Page 39 of Never Say Never
“God, I can’t believe you went through that. It must have been unbelievably hard.” Her face is filled with hurt for me.
“I’m fine now, really.”Because of my rule.
“Even so, I can see why you don’t want to go there again.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t just him. Being in our world, I’ve seen way too many athletes mess with women, using their status to sleep around, then ghosting after sex. I made my rule freshman year, once I saw college guys doing the same thing at UConn.”
“I get that. I do. It took me a while to trust Malcolm with all our time apart.”
We both eat for a minute in silence.
“Sorry to be such a downer,” I say finally.
“Nah, don’t apologize. That’s what friends are for.”
We resume eating, and the energy eventually relaxes from the intensity around my story. I decide to bring up the other item on my mind. Practice starts at noon, so we’re not in a rush.
“If I can do a massive pivot here, I was hoping to get your advice on something else.”
“Lay it on me.”
“My mom’s struggling to get my endorsement contracts pinned down where we think they should be.”
She looks stunned. “Your mom is still representing you?”
“Yeah, I thought maybe we could line up a few big deals before I have to start paying a team.” My goal is to build up a nest egg before I have to start forking out a percentage.
Her expression shifts to understanding. Even as a top WNBA star, under our current collective bargaining agreement, Sarah only makes around two hundred thousand dollars in salary from the Surge. Her millions have come from sponsorships and commercials.
“It’s a chicken and an egg scenario, isn’t it?” she observes. “So you don’t have a public relations rep to deal with this Rawley story either?” I shake my head. “Huh.”
“What are you thinking? Am I being stupid not getting help?”
“My first thought is it’s so unbelievably annoying that someone at your level even needs to worry about this.” Translation: a men’s player never would face these financial dynamics. My counterpart in the NBA draft signed a sixty-three-million-dollar contract coming off being the top pick.
“But, yes, if I were you, I would at least have conversations with possible candidates. On the PR side, I love my rep, Taylor. I can introduce you if you want?”
I need to talk this through with Mom, but I’m also leaning toward vetting some options. “Thanks, send me her number?”
“Sure.”
We’re getting close to finishing our breakfast, and after looking contemplative for a minute, Sarah steers the conversation to a new subject.
“I want to give you a heads-up about something. Teammate wise.”
“Okay. Everyone seems really great so far,” I observe diplomatically.
She nods, but her face doesn’t seem to agree.
“I want you to watch out for Katrina. She’s a little bitter about your potential move to being a starter instead of her, and…”
I’m not surprised to hear it’s Katrina she’s warning me about, but what could this even be? “And what?”
“She’s been talking some bullshit about you to some of the veterans, how you aren’t ready to start, and if you do, it’s only because of your last name.”
I feel myself get simultaneously pissed and motivated.
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, because I don’t want you to get psyched out. A couple of us handled her nonsense and shut it down. But just, watch yourself.”
