Yuki sat for half of the third quarter, and from the bench, she could focus perfectly on what truly mattered, it wasn’t the score of her team being slowly diminished until the Sorcerers had tied the game, it wasn’t the plan her coach was yelling at her teammates, it was one single person in all of her glory. There was just something about watching Hannah in her element, dribbling in and out of her defenders, she didn’t play, she danced, almost like she could follow some kind of music only loud enough for her ears, but unlike most players, her movements are not predictable, Yuki has watched her dance more times than she can count, she has danced together and against far more than any other player, and every time there is a new surprising move, there is a different approach to the same play, the Center truly believes that she falls in love all over again every time she manages to catch a glimpse of geniuses Court can achieve.

But all of the others were still playing, they still tried to shut her down, during the timeout, they all agreed that the Sorcerer's Point Guard was red hot, so they came up with a simple strategy, when Saya is not on the court every time Hannah touches the ball she is doubled, doesn’t matter if she is in the logo or under the basket, there is always going to be two on her. When Saya is playing, the strategy is simple: let her deal with her long-time rival and pray that she misses the shot.

Yuki walks to get some water, from the sidelines she is able to see as Hannah gets the ball and as soon as she steps foot on the attack, there are two defenders on her, Kofi and Ashley, both of them fairly good defenders. The former is Hannah’s usual matchup, average height, just a few inches taller than Court, while the former is a bulkier woman, a more physical defender, she would usually be taxed with guarding another big, and she should be, since after a few seconds of stalling, the PG notices Lindy’s movement, the Center pushes out of her own defender, easily overpowering her, and begins to run to the free paint.

The pass reaches her in a second, over the two defenders and exactly into her hands, it’s too late for the one running after Lindy, she goes left at the basket and lays up the ball, but the sound she hears is not the net moving, but the ball rolling at the rim before it falls off, she didn't get her posture right, she missed, again. Hannah doesn’t say a word, for most people, she doesn’t even have a reaction, but Yuki notices the slight twitch in her right eye as she runs back into defense staring at the ball.

Kofi leads the offense, black skin with warm undertones, and hair styled in a bunch of dreadlocks going just a little over her shoulder, one look is all she needs, and as soon as she passes the half-court line Ashley is already moving to set the scream. Hannah was too focused on the woman in front of her, she didn’t hear the movement approaching, nor did her teammates warn her. As the attacker begins to run to the left, Hannah is quick to follow, but the Power Forward is already in position, Ashley sets her feet, standing perfectly still with her arms tightly close to her body, Saya almost says something, but it’s too late now. There is a resounding ooohh in the arena as Hannah hits her face directly on the shoulder of the opposing player.

There is pain, embarrassment, anger, everything boils inside Court as she tries to familiarize herself with the game, as much as her face burns, as much as there is certainly an apple red color to her face now, as much as she wants to stay laid down on the floor, she can’t stay there for long, she gets up quickly enough to see that at least Alice closed the distance and managed to delay the attack, Kofi, seemingly not being able to pass through her newfound defender, resets the attack, another one of their playbook specials, the ball moves to Diaz on the corner and while she gives it back to Kofi, Ashley cuts through the baseline ready for a layup. Even in her dizziness, Hannah is aware enough to cut the play, she moves forward, leaving her spot to intersect the pass, touching the ball with her hand before it reaches its intended target, pushing it out of bounds in the process she hits her shoulder against the receiver.

Hannah loves pretty much everything about basketball, the smell of the court, the passion of the fans, the competition, there is nothing she loves more than the minutes of play, the feeling of exhaustion and focus as the ball moves. Three-pointers, dunks, layups, dribbles, alley-oops, screens, blocks, steals, rebounds, even turnovers, she loves everything about the game of basketball, but there is just one thing, one simple thing she hates.

Flopping

Flopping is a culture, it’s accepted, it’s encouraged, it’s a disease, it’s cheating, it’s unsportsmanlike. A “flop” is when a player intentionally staggers or falls after little or no contact from an opponent just so that they can get a foul. It is rooted in lying, everything about it reeks of dishonesty. But floppers are everywhere, Sofie Cunningham, SGA, James Harden, Ashley Lung, all of them, and more, are rewarded for their actions with a free throw, a stoppage of play, everything to get even the slightest edge over their opponent. So when Hannah hits the shoulder of the Center that slight physical contact was negligible, but Ashley is one of the best at what she does, she lets go of the ball while swaying her arms to the side and throwing her hips down, falling to the floor already screaming in indignation.

The whistles that follow make Hannah immediately turn her head to the officiator, “She’s clearly flopping man come on”

While the Seagulls help a smiling Lung up, Court begins to follow the arbiter, trying to show him what she sees as she points to the woman while Yuki enters the court in place of the backup center. Out of breath, she exclaims, “Jesus Joe, I didn’t even touch her arm, you don’t have to do me like this. Just rewatch the play and you’ll se—”

“You should first clean yourself up and then talk to me, you hit her in the forearm, what'd you expect? You’re lucky this isn't a flagrant.”

