Tris sits on the edge of her seat at the table with Zeke, Caleb, Lauren, Natalie, and Andrew. She had told herself over and over again it didn't matter if she got drafted but sitting here now waiting for everything to start, she was nervous.

Lauren had helped her pick out a beautiful gold dress and done her hair and make-up for tonight. All the cameras and flashing lights, she was getting more comfortable with. Being a ballplayer she was used to the attention but the media attention the past two months was different. It was much more intense than it had ever been for her. There was an overwhelming pressure to look perfect at all times.

"We are proud of you no matter what happens tonight Munchkin," Andrew says as he squeezes her shoulders before sitting down again as the announcers state that the program was about to begin.

"That's right, Twin, you beat everything that was thrown at you, this is your moment, try not to be nervous" Caleb offers.

"I know, it's just I want it so bad," Tris admits.

"Tris, this isn't like when you were in high school waiting for a scholarship offer at the 11th hour. You proved everyone who passed you over wrong. If ever there was a time for you to be cocky, it's right now" Lauren grins.

"Lauren" Natalie scolds and the rest of the family laughs.

Tris shakes her head. Even though she and Natalie didn't have the best relationship, one of the things that Tris appreciated right now was that her mother kept her humble, reminding her of those less fortunate and to be thankful for all of the doors that had opened for her.

Tris had been overwhelmed by all the attention since the NCAA tournament. She had won college athlete of the year at the ESPYs, the sports award program of the year. Caleb had gone as her date but secretly she'd wished Tobias had been there with her instead. She knew she was going to have to get used to all of the reporters and red carpets if things went well tonight.

Tris smiles, all her hard work over the years had led her to this moment. For a second her mind wanders to Tobias. They used to talk about what would happen when they both got drafted, even when Tris doubted herself, Tobias had always hyped her up that they were going to be the first couple playing in the NBA and WNBA at the same time. Even though it had been three years since they were together it still didn't feel right that he wasn't here with her at this moment. She secretly watched when he was drafted, she had still been a mess during that time but she couldn't help it, she wanted it for him even though he had broken her heart.

Zeke reached down a squeezed Tris's hand hoping to calm her nerves. Zeke had accepted a position at a smaller Sports Agency Management firm, Divergent owned by Amar Salaam. They were very impressed with him and his plans after interning with Rock Nation Sports for two years. They were very impressed that Lynn, Tris, and Uriah were all planning on signing with him. Andrew and Reggie looked over all the details and felt better Zeke was going to spend a few years under the tutelage of Amar instead of jumping head first alone. Amar was so impressed with the business plan Zeke and Caleb developed he agreed to hire Caleb to start a fiance division and would give both of them the opportunity to become partners if they were able to execute their plan in 5 years.

Lynn was there with her family as well and Amar was at her table chatting with her family. Tris and Lynn had both talked things over at the end of the season with Tori. Winning an NCAA championship along with Lynn's Defensive Player of the Year award, Tris winning MVP and her Dauntless records was pretty much going to guarantee them being drafted. Despite what Lauren said Tris didn't dare be so cocky after her high school experience. She and Lynn had both agreed they didn't care where they landed as long as they were selected. With fewer teams, the chances of being drafted were much smaller than the NBA where there were 60 players chosen compared to 36 for the WNBA. She was still getting praised for her video documentation of their team playing through the pandemic so she knew she could really make a go at some kind of announcing job if basketball didn't work out.

Tris bounces her knee nervously as the WNBA commissioner walks to the microphone. The first pick went to Chicago Sky.

With the first pick of the 2024 WNBA draft, the Chicago Sky select Tris Prior, Point Guard, Dauntless University

Tris is in a daze as everyone pulls her into a hug. She can see Lauren has tears in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and smiles as the cameras follow her on stage to take pictures with the owner of the Sky with the jersey. Mikayla Andrews from ESPN has the first interview as soon as Tris walks to the side of the podium with the jersey.

"Tris, tell us how you are feeling about being this year's number one draft pick?"

