the corner and then I can rest for a bit, probably do some more press. Then it’s time for training camp.Comment
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Re: House Hunting
Can't wait for more
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Bulls.com: Rookie Report
Derek Baldwin: Rookie Report
Posted on July 11, 2013 at 1:42 pm by Craig Weston in General
After losing starting point guard Derrick Rose and getting bounced from the playoffs by a determined Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls find themselves poised to make a serious comeback in the NBA. Rose is back and from the many reports we’ve gotten over the offseason, he looks scary good. Chicago has gotten rid of a few players, Richard Hamilton and Nate Robinson to be specific, but the core remains. Along with Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and Carlos Boozer are looking to make a statement this season. The Bulls hope that they have found the finishing touches with rookies Tony Snell, Erik Murphy and Derek Baldwin. Now the interesting thing about Baldwin is that he is a 25 year old NBA rookie. After playing splitting his college career between Blinn (Texas) and Nicholls State (Louisiana), he was not high on the list of draft prospects in that included John Wall, Greg Monroe, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors and others.
“2010 wasn’t my year,” says Baldwin. “While I like to think I could have made an impact on an NBA team early, it seemed to be the year of the post players. So I decided to take my talents to Spain.”
Baldwin knew he had long road ahead of him, so he decided to make the best of it. He signed a contract with a second tier Spanish team before getting his shot at Spain’s top league, playing with FC Regal.
“Being away from home was hard. My parents and my brother were back in Louisiana. But after discussing it, we decided that it was what I needed to do. I gave myself five years to get back here or I was going to hang it up. Maybe come back and coach high school basketball. The older you get, the harder it is to get into the NBA. I tried to be realistic about it. After we won the championship last year, I thought for sure I’d be headed back, but my agent told me to give it one more year. “
After having two successful seasons with FC Regal, he was told by his agent that it was time.
“We had just lost the championship to Real Madrid, the team we beat the year before. And Oliver [Tate] comes to take me to dinner. You’d think we had just won. Then he drops the bomb on me. I had to get back to the States because there was a spot waiting for me in the rookie showcase. I had a decent showing and here we are.”
Being an older guy is a good thing and a bad thing for Derek. He knows he still has to cut his teeth like the other rookies and earn his spot on the team, but he also brings a veteran presence to the team that a lot of young guys can't say they possess.
“He has a polished quality about him from playing at that level in Spain and it shows. It was something that we were very impressed with when we met with him so we knew that if he was available we would definitely pick him up,” commented Bulls GM, Gar Forman. “We can’t wait to get him in training camp.”
Baldwin knows that this is not going to be a cake walk. The Bulls have made the playoffs for the past five seasons and every season, they’ve gotten bounced out. They managed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals one of those years, where they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat. Hopefully, this new crop of young players will provide Chicago the push that it needs.
“This is a dream come true for me. I grew up in the Jordan Era. I am a huge Bulls fan. Aside from the Hornets, I’m not comfortable with the Pelicans thing yet, they are the only other team I really watched. And to get a chance to stand under those banners in the United Center in the red and white, it truly is amazing. These guys are looking to win and so am I. When you have a group of guys that are driven by the desire to succeed, you can’t lose. You just can’t.”
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Sugar....
I step out of my condo preparing to head to the gym for practice and I see a woman walking up sidewalk heading towards the condo next door. She’s wearing a suit, so I’m assuming that looks like she’s just getting off work. She’s pretty. Like really pretty. So I do the only thing I know to do.
“Good evening,” I say from my side of the fence.
“What’s so good about it,” she asks. I was thrown by that statement. I thought maybe my timing was off and then she smiled. Did I say she was pretty? She’s beautiful.
“Um, okay. Somebody had a long day,” I say as I walk toward the fence. I extend my hand and she takes it. “I’m Derek.”
“Jessica. And yes it has been a long day.”
“Sounds like a glass of wine and a movie type of evening.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Well—" I’m interrupted by my phone buzzing in my pocket. I take it out and quickly look at it. It’s Devin asking about tickets to the game tomorrow. Speaking of which, I was on my way to practice. “Well, uh, don’t let me keep you. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Maybe.” She turns and heads back toward her condo and something compels me to yell out again as she puts her key in the lock.
“You got plans tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, I do. I have a date,” she says with a small smile and walks inside.
“Oh. Well, um, see you around.”
She nods and closes the door. I mentally kick myself and head to my car.
#############################
It’s been a little over a week and I haven’t really seen Jessica around. Well, mostly because I’ve been out of town every other night during preseason. But that is coming to an end soon. We have three home games this week which means that I will be in Chicago for more than two nights. Then we have another week of back and forth, then it’s off to Miami for the first game of the season. Preseason is going okay. Coach T is trying to tweak the lineup and make sure that everything is everything. I’ve gotten some time off the bench behind Jimmy Butler, but the bulk of my minutes come when Kirk is running the point. I’m not sure how long that is going to last.
Even though we lost a close game to Indiana last night and coach gave us Saturday off after going over some film this morning, but we will be right back at it bright and early on Sunday morning. I find myself in the kitchen on this fine evening cooking Chicken Florentine (not really, it’s from the bag that you pour into the skillet. What? I’m tired) when there is a knock on my door. I know it can’t be Devin because he’s on a date with some waitress that he met at some restaurant while I was in Indiana. I turn off the stove and make my way downstairs. I can’t see anything out of this peep hole, so I’m hoping like hell that no one is here to rob me. So imagine my surprise when I open the door to see—
“Jessica.”
She turns around with a surprised look on her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to the answer the door at my house.
“Hey, I was wondering if you had any sugar?”
Sugar? How original.
“Sugar?”
“Yeah. I’m baking and I’m out of sugar.”
“Is that right?”
“Do you have some or not?”
“Sure. Come in.” I step back and gesture for her to enter the condo. We take the stairs to the kitchen in complete silence. I grab a container and decide against it and just hand her the entire canister.
“I don’t need this much.”
“It’s fine. I don’t really use it. But, since I am aiding in the process, I feel inclined to ask for an invitation to taste test this dessert that you got going on, Betty Crocker.”
“I already have someone to taste my desserts.” Damn. Foiled again. Then she gives me a smirk and says, “If he’s okay with sharing, I’ll bring some over when I’m done.”
We find ourselves back at our starting point and she steps through the front door of my apartment and back down the sidewalk.Comment
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Season Opener - Bulls at Heat
Rookie Scores Eight Points in NBA Debut
Rookie Derek Baldwin scores his first NBA points
The Chicago Bulls kicked off their season the same way they ended it....with a loss in Miami. The Bulls were nowhere to be seen as the Heat received their championship rings before tipoff. The Bulls got off to a strong start, but Miami managed to bounce back in the second half. Rookie Derek Baldwin made his debut tonight finishing with six points as the Bulls fell to the Heat by a score of 79-88. Lebron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 45 points to lead the charge. Derrick Rose had a rough night from the floor, scoring 15 points on six of thirteen shooting.
“No days off. We set the tone now. Right now. The road to the championship starts now." - Lebron James
CHI (0-1)|16|24|23|16|79
MIA (1-0)|8|29|26|25|88
Key Performers
D. Rose - 15 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds
C. Boozer - 11 points, 8 rebounds
L. James - 23 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
D. Wade - 22 points, 6 assists, 3 steals
Jordan Player of the Game
Lebron James - 23 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Other Results
October 31
NYK|16|18|17|11|62
CHI|38|28|24|13|103Comment
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