Luke.Bavet

Conner didn't want to lose anymore.

One month, twelve games, and they'd only scraped together five wins. Without a doubt, the Blue Team's record so far this season was abysmal.

The main reason for that was that Jon Brockman hadn't lived up to Conner's expectations. He'd thought this kid sent down from the NBA would bring the team some victories, but that guy had shown nothing except throwing his weight around in practice and making constant mistakes on the court.

Originally, Conner could console himself by saying Brockman was struggling because he was transitioning to the small forward position.

But yesterday's team practice made Conner face a fact—Brockman, that big white bear, had zero potential to become a small forward.

He couldn't shoot, couldn't handle the ball, and on the perimeter he was just a slow fool. Even Link could humiliate him at the three. Conner couldn't bear to imagine what a disaster it would be to let him play small forward in an actual game.

Speaking of Link, that Chinese-American player's performance in yesterday's practice had surprised Conner. Ever since Brockman cheap-shotted him and knocked the back of his head, Link seemed like a different person. The guy who usually didn't talk much was actually trash-talking Brockman yesterday.

Most importantly, the level Link showed yesterday was a pleasant surprise for Conner.

Maybe Link was desperate to save face after being humiliated, which was why he erupted against Brockman. But regardless, he'd definitely shown some potential.

Conner wouldn't dare say whether Link could make the NBA, but for D-League games, he planned to give Link a shot.

Today's game, the Blue Team's opponent would be the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Miami Heat's affiliate. The Skyforce's most dangerous player was Luke Babbitt, a white forward drafted 16th overall in the first round of this year's draft by the Timberwolves.

Luke Babbitt had been well-known in college. At 6'9" with a sharp shooting touch, he could play both the three and the four. After being picked by the Timberwolves in the draft, he was immediately traded to the Trail Blazers, and since Portland didn't have a D-League affiliate, they sent him to the Skyforce for development.

Both were swingmen for the three and four, but Luke Babbitt was leagues above Brockman. Thinking about it, Conner felt it was unfair. Both were sent down from the NBA, so how come the other team got a Babbitt while he was stuck with a Brockman?

If Brockman kept playing poorly today, Conner wouldn't mind giving Link more minutes. If Link played badly, he could always sub him out. After all, this was basketball—there was no limit on substitutions.

But if Link played well... Conner rubbed his bald head. If Link played well, that would be a huge win!

A lot of players were like this. The effort they put in might not show in practice, but it could suddenly manifest at a critical moment. Whether in the NBA or the D-League, players who seemingly came out of nowhere were too numerous to count.

Even though Conner didn't think Link could perform well against Babbitt, he was more than willing to try something that cost nothing.

Link woke up this morning feeling sore all over.

Last night, he'd stayed in the training gym until 11 PM before finally stopping. But even after that long of extra practice, the little white bar in front of Link's eyes had only inched forward a tiny bit.

It seemed that growing into Grant Hill in his prime would come at a great cost. By his estimate, it would take at least a month or two of training like this every day to fill up the progress bar.

Link still didn't know if his previous abilities would be retained after he leveled up. For example, everyone knew that the young Hill's outside shooting was very inconsistent. Would his three-point shooting degrade as he leveled up?

Or would he become a composite of Hill's abilities from different periods as he progressed?

The system he'd gotten was far too crude compared to the ones he'd read about in novels. No quests, no dialogue boxes, nothing. Just a progress bar and a single line of description—it couldn't be more bare-bones.

But such a system had its advantages. He could control his own life through hard work, instead of being led around by the system.

So Link's only way to resolve his doubts was to train like crazy and level up as soon as possible.

But because he'd pushed too hard last night, his body couldn't quite handle it. Link actually regretted it a little. There was a real game tonight, and if his soreness affected his performance, that would be a loss no matter how you looked at it.

No matter how good you were, you had to prove it on the court. What was the point if no one knew you were good?

Link shook his head. He couldn't just train blindly from now on. He needed to come up with a proper training plan.

"Beep beep!"

As usual, just as Link finished changing, Upshaw honked the car horn downstairs.

Link quickly grabbed two slices of toast and rushed downstairs. His first official game—he was both excited and nervous.

After all, Link had never experienced what it was like to play in front of thousands of spectators.

"Link, morning!"

Upshaw greeted him from inside the car. That guy was always cheerful.

"How was the car wash yesterday?" Link casually opened the door and buckled his seatbelt.

