Chance

     
           
What a dunk by Chris Gardner" the announcer says as Gardner jumps over someone and slams one home for two. "He has had an outstanding game to show everybody that he should be the rookie of the year for this 2018 season. The clippers beat the Lakers 109 to 100 all because of Chris Gardner's amazing performance with 12 rebounds and 32 points."After the game Chris has a press conference and all of the reporters laugh when he comes in with a fist pump and says "I can’t wait to beat the Celtics in the finals".  A reporter asked "will your parents be coming to this game because we know you have been having problems with them?" Gardner’s excited smile turns to a gloomy frown and says "next question" this gets Chris thinking of what life was like before all of this fame and getting into the NBA. This brings him back, seven years to be exact.
        After a tough day at school, Chris heads home. It’s raining outside as he walks along his street and his parents could care less if he did come home so why would they drive him home. He can hear them fighting from down the street over the sound of the rain and thunder. He walks in, dripping wet, seeing his parents screaming at each other over something stupid.
Chris has been having trouble with his parents since he was young. His parents are always fighting and yelling at him. When Chris was 9, five years ago, his sister died at birth due to complications and now his parents are always blaming each other for it.
       "Just get out" his father says.
       "Fine I'm going to the courts with Steve" Chris tells him.
       "Don't be too late" his mother says.
       "What do you care" Chris mumbles under his breath
        He leaves his old run down home to meet Steve at the end of his driveway. You can still here the arguing coming from his house behind him.
        "Hey Chris" Steve says as he dribbles a basketball.
         "What’s up Steve" Chris says, "Let’s hit the courts."
           Chris has great potential in Basketball but his parents would never pay for a real league. He goes to the basketball courts every time he wants to get away from home.
        "Tough day" says Steve
        "When isn't it a tough day" says Chris as he puts his arm out to signal that he wants a pass from Steve. Steve passes the ball right as they enter the basketball court.
        “If you make 5 three pointers then I'll give you ten bucks" says Steve.
        Chris swishes one from the corner, one from the top of the key and so on. He hit 11 three pointers in a row with nine out of those 11 being swishes.
        "Pay up" Chris simply says.
        After a smoke show in a one on one game between the two they finally head home. There is a loud silence on the way home until Steve breaks it, "Are you going to play for high school basketball." he says.
       "I want to but I have to but I have to pay for myself and the only money I'm making is ten bucks every time I shovel and it hasn't snowed in a while." Chris says, "My parents want me to buy my own food these days" he says sarcastically.
        Chris really wants to play basketball next year so he starts to save up some money. He has $30 from shoveling and his grandparents just gave him $100 for Christmas. The league costs $150 so he needs to get 20 bucks. He steals that money from his math teacher one day. He took it right out of her bag before he walked into class. No one else saw him do it and now he has enough money to play for Lincoln High School Wildcats basketball team.
      He has a great tryout for the team, knocking down almost every shot he took. He doesn't miss a layup and is a 90% free throw shooter. Chris is also growing tall and strong and he makes the Varsity team as a freshman. All the seniors look down on Chris thinking they are better than him. They are always being mean and taking cheap shots at him when the coach isn't looking. Even with all of this going on him has an amazing first year. He couldn't miss a shot and he was a shut down man in the middle. Every game for his four years at Lincoln High School was just a record waiting to be broken. Throughout his 4 years hear he broke almost every record in the book he and the Lincoln High Wildcats won all 4 championships and Chris was the M.V.P. of three of them.
          Even though he is living through the drama at home, barley scraping up any money, he is still one of the best basketball players known. His name is all over news papers and his face is on flyers all over town. Whenever people see him or drive by him they always shake his hand or congratulate him. Chris likes these changes, he used to just be a poor kid down the street but now he is the basketball legend of Lincoln, Pennsylvania. He is the super star of the courts.
      When Chris is a senior, scouts start to come to his games. He has seen scouts from Duke, Texas, Kansas, and Kentucky. He is happy to see this because he always dreamed about playing for Duke. After seeing that scout, Chris' eyes were set on Duce and Duke only.
        During his senior year he keeps his grades up and plays his heart out on the court. He is still having trouble at home but he is trying to take that anger out on the ball that he is stuffing back in the opposing players face. The time comes when he has to apply somewhere. Chris applies to only Duke and nowhere else. He wants to do his best on that application so he can go to the school of his dreams.
        About a month later, on January 3rd Chris gets home from basketball practice. He sees a letter near his front door. His parents aren’t home so he thought that this will be the perfect time to open it. The front reads "to Chris Gardner from the University of Duke" in blue ink. After staring at it for a long time he rips it open. He reads it in shock; he got accepted to his favorite school with a full scholarship. Chris calls Steve who is very excited for him.
      Chris' mom comes home about an hour after he opens the letter and his dad walks in about ten minutes later
      "Where were you" Chris’s mom asks.
      "I was taking a drive to clear my head" Mr. Gardner says smelling of hard liquor and cigarettes.
      "Chris what is that in your hand" his mom asks.
      "Oh it’s from Duke, I got a full scholarship for basketball." says Chris.
       "That’s great, I-" she is cut off by Mr. Gardner
        "Good, that means I’m not paying for it.
        For the rest of his senior year he does great at basketball and still keeps his grades up. the time finally comes where he can leave this hell hole he calls home and go to Duke.
        Chris was having a great first year at Duke. He kept up his grades and he was a starting player as a freshman for one of the best basketball schools in the country. He was well known around school and everybody called him chief.
       It was February 28th with March Madness right around the corner when he got the call on his cell phone. His mom was calling him.
     "Steve is dead" she says sobbing
     "What?" Chris says, not believing what he is hearing.
      "Yes, Steve Coogins tried to break up a fight when he was stabbed in the neck. he died before he hit the ground." his mom says taking deep breaths in between words.
      Chris did not want to hear any more, he hung up and threw the phone at the wall. He punched the floor and sat down with his hands over his face and tears running down his cheeks.
     Once again Chris took his anger out on the basketball court, leading the Blue Devils to the championship of March Madness against the Texas Long horns. They lost in overtime by 3 but the team played there hardest, especially Chris. His second year at Duke he was a star and once again they were the team to beat. They went to the Championship of March Madness against Kentucky. They one and Chris was the M.V.P. after his stellar year. After they won all you could here was the crowd yelling "Chief" over and over again.
    The N.B.A. has seen enough and he is drafted after only two years at Duke. He is chosen first pick by the Clippers. Chris has a great rookie year, dominating the league, making the all-star game and winning the dunk contest. He led the clippers to the playoff that year and they beat the Celtics in the N.B.A. Finals. Chris also won rookie of the year and the best part was that his parents cheered him on at every game.

