Game 7

Houston

Texas

USA

He sat on his bench, the nerves finally hitting him. His face was hot and his brain was slowly transcending to insanity. He felt he was standing on the edge of a cliff, not knowing if he would keep his footing, or fall victim to the vast ocean of anxiety beneath him.

“Kumar,” said Coach Steven Walker. “Let’s roll.”

Lokesh got up from his nervous reverie and joined his coach and visibly terrified team in their walk to the court.

This was the moment every NBA player worked for and dreamt of their entire lives.

This was win, or go home.

This was Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

*

Shibuya City

Tokyo

Japan

Coach Shiro Oujiro sat in front of his television screen with his family. He was joined by Kobayashi Ichikawa’s old teammates and friends at Shibuya High School. Kobayashi’s mother Hiroko was sitting in the arena in Houston, and was hence not present. He switched to the channel where Game 7 was scheduled to be broadcasted.

Everyone was there, to watch their guy, Kobayashi, play for his, and Japan’s first NBA championship.

This was it.

*

Los Angeles

California

USA

Everyone at the Orange County Orphanage crowded around their television screen, chattering excitedly. The caretaker handed out snacks, prayed to Jesus, and switched on the TV.

She prayed for Odai Beckham Jr’s entire life’s work to come to fruition.

This was it.

*

Bangalore City

Karnataka State

India

Halfway across the world from Houston, multiple TV screens blared to life. Their watchers folded their hands in silent prayer.

She once hated the boy, for he never listened to her classes. But, as she turned on her screen, Mrs. Anita, Lokesh’s middle school mathematics teacher, prayed that her student would win himself a championship.

Meanwhile, in the small, dingy roads of the city where the lower echelons of society lived, a large crowd gathered around a small television screen that they had rented. They were the sweepers, gardeners, bus drivers, bus-conductors, security guards, and cleaners who did the odd-jobs in Lokesh’s old school. They had once loved this boy like their own son. And now, they were praying to watch him ascend to the top of the basketball world. They were joined by Lokesh’s best friend, Karan Singh, who had arranged the cable for the TV.

Meanwhile elsewhere, the former assistant coach of Lokesh’s old school’s basketball team, Shiva, put on the game for him and his family. He too, prayed for Lokesh’s victory.

Lokesh’s old friends, Parth Prasad and Jyot Singh, who had helped him receive a certificate for the NBA, were delighted to see his ascent to the top. They cheered him on as hard as they could.

And finally, Lokesh’s friends in his engineering college, Ashish Mehra, Coach Ganesh Sampath, and the entire team of State College of Engineering, Mysore, shed tears in sheer joy. Their inspiration and friend was now playing Game 7 of the NBA Finals!

The amount of people he’d impacted. The amount of lives he’d touched. This was what made Lokesh the franchise player.

Now all that was left was to win.

This was it.

*

Houston

Texas

USA

He was running to the basketball court of his school excitedly. A piece of paper was taped to his back. It said:

KUMAR

64

Then, the scene changed.

He was slightly older, and was walking towards his school’s basketball court. Neha had promised to teach him how to do a reverse layup. He still had the paper taped to his back. It said:

KUMAR

64

Then, the scene changed again.

He was sitting on the bench. The coach of his PU College had decided he would stay there forever. His hands itched with the desire to play. He now wore a jersey. Something was written on the back.

KUMAR

64

Then, the scene changed again.

He was now playing collegiate basketball in India. He was the life, light, and inspiration of his team. They felt a jolt of energy, vigor, and zeal by just looking at his jersey.

KUMAR

64

The scene changed again.

He was now playing for his state. He had led them to the national title. Nothing had changed, however, as his jersey still remained the same. Its impact remained the same.

KUMAR

64

The scene changed again.

He was at the NBA Draft Combine. He wore a weird vest as he played against Keon Jordan Jr. But, his new team loved him. They felt the vibe from his jersey number.

KUMAR

64

The scene switched to another.

He was playing for the Sugarland Venom of the G-League. He was the most dominant player. His dominance rubbed off on his team as well, pouring out of his jersey.

KUMAR

64

Then, the scene switched one last time.

His dream had come true. He was an NBA player. He was now the franchise player of the Houston Spacewalkers. His name, and jersey number were enough to light a fire in the hearts of the fans and teammates.

KUMAR

64

Finally, back in the present, the NBA Finals logo was etched onto the jersey. With his back to his teammates, Lokesh walked out onto the court to a shockwave of sound which came from the roar of the crowd. They loved him. He was going to play in Game 7 of the NBA finals, with the entire team riding on him. Everyone, teammates, and fans alike, as well as people from around the world, felt that jolt of excitement and zeal as they saw his jersey on the big screen.

KUMAR

64

“I’m not just representing myself and everyone that helped and loved me,” thought Lokesh. “This number 64, represents my idol, Terry Parker!”

*

Deandre Washington had returned from his suspension, and the entirety of Houston knew that he was going to be in a tetchy mood, and would be coming after them from the start.

Coach Steven Walker looked at his team. “Remember those moves you’ve been practicing? Time to bust them out!” he said.

“ONE! TWO! THREE!” called Danny Reynolds.

“END THE CURSE!” bellowed the whole team.

The announcer began to call names.

“GUARD! 5’5! FROM TOKYO, JAPAN! NUMBER 1! KOBAYASHI ICHIKAWA!”

“GUARD! 6’4! FROM SEATTLE! NUMBER 13! DANNY REYNOLDS!”

“CENTER! 7’1! FROM NEW YORK! NUMBER 34! KEON JORDAN JR!”

“FORWARD! 6’11! FROM LOS ANGELES! NUMBER 3! ODAI BECKHAM JR!”

Finally.

“FORWARD! 6’6! FROM BANGALORE, INDIA! NUMBER 64! LOKESH KUMAR!”

