8 Catching The Eyes of An NBA Coach

"Hello." Xavier waved and put on an awkward smile.

He forgot that his father can be excessively supportive to this extent. He remembered his father's words yesterday about giving his support to whatever he wants to pursue. So was this what he meant by that?

"These are professionals that will organize training for you." Charles proudly introduced the team that he brought.

Xavier's eyes moved around and looked at each of them. He saw a familiar trainer in the group. Wasn't this one of the trainers in the NBA? How much money had his dad squandered... ehem... spent to have this guy in this group?

Charles continued to introduce each of the trainers to Xavier. He squatted a bit and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "You have to follow their instructions. They will only be here for a week."

This was exactly what Xavier was worried about. It could be really expensive to have a group of trainers here but Charles was overly confident that his son could improve in a week. Thus, he only nodded to his father's instructions.

A butler approached Charles and whispered something in his ears. This made him bid his farewell to his son and the group of trainers.

Xavier's eyes twitched when the group starts measuring his height, weight, girth, and all necessary measurements to create a perfect plan for him. A specialized training would be really expensive and only professional basketball players would undergo this training.

The NBA trainer looked like the leader of the group as he talked with those people that took his measurements. His eyes contained sharpness from years of experience and there were wrinkles on his forehead that highlighted his age. His name was Chris and he had been a known trainer for the Chicago Bulls.

His gaze toward Xavier contained prejudice as though he was only doing this because he got paid handsomely. In fact, he opened this week to train a kid that was yet to enter middle school. If words of this got out, he would be a laughing stock in the industry. Luckily, this was a team he set and they were all in it for the pay.

'Your emotions are pouring out.' Xavier could only say on his mind when he saw the stare of this NBA trainer. This was one of the familiar gazes he experienced in his childhood. He remembered the face of jealousy and annoyance from a chess grandmaster his father invited before. A lot more people showed emotions because of his father's excessively supportive behavior.

Chris held a ball as he approached Xavier and he soon passed him the ball. "Show me your ball handling."

He tried intercepting Xavier's dribbling but his attempt failed. This made him shocked as he became more serious and succeeded in stealing the ball.

"Not bad." Chris only said this but he was really shocked by this kid's ball handling skill. Xavier was completely sure that the look on the face of Chris changed entirely. From treating him like a spoiled rich kid to someone that piqued his interest.

'It's not bad to check this child's potential.' Chris could only be satisfied in his mind and heart before he once again passed the ball to Xavier.

"I want you to show me your form." Form was a term to how a player shoots. People could easily try to shoot the ball. However, not everyone possessed a good shooting form.

Xavier dribbled the ball on the three point line for about ten seconds before he took a shot. The shot went in without touching the ring. Nothing but net as what commentators would say.

Chris was not amazed about the shot as he only looked at Xavier's shooting form. He could see a shadow of Kobe's form. However, he wasn't sure whether it was better or a bit worse than Kobe's.

Before he could tell anything, Xavier rushed to where the ball bounced as he dribbled and attacked the rim with a layup.

'I thought his dad was exaggerating when he said his son had a talent.' Chris doubted Charles' words at first but now, he saw with his own eyes that this kid possessed an undeniable talent. It wouldn't be bad to say that he had what it takes to join the NBA in a few years if he developed well.

His face became serious as he wanted to teach Xavier with all that he knew in this one week. From someone who previously wanted to finish this commission to someone who felt sad that he could only train Xavier for a week.

They continued on for Xavier's assessment and Chris thought that he could handle the training regime of a professional basketball player. He only needed to tone it down a bit to fit a twelve year old kid.

The day was only for Xavier's assessment and some light exercises to prepare his body for the specialized training. Xavier was happy that the eyes of Chris had a different glow now. He thought he was one of those that are jealous of people that had money. It seemed like he was just someone who hated people that used money to get what they want.

A week passed and the training was over.

In the past days, Chris, an NBA trainer, could only leave his mouth open whenever Xavier would show them their skills.

Xavier strictly followed the routine and the instructions being given to him. He didn't want to waste his father's money on this. This was the reason he would do his best to improve.

It didn't go into waste as he was no longer the kid who was completely unaware of basketball. He learned of terms they would use and Chris was kind enough to give him a daily training routine that could help him improve.

However, in Xavier's opinion, theory would still be completely different in reality. He could only use what he trained for in the basketball tryout.

Chris never played with him and was only dedicated to improving his body's strength and coordination.

Xavier realized within this week that his attributes would go to waste if there was no coordination to all of this. He needed to effectively use his strength, agility, and speed while he sustained his stamina.

The whole team including Chris looked really sad as they departed. This was the first time they had seen someone so talented in basketball. At first, they only wanted to earn some quick cash by training a second-generation heir of a rich business family. However, they were shocked as to what Xavier showed them.

Charles was there to see them off as he noticed a wave of sadness in Xavier's face. "What's with the frown?"

Xavier looked up to his father before he shook his head. "It's nothing."

Charles didn't want to bother his son before he told him that he would be going to the office. Xavier waved him goodbye.

In fact, his son was expecting Chris to ask him about what middle school he will be studying. He knew that if he caught the eye of this trainer, there was a high possibility of getting scouted by NBA agents.

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Charles saw Chris had been rushing back to their mansion while he was in the car. He asked the driver to roll down the windshield. "Mr. Johnson, is there a problem?"

Chris was heavily panting as he placed his hands on his legs, trying to catch his breath. "I was so focused on training your son that I forgot to ask what middle school he will be attending to!"

The lips on Charles's face could be seen curling up. It seemed like his son had caught the attention of this NBA trainer. This was one of the reasons he had invited Mr. Chris Johnson to coach and train his son. Although he spent a lot for it, he didn't mind as long as he helped his son's future.

"Lincoln Star Academy." Charles wanted to tell Xavier about this good news but this could only affect his desire to train more. As such, he planned on keeping it a secret.

Chris and Charles both said their goodbyes to each other before the luxury car's engine roared and drove away from the mansion.

Chris was deep in thought as he felt the middle school's name was familiar. Wait.

Wasn't it the most prestigious middle school in the USA? A place for geniuses with a really subpar basketball team.