Chapter 30

"Now I realize how persistent these guys are. No wonder even Jordan couldn't tolerate their crazy digging and mocking, and had to retire from the NBA."

Every morning, Lin Han would choose to skim through a few newspapers he had been subscribing to recently at home. This had become a habit. Since entering the NBA, many of Lin Han's habits had changed. