During the second Cold War, there was a man named Michael with a dream. His dream was to prosper in the United Sates, playing the sport he loved, basketball. But there were problems going on his life that set him back, such as his dad, the rivalry between Russia. And the United States, and racism. Michaels dad had always disagreed with his ideas, and playing basketball was no exception. Michaels dad, Nicolai, was a communist who hated America, and his relationship with his wife. His mother, Sandra, was depressed and wanted to leave Nicolai because he was a disrespectful slob.

The obsession with money had taken over his family and he was tired of it. Michael wanted peace within his family, but the war took that away. Michael was planning to escape Russia and take his basketball career to America and enter the NBA Draft. he told his mom about his escape plan, but, she wanted to stay in Russia. His mom promised not to tell anyone about his plan.

After weeks of planning to escape Russia he finally decided to take his plan into action. Michael packed his bags, gave his mom a kiss goodbye, and took off. On his way to the airport he had a twinge of regret but knew that there was no turning back now.

As Michael arrived in the airport, he parked his car and ran to the gate because he was late for his plane.

Sprinting through the airport, Michael finally made it and sat on his seat, minutes before the plane took off. His plan succeeded, but now, all he had to do was to tell his agent that he was entering the draft. For now, all he had to do was sit down and wait twelve nervously hours to fly into the United States.

Michael woke up to a rough landing into New York and was amazed by all the American culture. Michael saw things he knew he would never see back in Russia, like stands on the streets selling a food called a hot dog. Michael got his bags and took a taxi to his apartment that he had bought for himself. He sat down and sighed, this was a long way from home. Michael forgot about how New York was very racist towards the Russians thanks to the war. After traveling for many hours Michael finally fell asleep in his small apartment.

That night Michael had a dream that Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, was drafting him into the New York Knicks basketball team. He was in disbelief; he couldn’t believe that he was good enough to be drafted into one of the best teams in America. Michael wanted this dream to come true so he was going to practice for a while and prove everyone wrong.

Michael was always a fan of Michael Jordan even though he never watched him play, one of his favorite things about Jordan to him was his signature shoes. Michael’s apartment was in the heart of New York so he didn’t live far from foot locker New York, where all the hottest releases went. Michael finally left his apartment and took off. As he entered the store everyone looked at him in disgust. Michael ignored the customers and felt uncomfortable, the only thing that didn’t make him feel uncomfortable was the fresh aroma of new sneakers in the store. He looked all over the store for shoes. He was worried by the price of his shoes because he didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but he remembered, before he left Russia, he stole his dad’s credit card. Michael thought in his mind that a couple of thousands won’t hurt.

Michael went crazy and bought lots of expensive shoes such as black cement threes, Jordan 1 bred toes, and Jordan 10s. As Michael went to the cash register, he bought his shoes with delight. Michael finally felt happy for the first time in a long time.

Stunned by the price of the sneakers the lady at the register looked at him and said “your total is 969 dollars’ sir”

Pleased by the price he gave her the card and knew how mad his father would be because it was his credit card. He finally left the store and went to his apartment to go to sleep because Michael was in the store for a while.

The draft was one week away and Michael couldn’t wait. He felt happy and nervous, because he wanted to be loved by the fans to wherever team he wanted to go, but, there was a possibility that he could go undrafted. Michael was just a normal human and wanted to be treated equally. But, thanks to the cold war Michael knew he would never get that. But there was one way to get peoples respect,

Today was Michael’s big day, the draft. The draft was at one o’clock and Michael was running late. It was 12:30 and he had to be in the draft room by one. Michael put on his clothes and left. The event started just as he made it in the place. He was waiting as Adam silver, The NBA commissioner, was saying the names of players to be drafted. Michael heard name after name after get called but the one he wanted to hear wasn’t yet called. he felt nervous when he heard his favorite team on the clock.

“With the seventy fifth pick of the NBA draft, the New York Knicks select Michael Whitloff.”

he jumped in happiness, Michael never thought this day would come. As he went to the podium to Adam Silver, he was expecting cheering and happiness. But what he got was the opposite. A roar of boos rushed over the crowd as Michael stood nervously on the stage next to Adam Silver. There was one strange thing with Michael, he was only encouraged by the boos instead of being put down. He was ready to prove what he was worth.
A month had passed by and Michael had practice for the Knicks. He wasn’t far from the training facility where he was going to have his first practice. Michael walked in the locker room where he was greeted by his teammates. he was in awe, he never thought he would be this far in his life. The locker room looked nicer than his apartment but the only bad thing was the horrid smell of sweat. Michael got dressed and went to the court where he was greeted by multiple coaches and training staff.

“Hey son come here.”

Alarmed by the man’s kindness, he went up to him.

Michael was expecting to get backlash and criticism by coach but what he got was encouragement from the coach. Michael was hit with amazement when he found out he was going to be starting at small forward on Mondays game against the warriors.

He went to the court for a scrimmage and was on the starting side. The whistle blew, it was time to prove everyone wrong. His journey started now. Every time Michael got the ball, he was explosive. He was like a dynamite ready to explode. He dunked all over the place and got a few shots up. Practice was over but Michael was ready. He couldn’t wait to prove everyone wrong especially his dad. Michael was the last to enter the locker and what he got was amazing. Michael walked into the locker room to a roar of cheering. Life finally felt easy and Michael finally felt supported.

A week had passed by, and today was the day. It was the home opener against the Warriors and Michael was ready. Due to the war, the game was going to be televised internationally. That meant Russia was going to see the game, which meant there was a possibility of his father seeing the game. The game started at five and it was four o clock. Michael bolted, and was police escorted to the game because New York traffic was horrible at this time. He made it to the Garden and the game was about to start. Everyone was waiting in the locker room as Michael got ready.

Finally, the first whistle blew and it was time. Michael’s team won the tip off and gave the ball to Kristaps. The long-legged Latvian man took off and the game was on. Although we had the advantage of two big men, the warriors had the advantage of deep three point shooters. Every time Michael got the ball he got a roar of boos from the home crowd. He ignored the crowd and focused on his game. The roar of boos stopped when Michael caught an alley oop and dunked on Draymond Green.

Michael got subbed out till fourth quarter with one minute left. He went off for most of the game and was tired. Coach told him to get back in with only a minute left in the game. The game was tied and there was a lot of turnovers until Michael came in. As Michael got in the warriors scored a layup with 5 seconds left. Kristaps passed the ball to Michael and he shot the ball from the three-point line. Kristaps and the team relied on Michael to win the game. The suspense was real for everyone. Time felt frozen, everything became silent to him. The only loud thing was the buzzer that rang. The shot went in the Knicks won the game. His teammates picked Michael up and celebrated. The crowd was ecstatic. As he went to locker room he saw someone that he thought he would never see, it was his father, the man that had once doubted him, had been proven wrong. But he wasn’t upset with Michael. He stood there frozen till he walked up to him and said.

“Son I am proud of you.”

Michael couldn’t believe this moment, he thought he was a disgrace all this time but not till this point. Not only did Michael shut up the crowd, but he stopped the racism, war, and politics after this historical game. Life became easier and his family moved in with him. Life became great after that season. There was peace love and equality. Soon Michael became rookie of the year. And his lifelong dream came true.