The crowd roared in approval as number 64, Lokesh Kumar, took to the court with his team. “It doesn’t get bigger than this!” he thought.

As Keon and Deandre lined up for possibly the most important tip-off of their lives, the crowd waited with bated breath. This was the final game of the finals. In eighty years, the Houston Spacewalkers had never won a championship. An eighth seed had never won the championship. No team had ever made a comeback from being down 0-3 to win.

This was their shot at history.

*

Deandre’s face contorted in pure shock as Keon jumped above him and tipped the ball to Lokesh. As fast as a flash, Lokesh ran to the other end with Josh Okongo in hot pursuit. Odai Beckham Jr also used his long legs and extreme speed to run straight at Jared McRod, who prepared to get mowed down and draw an offensive foul. But, Odai spun past Jared and jumped into the air. Jared was now in complete bewilderment. “How does he spin while running at that speed?” he thought. “And without the ball?”

Lokesh crossed Josh Okongo, and flung the ball to the ground. It bounced back up and shot straight into Odai’s hands, who finished with a monster dunk.

“OH WHAT A WAY TO START THE GAME! ODAI BECKHAM JR! WITH THE EMPHATIC DUNK! AND THE SPIN MOVE! WOW!”

This was Odai’s signature move that he’d been developing.

Planetary Spin.

And it got the crowd on their feet.

Odai Beckham Jr had just set the game’s tempo.

After that, Josh Okongo, Stalney Smith, Deandre Washington, Petar Varga, and Jared McRod started piling on points. No matter how well they were defended, they would find new and innovative ways to score.

The first quarter ended with Baltimore leading 36-31.

It wasn’t a big lead, and Steven Walker knew that.

“Dan, Keon,” he said. “Time to take over!”

Kobayashi inbounded the ball after Jared McRod scored. Danny Reynolds caught it and ran towards the other end. Just before reaching the half court line, he stopped and raised his hands.

“For real?” thought Josh. “What’s he doing from there?”

SWISH.

“OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT WAS THAT? DANNY REYNOLDS! FROM HALF COURT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

This was Danny’s new shot.

Asteroid.

The crowd loved it. They cheered and hooted for Dan. “SNIPER! SNIPER! SNIPER!” they cheered.

Dan shot three more Asteroids into the hoop. By now, Josh was extremely agitated. He threw down two poster dunks over Dan to silence him and the crowd.

The crowd was booing their old franchise player for his betrayal, and he didn’t like it.

Keon caught a pass from Lokesh and stared down Deandre Washington. He then pivoted on one foot to the right, and instantly to the left. Deandre was thrown off balance as Keon dribbled, pivoted away again, and threw down a reverse dunk over him.

“OOOOOHHH! KEON JORDAN JR! WITH THE FOOTWORK! FOLLOWS IT WITH THE MONSTER JACKHAMMER! WHAT A MOVE!”

This was Keon’s new move.

Shake ‘n’ Bake.

The crowd’s cheers were deafening by now. They loved every bit of the shake, and the bake.

But, the heat of Josh Okongo was too much to handle. By the end of the third, Baltimore led the game 90-81. The fourth quarter was even more brutal as Jared McRod and Petar Varga started to make their shots.

It was the franchise player’s time to take over, and he did. Lokesh helped his entire team go on a scoring spree. He blocked Josh twice, Petar once, Jared once and Stanley Smith twice. He even rejected Deandre Washington at the rim.

Lokesh was now on 39 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 blocks.

This was why he dreamt of being a small forward, the most versatile player in the game.

He was doing a little bit of everything.

With 10 seconds left, Deandre Washington found himself being guarded by Kobayashi Ichikawa. Baltimore led the score at 107-105. Deandre decided to run down the game clock and take the championship. He started dribbling slowly, staring down at Kobayashi.

The pressure was intense, it was mind-numbing, and it was extreme. The championship was on the line! Kobayashi then gave in and decided to do his move, which he had vowed never to use.

As Deandre pushed the ball down and waiting for it to bounce back up into his hands, Kobayashi crouched down with such speed that Deandre couldn’t even process what had happened. Extending his arm forward, Kobayashi swiped it backwards. As the ball bounced off the ground and towards Deandre’s hand, Kobayashi’s arm swiped it out from under him mid-dribble. Everyone in the arena was astounded by the move, the likes of which they had never seen before.

Kobayashi’s signature move, the swipe-steal.

The ball shot like a tracer bullet towards the court boundary.

“NOOOOOO!” howled Kobayashi.

“Why did I do that now?” he fumed. “There’s nobody fast enough to catch that!”

But, the gods had his back.

There was one man who was fast enough to catch the swipe-steal.

Lokesh shot towards the ball like a cheetah, grabbing it in his massive hands. Kobayashi was absolutely stunned by the speed. All the speed that Lokesh had developed running from bullies had been for this moment. As he raced towards the goal, he found Josh Okongo there, determined to prevent the layup.

But…

Lokesh leapt up into the air. He never seemed to lose altitude. Josh tried to stop him with both arms outstretched, but Lokesh flew on...

“HOW IS HE STILL IN THE AIR??” thought Josh.

Lokesh was still flying towards the goal. He dunked the ball in with a satisfying THUNK.

“WHAT WAS THAT?” yelled the fans, team, and coaches.

Lokesh had forced the game into overtime, with the help of Kobayashi’s swipe-steal.

107-107.

“OOOOOOOHHHHHHH MY LORDS! LOOOOKESHHH KUMAAAAAAAR! DID YOU SEE THAT, MATT? HE JUST DUNKED IT!”

“YES I DID, BILL! HE’S JUST DUNKED IT!”

“HE JUST DUNKED FROM THE FREE THROW LINE!”