Right Knee

Houston

Texas

USA

The Houston Spacewalkers team was now under intense criticism and fire from many NBA analysts and internet personalities for being 0-3 down in the series (1). The various intellectuals castigated the team and their players for the abysmal showing at the highest stage of basketball in the world.

“They got to the finals through sheer luck!”

“It must be Danny Reynolds! He’s a certified cancer in the locker room!”

“Lokesh Kumar is a coward! He isn’t stepping up!”

“It is Keon Jordan Jr’s arrogance causing the string of defeats!”

“If Houston had a taller point-guard, they’d actually win!”

“Odai Beckham Jr is a draft bust!”

“Lokesh cannot call himself the franchise player!”

“Lokesh must have lost his crazy jumping abilities after his two injuries!”

“We always knew, that an Indian man cannot handle the physicality of the NBA!”

Amidst these rants and tirades, Lokesh Kumar finally made his return in game 4.

A must-win game.

*

Deandre Washington won the tip off against Keon. He passed to Stanley Smith, who ran the play. Smith passed to Josh Okongo, who decided to drive to the basket. But, the ball was robbed by Odai Beckham Jr. Odai ran to the other end and dunked it.

He knew.

Before the game, Lokesh had told him, that he would have to take care of the scoring in that game. The others would have their hands full.

Odai made full use of his new role. He threw down powerful dunks over Stan, Petar, Josh, Jared McRod, and even Deandre Washington. The Baltimore Barrage were helpless against the long-legged power forward with the gigantic stride.

Lokesh pulled Odai aside. “They’ll be waiting for you next. Pass the ball to me!”

Petar Varga made a three pointer. Almost instantly, Odai flung a powerful inbound pass to Lokesh. Lokesh raced towards the basket at full throttle. He noticed that Deandre Washington stood in his way.

Lokesh went to the corner of the free throw box around the paint and jumped from there.

“NO WAY!” yelled the commentator. “HE’S GOING TO DUNK FROM THERE?”

Deandre jumped up to reject the dunk, but Lokesh went underneath him, almost all the way to the basket and did a layup.

“WOW! DID YOU SEE THAT AIR TIME?”

Deandre Washington was stunned. He was sure that, with the way he’d injured Lokesh, he’d never have his bounce back. But Lokesh had just out-finessed him using only his bounce.

A new move was created, and the name was apt to the air time, and to the franchise.

The Spacewalk was born.

It made Lokesh look like he was travelling in zero gravity.

Like a walk in space.

Lokesh turned to him and smiled.

“Should’ve gone for my right knee back then!”

Lokesh was a predominantly right-footed person. When Deandre had injured him, he’d targeted his left knee and left foot again. And both injuries had healed well. Having his right foot in peak health meant no loss of air time for Lokesh.

The wrong leg had been targeted.

Deandre lost it. He went at Lokesh, swinging his fists at him, but Lokesh deftly avoided the attacks. An official was brutally shoved to the ground as security was called in.

Deandre Washington was ejected from the game, and suspended for the next three games for pushing an official.

Without him, Houston crept back into the series. They won the next three games with Deandre absent.

They managed to level the series 3-3.

A storm in Baltimore shifted game 7 to Houston.

The biggest game in NBA history.

Game 7 of an NBA finals.

*

The day before the finals, Lokesh had visitors.

He was confused. Neha was applying for college, and his family and friends were back in India. Who would be visiting him?

He came out to see a bunch of people he didn’t recognize.

A lady of Asian descent stepped forward. “My name is Ichikawa Hiroko,” she said. “I’m Kobayashi’s mother.”

“Oh, I see. Really nice to see you, ma’am!”

Another woman spoke. “I am Danyelle McDermitt. I’m the caretaker in Odai Beckham Jr’s orphanage.”

“I’m Rochelle Jordan, and this is my husband Keon Sr. We’re Keon’s parents.”

Finally.

“I’m Eva Reynolds. I’m Dan’s wife. These are my kids, Alice and Benjamin.”

Lokesh stared at her. “So she’s Dan’s wife!”

“With everything we’ve got,” said Rochelle. “We’d like to thank you, kid. You changed that boy. You made him a better person and athlete!”

“You changed his life for the better,” said Danyelle.

“You allowed him to play and honor his father’s memory,” said Hiroko.

“Please, help me, kid,” sobbed Eva.

“What’s wrong, ma’am?”

“I want to be back with my husband! But I can’t! I left him that day out of envy of other women! But I love that man to death! Please, kid. Tell him I’m sorry!”

“You wanted him to win a championship, right? Now he’s this close!”

“Yes, but I want to be there with him! I want to support him like I used to!”

Lokesh grinned. “Ma’am, I’ll tell Dan about you. Attend the game tomorrow. Cheer him from the sidelines! Everyone must attend the game tomorrow and cheer us!"

“Will he ever forgive me?”

“Ma’am. He’s spent his whole life wanting you back. He’ll be mad, but he’ll forgive you!"

“You really think so?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. He smiled at the kids.

“When we win tomorrow, run out of the stands, and hug him. Savor the moment together!”

Endnotes.

1. Series: A playoffs/finals series is a set of 7 games. To win, a team must win 4 games. 0-3 means that the team has won 0 and lost 3 games. One more loss, the number becomes 4, and you lose the series.