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Family Matters (Part 1)
Family Matters (Part 1)
“Way to rebound from that rocky start, Rook.” LeBron said to me in the locker room at halftime. I came out and turned the ball over twice in my first minute on the floor. Fortunately, I redeemed myself and we had a 12 point lead over the Sixers.
“Thanks.”
“You gotta remove all distractions when you step inside those four lines. You’ve been playing well for us so far. Keep it up, man.”
Easy for you to say. Your job isn’t in jeopardy. I thought to myself. I nodded my head in agreement and grabbed my phone from my bag. I had a text from my girl.
Lawyer Bae Today at 7:48 PM
You got this, babe. I know you’re under a lot of stress right now, but everything will work itself out. DJ and I love you no matter what.
I smiled before sending a response back.
David Today at 8:49 PM
You always know what to say, Lawyer Bae. I appreciate you more than you know. I’m just ready to come home.
I put my phone away and tried to focus on what I needed to do in the second half.
[i]3 hours earlier
I was in my Lakers warm up pants and a t-shirt, going through my pre-shoot around stretches when I faintly heard someone calling my name.
“David! David!”
I took my Beats Wireless earbuds out and turned toward the sound. They were actually shouting my name. Unfortunately, I recognized the voice.
“That’s my son. David!”
I walked over to the security guard, Brandon, and told him that I knew him and that everything was good.
“You didn’t tell people you had family in Philly?”
“It didn’t really come up.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave any tickets for your old man at the box office.”
“Are you really that surprised?”
He didn’t respond.
“How’d you get tickets anyway?”
“Well, one of my members is a season ticket holder and asked if I wanted to go to the game.”
“One of your female church members?” I say with sarcasm.
He ignored my jab and kept talking. “He knows that our relationship is a bit strained. I haven’t seen you play in person since you left for college.”
“Not my fault, Pop.”
My mind went back to one of the last conversations that I had with my father. Well, it wasn’t a conversation. It was more like an argument. After I talked to my mother, we both sat down to talk to my father about Dominique and the baby. And he had some not so nice things to say. He kept saying that Dominique was trying to trap me. He wouldn’t even give me money to buy a plane ticket to make it to Houston for DJ’s birth. But the Malloy’s came through and paid for tickets for me and my mom. When I decided to go to Houston for school to be closer to them, he basically cut me off.
“Listen, son. I tried to reach out to you on Draft Night, but your number had changed.”
“My agent thought it was best. All the people that need my number, have it”
“I’ve been praying for you, son. Look at how blessed you are. Living your dream. Playing with one of the best players of your generation.”
“How much do you need?”
“Have you still been tithing regularly? I bet there aren’t any good churches out there in Los Angeles.”
“How. Much. Pastor Fred.” My words are low and short.
“Just seeing how blessed you’ve been, despite your many attempts to ignore my guidance, I wanted to speak to you about investing in the ministry.”
“And there it is. I’m young and I have a family to take care of, Pop. I can’t just waste my money. You didn’t even ask about your grandson.”
“So, the DNA results came back positive?”
I was about to say something, but I saw a few of my teammates coming on to the court. I waved the security guard over and asked him to escort the man back to his seat. Then I headed back the locker room and stayed there until ten minutes before start of the game.
Some things never changed.
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How Sweet the Sound | Big Things Ahead
Big Things Ahead
“You played a good game tonight, David. Can’t win ‘em all. But we like what you’re doing out there. Coach Ham is going to push you even harder to make sure you belong in the starting lineup.”
“I hear you, Coach Phil. I’m ready to take it to the next level.”
I step out of the locker room and see Ray standing in the tunnel. To say we just loss to Boston, he looked awfully chipper. He starts walking toward the exit. I toss my bag over my shoulder and follow him.
“Tough loss, David. But I got some good news for you.”
“What could possibly turn this frown upside down?”
“We have a meeting tomorrow at one o’clock.”
