Ok so one night, I show up to 24. It's a cold and rainy day so not a lot of people were in there hooping. Enough for maybe two teams, and those were the only nights I actually hooped with the ballers on the first court. To my surprise, Bolton was in there with her veins poppin like she just got done curling midgets.
So we're hoopin, and the team I was on was playing against Bolton's. I don't know why she decided she wanted to guard me on D. I don't know if she felt I was her biggest challenge, or if it was a lion going after a baby gazelle type situation. My team has the ball and we're running up court. Automatically I'm thinking let me get her in the post. You see, my post game was on point. Similar to a prime Olowokandi. So much so I was known as the "Candyman" on the courts. I stick my hand out begging for the ball because I felt I had good position. I get a bad entry pass. No problem I have medium size hands, I can handle any pass. I start arching my back, bending forward, dribbling the ball, getting ready to light her up with my post moves. I start trying to back her down using nothing but man strength......Got nowhere. As a matter of fact, I think I was further away from where I got the entry pass. So like usual, I use to my go-to move which is a spin, pump fake, fade away. I do my spin, and pump fake. She doesn't fall for it, so then I pump-fake again...and again...and again..Must have been like 6 pump fakes and she bites on not one of them. I say **** it and do my spin and fade away anyway.....I get stuffed. She literally stuffed the ball into my face so hard that it probably scraped my eyeball because it began tearing up. At this point I'm furious, and since after I got stuffed the I managed to keep possession of the ball, I try another fade away...Stuffed again, and I retain possession again. Then I don't remember what I did but I put up a crazy jumper that hit the side of the backboard since my vision was cloudy.
That game ended up finishing and we ran a few more. I think I was 14-15 at the time so my pride my hurt and I vowed to get her back somehow. The next game, my opportunity came a'knockin.
So I'll try to make this quick. After running some more games, both on her team and against, my opportunity came on the last game she played that night. It was a fast break. I remember it clearly because as soon as my teammate jacked up an NBA length 3, I saw her break out for a fast break opportunity. As she started sprinting, even before I noticed whether or not my teammate made the shot, I bolted after her. The 3 was missed and her teammate got the rebound and threw a long pass up the floor for Bolton. As she caught it close to her hoop, what went through her mind was probably, "easy lay-up". What she didn't know was there were no easy lay-ups playing against the Candyman. As I was sprinting towards her full speed, I just knew I would catch some crazy air and bat the ball across the gym, thus getting my revenge for getting stuffed multiple times. What I didn't know, was that she would stop right in front of a moving freight train. I left my feet with my hand cocked back as far as I could she stops and I just remember my knee going into her back full speed. And when I say full speed, I mean as fast as somebody who can run a sub 6 second 40 could run. So just imagine the speed I was carrying..My momentum and knee knocked her into the wall and down on the ground as she let out a yell in pain. I literally kneed her, sadwhiched her against the wall and then we both fell to the ground pretty hard. I get up off the ground and notice she's rolling around the ground holding her back in pain. At this point, all the dudes are making sure she's ok and the OGs proceed to scold me and tell me to go home.
I'm full of shame and guilt at this point and I just put my head down, take off my hoop shoes, put my sandals on and just walk out. I never saw her hoop there again.
I did grab a free mango a-go-go on the way out since my boy worked at Jamba Juice though...
Good ole 24