Artwork by  Skech6ix

Originally posted here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9169784/

Slash's love for basketball started with his mother, Soraya. She noticed when he was a baby he would always crawl over to a basketball from her playing days that she kept in their house. As he grew older, he would ask her about the game and they would often watch games on television together while the rest of the family fiddled with other interests of their own. She taught him everything. The league's history. What the rulels were. How to perform moves. He loved it.

The only thing he looked forward to more than watching a game with his Mom was their family trips to Boston. He always hated the winter weather in the New England area, but he loved getting the chance to see his Mom's brother play basketball. Plymouth, Massachusetts served as the home of Furry Basketball Association's Plymouth Taproots, the team Slash's uncle, Carter Clausen, had played with for most of his professional basketball career. Because of their shared love of the game, Carter took a shining to his sister's youngest offspring. He offered his family plane tickets to come up north to visit as well as be a part of the fan section for the Taproot's home games. Slash was merely a pup when he got to see his uncle hoist his second FBA championship trophy overhead. The image was forever etched in the young wolf's brain and he wanted to do whatever he could to experience that moment for himself some day.

Things changed around Slash's 10th birthday. His mother, Soraya, was stricken with illness. Trips to basketball arenas became trips to doctors' offices. Tests and appointments led to a word no one wanted to hear. Cancer. Instead of watching games on the couch together, Slash would sit next to his mother in a hospital room. Sometimes Soraya would enthusiastically cheer with her son when a great play happened. Other times, Slash would happily look to his mother only to see that she had closed her eyes to rest after her energy had been zapped from a day of brutal chemotherapy drugs.

Carter tried his best to visit when he could during the season. Slash's eyes would sparkle with excitement anytime his uncle walked through the hospital doors. But one day, the shine in his young eyes came from water welling in them. Carter grouped the family together and sobbed with them the day Soraya succumbed to the evil disease. He promised to continue paying for and facilitating their family trips for as long as he was a part of the FBA. Slash's father, Darren, agreed that it would be a good way to honor his late wife.

Months later as they tried to return to a normal routine, Darren couldn't get Slash back on track. He became a disruption in class, got into numerous fights, and was unruly at home, neglecting his chores and homework. Darren was at a loss. He called his brother-in-law to vent about the trials of being a newly single parent. Carter heard the desperation in his voice and proposed taking Slash with him over the summer to give Darren a break but also to maybe teach the pup a few things about basketball and life.

From then on, every summer when school let out, Slash would travel to stay with his uncle. The end of the FBA's seasons were around this time, so Slash would travel with the team and see the ins and outs of a real professional athlete. Carter taught him about getting ready for games and staying in shape throughout the year. "You gotta love the grind" is what he always told him. One thing Carter used to stay focused was Krav Maga trainings. The martial art technique kept him in shape physically and sharpened him mentally to get an edge over his opponents. Slash joined him in these sessions and grew to become the physical specimen he is through maintenance of his uncle's programs. Those summers proved formative for him and helped him get right.

When his uncle retired as a player, he became an assistant coach for the Taproots and continued the summer tradition with his nephew. Eventually, he became the Head Coach and General Manager of the Tallahassee Typhoons, a team that was significantly closer to Slash's hometown of Atlanta. They spent even more time around each other and Slash became a Typhoons' super fan. He went to nearly every home game and was almost synonymous with the team at one point. With his personalized 'X' jersey and physique, he stood out in the crowd as his uncle took them from doormat to playoff contenders.

While the way in which they started this tradition was ugly, the beauty of their bond was something Soraya was sure to be proud of.

I totally forgot about this pic. I didn't have it saved in my archives, but I found the original file in my email. Thought I'd share it here with a little more backstory about Slash. After plugging him into the story just because initially, I found over the years I needed him to have some sort of history with fighting but I wanted him to still have a background in basketball too. Carter "Dub-C" Clausen helped facilitate that for me when  BuckHopper created the FBA  furrybasketball. I joined his venture and Carter became my fursona in that league as I was the one making decisions for him. I thought it would be cool if he and Slash were tied together and so the family story was born. Hope you enjoy learning a bit more about my favorite wolf and his family. Also this is the first and only pic of Carter. Sporting one of his championship rings, I love how this turned out and hope you like it too.

Sayron "Slash" Wolfe and Carter "Dub-C" Clausen © dub-c aka me