Chapter 1

"Screen and roll! Screen and roll! Do a screen and roll!"

In the basketball gym of Utah Valley Community College, the sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor and the frantic shouts of the coaches on the sidelines filled the air at this moment.

Utah Valley Community College, as a community college in the United States, has the English name 'Utah Valley Community College,' and although 'College' is added to the end of the name, this college is of such a low level that it cannot even participate in the NCAA Division I league. Or, to put it another way, the roughly 400 four-year colleges in the United States that can play in the NCAA Division I league, while other community colleges and technical schools can only play in the Division II league or not even qualify for that. Utah Valley Community College is a community college that cannot even play in the NCAA Division II league, which also indicates the level of this school.

Although Utah Valley Community College is considered one of the worst colleges in the United States, in a country where sports and entertainment culture are highly developed, even the worst schools have their own basketball teams. Surprisingly, although this school is considered a fourth-rate or even lower-tier institution in the United States, its basketball team is not at the bottom of all American universities; it is even considered a third-rate or second-rate team.

Not long ago, the school's basketball team defeated the University of Utah in a friendly match, which almost shocked the entire state of Utah. Although Utah is a less developed region in the United States, and basketball is also less developed there, the University of Utah's basketball team is still considered the best in the state, and even one of the strongest in the nation.

In this situation, the University of Utah, before the NCAA March Madness, wanted to find some weaker teams to warm up and maintain their form, while also boosting their confidence. However, they did not expect such a result.

Therefore, even though it was already March, and the American basketball March Madness was about to begin, most of the basketball teams that could not participate in the NCAA tournament had already taken a break. However, at this time, the Utah Valley Community College basketball team was still busy, especially on March 8th, when the team welcomed a group of special guests.

These special guests made all the players of the team extremely excited, even to the point of being overexcited. After all, for a school at the bottom of the American education system, the opportunity to have the head coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan, the head coach of the University of Utah, Rick Majerus, and some top NCAA and NBA scouts watching them play is not common.

Although for these players, the NBA is very distant, almost impossible to reach, if they can perform well in today's training match, getting into the NCAA would be a good outcome. After all, this is not only about fulfilling their NCAA dream but also gives them a chance to transfer to a four-year college. If they can seize this opportunity, it could be a chance to change their lives and destinies.

After all, like China, students in American community colleges also have the opportunity to transfer to four-year colleges.

Of course, as a member of the team, Lin Han was not particularly excited at this moment. For him, he is different from others. He is not a real basketball player, or rather, he has only been in contact with basketball for less than a year. In this short time, he has only learned some basic basketball rules and how to dribble, lay up, and shoot. He does not know any fancy techniques or basketball skills.

For Lin Han, even the famous NBA and NCAA coaches Jerry Sloan and Rick Majerus do not interest him, let alone if the basketball god Michael Jordan were standing in front of him.

What Lin Han is most interested in now is when he can earn more money.

After all, this is America, a paradise for the rich, a place that belongs only to the rich, and Lin Han's current dream is to become a rich person.

"Bro, good job!"

On the court, when the coach on the sidelines asked him to do a screen and roll with Ma Jian, who had the ball, Ma Jian almost ignored the coach's tactical request and directly took a jump shot from two steps behind the three-point line, about eight meters from the basket.

After this jump shot by the team's star player, he turned his head slightly disdainfully and shrugged at the team's head coach on the sidelines. At this moment, Lin Han, not far from Ma Jian, immediately approached the star player with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the almost murderous looks from the other eight players on the court.

There was no choice; after all, this Ma Jian, whom Lin Han called "Bro," was his boss.

After graduating from high school last year, as a student with extremely poor grades, Lin Han had no chance of entering a university in the United States. Besides, even if he had the grades to enter a university, he could not afford it.

In this situation, Lin Han, who had already found a job at McDonald's thanks to his good height and appearance, was noticed by Ma Jian in a chance encounter and became Ma Jian's translator and practice partner, which was also his first contact with basketball.

In the United States, there are many Chinese people, but few speak Mandarin as well as Lin Han. Even fewer speak Mandarin well and are in need of money. Therefore, this basketball player named Ma Jian was quite satisfied with Lin Han and offered him a high salary of $15,000 a year, which, although much lower than the average annual income of $23,000 in Utah, was still better than working at McDonald's and much easier, as his job was to be Ma Jian's assistant and accompany him in reading and playing basketball.

Therefore, Lin Han was very grateful to Ma Jian, who gave him his first paycheck. Moreover, Ma Jian was indeed very impressive, almost unbeatable in Utah. Not only did he dominate the teams from smaller schools in Utah, but he also recently outperformed the University of Utah's power forward.

Therefore, Lin Han did not feel any guilt about his flattery. As for the opinions of the other team members, Lin Han did not care, after all, they did not pay his salary.

Of course, the reason this mediocre team from a mediocre school was so strong this year, dominating all the teams in Utah except the Utah Jazz, was not only due to Ma Jian, the team's star forward, who averaged 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, but also due to another star player, a white guard named David Patrus, who averaged 19 points with a 45% three-point shooting accuracy and a 50% overall shooting accuracy.

The reason the team could welcome so many NBA and NCAA scouts, including Jerry Sloan and Rick Majerus, was because of these two players. Similarly, these two players were recognized as having reached the NCAA level and even had a chance to enter the NBA.

"A coach from a small community college wants to show off, but he doesn't know his own weight."

