Eight short years ago, Jacob laced up his Air Pippen Fives getting ready to go out onto the court two hours before pregame would begin. He fired off one last text to his brother telling him to be here in two minutes. He went into the closet to get a basketball so he could play one-on-one with his brother before the semi-finals of his high school league- hoping his muscles would get out of their frozen positions. He shattered his brother’s ankles as he swarmed the paint single-handedly. All alone on a fastbreak, he shot out of a cannon to the opposite hoop for two.
“My gosh Jacob! How fast can you possibly run? It’s not like you’re Superman or something? Can you do that in a game and not on me?”
“I thought you knew that I do everything I have to do get the W. That means in practice or before shootarounds and games too. Come on Adam. You should know this by now,” Jacob spat to his brother as they went over this for the tenth time in ten days.



Jacob tells his brother “being the smallest rookie on this team sucks! You get almost three minutes as a rookie and being small barely gets you any chances of scoring or getting a board. The easiest thing to get is an assist” Jacob tells his brother, just minutes before the game against Pistons would start. “You’re lucky you grew. You get rebounds and you have an easier time getting in the paint.”

“Tell me that when I’m not on Anthony Davis. Guy’s a unibrowed monster.”

“Whatever. I got to go. We’re about to leave the tunnel.”


CALDERON TO STUCKEY, FIRES A LASER TO THE BIG MAN MONROE FOR TWO. Pistons 21, Grizzlies 20. 3 MINUTES TO GO IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF A GREAT GAME ONE.


“Lewis, you ready? You’re coming in in place of Calderon” Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank bellowed over the music playing during the TV timeout.

Finally! My chance to shine. With the time I get I want to get two assists and two points. More will probably get me more playing time next game, though, Jacob thought.

THIS IS STEVE KERR WITH CRAIG SAGER ALONG SIDE ME CHECKING YOU BACK INTO THE ACTION AS CALDERON COMES OUT FOR LEWIS.

TELL YOU WHAT STEVE, LEWIS IS PRETTY GOOD CONSIDERING HE’S A 5-7 GUARD WHO GETS UP TO FIVE MINUTES A GAME. HE’S AVERAGING 2.3 POINTS WITH 3 ASSISTS, .3 STEALS AND .8 REBOUNDS. A FIVE-FOOT-SEVEN POINT GUARD GETTING 5 MINUTES A GAME WITH NEARLY A REBOUND A GAME. THAT’S REALLY GOOD AND GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT LITTLE GUYS AREN’T THE WORST ONES. OH AND THAT FLOATER, STEVE? THAT REMINDS ME OF STEPH CURRY AND RAYMOND FELTON. ONE OF THE BEST IN THE LEAGUE.

MIKE CONLEY TAKES THE INBOUND PASS. COMES UP ON LEWIS. CROSS. CROSS. SPIN-MOVE. LEWIS STEALS IT! HE’S ALL ALONE AND THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN HIM AND THE BASKET! WHAT A FINISH ON THAT HIGHLIGHT REEL PLAY FOR LEWIS.

CRAIG, THIS GUY REMINDS ME OF SPUDD WEBB. HE’S SHORT, BUT HE’S GOT SOME SERIOUS HOPS. THAT’S GOT HIM ON THE BOARD AND THE PISTONS ARE UP THREE, 23-20.


“Way to go Lewis! Let’s see some more of that!” Coach Lawrence Frank spewed.

My goodness. These fans are crazy psyched right now. They want more, I’ll give them more.

ONCE AGAIN IT’S CONLEY TAKING IT UP, PASSES TO RANDOLPH, TO GASOL, PASSES... GASOL HAD HIS POCKET PICKED BY LEWIS! THAT’S TWO STEALS IN ONE MINUTE! LEWIS. SPRINTING UP COURT. DRUMMOND CHARGING IN AFTER HIM. LEWIS WITH HIGHLIGHT PLAY NUMBER TWO AS HE GIVES AN ALLEY-OOP OFF THE GLASS TO ANDRE DRUMMOND FOR ASSIST NUMBER ONE ON THE NIGHT.

“Lewis great play. We’re going to have to take you out for Calderon but we’ll get you back in as soon as we can.”

“Yo, Lewis. You got some serious skills man. You and me will be the leaders of this team in a few years man. Brandon Knight and Jacob Lewis, Tremendous Two coming right at you brother!” Brandon Knight exclaimed.




“It’s halftime with a score of 36-45 in favor of us. Jacob, you’re doing great, 12 points, 4 assists, and a steal. We went a little bit conservative in the first half. Now we got to step it up and be more aggressive in the paint. They’re going to call defensive fouls, and the Knights will have to put in their worse players if their better ones get into foul trouble. Attack the paint, and expect Lewis to pick up a double-team. If we can capitalize on that and cash it in, we’ll win this game! Are you ready?! Are you ready?!!” Jacob’s high school coach Coach Carl, who everyone called Coach Craze because he always got into what he was doing.
“Parker. Did you see how into his halftime speech he got? It’s like he puts his spit on steroids with how into our games he gets.”
“I know right? Did you see his reaction when the ref called a shooting foul on James? He was all over the ref screaming at him with his mole in the middle of his face jumping up and down like the Statue of Liberty sending a torrent into New York City.”
“Yeah. Let’s go I gotta go do my little second-half warm-up workout. You know, my pull-ups on the door frame. That’s what keeps my muscles warm and alive after sitting around listening to coach speak at halftime, it makes my muscles get cold, and then I’m not going to be as good as I normally am.”





Those were the good days, when I wasn’t the only person who was shorter than 5-5. Do I even have my Air Pippen fives anymore? I think I’ll wear those next game and the foamposites in game three.



“... they’re going to be all over Stuckey so he can’t play his “bully ball” in the paint this half. Calderon could draw a big man so he doesn’t have a good shot opportunity. That leaves Lewis, Maxiell, Monroe, Magette, and Villanueva.They won’t cover you guys as tightly because they’ll be busy with Calderon and Stuckey so look for those guys. They’ll have the shot creating chance. Now let’s go win this one for the fans that have stuck around through our struggles!”





LEWIS GOT ABSOLUTELY POSTERIZED ON THAT PLAY AND HE APPEARS TO BE HURT. HE’S CLUTCHING HIS HEAD. KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS COULD KEEP HIM OUT FOR THE REST OF THIS FINALS SERIES.. WE’LL TAKE AN INJURY TIMEOUT WITH 7 MINUTES AND 42 SECONDS LEFT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER WITH THE PISTONS UP FOUR, 83-79.





THUDDD! How much harder can I have possibly fallen. Next time let’s get out of the way of a Zach Randolph dunk. OWWWW!



“Jacob fell right on his elbow with all of his weight on it, which would explain the mind numbing, scar searing pain he feels now. Don’t expect him to feel better about his arm for around three to five more weeks. He won’t be able to play in the finals anymore this year, but congratulations on your Game 1 win. I’m very sorry for your loss of Jacob, Mr. Dumars.”