Celtics Training Facility – Morning After Game 5 (2021 NBA Playoffs)

The hardwood didn't feel like home today.

Not after that performance. Not after 52 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and a game-saving block in the final seconds. A historic rookie playoff performance—the most ever by a teenager in a postseason game. The TD Garden crowd had chanted his name like he was already a legend.

But Kyle Wilson woke up not to the sound of praise—but to silence. And doubt.

Ari sat beside him in the car, watching him grip his iced-down knee.

"They called this meeting too early," she muttered. "Something feels off."

Kyle didn't answer. His eyes were locked ahead, jaw clenched.

He knew.

Celtics Executive Office – 7:58 AM

Coach Ime Udoka, Brad Stevens, team doctor Miles Chen, and GM DeAndre Fisher were already seated when Kyle walked in wearing his practice gear. Sweatband. Compression sleeves. Like he was ready for war.

Brad motioned to a chair. "Sit."

Kyle stood.

Fisher cleared his throat. "We'll get right to it."

A pause.

"You're being shut down for the rest of the playoffs."

The words cut harder than any foul.

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I dropped fifty-two. I just had the greatest rookie playoff game ever. And now I'm benched?"

"You collapsed after that," Udoka said calmly. "You lost consciousness. The doctors said your vitals were erratic. We don't need a hero, Kyle. We need you—alive, healthy, and here for the long run."

"I'm fine."

"You nearly died," Miles Chen said. "There's internal stress on your nervous system that we haven't seen in any player at your age. You're running on trauma and fumes. One wrong fall, one sudden spike, and we're not talking about your career. We're talking about your life."

Kyle stood still. The room buzzed with tension.

"My mother's dead," he finally said, voice cracking. "She never got to see me drafted. Never got to see me touch the league. And you're telling me to sit on the sidelines?"

"You already proved everything," Brad said gently. "The world knows who Kyle Wilson is. Now, let us protect the kid she raised."

Later – Practice Court

Kyle watched his teammates run drills from the sideline bench, iced-up and distant.

Jaylen Brown noticed. Walked over. Put a hand on Kyle's shoulder.

"You did more in five games than some dudes do in ten years," Brown said. "Rest. We got this."

Kyle nodded but said nothing. The ache wasn't in his knee—it was in his chest.

SportsCenter Alert

BREAKING: Celtics officially shut down rookie Kyle Wilson for remainder of 2021 Playoffs following 52-point Game 5. Sources cite cardiac and nervous system strain after mid-game collapse.

Wilson ends his rookie postseason run averaging 27.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 4.9 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.6 BPG. Historic numbers.

He becomes the youngest player in NBA history to score 50+ in a playoff game.

"He's already a legend," said Draymond Green. "But he's just a kid. Protect him."

Apartment Balcony – Midnight

Ari handed Kyle a folded paper.

It was smudged, old. A letter. From his mom.

"Don't let them break you. But don't break yourself, either. You were never just a boy with a ball—you were born for something bigger. I love you, always."

Kyle's hands trembled.

This wasn't the end.

Just a pause.

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