Chapter 82: He's Quite a Talent!

The Lakers kicked off their preseason against the Philly 76ers, with Allen leading the charge.

Alaric was all pumped up, but he never thought he'd be stuck guarding the water cooler with Stanislav and Mike.

Once the game got rolling, old-timer Ron Harper was on the opponent's shooting guard, while Kobe had Allen on lockdown. Alaric kept sneaking peeks at Coach Phil, who had his eyes shut and didn't seem like he was gonna make any subs.

In the second quarter, Derek and Isaiah teamed up on the perimeter, and Alaric was still warming the bench.

Derek was doing his usual thing, dishing the ball right after crossing half-court and then hanging out on the outside for a shot.

Isaiah was handling the ball and going for solo attacks, but his shooting was pretty trash. He had the skills and the build, but he sucked at teamwork and couldn't lift the whole squad.

Isaiah was only 29 and had been a beast since his rookie days. Back in '93-'94, he made the NBA All-Rookie First Team and snagged the "Slam Dunk Champion" title at the '94 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest. He was the first dude in NBA history to pull off a between-the-legs dunk.

He had mad potential, but his attitude held him back. Now, he could still nail quick pull-up jumpers and monster dunks, but he was turning into a liability.

Isaiah started to realize that his good showings in practice were mostly thanks to Alaric's quick transition passes. With Derek's slow-paced half-court game, his physical edge was hard to use. Funny enough, he used to gripe about Alaric's ball control.

Alaric finally got some playtime in the second half, just 6 minutes, and that too with the OK combo. He was just spreading the floor, passing, and taking catch-and-shoots. But he was off, going 0-for-3 and scoring zilch.

Sitting on the bench, Alaric kept thinking. He couldn't figure out why Phil was suddenly all about Derek and Isaiah but didn't bother asking. He told himself to chill and wait for Derek to mess up. When there was no one else to run point, he'd get his shot.

With the OK combo holding back, the Lakers lost to the 76ers by 8 points.

In the second game, the Lakers went up against the Suns. Suns rookie center Jack Chakales got wrecked by Shaq in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Derek went off, hitting four threes. He played 30 minutes, dropping 18 points and 4 assists, outshining star point guard Jason Kidd. Jason shot a lousy 3-for-13 and, with free throws, only managed 9 points and 7 assists.

Thanks to Derek's killer performance, the Lakers crushed the Suns by 21 points.

In the third game, the Lakers faced the Suns again.

Phil was digging Derek's game and wanted to see if he could keep it up, so he started him.

Derek knew the triangle offense, had a good rhythm in half-court sets, and took his shots with confidence. In the first quarter, he nailed two threes and made a baseline cut to get a pass from Shaq for a layup, scoring 8 points.

On defense, Derek was solid too, holding Jason to 1-for-4 shooting and just two points.

When Derek hit a three, Alaric led the cheers, waving a towel. Shaq joined in, and they danced on the sidelines, stealing the show and adding some laughs.

Phil watched Alaric's every move, a bit puzzled.

With Derek killing it in back-to-back games, Alaric didn't seem stressed at all and even managed to smile? Was he really that chill? Did he just want to be on the Lakers for a championship ring, not caring if he played or not?

It didn't add up. From the summer league and Drew League, Alaric clearly had a burning desire to perform.

Phil, who'd seen a ton of players in his time, just couldn't get a read on Alaric. No matter how sharp he was, he couldn't have guessed that Alaric was a reborn dude who knew Derek was gonna get hurt.

Phil figured there were two options: either Alaric was this naive, goody-two-shoes type who'd follow the coach's orders without a fuss, never get jealous of his teammates, and keep the locker room chill; or he was a sneaky mastermind, wise beyond his years, knowing when to push and when to pull back, and what battles to pick.

Either way, the kid had talent.

The Lakers snagged another win against the Suns, 95-86. Derek dropped 15 points and 3 assists with zero turnovers, nailing 3 outta 5 from deep. Looked like he could handle the starting gig, pushing old man Ron to the bench.

Jason had another rough night, shooting 2-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from the line, ending with 8 points, 8 boards, and 9 dimes.

After the game, the LA media was all over Derek, saying he was killing it on both ends and had clearly leveled up from last season, shutting down Jason in back-to-back games.

Jason was a top-notch playmaker, controlling the tempo, sparking fast breaks, and dishing out dimes in half-court sets, making it easy for his teammates to score. But shooting? Yeah, that was always his Achilles' heel.

In Alaric's past life, Jason's career field goal percentage in 1,391 regular-season games was just 40%. In 158 playoff games, it was even worse at 39.1%.

Out of the 123 players in NBA history who played at least 1,000 regular-season games, Jason's 40% shooting was the second-worst, only better than dead-last Derek. And among the 23 players who played at least 150 playoff games, Jason's 39.1% was rock bottom!

Basically, a lot of folks could lock down Jason during this time.

In five games against the Clippers, the Lakers lost all by small margins.

Everyone knows the NBA usually has one team per city. In some small towns, the NBA team becomes a city symbol and a cultural pillar. But there are exceptions, like the Clippers and Lakers, who share the same city and arena, leading to all kinds of rivalry.

The "OK combo" only played 20 minutes, while the Clippers went all out, winning two preseason games. This might boost the Clippers' morale, but thinking they could steal Lakers fans? Dream on. Their goal for the new season was just to make the playoffs.

In the sixth game against the SuperSonics, Derek kept his starting spot. He was solid in the first half, hitting two threes and making two layups.

On defense, Derek held his own. Gary Payton, with his height and strength for a point guard, was good at using his body to bully opponents. Derek was great at defending this type, strong enough to hold off forwards.

In Alaric's past life, Derek often got torched by speedy point guards later in his career, but he never backed down from star point guard Deron Williams, always managing to lower Deron's efficiency with physical play.

In the preseason, Derek was destined to shine. Besides Allen, the opponents were all strong point guards. He already felt secure in his starting role and played with more and more confidence.

With 8 minutes left in the final quarter, Derek hit his third three, scoring 15 points and 4 assists, becoming the team's third scoring option.

On the next play, the SuperSonics missed a shot, and Derek hustled back, jumping with all he had to snag a defensive rebound. When he landed, he felt a sharp pain in his right foot. Something was off.

In the summer, his personal trainer had warned him that his weight put extra stress on his feet, making high-intensity training risky, but he was too eager.

Some accidents in life are just meant to be.