Hannah feels herself laugh before she can help it, when a slight dizziness makes its presence known, she takes one hand to her head, looking down and seeing her nose bleed she mutters under her breath, “Oh great.”

“Look on the bright side! You’re bleeding, that’s a timeout!” Yuki’s happy tone cuts through her confusion like a knife, looking up, she meets the delighted smile of her friend.

Trying to contain her anger, she just shakes her head while mumbling, “Sure, maybe I need to bleed more so I can rest before your team cheats a little more.”

“Hey, don’t be like that! Ashley’s like a flower, she’s so weak, once I shoved her by mistake and she fell like four feet.”

“Fine. Ask your coach to keep her in the game, I wanna step on that flower.” Hannah says while moving away from the taller woman, her voice keeps being neutral, but Saya notices a slight trembling on it, like a cup of water needing just a drop to overflow.

After a quick treatment in a forced timeout, they are all back in the game, Hannah with a compression bandage on her nose to quickly restrict the bleeding while watching the Power Forward finish her free throw routine. Side by side with her stands Yuki, one hand already over her chest.

“You’re seven foot, why aren’t you trying to get the rebound?” Hannah asks.

“They’re way more worried about you being left alone in transition than a missed free throw.”

“Well, if we’re going statistically you wou—”

Before she can finish her explanation the game is already in motion, the Seagull hits all of the free throws and while they all move back to their side of the court Yuki is the only one that stays in the offense, a few feet away from the ball handler, the two women faced each other more than most players have games in the WNBA, usually, it wouldn't be like this, their matchup is not the best, Hannah is way too fast and Yuki has to work five times more to properly guard her, while on the other side, Hannah is pretty much useless against the taller girl.

“What a game people, after that heavy, there has been an explosion of contact and elegance on both sides, a historical match between these two powerhouses. 54 points for Hannah Court, a career-high, on the other side, Yuki is showing what she can do while healthy, with 29 points, 20 rebounds and 9 blocks, 9 blocks folks, she’s this close to a triple-double” Mark’s voice booms in the stadium, between excited viewers and worried fans all of the people in the arena there is a palpable tension in the air as they approach the last minute of the game.

Besides Mark, on the scoring table, Kelly argues, “I’m not here to knock on her performance, but the Ice Queen is clearly not icy enough, three turnovers this quarter, bitching about calls, answering the Seagull’s provocations, I think she’s not in the right headspace for the clutch.”

“Jesus K, you can’t possibly look at her and think Court shouldn't play this crunch tim—”

“C’mon Mark look at her while the coach talks, she’s not even paying attet—”

“She played all of the 39 minutes she’s tired I think that’s pretty normal and if you look at her sta—”

“Stats don’t matter right now! Yuki is locking her up, she won’t get a shot off to tie it and certainly won’t be able to win it.”

“She shoots 60% on clutch time shots, she literally hit a buzzer-beater in this very game.”

“Marky, look at her.”

The camera of the stadium focuses on the player with the most minutes in the game, Hannah played 39 minutes and 27 seconds. Her face is painted red, and she feels the heavy weight of the wet towel on top of her face, but there is no relaxation, every time she breathes it’s like drinking a shot of vodka, her knee aches so much she can’t even move it on the bench. Thankfully it still listens when she needs to use it.

Even though she is the main attraction at the moment, she doesn’t notice the applause, way too focused on the play her coach is repeating once again. At moments like this, she wishes she could forget about the game, not think about it, maybe go into podcasting, but that thought makes her body physically sick. Maybe it’s not only that, it’s the adrenaline pumping into her blood, it’s the headache becoming stronger, it’s every muscle in her body asking for a break. Thankfully, her body does give her a few seconds in advance to prepare. 

Hannah preventively tries to push the thick liquid in her throat back to where it belongs, getting up and quickly snatching a bucket of fries from a fan that sat close to her bench. She feels as the things she ate on this day come back, scarring every part of my body on its way up. Hannah tries to hold it in, closing her mouth and trying to swallow back the contents but the force overwhelms her and the orangish fluid vigorously escapes her mouth, hitting the bucket and the food.

As the terrible sick sound leaves her throat and the droplets of vomit are cleaned by her right arm, she can feel the eyes of everyone, not only the fans, on her, the Sorcerers worry that she won’t be able to play, the Seagulls laugh at her situation and Yuki seems so perturbed it almost looks like she was the one that threw up.

“You can get another one, I’ll pay for it,” she tells the fan, not waiting for his answer as she turns back to her team, gently passing her fist over her mouth before pointing out, “I know the play, don’t worry, I’m still the best shooter here. Just give me the ball and I’ll finish the game.” 

“As you can see the Seagulls are saying they’re okay. But as a noninvolved spectator, I have to agree with you Kelly, Hannah is in no way ready for this, maybe it’s because this is the farthest she made in the playoffs but there’s cle—”

Once again interrupted by his coworker, Kelly loudly proclaims into the microphone, “Tell it like it is man, she’s a choker, she’s a regular season merchant choking like usual.”

“Well, we’re gonna find out soon enough…”

“33 seconds left in the game.”

“9 seconds separating the shot and game clock.”

“Seagulls lead 95 to 93.”