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 Temple of the Basketball Gods

Long ago, the greatest deceased basketball players became gods, and their spiritswould be allowed to endure as they transformed into Basketball Gods. These gods would 

often shape the outcome of many basketball games in their favors. After several centuries,they created a temple as a gift to the mortal world. Inside the temple, the Basketball Godsdisplayed the first basketball given to man. Its name was Rukongai. For protection, thegods chose the most dedicated basketball fans and potential future basketball gods.

However, on July 23rd , 2009, an intrusion took place and Rukongai was almostlost…

It was a bright and sunny morning, and the temple of the Basketball Gods shined on Tai Shan (one of the 5 great mountains in China). I walked out the back gate and stretched. The blades of grass shimmered as the bright sunlight reflected off the dew.Birds chirped, flying around a barrier of unusually thick mist. Towards the front of thetemple, there was a sudden and abrupt scream, followed by an unsettling and eeriesilence. I could feel something bad was about to happen.

I rushed back inside the temple, through the main basketball court and out thefront gate. Standing outside were some of my fellow guards, Kobe and a long time good friend, The J-Man.

“Hey Y-Man, did you hear it too?” asked J-Man.“Yeah, who was the sentry last night?” I replied.“Ughh… I think it was Wade, either of you two see him come back this

morning?” Kobe responded.All 3 of us remained silent because we all knew what this meant: an intruder.

“Alert the others, tell them to spread out around the perimeter of the temple, and Y-Man

and I will look for Wade,” ordered J-Man. Kobe nodded in agreement, and the three of us separated.

After a few minutes of searching, J-Man and I discovered Dwayne Wade’s body.He was unconscious, and there were several broken branches and rocks nearby.

“Clear signs of a struggle, he was probably ambushed,” I assumed.“Agreed, for someone to take out Wade… he must’ve been a strong opponent,”

said The J-man. Suddenly, the alarm sounded behind us which must’ve meant that theintruder had been discovered.

“I’m faster, so I’ll take Wade. You go back and reinforce the others!” J-Man forced me to leave, and I dashed up the rocky path and to the front of the temple gates. I ran

out of the woods and into the clearing. There on the front steps of the gates laid Dwight and Ray-Ray. I rushed over and 

helped the two veterans to their feet. Dwight was clutching his left shoulder, and Allenwas grimacing in pain, both of them out of breath. I looked to the gates, they had beenknocked down and misshapen.

“What happened?!” I asked in confusion.

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“I…I’m not sure. He came out of nowhere and attacked with such swift and quick strength. He was impossible to counter.” Howard replied.

“Where’s he headed?” I asked.“He ran inside. Kobe managed to pull some men back to guard Rukongai. Y-

 Man, it’s up to you to back him up. No matter what happens, you can’t let the intruder

take the sacred basketball,” said Allen. I nodded, and ran into the temple as fast as Icould.

I ran past several corridors before finally reaching the heart of the temple: Gods’Court. As I entered, I saw a figure cloaked in black. His back was facing me, and I could tell he was strong. The man was at least 6 foot 8 and his shoulders were broad.

He faced Kobe, Melo, Yao, and CP3. Behind the 4 guards, encased in glass wasRukongai. It looked like such a simple basketball, but with no print and it was made witha special material that’s not even found on Earth.

I walked past him and next to my comrades. Still, the intruder’s face wasshadowed by his hood.

“State thy name intruder. How dare you disrespect our gods by invading theirsacred temple?” Demanded Yao Ming.

“Lebron James,” the man said with great pride as he removed his hood.“James? How could you, traitor to the game!” Carmelo was furious.“Me? I’m no traitor Anthony. I’m only here to get justice and take back what

rightfully belongs to me. That championship trophy… it should’ve been mine!”“I won it fair and square Lebron. You underestimated the heart of a champion,

you were conceited and that led to your demise,” Kobe responded clearly offended.“There is a solution. It goes back to the oldest teachings of the Basketball Gods.

 The two of you can have one last duel, and winner takes all,” offered Paul.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. You can even use this amateur if you want,”Lebron smirked and looked at me.Right about then, my heart was burning with anger. I looked towards Kobe and 

he nodded. The 2 of us were about to finish off Lebron James. I looked at Melo and hetossed me the rock. I chest passed it to Lebron and he says, “Game’s 11, call your ownfouls.” With that, he powered me over and drove right at Kobe.

After much playing, Lebron was leading 10-9. However, he was beginning to gettired, and that was about the only advantage that we had. The final possession:

Kobe inbounds me the ball at our end of the court. Lebron’s there to pressure mefull court. I leaned into his chest to try and push him away, but he was too big and lengthy for me. He reached in for the ball, but I spun to my right hand. I attempted to

dash to half court, but the speed of Lebron James was too much. He quickly recovered toalmost force me out of bounds. I leaped as high as I possibly could and chucked the ballin Kobe’s direction. As soon as the ball left my fingertips, Lebron charged towards Kobe.Lebron was way too fast and blocked Kobe from behind as he went up for the dunk. Theguys on the sideline were getting nervous now. The basketball bounced hard off thebackboard and far out of Lebron’s reach. Kobe quickly scrambled to his feet and jogged to the wing. I caught the ball off a high bounce and chucked it to Kobe. KB24 planted 

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his feet and stepped in rhythm for the 3-pointer. Lebron quickly rushed over to Kobe,and just as the 2 men left their feet, Kobe passes up the shot and throws the ball towardsme. It falls perfectly into my hands and I lined up for a deep shot. Time seemed to haveslowed down as I launched the jump shot. Blood rushed to my head and all I could dowas watch. Lebron quickly rushed to grab the rebound but it was pointless. The shot was

all-net, and that ended it all.“That’s game,” I announced. James looked exhausted, his face full of pain and disappointment. Kobe laughed,

he was so elated that we won.In the end, James was stripped of all his basketball talents and all his past

basketball related achievements. The Basketball Gods had passed their judgment, and theirtemple had been saved.