The Empty Chair

Camp invites for shooters who understood spacing. A coach hired not for reputation but for principles: Malik Dawson, a defensive assistant whose former teams overperformed every opponent-adjusted metric. Evelyn read in silence for twelve minutes. "You understand," she said, "that if we do this, people will say I gave an NBA franchise to a fan with spreadsheets." Daniel thought of his cubicle, his mother, the printer, the reporters waiting for a frightened quote. "Then we should make the spreadsheets right." By sunset the first trade call went to the league office. By midnight, the face of the franchise was gone. By breakfast, Charlotte sports radio opened with a funeral horn.