Hoops

The team barely wins two easy games, and someone, presumably a white man, calls the practice facility looking for Cal. Lonnie decides to find Cal, enlisting Aggie’s reluctant help. When they find Cal, he is drunk and agrees with Lonnie that it is probably O’Donnel who called. After some tension, Cal agrees to help.

The next morning, Cal and Lonnie go to O’Donnel’s office, where O’Donnel speaks privately to Cal. Lonnie waits patiently; when Cal returns, he explains that what O’Donnel asked wasn’t for Cal to step down as coach, but for Lonnie to be off the court. Cal is coming up with a plan based on the new information that the tournament has been shortened and their team will be in a championship game on television. They tell the team the plan, then Cal and Lonnie talk one-on-one. Cal explains that he advocated for Lonnie to at least “suit up and sit on the bench” (162). Right after the conversation, Lonnie listens to Cal make a phone call and place a bet on their team losing, since he’s sitting Lonnie out. When Lonnie questions the decision, Cal says, “thought you trusted me” (164), and Lonnie is filled with rage.

To make things worse, at that moment Paul comes in carrying

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