Abilities Have Been Stacked

Jeff Austin. After going home, Link searched online for information on this guy. Sure enough, this Austin was indeed the super agent Link remembered from his impressions!

In countless rankings of the top ten agents or top five NBA agents, Jeff Austin was always placed first in introductions. That is to say, whether it was a list of the top ten or top five agents, people always liked to put him last.

Although he was always "last," there was one phenomenon: no matter which journalist compiled a list of top NBA agents, none could bypass Jeff Austin's name. This showed his charm and fame in the basketball world.

Jeff Austin had many players under him, and star players were countless. Every year, Austin earned millions of dollars just from commissions, a figure that even surpassed some NBA players.

Which "big shots" were under Austin's banner? The well-known Stephen Curry was a client of Jeff Austin's. If not for Austin, Curry might have been sent to the Grizzlies or New York during his draft. However, on those two teams, Curry might not have achieved what he did later.

Besides Curry, two of the league's top forwards, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin, were also players under Jeff Austin.

Of course, the biggest difference between Jeff Austin and other agents was that he really liked cooperating with international players. He was perhaps the agent who implemented the NBA's globalization strategy most thoroughly.

Spanish tower Marc Gasol, "British Jordan" Luol Deng, and other international players all chose to trust Jeff Austin. And Link also knew that in the future, the "Greek Freak" Giannis Antetokounmpo would enter the NBA's radar because of Jeff Austin.

Strictly speaking, Link wasn't an international player, but he did have some of the particularities of one. No wonder Jeff Austin was so proactive in contacting him.

Actually, as a transmigrator, Link naturally knew which agents were famous and which weren't. But choosing Carl Jones back then was truly a helpless move. After all, no famous agent had thought much of him at the time.

In Link's fantasy, Carl Jones would help Link gain a foothold in the NBA, while Link would make Carl Jones go from unknown to globally famous. It was like how Rich Paul met LeBron James at the airport back then, and their story of taking on the NBA together began.

But reality had slapped Link hard across the face. His fantasy was far too naive and rosy.

Now, though, things were different. A truly famous agent had come knocking. As a super agent earning millions a year, Jeff Austin couldn't possibly be interested in the benefits of Link's ten-day contract, nor would he let Link attend those low-end commercial events.

The only benefit he could see was the massive Chinese market behind Link. But to fully tap into that market, Jeff Austin had to make sure Link gained a foothold in the NBA.

With the lesson from Carl Jones, Link was now thinking much more carefully than before. But even after analyzing all the advantages of Jeff Austin, Link didn't make a rash decision.

The world of professional basketball was extremely treacherous. No one threw an olive branch at you for no reason. If he wanted to survive in the brutal basketball world, he'd better be more cautious.

And compared to signing with an agent, there was something even more important in Link's eyes right now—the little white bar he'd been trying to fill was nearly saturated.

※※※

Hard work had always been Link's label. So when Conner walked into the training gym early in the morning and already saw Link training, he wasn't surprised.

But Conner didn't know that what drove Link to push himself so hard wasn't just the NBA.

Link looked at the progress bar. As long as he finished today's training, the bar would be filled. The abilities of Grant Hill from the 09-10 season were about to be injected into Link's body.

As a die-hard fan of Grant Hill, Link actually knew that the Hill of the 09-10 season and the Hill of the 10-11 season weren't much different. Both periods were at the tail end of Hill's career. At most, the 09-10 Hill was a bit tougher in physical play.

After all, Grant Hill in the 09-10 season had played in the playoffs.

Although the change wasn't huge, Link still craved an early upgrade. Because only by upgrading to the 09-10 season Hill could he take another step forward and obtain Grant Hill's abilities from the 08-09 season.

And what was so special about Grant Hill in the 08-09 season?

That year, Hill played all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career. It was arguably the healthiest year for Hill after his major injuries. That year, Hill's shooting percentage was as high as 52.3%, the highest among all guards and small forwards in the league.

Hill's shooting stability that year was terrifying, and most importantly, his athleticism hadn't completely deteriorated yet.

Leaping blocks, posterizing dunks, crossover drives... Hill could do it all.

If Link got another chance to enter the NBA, he definitely didn't want to just play a ten-day contract and come back like last time. His goal was to stay in that super league and sign a guaranteed contract. And if he could have the shooting stability and further athletic ability of Grant Hill from the 08-09 season, Link believed it wouldn't be hard to establish himself in the NBA.

After all, that year's Grant Hill was even courted by multiple teams like the Lakers in free agency. It was just that Hill ultimately chose to stay in Phoenix. Link didn't expect to be courted; he just wanted to stay on the team.

Thinking of all this, Link trained with more and more strength. Moreover, a faster upgrade would help Link quickly find out one thing—were his abilities stacking, or simply changing?

If he developed a reliable jump shot now, when he got the abilities of a younger Hill, would his shooting ability still be preserved?

Watching the little white bar gradually fill up, Link seemed to be getting closer and closer to the answer.

※※※

"Link, I'm heading out. You should go home early too. Take care on the way."

Jon Brockman waved at Link, then closed the training gym door. From then on, only Link was left in the Blue Team's training gym.

Ever since Upshaw passed away, Link and Brockman had let bygones be bygones. Their relationship had shifted from competitors to good partners who helped each other.

On the court, Link could feed Brockman easy baskets, and Brockman let Link feel secure about his back.

In the last game against the Vipers, besides Link's 52 points, Brockman's 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks were also quite dazzling. Among them, two of his three blocks came from helping Link rotate on defense. The speed at which they built chemistry was so fast that even Conner found it unbelievable.

Today, Brockman had also stayed late to train with Link. But by seven in the evening, Brockman couldn't hold out anymore. So now, only Link remained in the training gym.

After waving goodbye to Brockman, Link looked at his phone and thought about calling Jeff Austin. But on second thought, he had to take the initiative in this matter. He couldn't appear too eager for Austin.

So Link put down his phone, picked up the basketball, and continued practicing.

As time ticked by, the little white bar in front of Link gradually filled up. Half an hour later, Link finally filled the last gap in the progress bar.

The moment the bar was filled, Link felt as if a warm current was pouring into his body. This process only lasted a few seconds, but the sensation was very strong.

After that warm current merged with Link's blood and settled down, a small line of text appeared before Link's eyes.

"Grant Hill 09-10 season abilities have been stacked."

After that simple line of text, another empty progress bar appeared. The description on the bar was also simple: "Grant Hill 08-09 season abilities."

Link sighed. The system he'd gotten was way too bare-bones, completely different from what he'd read about in novels.

Then Link picked up the basketball and took a few shots. He didn't feel any obvious difference. If there was one change, it was that his body felt lighter. After all, he had "aged" one year younger.

Link scratched his head and carefully pondered the line of text that had just appeared before him.

Grant Hill 09-10 season abilities have been stacked.

"Wait!?" Link's eyes suddenly went wide, and he looked at his hands.

Abilities have been stacked, stacked, stacked... stacked!