"I worked so hard to get here, I was the last person selected my senior year of high school only receiving a scholarship offer after the season was over. Tori Wu believed in me and pushed me to be a better basketball player. My parents, my brother, and sister, To..my teammates at Dauntless. Everyone believed me and I'm just so excited. I was born in Chicago and lived there until we moved to North Carolina so that makes this moment extra special for me"

"Thanks, Tris, There you have it, folks, the first pick of the Night, The Chicago Sky choose the best of the best with Tris Prior from Dauntless University" Mikayla finishes as the cameraman pans back to the audience.

Tris shakes off her jitters as she is whisked backstage for more pictures. It was all coming at her so fast. She can't believe she slipped up and almost said Tobias in her thank you speech. She hoped no one noticed but he had been on her mind the entire night.

Lynn is selected in the first round as well by the Seattle Storm. Tris is a little sad Lynn will be so far away but she already knew she was going to be split up from her friends. Lynn and Tris get tapped to take pictures together at the end of the night.

"Is this real?" Lynn says smiling as they steal a moment between pictures and interviews.

"It doesn't seem like it" Tris chuckles.

"We did it though" Lynn grins.

"It's going to be weird playing against you though"

"Yeah, but D U for Life" Lynn grins giving her a fist bump.

"D U for Life"

She hadn't gone to Dauntless expecting to form such a tight bond with her teammates but she felt just as close to Marlene, Christina, and Lynn as she did her siblings.

She facetimes with Tori, Christina, and Marlene on the way back to the hotel. In the weeks since the tournament, she had really come to appreciate her friendship with Tori along with her mentorship. She had to laugh at how she really thought Tori hated her freshman year.

The next morning, She, Zeke, and Amar have a strategy meeting before she heads back to Charlotte to pack, well she never unpacked from Dauntless but she would need to be in Chicago in two weeks to start training camp for the WNBA season. The family was planning on driving to Atlanta for Caleb's graduation, Tris would fly to Chicago and fly back to Atlanta for her graduation the next weekend. The team was putting her up in a hotel for training camp until she could find housing.

Back in Charlotte, Normally she hated it when Natalie fussed over her, but with the overwhelming schedule she was about to partake in, she let her. Tris appreciated the extra help to keep everything organized and get her things together for Chicago. Tris answers the door what she felt like was the 10th time that day for a flower delivery. She had received flowers from the president of Dauntless, Zeke, Hana, and Reggie, her high school coach. This is a huge bouquet of pink roses, probably the biggest bouquet she had ever seen. She plucks the card to see who it was from and she feels like her heart stops.

Congratulations Tris, I'm really proud of you for everything you've accomplished. I always knew you would make it. Good Luck in Chicago. I know I'm sorry isn't enough but I am. For everything. Maybe one day we can work on being friends again.

T.

Tris feels the tears start to come. This is what she had been afraid of. Friends, that's all he wanted. After everything he put her through she still wanted him and once again she felt like was 16 years old. She was embarrassed that after all this time, she thought she wanted more.

"Those are lovely flowers dear, who are they from, you've gotten so many the past few days," Natalie asks as she walks past.

"Ummm the Athletic Department at Dauntless" Tris lies as she crumples the card. She and Tobias were over for good. There was no point in getting her hopes up anymore.

When the NBA draft comes around Tris jumps for joy when Uriah is drafted to the Chicago Bulls with the 8th pick in the first round. She was so happy for him and all the work he had put in at Dauntless but even happier that she would have a friend in Chicago.

She had good conversations with Tori about how to mentally prepare for the WNBA. Just like college, there were expectations set on presentation and behavior. There were classes on maintaining your personal finances.

Tris frowns a little bit after she poses signing her rookie contract. Based on the rules for the WNBA, since Tris was the number 1 draft pick she was guaranteed a base salary of 76k for the first and second year of her 4-year contract. The amount would increase to 80k for her third and fourth year for a total of $312,000 overall. She felt bad for Lynn since because she was drafted lower she was going to less. The thing that really pissed off Tris was the pay disparity. Even though the WNBA season was only 36 games compared to the 82 game season, the NBA rookie contracts started off at 7 million. It was frustrating. She had the opportunity for bonuses for making All WNBA Team, Rookie of the Year, being selected to the All-Star Game, making it to the playoffs, things like that but it was another reminder that even though as talented as she was, she would never have the same opportunities as Tobias or Uriah.

