The rise of the Basket God

Undying Hatred

Neal followed Ryan immediately after Tony, Kendall and Tim left. He knew for sure that he would blame himself for all that has happened.

"You were not really at fault Ryan, they only got jealous and behaved childishly" Neal said.

"Well, they were right to some extent. Maybe I really was at fault, i stopped addressing them as a friend and was only nagging about their performances." Ryan replied him

"Well you were like that to all of us, but we all knew deep down that you only wanted better results for the team. They are also aware of that" Neal said

"I noticed something odd during out the Season three but i always brush it off with the assumption that they might be having a bad game. I guess i should have talked to them, i am really a bad friend. I should have known something was bound to be wrong in the Season two playoff finals, i thought they wouldn't feel bad about it but it seems i was wrong all along. Even the team felt i was a problem, how could they think i was trying to outshine the team, i was only playing to the best of my ability so we could win trophies and be the best team in the game. I should have stopped, i should have noticed..." Ryan just couldn't believe that for almost six years, he has been a captain that was not aware of his ship capsizing little by little.

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself Ryan, talking to them would not have resolved anything though. They all want to be in the spotlight but that's not possible, only one person would be the teams best player. They were too desperate for being the center of attention. They even went as far as playing below their abilities just to ensure the team does not perform well. They do not really deserve to be in the team and to think that even the club owners has their back is absurd" Lena said as she walks in.

"I'll have to go now Ryan, Tony is calling." Neal said.

"Okay, you should go but don't let this affect you okay. Don't get kicked out just like me okay" Ryan said smiling at him.

Neal nodded and bade them farewell promising to come visit them after the playoffs.

"Are you sure you're okay Ryan" Lena asked after Neal was gone.

"I can't be Lena. I have always speculated that something was off but never thought the grudge was that deep. This must have been the result of what happened in the Season two playoff final against Grip clippers" Ryan replied

"Well, you're guilty of not caring about how the people around you feel." Lena said

"Huh."

"When last have you talked to your parents? If you were not kicked out, you wouldn't bother to come see me. When last have you seen your friends and you've all discussed" Lena added

"...." Ryan could not reply as he wore a guilty look.

"The reason we are still together till this point is that we all accept you for who you are, Tony and the rest doesn't. They felt they were not inferior to you in any way and were jealous of your success. No discussion would have changed that, so don't blame yourself for it" Lena said as she moved closer to her man.

Ryan nodded in understanding and embraced his woman. He is one of the lucky folks who have someone who understands as a companion.

****************

Two days after Tony and his company came to visit Ryan, the NBE world received a shocking news. Tim Mcskelly and Christopher Kendall have re-joined the Eezee Net. Kendall was bought for the sum of $32,000,000 while Tim was a free transfer agent. He refused to extend his contract at the end of the Regular Season and opted to rejoin his former team. While the Grip clippers sold Kendall at the double price of what they paid for him when they bought him three years ago. And Eezee Net a team that has never bought any player from other clubs since the start of the NBE has shockingly signed four players in the eight season of the competition. With three of them being part of the team's golden era.

This news became the headline and the major discussion of every sport channel in the country. No one understood the Eezee Net management thought, why sell these players in the first place when you were still going to bring them back to the club? Everyone was confused but a day later doing a press interview, everyone finally knew the answer.

Kendall, Tim and Tony made a shocking revelation of how Ayoze Ryan was responsible for their departure and now that he is gone they are ready to play and win what he couldn't for the team. This news caused a lot of upset in the Eezee city. Fans do not find it believable, they trusted Ryan and wouldn't imagine he was behind the exit of the team best center and point guard but what could they do, they are bound to only hear Kendall, Tim and Tony part of the story. No one knew of Ryan whereabouts since he retired and slowly the fans accepted it to be true and their undying love for this legend slowly became an undying hatred.

While some still believe in this Former legend, the majority spited him. But as for the man himself, well he's currently in the restaurant being his usual jovial self. Wesley and the other workers thought he hadn't listened to the news yet and decided not to tell him since it is best he is oblivious of it.