Page 68 of Playing to Win
“Next, I’d like to thank my coach, former coaches, teammates, and former teammates. My high school coach was Coach Wade, who took a scrawny kid whose feet were too big for his body and made him a ball player. My teammates in Jacksonville, who helped me win a state championship. I wouldn’t have been half the player I was if it wasn’t for them. Coach K at Duke. We all know what a legend he is. What they don’t show on camera is what an extraordinary man he is as well. He is one of the greatest role models of my life. My teammates at Duke will always be the brothers I’ve never had.”
Callie felt herself choke up as Kyle had to stop talking, overcome with emotion. She could feel the emotional current running through the room, Kyle’s sincerity leaving no one unaffected. He was simply amazing.
“Since I’ve been in Oklahoma, Coach Grant has been like my other dad,” Kyle continued once he regained his composure. “He’s given me advice when I’ve needed it, coached me hard when I’ve been down and always had my back. And my teammates…wow. There’s no words I can say for how much I love those guys. Trevin has been with me since Duke. I sometimes think we can read each other’s minds on the court. And Jamal? He may be a cocky sucker, but I wouldn’t want any other point guard in the league passing me the ball.”
Kyle went on to name each and every other player on the team, mentioning something special about all of them.
“Probably the most important person we have that never gets recognized is a man named Bernie O’Donnell. He’s pretty much the father of the arena. And the man that holds the Guinness World Record for biggest keychain in the world.”
The reporters and other people in the room let out hearty laughs again. “He is the biggest fan we have and the one who makes sure everything in the arena is top notch. He’s always the first to get there and the last to leave. And he never wants any credit. Want it or not, he’s getting it now.
“Lastly, there’s someone I’d like to mention without saying her name, because I know she would kill me if I did.”
Callie felt the hives that had dissipated the longer Kyle had talked come back in full force. There was no way he was going to say anything about her…was he?
“There’s a girl I know, who didn’t even like me when we first met. She was feisty and mouthy, and it was so refreshing I found myself wanting to make her mad just so I could see her pretty little cheeks flush and her eyes flash in anger.”
The room again laughed at Kyle. He was turning out to be a regular comedian. Callie felt her eyes flashing in anger right now. All the warm, fuzzy feelings she had moments ago were flying out the window. She could feel the cameras trained on the back of her head, singling her out among the dozens of people in the room. But as she heard the next part of his speech, all anger faded and she just listened in stunned silence, the warm, fuzzy feelings returning, beginning in the tips of her toes and moving up to her chest, stopping right smack dab in the middle of her heart.
“Now, she’s become such an integral part of my life I can’t imagine it without her in it. I found that not only is she feisty and mouthy, but she’s also smart and quick-witted, endearing and loving, big-hearted, and fiercely protective of those she loves. And I’m lucky to say that now she even likes me. At least a little. So, Curly, thanks for making me one of the good guys.” And with that final sentence, Kyle walked off the stage, taking Callie’s heart with him.