Tris has a stand-out rookie season. The coach Johanna Reyes was a kind spirit, she really pushed teamwork. She wasn't as tough as Tori, Tris didn't think anyone was a tough as her. She wins Rookie of the Year after putting up an average of 30 points per game during the season and it earns her a $10,000 bonus. She loved playing in Chicago. She hadn't lived there since she was 11 but there was nothing like the fans in Chicago.

As the season came to an end the Sky aren't quite ready for the playoffs. Tris was planning on going to Charlotte for a week or two and then to Atlanta. She liked her teammates on the Sky but she hadn't bonded with any of them like Christina, Marlene, and Lynn. She was planning on sticking around Chicago for most of the off-season. It felt like home again to her.

The week after the season ended, Zeke made a trip to Chicago to go over some business with her. Being the number one draft pick and now Rookie of the Year, endorsement offers were starting to come in for Tris. She was so thankful she had Amar, Caleb, and Zeke as well as her father to help guide her through all the negotiations.

"So I have a contract offer for you" Zeke slides the paper across the table for Tris.

Tris takes a look at the papers and Zeke chuckles as he watches Tris read over the contract and her eyes light up when she realizes that it's an offer to play for the Women's Basketball European League.

"Italy? For real?" Tris grins. She knew most of her team in Chicago was about to head overseas. For women's basketball, it was the only way to make any real money due to the WNBA salaries being so low. She figured that it might take at least a year to get noticed if she played well.

"The Sky is going to offer you a time off bonus if you don't go" Zeke informs her. He had done his research for Tris and Lynn and wanted to present all the options.

"How much?"

"Max is 50k if you play less than 90 days.

Tris frowns. She knew that the WNBA didn't pump money out like that, but what would be the point in going to play less than 3 months.

"How much is Italy offering?"

"250k if you sign a two-year deal plus bonuses if you make it to the championship"

"You mean, I'm only getting 76k from the Sky and they are offering 250k for two years"

"250k per year" Zeke clarifies and chuckles when he sees her mouth fall open and her eyes go wide.

He knew it was bullshit what Tris and Lynn were up against especially after securing Uriah's contract. Uriah was getting a base of 7 million a year on a 4-year contract per year for a minimum of 28 million with the Bulls due to being drafted at number 8 overall plus the opportunity for bonuses. He had picked up another client that was a friend from Dauntless going into the NFL and he was going to sign for 3 million a year for 5 years.

Tris leans back. This was part of the game that was so frustrating. All but two of her teammates played overseas for various countries. It was how they were able to make a living wage if they wanted to play professional basketball.

"Is Lynn getting an offer?"

"Yeah, from Finland"

It would have been nice if she would be going somewhere to have a friend. She didn't speak Italian. Would it really be that hard? All she had to do was play ball, which she could do anywhere.

"It's a good deal. We can reevaluate after two seasons, see how you feel. It's going to be at least 4 before you are eligible for an increase from the Sky. And if you do well you could end up like Diana Taurasi. Do you want to call Tori, ask her her opinion since she lived it?"

Tris nods as she thinks. Tori and she had formed a tight friendship since graduation. Tris had made several frustrating phone calls over the seasons which Tori helped her calm down and learn to work the system of the WNBA. Diana Taurasi was one of the best women's basketball players of the 2000s from UCONN. She played for the Phoenix Mercury and Russia. In 2015, the Russia team paid her $1,000,000 to sit out her WNBA season to ensure they won a championship.

For a moment she thinks about Tobias. He made it clear he only wanted to be friends. What reason did she have to stay in the United States for her off-season?

"I think I want to go," Tris says after a minute. "I've never been to Europe, I want to see what I can do"

Zeke smiles, Tris was always looking for a challenge, how to up her game. He knew when the offer came to him Tris was going to take it.

"I think I can get you at least one overseas endorsement deal too" Zeke offers.