“Meetings are not exciting, Ray.”
“Well, I’ll just tell the folks over at Jordan Brand that you’re too depressed to talk.”
That stopped me in my tracks.
“Hold up. Jordan Brand? Me? Tomorrow?”
“Yes, yes, and yes.” He laughs and waits for me to catch up to him. “Now that all that trade talk is over, they are ready to talk. You’re starting to establish yourself. And I may have let it slip to one of their guys when I was out golfing a couple days ago that Adidas and Puma were also interested.”
“You know I’ve been holding out for Jordan though.”
“You know that and I know that, but they don’t know that. Not only have you managed to keep your cool about all the rumors swirling, but you’ve been improving your game. You’re back in the starting lineup. You’re scoring average is going up. This loss to Boston was just a hiccup. You’re getting a lot of love out there, man.”
I thought about what he said. I had been making some pretty serious strides. I had endorsement deals with Door Dash and Mobil 1. I’ve even done some local stuff like Hank’s Mini-Mart. Dominique was at the Marathon Clothing store and stumbled across it. I was used to doing local stuff after my time at U of H. We had plenty of local deals. It makes us more relatable and accessible to the community. So, I jumped at the chance to work with the owner, Kelli.
“I really appreciate this. Where we meeting?”
“Pine and Crane. It’s not too far from your place. So, don’t be late.”
“Am I ever?”
“No, but don’t start now. Dress casual, but smart. And just be your humble self.”
“That endorsement is as good signed.”
############################
“How’d the meeting go, babe?”
Dominique was sitting on the couch watching television with DJ. She was wearing a pair of my Lakers shorts and a USC hoodie. I plopped down next to her. DJ crawled into my lap.
“Meeting went well.”
“Signature shoe well?”
“Slow down, girl.” I laughed.
“I’m just saying. We need to secure these endorsement bags. A lot of players make more money off the court than they do on it.”
“I hear you. But they like what they’re seeing. My Q Rating is going up, so I’m almost a full-fledged celebrity. My social media feed is nice, I’m a wholesome guy. I genuinely love the brand, another plus. Playing in Los Angeles certainly helps. My community engagement is good.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Yeah, yeah going to Hank’s didn’t hurt.”
“So, what does all that mean for you?”
“Well, I have what they called a cash deal. So, we’re looking at a base salary of about half a million a year.”
“Half a what?” Her eyes got huge causing me to laugh.
“Half a million, babe. But Ray said he’s going to try and get that number pushed up. They are heavy on the incentives. I mean, some of them are a little out of reach for my first year: become an All-Star starter, make NBA All-First Team, win League MVP, win Finals MVP. But it’s all in there for down the road. I can make some serious bread. Like two or three million by the end of the year.”
“That’s major, D.”
“It’s crazy, right? But for right now, they wanna see how well I play over the next few games and then maybe I’ll have a billboard in the city with my face on it sometime in 2023.”
“A billboard is a big deal, baby! Not a website or a magazine, but a whole *** billboard.”
“Don’t say that, Mama.” DJ piped up. We both laughed.
“Sorry, sweetie. Daddy is gonna be on a big sign in Los Angeles.”
DJ just nodded and smiled.
“So what about you? Classes done?”
“Yep. I took my last final this morning. And I can relax a bit for the next couple weeks.”
“Sounds like we have a lot to celebrate. How are you feeling about a lunch date tomorrow? Just me and you.”
“For real for real?”
“Mhmm. I’ll see if Ma wants to watch DJ for a couple hours.”
“Just a couple of hours?” She raised her eyebrow at me. “I was thinking there would be more to the celebration than just lunch. I mean, it’s been a while since we—”
“Say less.”
I text my mom to see if she was available to watch DJ for the day tomorrow in exchange for a spa weekend in Phoenix for her and my Aunt Janine. She immediately texted back that she was.
“You’ve got yourself date, Dom.”
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