Reggie Bullock belatedly celebrated Blake Griffin’s birthday with the rest of the team in Blake’s lavishly-appointed living room. Eating a slice of cake, he wondered if his teammates even knew that his own birthday fell on the same day. But even if they did, why would they care? He was just a rookie. He should be glad they didn’t fill his car with marshmallows.
Blake was making an announcement. “You guys are the best group of guys I’ve ever played with. Thank you so much for the well-wishes. But there’s one more thing we need to celebrate.”
Reggie felt his heart leap. Was Blake really talking about what it sounded like?
“Yo, Reggie, get over here. It’s your birthday too, man.” The collected Clippers all clapped and whooped while Reggie went to hug Blake. “We got you a little something, rook. Doc, bring out the surprise!”
From the kitchen, Doc Rivers wheeled out a cart, upon which sat a gigantic, many-tiered birthday cake. The words “Happy Birthday Reggie” were written in red frosting around the bottom tier. Overcome with emotion, Reggie could only say, “You guys didn’t need to make me a cake!”
Somebody handed him a knife. Slicing carefully through the exact center of the towering confection, Reggie felt the knife hit something solid. Was it a present? “Naw, guys, did you really-?” Reggie laughed, smiling.
“Come on, we wanna see what it is!” DeAndre yelled. “Cut it open so we can see!”
Cutting a big enough slice to expose whatever had been baked into the cake, Reggie thought about what it could be. A fancy watch? Fancy shoes? Fancy alcoholic beverages? It turned out to be none of those things.
“Oh, cool, a wall clock,” Reggie said, face fallen with disappointment. “I can put it up in my apartment, I guess.”
“No, no, no, you don’t understand,” Doc said. “It’s a metaphor.”
“A metaphor for what? My biological clock ticking slowly down to nothing?”
“No, Reggie. It means you’re going to get some minutes tonight!” Doc exclaimed.
Reggie’s eyes grew wide with happiness. “Minutes? For a rook like me?” Now those same eyes began to fill with tears. “Thanks, Doc. Thanks everybody. This is all I could have ever asked for!”