In response to Lin Han's high-five, Ma Jian gave a positive response, but the Chinese basketball player was muttering something. In this mediocre team, Lin Han was his only friend, and the others were almost all enemies, including the coach, especially during this special period.

After all, these players wanted to impress the famous coaches Sloan and Majerus, and the coach, of course, had the same idea. Even Lin Han, who did not care much about basketball, knew that the famous NBA coach Jerry Sloan seemed to love the screen and roll. Therefore, it was understandable that the coach on the sidelines kept shouting for his players to show off the screen and roll, indirectly telling Sloan how great his team's screen and roll was.

However, neither Ma Jian nor David Patrus, the team's stars, paid any attention. For them, did such a high-intensity game need a screen and roll? Not at all. They did not need any tactical cooperation or support from other players; they could freely display their talents.

"Ha ha, that's right. With Bro's strength, he doesn't need to play those low-level things. Look, isn't that fat guy on the sidelines excitedly giving you a thumbs up?"

In response to Ma Jian's disdain for the team's head coach, Lin Han smiled and nodded. When Ma Jian saw the fat guy on the sidelines, whom Lin Han referred to, nodding in satisfaction, he was very happy. After all, he could ignore the head coach of Utah Valley Community College, but he still respected the head coach of the University of Utah, who had always appreciated him. Staying in the United States was not easy for him, even though he was a national player in China, Chinese basketball players did not earn much money at that time. The money to pay Lin Han's salary and tuition was provided by the head coach of the University of Utah, which was why he was willing to stay in the United States to play in such a low-level league. The head coach of the University of Utah had promised him that after a year of such games and learning English, he would recruit Ma Jian into the University of Utah.

At this moment, Majerus was very impressed with Ma Jian's 'reckless shot,' and even Jerry Sloan's eyes were shining. Clearly, this Chinese player's style was extremely suitable for his team. In fact, the main reason he came here today was for this Chinese player. However, he knew that this Chinese player had already been reserved by the fat guy next to him, so he did not show any other emotions.

This practice game was more like a performance by Ma Jian and David Patrus, with the others playing supporting roles. Even if they wanted to participate, they had no qualifications. In the end, when the game ended, Ma Jian's team won by five points, and Ma Jian himself scored 40 points, showing excellent form. On the other side, David Patrus also performed well, scoring 33 points. As for Lin Han, he secretly scored 2 points and provided 5 assists while following Ma Jian, with all other statistics being zero—no rebounds, no steals, no blocks, no turnovers, and no fouls. It was clear that he passed the ball to Ma Jian as soon as he got it, without dribbling, positioning, or defending. He did not know how to position or defend.

Naturally, such a performance by Lin Han could not attract Jerry Sloan's attention, let alone make Sloan suddenly appreciate him and promote him to the NBA, leading to a glorious career in the NBA. This was just a fictional plot, and in reality, Lin Han had no such aspirations.

He had no illusions about the NBA because he knew he could not earn much money there. He knew that players like Ma Jian could earn a lot of money in the NBA, but if he entered the NBA, he would only be a bench player, which was not as good as working at McDonald's. Therefore, in Lin Han's mind, he had already decided to return to McDonald's as a worker after finishing this job.

"Kid, don't think that just because you're with Ma Jian, you have a chance to enter the NCAA. There's no way. Even if you try to get in through back channels, no one will want a player who can't even dribble properly."

"That's right, a player who has only played basketball for a year wants to enter the highest level of basketball. That's an insult to the sport."

"Now, I'm giving you a chance. Get out of the basketball team; you're not welcome here!"

Of course, although Lin Han had no ambitions to enter the NBA or the NCAA, others did not think the same way. In fact, to them, Lin Han was their biggest rival.

After the practice game, as the most shining star players, Ma Jian and Patrus were naturally surrounded by many scouts and even other NCAA coaches, while the other players were ignored. This also showed how popular these two were in Utah. Although top schools like UCLA or North Carolina might not be interested in them, many other NCAA teams were willing to offer them scholarships.

In this situation, for these two, it was not difficult to promote one or two practice partners to follow them to college. Although such practice partners would not receive full scholarships, it was still a chance to transfer to a four-year college, not to mention the dream of playing in the NCAA.

Therefore, after Lin Han 'monopolized' Ma Jian, he became the most hated person by these guys, as they believed Lin Han deprived them of the opportunity to interact with Ma Jian.

Of course, for Lin Han, they could not interact with Ma Jian because Ma Jian's English was poor, and he had no interest in these people.

However, with Lin Han's personality, he would not explain anything to these guys, whether they were excluded or targeted. For him, these guys would not give him the opportunity to earn money.

Therefore, in the face of their ridicule, Lin Han, as usual, turned and walked towards the gym door, preparing to go back to the locker room to change.

"What NCAA, what NBA, who would want to go? A bunch of idiots who only shout about their dreams."

As usual, Lin Han's lips curled in disdain at these guys, and they looked at his back with almost unbearable hatred.

"Damn, I really want to kill this bastard."

At this moment, almost everyone had the same thought. Just as Lin Han was about to walk to the door, a basketball suddenly flew out from the crowd and hit him, and with a loud bang, the ball shattered, and he fell to the ground.

Lying on the ground, Lin Han felt something pierce the back of his head. Before he could think more, this young man, who was hated by his teammates and mysteriously attacked, lost consciousness.