Sooley

On June 8, Samuel heads to New York for the NBA draft. He invites Murray and Murray’s parents—Murray accepts, but his parents decline because they still do not approve. Samuel is drafted ninth overall by Detroit but is immediately traded to the Washington Wizards. He is happy because this means he’ll be close to the Walkers and the Sudanese embassy. His contract lasts 4 years and is worth $14 million. After a night of celebrating, Samuel wants a break from Miami (and from Valerie), so he heads back to Durham. He hires Murray to be his assistant for the summer and gets an advance on his salary of $100,000 from Arnie. Ida is happy to see him and invites him over for dinner. She also tells him she will prepare him a simple will that leaves everything to his mother and brothers in case anything happens to him.

Samuel’s dreams of buying a new car are crushed when he fails his driving test. He and Murray leave for Washington to find an apartment. Samuel wants one that will have room for his mother and siblings, but Murray convinces him to get something smaller until he needs the extra room. Samuel meets the coaches and management of the Washington Wizards.

Samuel and Murray decide to head to the Rauncheroo Reggae and Rap festival in the Bahamas. It is attended by thousands of people and is a hot destination for celebrities and athletes. They go with Darrell Whitley, who has also signed with Arnie Savage, and invite Reynard so he can get them access to a private jet. Valerie comes as well. They do not tell Ida they are going.

Alcohol and drugs abound at the festival, and Murray abandons Samuel for much of the weekend to gamble.

Samuel enjoys the first night drinking and smoking marijuana while dancing to the various performances. The second night, he attends a party in Whitley’s suite, and a woman named Jackie asks him for a photo. When Valerie leaves to get them drinks, Jackie kisses Samuel and offers him ecstasy. Samuel swallows the pill with a sip of alcohol, then takes three more throughout the night.

In the morning, Murray wakes to Valerie’s screams when she discovers Samuel’s dead body. A detective finds an ecstasy pill in his pocket, but Valerie and Murray have no idea where it came from. While they are detained by police, they make calls to inform everyone what has happened. When Ecko hears the news, he worries about Beatrice. He calls the nurse and convinces her to inform Beatrice before the news can. The autopsy reveals that Samuel died of an overdose, and the police investigation is terminated. A memorial service is held at the NC Central gym, and thousands attend. Murray blames himself for what happened.

While going through Samuel’s things, Murray finds a business card for a man named Gary Gaston who works for a company called Aegis Partners. Intrigued because Samuel never mentioned him, Murray calls the number. Gaston is reluctant to say anything over the phone but informs Murray that his company helps “extricate” people, and that Samuel talked to him about getting his mother and brothers out of the camp in Uganda. Murray meets with Gaston in person to discuss the details. He learns Samuel was going to pay Gaston $500,000 to retrieve his family. The plan involved a private jet, fake documents, and seeking asylum once on American soil. Samuel hoped that Ida would be able to help his mother deal with immigration.

Later that summer, Murray drives to Charlotte to attend the international showcase that Samuel played in the year before. Ecko and Lonnie are both there, and they cannot help talking about Samuel. Ecko mentions that his program has received lots of donations since Samuel’s death and suggests that Murray should take advantage of Samuel’s fame and influence to start a non-profit foundation that could provide humanitarian relief to refugees, support basketball in South Sudan, and raise scholarship money in Samuel’s name at NC Central. The idea galvanizes Murray, and he gets to work organizing the foundation. He asks Ecko, Lonnie, and Ida to serve on the foundation’s board. Due to Samuel’s popularity on social media, the fund’s website goes viral, and after the first 72 hours, it collects over $1 million.

Murray gets the board’s approval to use some of the incoming money to extricate Samuel’s family and calls Gaston. The operation takes about a week to prepare, and Murray becomes part of the team that will go to Uganda. Murray and Gaston wait at a hotel in Kampala while Ugandan soldiers find Beatrice and her sons at the camp. Beatrice is confused and overwhelmed when they tell her she is going to America but has little choice but to comply. At the hotel, she recognizes Murray from photos Ecko showed her of Samuel in America. They all share a meal at the hotel, and then Beatrice and her sons are taken to get new clothes. It is imperative that they look like wealthy Ugandans, not like they’ve just come from a refugee camp, when they board the private plane so the customs officer doesn’t question their fake documents. 

They board the plane without issue and begin the long flight to America. When they land, Ida has already arranged something with Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Beatrice and her sons will be arrested but request asylum. Doing this will reduce the amount of time they spend in jail before seeing a judge. Everything goes according to plan, and the next day, they are released, with Ida and Ernie Walker as their sponsors. They will have a full trial later, but for now, they are taken to their new home. Once the family is settled, Ida takes them to see Samuel’s grave. Later, Murray takes Samuel’s brothers to see the gym at NC Central. Chol, who is 13 and already 6 feet tall, nails a jump shot from 20 feet.