back to the wall

"I very much had my back to the wall," he said.

Bronny James stood with his back to the wall with both hands buried in his workout shorts, his practice with the Lakers summer league team complete, his voice sounding more confident now that he’s entering his second season in the NBA.

With his back to the wall, he flings himself about the stage like a performer desperate to wring every second of his dwindling time in the spotlight.

In fact, the very existence of the union was a consequence of the success of local organizing in response a few years back to the Wall Street types who owned the Milwaukee Bucks and threatened to pull the basketball team out of the city unless they got hundreds of millions in support from taxpayers for the construction of what is now the Fiserv Forum and surrounding redevelopment district.

"I'll be looking 'where's the fire escape', 'where's my nearest exit?' Like sitting with my back to the wall so I can see everything at all times."