Cesar stands up and goes to Samantha. He leans over her and says, “Do you want to watch us practice? This is gonna be boring for you.”

She looks at him and says, “No, I’m fine. I’m gonna watch you guys practice.”

Cesar nods and turns towards Justin and Mark. Justin has the ball and he pathetically tries to spin the ball with his thumb.

“Justin, could you give me the ball?”

Justin looks at him and says, “Of course, master. Here, have it.” Justin amateurishly passes the ball to Cesar.

Cesar checks the ball and presses it. He then dribbles it to the ground, shows a couple of moves, and spins it on the tip of his index finger.

Mark and Justin’s jaws dropped with their eyes opened wide. Mark got up quickly and said, “Teach me those moves, master.”

Cesar chuckled and smiled at them. Cesar puts the ball under his armpit and says, “Basketball is a sport of tactics, strategies, skills, and athleticism. You need these to achieve supreme domination against your opponents. Without any of these, you are leaving out significant advantages that could help you win the game.”

Mark and Justin nod at him and rub their hand on their chin.

“And before I could cover them all, I want you first to learn the fundamentals of basketball.”

Cesar drops the ball and dribbles it.

“First, you should learn how to dribble.”

Mark and Justin nodded.

“You must bend your knees slightly and dribble the ball not surpassing your hip.”

Cesar bends his knees and dribbles the ball with his right hand.

“I want you to dribble 50 of these. I’ll count them, don’t worry.”

Cesar stands up straight and grabs the ball. He then passes the ball to Mark. Mark didn’t react fast enough and got hit by the ball to the chest. Mark grabs his chest and leans over.

“Oh, sorry Mark.”

Justin laughs his butt off and runs to get the ball. He grabs the ball and goes back to them. Cesar approaches Mark with his arm reaching out to him. Mark postures himself up and smiles at him.

“I’m fine Cesar. Let’s get going with our practice.”

“Sure, Sure.”

Cesar asks Justin to give Mark the ball. Justin hands it over to Mark. Cesar nods at Mark.

“You can start dribbling now. Dribble first with your dominant hand to get a good feel on the ball then dribble with the other hand.”

Mark dribbles the ball with his right hand.

“Bend your knees slightly Mark.”

“Ok.”

Mark bends his knees.

“Lower your dribbling, Mark, not surpassing your hip.”

“Oh, ok.”

Mark lowers his dribbling.

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“Relax, Mark. Don’t put too much power on your dribbling. Focus on the technique.”

Mark lessens his intensity of dribbling the ball. Cesar nods at him.

“You’re almost done.”

Mark is now sweating and beginning to breathe heavily.

“Done, Mark. Job well done. You’ve done well for a first-timer.”

Mark stands up straight, grabs the ball, and leans over. He starts to breathe heavily.

“Mark, don’t lean over when you’re breathing hard. You may throw up.”

Mark stands straight up and drops the ball. The ball goes towards Justin and he grabs it. Cesar walks over to Justin and nods to him.

“Your turn, Justin.”

“Yes, master.”

Justin now starts to dribble with his left hand.

“Is the left hand your dominant hand Justin?”

“Yes, master. I’m left-handed.”

Justin bends his knees and dribbles the ball laxly just under his hips. Cesar nods at him and crosses his hands. Justin is now breathing heavily until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“That’ll do Justin. You’re excellent for a first-timer.”

Justin then straightens up and offers the ball to Cesar.

“Well, thank you for the compliment, master.”

Cesar takes the ball and positions himself in front of the two of them. He looks slightly toward Samantha and looks back at them.

“I want you to practice dribbling with your other hand now. I’ll leave it all to you two.”

Cesar bounce-passes the ball to Mark and fortunately, he catches it. Mark now starts to dribble with his left hand. He dribbles the ball awkwardly with no rhythm at all. Cesar just observes with his hands behind his back.

“Keep trying, Mark.”

Mark’s arms are now weary and slow to dribble the ball. He starts to breathe heavily again.

“Good, Mark.”

Mark is now breathing very heavily. He then falls to the floor due to exhaustion. Cesar goes over to him, puts Mark’s arm over his neck, and lifts him up. He carries Mark towards the bench and lets him lie there. Cesar gets his water bottle from his bag and brings it over to Mark. Mark is breathing heavily but is still conscious.

“Mark, could you sit up?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

Mark tries to sit up and successfully does so. Cesar offers him to drink water but he shakes his head.

“I don’t want my saliva on your water bottle, Cesar.”

“I don’t care, just drink.”

Mark eventually conceded. He drinks the water from Cesar’s water bottle. He then raises his hand, and Cesar withdraws his water bottle from him. Mark wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

He looks at Cesar, “How many dribbles did I do?”

“You’ve dribbled about 42.”

“Oh yeah? Can I at least have redemption by finishing it?”

“If you think you can, then be my guest.”

“I will. I will not let you down.”

Mark shakes his head and stands up. He looks where the ball is and finds that the ball is still on the ground motionless. He goes over the ball with sluggishness stopping at intervals. Cesar notices this and goes over to Mark.

“Mark, I will not let you dribble for now. Get some rest first and I will let you practice.”

Mark looks at him in disbelief, “But I did not finish it.”

“It’s ok if you didn’t finish it, you pass this one in my view. Besides, you have dribbled enough to make me proud, man. You are not used to exercising and I get that. Get some rest first and if I see you fit for the action, I’ll let you practice.”

“Thank you for the consideration, Cesar. You warm my heart. I’ll rest for you, man.”

Mark goes over to the bench and sits on it. Samantha goes over to Mark and sits beside him. Mark is unimpressed with this move, but on the inside, he’s reveling. Cesar picks up the ball and bounce-passes it to Justin.

“Same principles of dribbling Justin, but do it by your right hand.”

“You got it, master.”

Justin positions the ball to his right hand and starts to dribble. While Mark is watching Justin dribble, his attention is on the presence of Samantha. Samantha watches Justin dribble and is impressed.

‘That’s impressive for a beginner,’ Samantha thought.

“So, Samantha.”

Samantha turns his head to Mark.

“What is it, Mark?

Mark takes a gulp and says, “Do you know how to dribble?”

“Well, a little bit. I just watch basketball, not play it.”

Samantha chuckled then Mark got infected by it.

“Why would you say a little?”

“Well, I don’t really play basketball.”

“What sport do you play, then, if you don’t play basketball? I presume you know more about basketball than I am.”

Samantha was flattered.

“I suppose you could say that, but I have no interest in it. Although I have skills in basketball, my heart pours out towards chess.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, chess is my passion. This may sound sexist by today’s standards, but I am a woman, so I have a say on this matter, men are generally stronger than women. So, I reckoned to stay out of their way. They’re aggressive to the core and I can’t compete with that even though I wanted to. Besides, NBA is better than WNBA if you ask me.”

Mark laughed along with her. Cesar turned his head to look at them and smiled, then he turned back towards Justin.

“That’s enough Justin, you’ve gone a little past fifty. Nevertheless, your performance is impressive for you to be a beginner.”

Justin stands up straight and inserts the ball under his left armpit.

“Thank you for the compliment, master.”

Cesar smiles and nods, he then goes over to him. He pats his shoulder and says, “You’ve done a wonderful job, my student.”

Justin chuckles, he then gives the ball to Cesar.