Lebraun had a huge dilemma on his hands. For most people, this choice would have been an easy one to make but Lebraun isn't like everybody else. I'm not sure how many people were in on helping him make this decision, but I was grateful that he included me in his thought process. (Note: Refer to first post of this blog from August to get Lebraun's background story.)
("The Phone Call")
Lebraun: Ay, Coach.. uhh, I don't know what to do right now so I wanna talk about this witchu.
Me: What's on your mind? By the way, did you ever find out who smashed your girlfriend's car window?
Lebraun: Nah. We never found out who smashed the window. See. I just got a job offer but I don't know what to do because of basketball.
Me: You know you aren't on the team yet, right?
Lebraun: Yeh I know that but I'm workin on the stuff you told me to work on.
Me: Conditioning, left hand, right hand, jump shot, footwork, ballhandling and defense?
Lebraun: All of dat.
Me: About 30 people are tryin out, you know. Since you never played hs ball I think you're gonna have a hard time running plays.
Lebraun: I'll work on dat too! Right now I'm broke and I got no pot to piss in. I ain't had a job in years. People be lettin me borrow money and all but I need my own paper.
Me: Honestly, I think you should work. That's no way for a 22 year old man to be livin'. If you choose to work, I'll support your decision.
Lebraun: Thanks, Coach.
The next time I saw Lebraun, which was a week later, he informed me of "his decision."
("The Decision")
Me: When do you start the job?
Lebraun: Nah Coach. I ain't take the job!
Me: What? Really? You had a guaranteed job with hours and didn't take it?
Lebraun: Nah. I wanna try out for the team!!
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