Chapter 25

"Fei, shouldn't the team's pre-season training camp be starting soon?"

At the end of August 1993, inside the Utah Jazz's training facility, the place was rather quiet compared to a month ago when it was bustling with free agent tryouts and signings. Apart from a few new rookies like Lin Han and Aaron Williams, there were not many other players in the training facility.

After all, by this point in the NBA, most teams had already signed the players they needed. Even those teams that hadn't completed their summer roster building had specific targets and were actively seeking trades and signings. Therefore, at this time, most free agents who hadn't made it into the NBA had already moved on to leagues abroad or to lower-tier American leagues like the CBA.

Of course, as Lin Han's teammate from the Chicago Talent Camp, Aaron Williams was quite fortunate. As the player who had the best relationship with Lin Han during the Jazz's tryouts, he benefited from Lin Han's special treatment and the fact that the Jazz still needed an additional frontcourt rotation player. Thus, the Jazz ultimately used their 45th pick to select this young frontcourt player and signed him to a two-year, $600,000 contract. For a player of his draft position, this was already a very good deal. After all, while the NBA was generous to rookies, most second-round picks, even those around the 30th pick, typically earned only about $200,000 per year. Aaron Williams, being almost the last pick of the second round, was even more fortunate.

After all, Aaron Williams wasn't like Nick Van Exel. Although Van Exel was a second-round pick at 37th overall by the Lakers, his talent was well-known across the country. The reason for his low draft position wasn't due to a lack of ability but because his playing style was considered toxic. Many teams were hesitant to draft him. Despite being selected by the Lakers with a second-round pick, Van Exel still had leverage to negotiate his contract. He was quite demanding, telling the Lakers and Jerry West that he was happy they weren't short-sighted like other teams and that he was willing to give the Lakers a chance to sign him. However, if the Lakers didn't show sincerity, he would leave without hesitation.

Under this threat, the Lakers and Jerry West gritted their teeth and offered Van Exel a six-year, $11.2 million contract, with a starting salary of $1.2 million in the first year and $2 million per year for the next five years. When this contract was revealed, it shocked many NBA executives and even surprised Lin Han. After all, such a contract was rare even for lottery picks. It was clear that Jerry West had high hopes for this crazy point guard, and the NBA, as Ali had said, was indeed very generous to rookies, perhaps even overly so. For example, the Lakers' veteran James Worthy was still earning less than $2 million per year.

Of course, besides Aaron Williams, who had secured a good rookie contract with the Jazz thanks to his connection with Lin Han, another of Lin Han's teammates from the Chicago Talent Camp, Antonio Harvey, was also brought into the Lakers by Van Exel. Although Harvey didn't get a guaranteed contract like Aaron Williams, he at least made it into the NBA, which was no small feat since he wasn't drafted.

"Why are you asking this? The team's pre-season training camp is still a long way off."

While Lin Han was practicing a back-to-the-basket ball handling move against a trainer, Fei Johnson was a bit puzzled by his question. He didn't understand why Lin Han was asking this.

The NBA regular season was set to start on November 5th, so the Jazz's pre-season training camp was scheduled for October 5th, which was still about a month away.

"Then why have I been seeing some guys coming over to greet me lately? They seem to be Jazz players."

After breaking free from the trainer, who stood like a wall, Lin Han ended his practice with a standard behind-the-back dribble and a jump shot. He had been practicing this move for a while, which he learned from Kobe's legacy. Although he hadn't mastered the core techniques, the move looked similar, but the effect wasn't as good. The backward lean, hang time, and shooting accuracy were far from perfect, making it more of a showy move. However, even as a showy move, it was still quite impressive. When Lin Han took the shot, the ball didn't go in, but the assistant coach, Fei Johnson, almost shouted, "Beautiful!"

Even though Fei Johnson didn't say "beautiful," his admiration for Lin Han's jump shot was evident. In the current NBA, apart from Jordan, it was hard to find a player with a more beautiful jump shot than Lin Han. Perhaps this year's rookies Alan Houston and Penny Hardaway would change that, but their styles still lacked the commanding presence that Lin Han's had.

What made Fei Johnson even happier was that Lin Han's progress in just over a month was significant. His basic basketball skills were already quite proficient, though still far from NBA level. However, he was no longer a beginner and looked like a player who had been playing for over a decade in the NCAA. The rapid improvement in such a short time was almost unbelievable to Fei Johnson.

Clearly, Lin Han couldn't have achieved this in just a month. The reason he appeared to be a fairly ordinary NCAA player to Fei Johnson was that he had trained for nearly four years in the Basketball Legend Training System. Since the system's training facility opened, Lin Han couldn't afford legendary coaches like Kobe or Jordan, but he could hire ordinary trainers for a mere 5 points per day. The training facility provided a free court, and the time in the facility was static relative to the outside world. Even if he spent 100 years in the facility, the outside world wouldn't change.

So, in the past month, Lin Han spent nearly four years in the system's training facility. During this time, he spent about 8,000 points on training and living expenses. Despite training for only four years, the system's 12-hour daily training sessions, free daily scrimmages, and top-tier trainers (the best 10 in NBA history, according to Ali) pushed Lin Han to the limits of his basketball talent.

Indeed, Lin Han had reached his limit. No matter how much he trained, he couldn't improve further. His basketball talent was only that of an ordinary NCAA player, and he couldn't even guarantee a starting position. According to the system's trainers, most ordinary people could reach this level after four years of training. Although Lin Han was reluctant to accept it, his basketball talent was indeed ordinary.

Of course, Lin Han quickly accepted this reality because he still had the Legend System and the potential to improve.

However, Fei Johnson and Jerry Sloan were unaware of this and genuinely believed they had discovered a world-class talent.

"They are indeed Jazz players. They just happen to be in Utah and want to check out their new teammate. Don't worry too much about it."

In response to Lin Han's skepticism, Fei Johnson smiled. The reason these Jazz players, including the team's stars, were visiting Lin Han wasn't just to meet their new teammate.

"Cut the crap, Fei. Do you think the first thing they do when they meet a new teammate is to challenge them to a one-on-one?"

Looking at Fei Johnson's smiling face, Lin Han rolled his eyes and said sarcastically. Although he wasn't familiar with the NBA, he had learned about the team since joining the Jazz.

Recently, several Jazz players had come to "play basketball" with him, including the team's third star, Jeff Malone, who was also a competitor for Lin Han's position. Not long ago, the team signed Tom Chambers, a white frontcourt player and former Phoenix Suns star. Chambers was a former All-Star MVP who averaged over 27 points per game in the regular season and 26 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs. Although he lost his starting position to Charles Barkley last season and became a bench player, as a native of Utah, his return to the Jazz caused a sensation in the state.

For such a player to casually suggest they "play a bit" and "test each other out" couldn't be just to meet a new teammate.

Fei Johnson was quite helpless in the face of Lin Han's frustration. After all, this was part of the Jazz management's strategy to periodically assess Lin Han's abilities. The results were good, but the approach was too obvious.

So, not long after the team's third star, Jeff Malone, and fourth star, Tom Chambers, visited Lin Han, many other official Jazz players followed. What left Lin Han speechless was that the team's two leaders, John Stockton and Karl Malone, were the last to show up.

This was Lin Han's first time meeting the team's true stars, and it was just a short time before the new season began.

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