"Will you and Shauna come visit?" Tris asks hopefully, wondering how she would go six months alone in a foreign country without any of her friends and family. Shauna and Tris could be comfortable in each other's presence now after she came with Zeke to Chicago that summer. They had a nice girl's day while Zeke and Uriah handled some business. Tris was sure Zeke was completely head over heels for her. Tris didn't think they would ever be close like she knows Shauna and Marlene have become but it made this smoother in their friend group.

"For sure, She's going to freak, I can hear her scream now"

"Yeah, Lauren, Chris, and Mar too," Tris laughs.

Tris had no idea how she was going to balance Lauren's wedding. She already had her bridesmaid dress, and Natalie was really handling all the extra details since Tris hadn't been able to. Lauren had insisted Tris be her maid of honor. She promised she would work around Tris's schedule. This was going to make it even more difficult. As it stood now, half the Sky wasn't going to be back from overseas until halfway through training camp and now she was going to be added to that number.

With deciding to go to Italy, Tris only has two weeks between seasons to get packed and get over to Rome. Lauren's wedding was going to be four days before Tris left for Rome. Christina flies to Chicago to ride with Tris and they drive her car to Charlotte to leave at her parents' house until she gets back. Tris was happy for the company and some girl time one the 18-hour drive. They stopped overnight in Tennessee to rest and grab dinner.

"So Uriah told me about the guys trip, he Caleb and Tobias had" Christina edges out as she and Tris get comfy in their hotel room.

"Yeah I heard from Caleb" Tris replies as she looks at the ceiling.

"So you still haven't talked to him?" Christina prods. She was going to break Tris about Tobias one way or another on this trip.

"Nope," Tris replies as she pops the p.

"At all? Tris, I know you are holding out on me. You get remarkably quiet when don't want to tell the entire story"

Tris sighs. She knew Christina was not going to let up.

"He left me a voicemail after the national championship win, he sent me flowers after I got drafted, that's it"

Christina sits up in her bed and turns to face Tris sitting cross-legged.

"What did he say?"

Tris knew she needed to talk to someone about all this. Lauren was all over the place with wedding planning, she didn't want to bother her so Tris had pretty much been keeping all of her confusion about Tobias to herself.

"He congratulated me and in the card, he said he wanted to be friends and he's sorry for how things went down between us"

Christina can hear the confusion and bitterness in her best friend's tone.

"And you're upset by this?"

"I guess I started to think we could maybe work things out but I can't take going back to just being friends with him, Chris. It's too hard. Zeke was different. Tobias, I can't do that"

Christina looks over at Tris who wipes a tear away. Even after all this time, she could tell how the breakup still was hard for Tris to think about.

"We've both moved on, I guess it should just stay that way"

Christina leans over and cuts off her bedside lamp and settles under the covers.

"Tris"

"Yeah"

"As much as you keep saying you and Tobias have moved on, you haven't and I think you don't want to"

Christina rolls over and falls asleep. Tris lays awake thinking. Chris was right. She hadn't moved on from Tobias but what could she do since he moved on from her?

Rome is hard for Tris. Zeke had negotiated for her to have an apartment a few blocks away from the Italian Foxes sports complex. Not speaking any Italian was hard for Tris. Most of the coaches only spoke Italian so Tris had to rely on her own skills to feel her way through practice. At night was the hardest. She didn't connect with the girls on the team who didn't speak English. The time difference made it difficult to talk to any of her friends.

She is grateful that Caleb, Marlene Andrew, Natalie, Lauren, and Harrison make the trip to Rome for Thanksgiving. Caleb and Marlene were still going strong and Tris was glad they were so happy. She met her parents their freshman year at Dauntless and Caleb officially introduced her as his girlfriend at his graduation. She'd been in attendance as his date for Lauren's wedding too. Andrew and Natalie were shocked but none else was when Marlene and Caleb decided to move in together in Atlanta after graduation.

There's plenty of sightseeing and Tris dominates both of the games she played in that week. Lauren, Marlene, Natalie, and Tris spend a little time shopping too. The week goes by too fast for Tris.

