I pressed the green answer button and put the phone on speaker.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Philip, I don't get you man," said Kenny on the other end. "But I don't wanna give up on you either."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"Lemme help you pack," he said. "Just don't talk to me about the blue horse."

"For what it's worth, it's a pony," I said, then hung up the phone.

I spent the next twenty or so minutes wondering how Kenny actually felt about helping me pack. I doubt that he really wanted to do it. I was his teammate, and he probably didn't want to give up on me for that very reason.

Before I opened the door for him I told Rainbow not to talk to him, figuring it was the best thing I could do.

When he walked in he took one look around, stared at Rainbow for a few seconds, then looked at me. "Come on," I said, leading him to the half-organized mess that was once my room.

With Kenny's help, I was able to finish much sooner than anticipated. He looked like he was ready to leave after packing the final box. Before he left I said one more thing:

"See you in the fourth quarter."

He shook his head, and I could've sworn I saw a smile on his face when he closed the door. I smiled to myself and turned to see Rainbow staring at me. Clearly she was confused. I was confused as to why she was confused.

"What?" I said.

"What did that mean? 'See you in the fourth quarter?'" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"It was an inside thing," I replied. "He's good in the clutch, so we call him King of the Fourth Quarter. Next time I play him, I'll be seeing him in the fourth quarter."

"Okay..." she said. I could tell she still didn't really get it.

Fast forward to opening night of the 2018-19 season. The house I bought in Oakland is a bit nicer than my old one, but still a one-story since aside from Rainbow Dash I live alone.

I entered Oracle Arena and noticed a small sign near the entrance.

It read CHASE CENTER: OUR NEW HOME COMING 2020!

Underneath the text was a picture of a construction site.

Huh, I thought. Guess Oracle's closing.

I made my way to the locker room and met the stars. A lot of the players seemed engaged in conversation. I saw the very large and luxurious locker spaces for Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson. Draymond Green also had a decent sized-locker.

My locker was barely wider than I was.

I changed into my Warriors warm-up jersey and prepared to head out into the open arena when I got a surprise:

Kenny motha-fucking Beecham.

I walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Who'd they trade to get you?" I asked, happy to see my former OKC teammate.

"They're sending Shaun Livingston to OKC," he replied. "They know they gotta keep the duo together."

"Yeah," I said. "Front office make any other trades?"

"Yep," said Kenny. "Right over there." He jerked his head in the direction of all-star big man DeMarcus Cousins. He was conversing with Kevin Durant, presumably over something funny, given the smiles on their faces.

"Wow," I said. "Looks like I'm getting a ring this year."

"Looks like it, considering we got five all-stars," Kenny replied. "You gotta feel for the Thunder though."

"Guess so," I said. "But I think Presti had his eye on Nunn, and Swaggy P was a nice fringe benefit to go with him."

"Presti got a few picks too," Kenny added. "That man is built different when it comes to general managing."

"Definitely," I agreed. "Come on, let's get out there."

On the way out I noticed a poster of the 2006-07 Warriors. The poster depicted the old slogan "We Believe" slapped over the classic starting 5 of Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, and Al Harrington. I thought of myself watching as those Warriors took on and defeated the first-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the '07 playoffs.

Good times.

We walked out into the cool of the Oracle Arena's lower bowl and the sound of the crowd chanting "Curry" met our ears. I imagined one day having an entire crowd cheering my name. Alas, the lost fantasies of every average second-rotation NBA player. I went and found my spot on the bench, then settled in as the 5 all-star Warriors starters and 5 slightly-above-average Celtics starters took the floor.

As I expected, we dominated. It turned out Coach Kerr didn't have me in the second rotation. He told me to expect to be in the third normally, and put me on the floor for the last few minutes of the game. A little disappointed, I headed out onto the floor to guard a very exhausted-looking Terry Rozier.

The man who had once been the infamous "Scary Terry" in the playoffs looked like he wanted to go home. We were up almost 30 points, so I definitely understood. On our next position, he seemed determined to shut me down. I assumed he needed a confidence boost.

Too bad he wasn't gonna get one from me.

I drove to the elbow at full speed, then stopped and stepped back as far as I could. Rozier slipped and hit the hardwood, falling on his shoulder. As he scrambled to get back up, I stepped behind the arc and fired.

Easy.

I looked over at Coach Kerr, who looked positively stunned. I held up two fingers and mouthed "second rotation" to him as I sprinted to the other end of the floor. Hopefully he understood me.

Rozier was a bit bigger than me and was able to bully his way into the paint for a layup. Jonas Jerebko inbounded the ball to me, and I took off. At mid court I lobbed the ball over to Kenny, who stepped into a three-point shot, faked, then lobbed it back over the head of a slightly confused Terry Rozier to me. I layed it up and pointed in Kenny's direction, giving him a nod.

I finished the game with nine points. Not bad for a few minutes. I changed back into my casual clothes, took one last look across the room at that We Believe poster, then headed towards the entrance.

"Hey," said a voice from behind me that I would learn belonged to Kevin Durant, "Not bad." He patted me on the head and walked further away from me. I headed into the cool night air, which felt amazing after the game I had just had.

Only when I walked through the door of my new Oakland residence did I realize how wiped out I was. I had spent the last few minutes of the game giving it my all, and now I was ready to give in to some rest. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. A voice behind me reminded me that I wasn't alone.

"Wow," said Rainbow Dash, flying up over the back of the couch and landing next to me. "Was I that hard to notice?"

"Sorry," I said. "Just tired. But it was one hell of a game."

"Awesome! How'd it go?" she asked.

I pulled the game recording up from my TV's DVR. I fast forwarded to the last few minutes, then pointed to the man in the black and green Celtics jersey preparing to guard me. "That's Terry Rozier III," I said. "Got it?"

Rainbow nodded.

"Now watch this." I pressed play and watched as I drove, switched gears on a dime, stepped back, dropped Rozier, and hit the open 3.

"Woooaaaaahhhh! Did you make him fall like that?" she asked.

"I did," I replied. "It's called a crossover, and Coach Kerr was speechless." I admit that I fabricated a little bit, but I was super proud of myself and honestly felt I deserved it.

"Soon as I'm an all-star and Kerr tries to boast six all-stars on his roster, I'm gonna go back to OKC and ditch Oakland," I said. I was really excited to get a ring. But not one that I didn't earn. The Warriors had just swept Lebron's Cavaliers last season and then picked up another all-star in the offseason. Our team was tantamount to impossible to beat, and in the end I would most likely end up getting a ring when I barely played. But that was how the NBA worked, whether I liked t or not.

"So when's the next game?" asked Rainbow, watching the game replay that I had put on.

"Day after tomorrow," I said, leaning my head back on the couch and closing my eyes a bit, "And I'll be playing a little bit more this time."

Author's Note

Thank you to EVERYBODY who read this story!! 100 views is incredible and means a lot to me!!

I'm gonna try to introduce some sort of new concept every chapter, whether it be game action, dreams(hint hint), or conversations between the main character and certain NBA players, it'll always be something.

Thanks for the support and Chapter 13 is a-comin!