Undrafted: Underrated x Underestimated

[The JZA]

[The JZA]

[Agent]

Ah man Khyri coming to the big screen?!

[chosenone58]

Back like they never left

[Google[Bot]]

dang 60-inch vert

[The JZA]

Ah man Khyri coming to the big screen?!

#Rumors

Back like they never left

dang 60-inch vert

Calves be calfin'

[The JZA]

JADED BREAKFAST, CINNABUNS WITH MALIKA

Back on the west side, things had settled down for Kairos. After spending time with family in Nashville, traveling and mingling with head figures around the basketball culture, some down time was in order for the soon to be NBA Sophomore. Kairos finds him-self waking up in bed to his phone's alarm snooze going off for the 4th or 5th time. But what really woke up Kairos was the faint aroma of food and a growling stomach. Finally opening his eyes for the day and getting out of bed, he looks straight ahead, peering through the window of his condo, beholding the view over the city of Salt Lake City with the mountains imposing in the background. It was a view that he couldn't get enough of. Speaking of insatiable views, Kairos' morning wasn't particularly alone...

"Good morning, handsome." Jade greeted Kairos as she walked in the room. She wore nothing but a white button up shirt, that a bit big on her, but short enough to show off her bronze legs. She approached Kairos with a breakfast tray, setting it before him as she lays the first kiss of the day on him.

"Good morning to you too, beautiful. What's all this?"

"I made you breakfast, I wanted to get your day started right. I hope you like it."

Today's menu was a fresh vegetable stuffed omelet, sausage lightly coated in maple syrup, two lightly buttered up french toast, and a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed. Kairos was more enticed by the aesthetics of the meal than the meal it-self.

"I'm surprised you made this, especially for me. This looks amazing."

"After last night, I wasn't going to let you leave home without a good meal, sweety."

"Home?" Kairos asked curiously.

"Come on, have some before it gets cold." Jade quickly adverted.

Kairos complied as he hunger nearly began to rebel against him. He instantly took the first bite of the omelet and fell in love with it. flavorful, zesty, yet cheesy enough to melt. "This is it, this the one." Kairos complimented as he nodded his head. A smile run across Jade's face as he dug into the plate of food.

"Yo... That was everything. That was amazing, definitely the best breakfast I had, ever."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Liked? Nah, loved. You did your thing with that."

"Thank you. My mom was a great teacher in the cooking lessons she gave me. Plus... You're the first man I ever cooked for. I was really nervous you wasn't going to enjoy it."

"Nervous? Jade, you need a nobel prize for this. Your mom was on point with her teachings. May have to take some lessons my-self. Show you what I could do in the kitchen."

"Oh yeah? How about you leave the kitchen to me and you keep showing me what you can do in the bedroom." Jade enticingly lays a kiss on Kairos.

"I'm down for a repeat right now, a three-peat if you nasty." Kairos kisses Jade back as she giggles.

"Easy tiger, save some for later. I'm sure you have some people you need to connect with. Your phone has been blowing up this morning. Some person named Tiny?"

Kairos immediately snaps out of his "lover boy state" and checks his phone. Seeing four missed calls and 3 text messages from Tiny.

"Damn, that's my manager. Did I really sleep in that hard?" Kairos said to him-self as he read his messages and replied.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I totally forgot I had this interview, and I'm going to be late if I don't get going now."

"Oh! Hurry, go jump in the shower, clean up and I'll get your outfit ready."

"You dressing me too? What am I? A baby?" Kairos retorted jokingly.

"Yeshh you are! You my baby, lil' snookums!" Jade responded adorably as she pinches his cheeks.

"Unhand me woman! Right this instant, I demand you leave the cheeks alone!" putting on his best British accent, but failed, leaving him to resort to drastic measures of tickling her relentlessly until she kicks at him to get away.

"Go away!" she laughs. "No more messing around or you're going to be late."

"Alright, alright, you got it boss lady."