"You sure you are okay Twin?" Caleb asks as he hugs her goodbye outside the airport. He could feel something was off with her. It was their freaky twin thing as Lauren called it.

"Yeah, it's just lonely here," she admits. She always found it hard to keep things from him when they were face to face.

"Only three more months and Zeke and Shauna are coming to visit in January and you get to come home for All-StarWeekend. You can make it"

She nods, trying to stay positive, and gives him another hug. She had been so excited when Zeke told her that the NBA wanted her to participate in several events during All-Star Weekend. With her being the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year she was a big name and they usually invited a handful of WNBA players to do things like play in the celebrity charity game and judge the slam dunk contest. Tris was more grateful that Christina, Marlene, and Lynn had decided they should make a girls' weekend out of it. She missed her friends so much.

The next month feels like it drags by for Tris. She reads most evenings after practice. She takes a cooking class and learns how to make pasta from scratch along with several other classic Italian dishes. The play isn't particularly high level for Tris so she dominates on the court. As the season goes on she becomes a popular face in the area but at the end of the day, she was still lonely. She didn't know how she was going to make it through another season like this.

Tobias wipes his hands across his face as he heads to the locker room. It had been a rough game. With this being his third year in the NBA, he was used to the hustle and bustle now, the long road trips, the high intensity of play. Things had been better since he made up with Uriah and Caleb. He didn't feel quite as alone. He, Caleb, and Uriah had actually found time for a quick guys weekend in Chicago over the summer. It felt like old times. Tobias was so happy for Uriah to be playing for the Bulls, he had worked hard and he deserved a shot. Tobias on the other hand was still not playing great consistently. Tonight he had a good game, 20 points and they eked out a win against the Portland Trailblazers.

"Eaton, my office now" The coach calls as Tobias tossed his shirt on after his shower. He wondered if he was getting pulled for a media interview or something.

"What's up coach?" Tobias asks as he sits down in his chair as Coach Blackwood waves his hand.

"Eaton, you know I like you, I think you have the potential to be a hell of a player once you learn some consistently"

Tobias nods. He knew this was one of the critiques of many of the commentators and former players of the game. He just felt like he was stuck and he didn't know what he needed to do. Maybe this was the consequence he would suffer from jumping to the NBA after his freshman year and not allowing himself time to work on his game.

"I'm getting traded aren't I?" Tobias asks, anticipating where this conversation was going. The trade deadline was coming up and teams were starting to make moves.

"Yes, to Charlotte. You are going to meet up with them in Cleveland tomorrow for their next game"

"Thank you for everything Coach," Tobias says as he extends his hand. The older man gives him a firm handshake. He was an okay coach, Tobias knew he had played at the University of Kentucky for college and briefly in the NBA. Most of his coaching experience had been at the collegiate level and he was still trying to figure out his NBA coaching style.

Tobias stuffs his game bag full of everything in his locker. He would have to figure out what to do about his condo. The good thing about Charlotte was he could take his time getting settled and stay with his mother. This might be good for him, being able to see his mother more, he missed her. He'd been working on his relationship with his half-brother's Hector and Fernando. Being in Charlotte full-time would give him more time with them too.

"T, what's going on?" Kenyon asks as he watches Tobias clean out his locker.

"I got traded to the Hornets"

"Damn, anyone else?"

Tobias shrugs. He shouldn't be upset, this was part of the game. Players were traded all the time. It didn't necessarily mean that he was a bad player but it definitely meant that the team's front office didn't think he was worth investing in anymore.

"Keep in touch, bro"

"No Doubt, I gotta get some stuff packed and figure out moving," Tobias tells him. He says goodbye to the other guys in the locker room and heads home to pack.

While sports contracts can get complicated, the salary examples are real-life examples highlighting the pay disparities between the WNBA and NBA. There's been movement the past few years from WNBA stars A'ja Wilson, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi speaking up and working to negotiate new pay scales. The European League set up for Women's basketball is also real. What Tris is going to go through is a real-life example from a former WNBA player I know and so many others. Thanks for reading! Stay Tuned!