Gates continued, "So we have only one option now: admit we were wrong. Even if we don't apologize to Wang Yi, at the very least, we need to apologize to management. And in the upcoming practices, we need to give it everything we've got. If they're still willing to give us a chance to play, then we need to go all out whenever we get on the court. That's my advice to you."
"What? You want us to apologize?"
Charlie Hannum immediately flew into a rage. "No way. Absolutely not!"
Kim Tae-hyun, Amir Khan, and the others also grew furious. "We've been going against management and Wang Yi for so long. Now you suddenly want us to apologize? Doesn't that mean all our efforts were for nothing?"
"How can you say something so stupid?"
"If you want to apologize, go ahead. We're not going! We'd never live it down!"
Charlie Hannum roared.
But Gates seemed not to hear their angry shouts. He simply stood up and walked toward the door.
George quickly stood and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Gates paused. "Apologize."
George Shig was also at a loss. "But..."
Gates turned back to George Shig, then addressed the others as well:
"We went after Wang Yi and the team because we wanted more playing time. But if we keep this up, it'll only backfire. Even if we're traded to another team, we won't get much playing time there either. So while there's still time, apologizing is our best option. After all, I still love playing basketball."
With that, Joe Gates opened the door and disappeared outside, leaving the rest of the bench players looking at one another in silence.
After a moment, George Shig muttered, "Fuck!"
Then he, too, headed for the door.
Charlie Hannum sensed something