After roughly 20 minutes of bathroom time, Kairos dresses up in the laid out outfit Jade formulated. A black form fitting Ralph Lauren crew shit, black stone washed jeans (slightly baggy, room for the boys but fitting for the mature level), trimmed out in gold watch, bracelet and necklace, the theme was black and gold apparently. And the finisher, his favorite pair of Jordans, the "Black Hollywood" Air Jordan II. They were the exact same pair his late father donned in the games during his Lakers tenure. Kairos barely wore them, if at all. He kept them in pristine condition. Seeing them pulled out and on his feet brought memories he wished not to think of at the moment as he had the day ahead of him.

"You look good." Jade says, biting her lip. "Look damn good."

"You can thank my stylist." Kairos shot back with a smile. He then kisses her once more before departing, "I'll see you later?"

"I'll be here waiting for you. I'll keep my-self entertained with some computer work. I have some budgeting to do anyway."

"You'll knock it out love. I gotta go." Kairos grabbed his keys to his black Mercedes 190E with all the gold trimmings. "Oh, one more thing. Earlier, you said "home", we're gonna have to talk about that when I get back."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Don't worry, it'll be the first thing we talk about when I get back."

Kairos proceeded to make his exit. Leaving Jade to wonder what he meant by what he wanted to discuss. Although it's been a few months, the two have move pretty fast. Kids these days don't know what slow means. Jade could only wonder if she overstepped and overstayed her welcome...

[45 Minutes later...]

Kairos made on with his day, getting to downtown SLC. It was a pretty breezy day for a noon in June. Kairos figured to leave his car at the Vivint Arena and walk two blocks over to The Rose Establishment where he was meeting ESPN's own Malika Andrews.

"Malika, hi, sorry I'm late. Hope that I didn't keep you waiting long?"

"No, not at all, good to see you. How've you been these days?"

"I'm good, I'm good. I can't complaint. Finally having the first year of my career behind me, I can say I'm more settled than when I started."

"So, I gotta ask. "The Rose Establishment", why did you choose this place for a interview?"

"Well, it's smacked in the middle of downtown. I usually come here after every home game, grab a quick meal, and a couple cinnabuns. The people here are great, very welcoming, place is very cozy, down-toned, and this place just hits."

"Free cinnabuns?" Malika asked directly.

"Free cinnabuns. Gets you every time, who can say no to there delicious breading, warm or cool."

"This is a very snazzy place, I'm surprised I never noticed this place."

"Should definitely try their menu, it's not disappointing."

"I'll hold you to that later, but for now, I want to ask you, your first NBA season, what was the experience for you like?"

"Pssshh... Incredible. It's been a roller coaster, to be honest. A lot of emotional tides, a lot of physical grind, a lot of business to be a student of as well. On and off the court, it's been a learning lesson every single day."

"Back in December, the Denver Nuggets traded you in a package to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Bryce Tillman, a perennial forward in the league. What was going through your mind to be traded so young and early in your career?"

"Nothing. Nothing negative to say, no hard feelings, none of that. I was taught at an early age by my Dad and my grandfather, that business is business. There's no emotions in business. But apparently, what Denver had in mind for Luka and Devin, it didn't pan out, at least with me. I got nothing but the utmost respect for those guys, and I'm grateful to had the opportunity to play with those two legends. But Utah was my calling."

"Your father, the late Recks Black, he had a lot of adversaries in the league, few of them being Ivan Frost, Luka Doncic and De'Aaron Fox. How did his legacy transitioned to you?"

"You mean as in his rivalries?"

"You can say that."

"I don't know to be honest. Most guys, they come to me, talked about how great my Dad was, showing love and what not. I don't really see anybody as a "generational rivalry". But I think they see a lot of my father's play style in me. Their respect for his game shows in the competitiveness on the floor each and every night."

"What about Ivan Frost? We've seen on social media, at games, that you two have it out sometimes, usually ending up in each other's face, really showing no love loss between the two of you."

"That guy is a character. He's insanely gifted, insanely decorated. I don't know what's his beef is. I don't know if it's his cockiness or arrogance, but that guys... He's a character to say nonetheless."

"Well, we hope things between you two resolve, some people think you and Frost could one day team up and take the league by storm. Ever cross your mind on the rumors?"

