Basketball Platinum System

"Hey, Tang, you're late!"

Inside the University of Connecticut basketball training facility, Kemba Walker shouted at Tang Tian, who had arrived late.

"Yeah, my damn phone is acting up again," Tang Tian said with a bitter expression.

"You really should have replaced that damn phone ages ago; it breaks down every other day."

Tang Tian dug into his pockets, gesturing to show he was broke.

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

"That's a promise, I'm holding you to it."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tang Tian began his work: picking up balls.

He was an international student at UConn, but his family background was modest, and since he hadn't secured a scholarship, he relied on working as a ball boy at the basketball arena to support his studies.

Although he was just a ball boy, the players here treated him quite well.

"This is a team with a long and storied history, and every single one of you is a part of that history..."

Head Coach Jim Calhoun was there again, giving the players a psychological pep talk.

Having taken over the team in 1970, this head coach had been at UConn for a full 40 years, working from age 30 to 70; no one was more dedicated than him.

Tang Tian looked up at the two championship banners hanging overhead and the retired jerseys displayed on the wall.

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

These were all legendary names in the NBA.

This was indeed a team with a glorious past, second only to a few prestigious universities like Kentucky and North Carolina in terms of NCAA fame.

But that was all in the past; it had been seven years since UConn last won a championship, and even reaching the Elite Eight was something that happened two years ago.

In this year's team, aside from Kemba Walker, the rest were all green recruits.

There were rumors that Calhoun might retire after this season, but for UConn to win a championship and have a perfect ending this year, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Taking advantage of Calhoun's lecture, Tang Tian stole a moment to rest on the sidelines.

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

Just last night, Tang Tian—a basketball godfather in his previous life—had suffered a sudden heart attack after retiring and transmigrated into the body of this international student.

Fortunately, this student was quite handsome and sturdy, and at over two meters tall, he was a rarity among Asians.

He sat for a while and reached out to pull up the system interface.

Transmigration naturally came with a cheat, an immutable law of the universe.

The system he had transmigrated with this time had a very interesting name: Basketball Platinum System.

"Platinum" (krypton gold) originally referred to the act of spending money in games, and the system's name gave off a distinct scent of wealth.

And this system was, in fact, related to money.

The Basketball Platinum System allowed its owner to earn "Platinum Points" in the system store based on how much money they made through basketball-related activities.

(Note: Money obtained through illegal means such as stealing, robbing, or fraud is automatically invalid; the system requires maintaining full positive energy.)

Platinum Points could be spent in the system store.

This meant that for every bit of money earned, he could spend it twice—a truly delightful prospect.

Take his daily wage as a ball boy, for example: 20 US Dollars, which would generate 20 US Dollars worth of Platinum Points in the system.

It was just that 20 dollars was too small a base to buy anything in the system.

At this moment, he cast his gaze toward the items in the system store.

There was only one type 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 required, but the more powerful the skills that could be redeemed.

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

This was an absolutely top-tier ability, but this single skill required 100 million US Dollars in Platinum Points.

To put it bluntly, this Platinum System was a system designed to turn its owner into an NBA Superstar, but the prerequisite was that one had to know how to make money.

Tang Tian's gaze then shifted to the White Skills.

Open Three-Pointer (Novak), which only worked when wide open; King of Free Throws (Calderon), which only improved free-throw ability; King of Jumps (James White), which only allowed for flight in non-contested situations; Flopper (Varejao), which could only be used to passively draw fouls...

Compared to other skills, these were the weakest.

But weak as they were, each of these skills only cost 50,000 US Dollars in Platinum Points!

He glanced at his own Platinum Points again.

20 US Dollars—a bit pathetic.

Fortunately, the system had given him a beginner's gift pack yesterday, a random skill pack, and his luck hadn't been bad; he had drawn the Purple-level Individual Defense (Tony Allen).

Individual Defense (Tony Allen): The survival skill of defensive ace Tony Allen; it could reduce an opponent's shooting stability by 20% and carried a certain chance to steal the ball.

Defense was the foundation for a player to get on the court, and this looked like it would at least serve as a stepping stone.

Just then, a sudden cry of pain rang out across the court.

He closed the system interface 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 he stood up and went over to help carry the player off the court.

"Where is Lavoy Allen?" After Forsythe was helped off, Cahoon looked around, asking with some displeasure.

Allen was the team's backup Power Forward, and for some reason, he hadn't shown up today.

"Lavoy is reportedly applying for a transfer," the team's freshman, Jeremy Lamb, spoke up.

"What?!" Old Man Cahoon's beard stood on end in anger upon hearing this.

Lamb didn't dare say another word; Allen was talented, and seeing that UConn's prospects for the season were bleak, it was only human nature for him to want to leave.

"Damn it!" Cahoon cursed.

UConn was truly in a precarious state this season.

However, after the outburst, the problem remained unsolved.

UConn was already thin in the paint this season, and now the backup center was injured while the backup Power Forward was looking to bolt.

Not to mention where the team would find new players later, they couldn't even finish the current Full-court contact practice.

"How about we call it a day?" Assistant Coach Kevin Ollie spoke up from the side; he was the successor designated by Cahoon.

"No, how long have we even been practicing?" Cahoon was a bit stubborn.

Now, no one dared to speak.

The Old Man wanted to continue training, but there weren't enough people in the gym—or should they put a guard in to fill the spot?

That wouldn't provide any training value!

After a moment of silence, Walker suddenly turned his gaze toward Tang Tian, who was there spraying medicine on Forsythe.

"How about we try Tang?"

As soon as Walker spoke, he was immediately met with a roll of the eyes from Ollie.

Tang Tian was two meters tall, so his height was sufficient, but having a ball boy fill in—Walker must have lost his mind.

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

"Tang has been training with us the whole time, his stamina isn't an issue, and he's very smart. Besides, the backup team mostly just needs to run their positions, so what's the harm in trying?" Walker continued.

"Tang, come here." Before Ollie could say anything else, Cahoon beckoned directly to Tang Tian.

"You fill in for Forsythe, any problems?" The Old Man asked directly, though he didn't seem to hold much expectation.

"No problem." Tang Tian replied without hesitation.

If he wanted to earn Krypton Gold points, it meant he had to make money, and at this stage, there was no faster way to make money than securing a scholarship.

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