chance

my story is about a 14 year old boy named Chris Gardner. Chris is a strong kid with red shaggy hair. he has light blue eyes that look like they have seen a lot. his outfit is the same everyday, a white beater under an unzipped lack and red jacket. he has a chain that he got from his grandmother that is very important to him. he has a pair of baggy sweatpants and red and white air force ones. he always wears a backwards hat. Chris is a great basketball player but his parents will never pay for a real league. he has a lot of trouble at home because his parents always fight and blame each other for Chrise's sisters death at birth. to get away from his rundown home he goes to the courts with his friend Steve Coogins. the Chris goes to college that his parents don't pay for but he has a free scholarship because of basketball. he gets drafted by clippers.

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 First paragraph

    "What a dunk by Chris Gardner" the announcer says as Gardner jumps over someone and slams one home for two. "he has had an outstanding game to show everybody that he should be the rookie of the year for this 2018 season. the clippers beat the Lakers 109 to 100 all because of Chris Gardner's amazing performance with 12 rebounds and 32 points." after the game Chris has a press conference and all of the reporters laugh when he comes in with a fist pump and says "i cant wait to beat the Celtics in the finals" a reporter asked will your parents be coming to this game because we know you have been having problems with them?" Gardeners excited smile turns to a gloomy frown and says "next question" this gets Chris thinking of what life was like before all of this fame and getting into the NBA.