Basketball Platinum System

"Hey, Tang, you're late!"

At the University of Connecticut basketball training facility, Kemba Walker called out to the late-arriving Tang Tian.

"Yeah, that damned phone of mine stopped working again," Tang Tian said bitterly.

"That damned phone of yours should've been replaced ages ago. It breaks down every other day."

Tang Tian dug through his pockets, making it clear that he was broke.

"When I make it to the NBA, I'll definitely buy you a new one." Walker patted his chest.

"You said it. I'll remember that."

After some small talk, Tang Tian began his job: retrieving basketballs.

He was an international student at the University of Connecticut. However, his family's financial circumstances were average, and since he had failed to secure a scholarship, he supported himself by working as a ball boy at the basketball arena.

Although he was only a ball boy, the players here treated him very well.

"This is a team with a long history. Every one of you is part of that history..."

Head Coach Jim Calhoun was giving the players another motivational speech.

This Head Coach had taken over the team in 1970 and had worked at UConn for a full forty years, from the age of thirty to seventy. No one was more dedicated than him.

Tang Tian looked up at the two Championship banners overhead and the Retired jerseys hanging on the walls.

Ray Allen, Rudy Gay, Richard Hamilton, Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor...

Every one of them was a renowned name in the NBA.

This truly was a team with a glorious past, with a reputation in the NCAA second only to a handful of elite schools like Kentucky and North Carolina.

But that was all in the past. It had been seven years since UConn last won a championship, and even their last trip to the Elite Eight had been two years ago.

Other than Kemba Walker, this year's team was made up entirely of rookies.

There were rumors that Calhoun would retire after this season, but if UConn wanted to win a championship this year and give him a perfect ending, it would be harder than reaching the heavens.

While Calhoun was lecturing the team, Tang Tian stole a moment to sit down and rest by the court.

No one knew that Tang Tian was no longer the original Tang Tian.

Just last night, Tang Tian, who had been a Basketball Godfather in his previous life, had suffered a sudden heart attack after retirement and transmigrated directly into this international student's body.

Fortunately, this international student was quite handsome and well-built. At over two meters tall, he was exceptionally rare among Asians.

After sitting for a while, he reached out and pulled up the system interface.

Transmigration naturally came with a cheat. That was an unchanging law.

The system he had received this time had an interesting name: the Basketball Platinum System.

Pay-to-win originally referred to spending money in games. Naming the system that gave it a strong scent of money.

And this system really was related to money.

With the Basketball Platinum System, however much money its owner earned through basketball-related means would generate an equivalent amount of Platinum Points in the system store.

(Note: Money obtained through illegal means such as stealing, robbery, or fraud is automatically invalid. The system must maintain positive energy.)

Platinum Points could be spent in the system store.

It was like earning one sum of money but getting to spend it twice. That was pretty sweet.

For example, his daily wage as a ball boy was twenty dollars, and the system would generate twenty dollars' worth of Platinum Points.

It was just that twenty dollars was too small an amount to buy anything in the system.

He turned his attention to the items in the system store.

There was only one kind of item in the store: basketball skills.

Skills were divided into seven levels: white, green, blue, purple, orange, red, and gold. The higher the level, the more Platinum Points it required, but the more powerful the skill available for exchange.

Take a Gold Skill, for example: Big Shark Physique (O'Neal): Possess a body as strong as O'Neal's.

That was an absolutely top-tier ability, but this single skill required one hundred million dollars' worth of Platinum Points.

In other words, this Pay-to-Win System was a system that could turn its owner into a superstar in the league, but the prerequisite was knowing how to make money.

Tang Tian then looked at the White Skills.

The Open Three-Pointer (Novak), which only worked when open; the King of Free Throws (Calderon), which could only improve free-throw ability; the King of Jumps (James White), which could only take off without contact; the Flopper (Varejao), which could only be used to passively draw fouls...

Compared to the other skills, these had the weakest effects.

But weak as they were, each of these skills only cost fifty thousand dollars' worth of Platinum Points!

He looked at his own Platinum Points again.

Twenty dollars. That was rather pathetic.

Fortunately, the system had given him a beginner's gift pack yesterday: a random Skill Pack. He had gotten lucky and drawn the Purple Skill Individual Defense (Tony Allen).

Individual Defense (Tony Allen): The survival skill of defensive specialist Tony Allen. It could reduce an opponent's shooting consistency by 20% and gave a certain chance of stealing the ball from them.

Defense was the foundation for ensuring a player got on the court. This at least looked like a stepping stone.

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from the court.

He put away the system and looked up, only to discover that the team's backup center, Alex Forsythe, had sprained his ankle.

Ankle sprains were the most common injury in basketball, so Tang Tian got up and went over to help him off the court.

"Where is Lavoy Allen?" After Forsythe was helped off, Calhoun looked around and asked unhappily.

Allen was the team's backup Power Forward, but for some reason, he had not shown up today.

"I heard Lavoy is applying to transfer schools," said the team's freshman, Jeremy Lamb.

"What?!" Old Calhoun's beard practically stood on end with anger.

Lamb did not dare say another word. Allen had talent, and seeing that UConn's prospects this season were bleak, it was only natural for him to leave.

"Damn it!" Calhoun cursed.

UConn really was beset by troubles this season.

But cursing did not solve the problem.

UConn was already short on big men this season. Now their backup center was injured, and their backup Power Forward was about to leave.

Never mind where they would find new players later. They could not even run Full-court contact drills right now.

"Why don't we call it here for today?" Assistant coach Kevin Ollie said from the side. He was Calhoun's designated successor.

"No. How long have we even practiced?" Calhoun was rather stubborn.

No one said anything after that.

The old man wanted to keep training, but there were not enough people in the gym. Were they supposed to send a guard in to fill the spot?

That would have no training effect at all!

After a moment of silence, Walker suddenly looked toward Tang Tian, who was spraying medicine on Forsythe's ankle.

"How about we try Tang?"

The moment Walker spoke, Ollie shot him a glare.

Tang Tian was two meters tall, so he had the height, but having a ball boy fill in? Only Walker could think of that.

Although they had a good relationship in private, a ball boy and an NCAA player were on completely different levels.

"Tang has always trained with us, so stamina won't be a problem. He's also smart. The Bench Team mainly just needs to run the offense anyway. It won't hurt to give him a try, right?" Walker continued.

"Tang, come here." Ollie was about to say something else, but Calhoun directly beckoned Tang Tian over.

"You'll fill in for Forsythe. Any problem with that?" The old man was blunt, though he did not seem to have high expectations.

"No problem," Tang Tian replied without hesitation.

To earn Platinum Points, he needed to make money. At this stage, there was no faster way to earn money than securing a Scholarship.

The new book was finally out. Please bookmark it and send Recommendation Tickets.