Ryan, still riding the high of his MVP-clinching tomahawk dunk, stepped out of the locker room, freshly showered and dressed in street clothes, his red No. 10 jersey swapped for a hoodie.
He barely made it down the corridor when an ABA staffer flagged him down, ushering him to a makeshift All-Star Weekend office tucked behind the arena's press wing.
Inside, ABA Commissioner Carla Reyes sat behind a sleek desk, her presence commanding despite the temporary setup. "Sit," she said, voice crisp, gesturing to a chair.
Ryan dropped into it, his legs still buzzing from the game's adrenaline.
"Tomorrow night's Skills Challenge," Carla said, leaning forward. "You're in."
This world's ABA All-Star Weekend followed the same playbook as the NBA's—Day Two featured the Three-Point Contest, Dunk Contest, and a revamped Skills Challenge.