"Same old. Didn't make much, but enough for a couple days of food. Link, today's the real game. How are you feeling?"

Upshaw was full of anticipation for today's game, but not for himself—for Link.

Two days ago, he'd seen Link's three-point show at the street court near the block and lost to him in one-on-one.

One day ago, Upshaw had personally witnessed Link destroy that "prince" sent down from the NBA. Brockman's face, uglier than if he'd eaten crap, was still fresh in Upshaw's memory.

Today was the third day since Link got out of the hospital. What other unbelievable things could he do? Upshaw had no idea.

"First official game. A little nervous," Link said, noticing Upshaw staring at him in surprise.

He quickly slapped his forehead, remembering that this wasn't his first D-League official game. Or rather, this body had played D-League games before, but for Link, it really was his first.

He'd accidentally let it slip.

To avoid raising suspicion, Link quickly corrected himself. "I mean, my first official game since getting out of the hospital. A little nervous."

"Don't be nervous. Whatever you do, don't be nervous. If you come out with two turnovers like last time, Conner will have you riding the bench all game. Oh, I checked the Skyforce roster during my break yesterday. Guess who you're up against today?"

"Who?" Link had been so focused on training yesterday that he'd forgotten to look into his opponent.

"Luke Babbitt. The former Nevada high school player of the year! Last season in the NCAA, he averaged 21.9 points a game! And he was sent down from the NBA! You know what that means? If you can beat him, you'll definitely get noticed by a lot of NBA teams!"

Upshaw was practically spraying saliva as he talked, while Link searched his memory for anything related to the name Luke Babbitt.

Link remembered this guy. He recalled that in 2019, before he'd crossed over, Babbitt was one of the Heat's rotation players.

In his previous life, Luke Bawit never made a name for himself in the NBA. His career bounced between teams, always on the fringe.

In other words, this opponent wasn't actually as strong as Upshaw and the others thought. But no one knew that yet—in their eyes, Bawit was still a highly promising rookie.

"Link, Link!? Are you listening?"

"Uh... yeah, I'm listening, Zeke. Where were we?" Link covered up his wandering mind with an awkward laugh.

"I said, if Brockman plays badly today, you have to seize the opportunity. So give it your all—I'll pass you the ball!"

Upshaw said, extending his fist toward Link. They tapped fists lightly, continuing their journey toward their NBA dreams.

※※※

Inside the arena, the stands were nearly empty, not even a quarter of the seats filled.

But even so, the cheers from the live crowd were loud enough to make Link nervously lick his lips. The average attendance in the Development League was only around two thousand, but this atmosphere was already overwhelming for Link.

"Link, don't zone out again today! Stay put on the bench and be ready at all times. I don't want you making consecutive turnovers the moment you step on the court like last time!"

Just as Link was dazedly looking around, a bald man in a suit shouted at him. The man was Vickson Conner, head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue.

"Oh... oh..." Link nodded mechanically. He looked around, at the jersey on his body, at the burly black men around him, and couldn't help swallowing.

He was really here, standing on a professional basketball court! Even if it was just an NBA Development League game, it was still professional basketball!

Link had played NBDL games before, but Link was also playing his first NBDL game. Because right now, Link's body no longer belonged to its original owner.

While the rest of the team gathered together to cheer each other on, Link stood off to the side, as if zoning out again.

But in reality, his mind was racing. Link was recalling all the incredible things that had happened to him over the past few days.

Waking up in the hospital, inexplicably gaining Grant Hill's abilities, obtaining a system that could make him stronger, and defeating a ferocious almost-NBA player on the training court...

And now, he was finally here, standing on the stage of a professional game.

Suddenly, Link heard cheers erupt from the stands. He turned to look and saw a strong white player waving at the audience.

This face was somewhat unfamiliar to Link, but judging by the fans' reaction, he must be Luke Bawit.

Link's opponent today, and also his stepping stone into the NBA.

Link took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Living as a professional player no one ever knew, scraping by on a tight budget?

No, starting now, he was going to say goodbye to that kind of life.

※※※

Please vote for recommendation tickets, everyone. Five thousand tickets for an extra chapter on release, no upper limit. You can't just be stingy with me like this. I should hit a thousand collections today. Hopefully, after signing, I'll get more growth once I'm recommended. If I can get five thousand collections before release, I'll have some leverage when asking the editor for a big recommendation. Anyway, keep supporting me, Xiao Ge.