Short Story

Nate Besold
4/24/14
Short Story
       It was the day of game 7 of the NBA Finals, and Dwight Love was walking into the stadium, alone and isolated from everyone. He was the star player of the expansion team, the  Boise Money. It was the teams first season in the league, and they shocked everyone by getting to the finals. It was also Dwight Loves first year in the league, and while expectations were high for him, he still surprised everyone and became an elite player and all star. When Dwight was about to walk into the stadium, three big men wearing ski masks grabbed Dwight and pulled him into an alley. One of the men pulled a gun out and held it to his head.
       "Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything!" Yelled Dwight.
       "Shut up and you won't get hurt!" Yelled one of the men who had taken Dwight.
Dwight understood their orders, and kept his mouth shut.
       "Listen up Dwight." said the man with the gun. "We've made a hefty wager on this game, and if you lose, me and my two buddies here will get millions of dollars. We know that you're the best player on your team, and if you play bad, chances are you'll lose."
Dwight knew were they were going with this, and he couldn't believe it. The man with the gun continued talking, and said, "Essentially what I'm saying is, if your team, the Boise Money, loses to the Pistons, my friends and I will get lots of money, and we'll give you some too. But if you win, none of us will get any money. Just as a reminder, if you play well, chances are you'll win. And if you win, I'm not sure if you or your family will live past tomorrow."
Dwight was left speechless by what he had just heard. Lose intentionally?, Thought Dwight. He knew what the men said was true. If he played well, they would win. If not, they would lose. The three men pushed Dwight away, directing him to walk into the stadium. Dwight had the biggest decision of his life to make, and he knew that it wouldn't be easy to decide what to do.
      Dwight went through his normal shoot around and did his pre game routine, but with the game about to start, he still hadn't decided whether to play hard, hopefully win and have a possibility of he and his family living, or play bad lose, get some money and stay alive. When the ref through the ball up, indicating the start of the game, Dwight decided. He was going to play hard, try to win, and right after the game take his family far away. After all, his team was supposed to be last in the league, but they fought hard and were determined to prove the doubters wrong. It wouldn't be fair to his team to not give it his all. He still knew that even if he tried his best, he still could have an off night, or they could lose. But Dwight pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He was in it to win it.
    After three and a half quarters of play, the Money were tied with the Pistons at 80. Dwight was having one of his best games of his short career, as he had scored 38 points, had 10 assists and 6rebounds on 14-19 shooting. Unfortunately, the Pistons were playing great, as Jonas Jerebko was scoring a career high 53 points. Also, no one else on the Money were doing well, making it essentially a one man show for them. The game went on, and with 10 seconds left, the Pistons had the ball with the score tied. Jonas Jerebko drove to the rim for what seemed like a potential NBA Finals winning shot, but out of nowhere Dwight came and blocked the shot. With no thoughts of the potential murder, Dwight quickly dribbled up the court, with the crowd all on their feet, and loudly cheering for their star. With three second left, Dwight reached half court, his heart wildly racing, thinking about how he would be an eternal star if he made this shot. With two second left Dwight was just behind the three point line, still driving strong. And with one second left, Dwight pulled up at the free throw line, and with a hand in his face, shot the ball as the buzzer went off. The shot looked good all the way, and to the delight of Dwight, his teammates and the fans, the shot went in. Nobody could believe it Dwight and his teammates celebrated at mid court, with the crowd loudly cheering and the confetti falling from the ceiling. It truly was the greatest moment ever for Dwight and his teammates, as they had worked so hard to prove everyone wrong all season. When Dwight left the stadium that night, all thoughts about what happened before the game left his mind. All that he could think about was that he was a champion and a hero. That was all he could think about until the three men grabbed him and pulled him into an alley, where his family was tied up with socks in their mouths. Dwight was stunned. Before the game started he thought they could escape right after the game, and during the game he completely forgot about it. But it was to late to do anything now.
       "Remember what I said earlier Dwight, about how if you won you and your family wouldn't live." Said the man with the gun.
Dwight gulped and quietly mumbled something that none of the other men could hear.
     "Shoot them." Said one if the men. The man with the gun obeyed, and Dwight saw his mom, dad, brother, sister and wife get shot all in a row. Blood was everywhere, and Dwight got onto his knees and started loudly sobbing. His wife's head rolled right in front of him, a mere moments before Dwight too got shot in the head.