"I definitely would not call it a rumor. Conversation of what ifs? Most appropriately."

"By chance, that's a no? No time soon?"

"I can't predict the future. But one game, one season at a time. If it happens, it happens."

"So lets jump to your tenure with the Jazz. You guys had an incredible run, putting together the best record in the west, and all this jump started right after Christmas. Did you think you and the team could gel that quickly to have a chance at a playoff spot or play-in?"

"Honestly, no. Not for the lack of faith, I guess it was just me being the new guy, me being green. But I had Fox with me, We teamed up in Denver, so he made the transition easy for me, taught me the ropes and guided me through everything. I don't know where I'd be without him, that's my big brother for real."

"And De'Aaron Fox announced his retirement after the Jazz exited the playoffs in the second round after game 6 against the Thunder. Now rumors are swindling around that the team is looking to blow up and rebuild from square one after a very successful season. More importantly in your perspective, your contract was only for a year and now has expired. Where do you fit in with all this potential maneuvers that could take place?"

"Right now, I'm just staying focused on stay ready. I've been hitting the gym, playing rec, getting training in. I'm dialed in since I got back to Utah. But that's as far as my answer goes. I have no clue what the organization is going to do, or where I fit in. There's conversations I was involved in and not involved in. But I can't speak beyond that. As of right now, I'm just a free agent ready to ball. I'm ready for the next opportunity to step on NBA hardwood and show a team what I can do, what I bring to the ball club and help win a championship."

"It's no doubt that your free agency will be a head spinner as you're one of the most touted and talked about then-NBA rookies since Ivan Frost. I guess having a pedigree and legacy of Recks Black, those are big shoes to fill in the spotlight."

"Very much so it is, they are massively huge to fill in. Which to why I don't intend to. I love my father, I love his legacy and what he done for the NBA. But I as my own man, my own player, I got to carve my own legacy. It'll remain in this "House of Black" the people call it, but my space is for Kairos Black."

"So, can we still "bet on black" as your father used to say?"

"Oh indeed..."

"So what's next for Kairos? Any new ventures lined up?"

"Nah, I'm just balling and training. My life's boring right now!" Kairos laughs "I mean, whatever comes my way, I'm sure the fans will get wind of it. But there may be a few surprises in stored."

"Okay, okay, we look forward to some moves that you do. Hopefully you won't keep the cat in the bag for too long. So Kairos, do you have any teams that you're leaning to that you could potentially sign with? Being that you're an unrestricted free agent, the ball is in your court."

"Well, first and foremost, I'd like to say congratulations to the Portland Trail Blazers on winning the NBA title. I'll be seeing you guys real soon."

"So it's Portland?"

"Nah, I didn't say all that. Just congratulating. Got to keep my cards close to my chest, but that door isn't closed necessarily."

"Okay, lets do this, as a fan, top 3 favorite teams?"

"Golden State, Rockets, and Celtics."

"Are any one of them heavily favored for you?"

"Nope. Nice try though" Kairos shows a big smile. "You guys will have to wait until ink has dried on paper. But I promise, there will be no "LeBron Decision".

"Well, that's good to know. You're becoming a big star in the NBA fast and fans want to know where they can tune in and watch you. But I think that covers it for today, Kairos, it was a pleasure talking with you."

"Likewise, this was fun."

"I don't think I can go any longer with this amazing cinnamon aroma. I think I just may take you up on that offer from earlier."

"Of course, of course, it's on me. Cinnabuns here is to die for! Best in the world!"

The interview closes out with the two being served a pair of freshly made cinnabuns, the two indulging in the warm, moist, sweet coated bun. While it was fun to have some face time with ESPN and to give the cafe some exposure, Kairos was relieved there was no hard-hitting questions. Malika Andrews' track record doesn't go without controversy and he was just happy not to be a part of it in that manner. Guess some people can learn from their mistakes. But the ever-burning question has yet to be answered, even for Kairos. Will he be staying in Utah or not?...

[chosenone58]

[Agent]

he dropping Tik Tok's all summer trying to convince Kairos to stay in Utah.

[kibaxx7]

It's great to see Khyri ballin' again