Jenkins pushed the materials aside and looked at Morant, speaking to him earnestly:
"Those 450 players in the NBA—even the least notable one—are among the 450 best basketball players on this planet. You're one of them, competing against the 499 best players on Earth. Maybe your talent, your explosiveness, and your skills can help you win fair and square."
"But if you want to make a real impact in the Playoffs and lift the O'Brien Cup you've dreamed of, you need more than strength and skill. You need luck, too—and you need to know a few tricks."
"Looking back through NBA history, there hasn't been a single team that won a championship completely clean, without a single deliberate foul."
"Back in the Bulls' days, Jordan had Charles Oakley and The Worm Rodman by his side."
"In the Lakers' post-Shaquille O'Neal era, Kobe Bryant had Artest by his side."
"The Spurs had Bruce Bowen, and the Warriors had Bogut and Green."
"The Heat had Haslem during their Big Three era."
The coach paused. "Some people might ask, 'Does every championship team have a bad guy?' I'll tell you this: the 2004 Detroit Pistons didn't. Every one of them was a bad guy."
"So if you want to win a championship, you can't play too clean."
"I'm not asking you to be a bad guy, but you need to know a few tricks besides basketball."
"Otherwise, you might never get your hands on the O'Brien Cup. Do you really want to go your whole life without wearing the ring you've always dreamed of?"
At last, Morant slowly raised his head. His fists clenched tight. "Coach, I'll do what you say!"
Seeing Morant give in, head coach Jenkins secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After nearly twenty years of making his way through