The Meeting at NBA Headquarters
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~~~(Date: September 25th, 2025)~~~
~~~(Location: New York City NBA Headquarters)~~~
~~~(Time: 11:30 AM)~~~
~~~(POV: Ulysses Kennedy)~~~
The limo pulls up to a very unorthodox skyscraper. It's not something you would even see in Oregon's capital, Portland. The driver gets out of the car and opens the door for us. "He'll have the things delivered to The Four Seasons for you once we are done with the meeting. I'm sure you'll want to see New York in all its glory." Howard has everything already planned out. He's more like an agent than he is a lawyer. However, I'm sure he is a fully legitimate lawyer. He wouldn't be able to do all this if he wasn't one.
Ellie stands up by my side, and many people give me weird looks. It's not every day you see a 7 foot 17-year-old standing around in New York. "Can we go inside? I don't like being stared at like this." Howard smiles and waves for me to follow him in. The doors are bigger in New York. I don't have to bend down when I walk through them. It's awesome. My hair barely scapes the top of the doorframes, though. Ellie and I follow Howard up to the front desk, and he tells the male secretary that we have an appointment with the board of NBA directors.
I didn't think we'd be talking to the top management. They are in charge of the big decisions. Such as age regulation for NBA players. Howard finishes talking to the secretary, and we are guided to an elevator. "This will take you to a private waiting room on the floor of the meeting, have a nice day!" The secretary explains to Ellie and me why we are going on the elevator. Howard follows us in, and the secretary presses the button for the correct floor before he steps out. The elevator doors close, and we begin to move. Sadly, I'm not wearing a suit like Howard.
The store in Holden that sells suits doesn't make them for a person of my height and build, and any custom-tailored ones online are too expensive for Ellie. So no suit for me. After a minute at the most, we stop on the 45th floor, and the elevator slides open. We enter an emasculate-looking lobby, and everyone is wearing suits. Now I really do feel out of place. Before I can look around any further, I'm greeted. "It's such an honor to meet you, Mr. Kennedy!" An average-sized man in a 3 piece suit comes from one of the hallways.
He reaches out his hand for a handshake, and I give one. "Sorry that I'm not in a fancy suit, too expensive to have one made for me. Y'know, being 7'0ft and all..." The man has a hearty laugh, and so do the men that follow him. He looks at Howard and tilts his head for us to follow. We follow him into a big conference room, and I see that every seat is almost filled except for the people who are currently standing. Ellie and I find out seats, and I struggle to get comfortable in the chair. Many have nervous looks, worried if I was offended.
The man I met in the lobby sits at the head of the table. He clears his throat and drinks some water before speaking. "As you have probably guessed, we don't normally have meetings about a single high school player, Mr. Kennedy. Let alone entertain conversations about special treatment..." He looks at Howard as he says that, but Howard just keeps his calm look. "Now since that's out of the way, how may we help you, Mr. Kennedy?" Before I can even take a breath, Howard stands up and takes out several papers from his briefcase.
He throws them on the table, all copies of the same papers, for people in the meeting to read individually. "My client has asked me to look into a very specific subject, and I'm here to address that with all of you." Many begin flipping through the pages, reading what I want to happen. "To cut to the chase, my client Mr. Kennedy wants to skip the college level and head straight to the NBA. However, he is barred from doing so due to being 18 when he graduates." Many don't know how to react, and that's when I realize this has a shot of happening.