DDS:CB 2016: The Last Man
May 1, 2125 (more or less)
Okay, we’ll get to basketball eventually, but first, a little about me. I am unique, in a situation that has never happened before and will never happen again. I’m just about positive I’m the last person alive. Let’s go back a little.
My name is Alvin “Lefty” Wright. I was born in the year 2000. My dad was a college hoops star, and by the time I was born, a high school hoops coach. He was 6’6”, my mom was 5’11”. He figured that since I was sure to be tall he should get me interested in the game as soon as possible. He did. I took to it. I loved it right from the start.
Being a southpaw was an advantage. Guys weren’t used to guarding lefties and because of that my shots tended to be more open. Dad taught me the fundamentals, and made sure I stayed with them. As a result, by the time I was 10 years old I already had a terrific outside shot.
I grew to be 6’10” but he insisted I play Small Forward, and even Shooting Guard in middle school, and since he coached me in high school, I played those two positions there. In high school I shot a little better than 55% during my senior year, and barely under that on threes. We won the state title my last two seasons.
We were from the Northern California, and I wanted to stay close to home, so I went to Stanford. Dad made sure their head coach committed to playing me at SG and SF, and Coach Michaels kept his word.
I started as a freshman and averaged 18.3 points, 7.2 RBs, and 4.4 assists that year. I got better every year. I was 2nd team All American my sophomore year, 1st team both my junior and senior years. And no, I had no interest in leaving early for the NBA. I was a really good student, and I loved math and science, especially physics. I was committed to getting my degree in physics, and I did.
We were a powerhouse my senior year. I led the country in scoring, and was 3rd in steals. We got to the national semifinal, and we were up 7 with 3:11 to go when I went up for a rebound, came down wrong, and tore both the ACL and the MCL in my left knee.
By that time, 2022, these injuries were usually able to be pretty much completely repaired, but mine was about as bad a knee injury as it was possible to get. It ended any chance of my playing pro ball. I have walked with a very slight limp ever since. There’s often a little pain, but not enough to cause any real problems.
Losing my shot at the NBA wasn’t so bad; it was never something I was truly excited about. My plan had been to play for a few years, make enough money to set me up for life, so that I could live the way I wanted to, and then retire- 5 years at the most. So, when that clearly wasn’t going to happen I figured I’d stay at Stanford and get a Master’s in physics. I did, and also served as a grad coaching assistant coach with Coach Michaels.
Having a coach for a dad I had always been interested in the coaching aspect, and dad and I had hundreds of coaching chats. I knew my stuff.
I got the Master’s but by that time I was hooked on coaching. Stanford didn’t have a spot for me but Cal-Berkeley did, so I wound up as the #2 there, in charge of recruiting. Two years later I moved up to #1, and in May of 2028, I was offered and accepted the head coaching job at Cal ST Bakersfield, in the Western Athletic Conference.
More on that soon.
By 2028 the planet was not in good shape. The years 2016-2024 had been disastrous, as the U. S., and many other countries pretty much completely walked back all efforts at stopping, or even slowing down such things as climate change, pollution of the environment… Fracking was happening everywhere, and dozens of new nuclear power plants were being built.
Actually, I think I’ll weave all of that into the story of my coaching career, and tell it, “as it happens,” so to speak. I’ll kind of alternate between that story, and the one that’s happening now.
Next chapter: A little about my life here in 2125. Oh, and how I happen to be still coherent and in pretty good shape at 125 years of age.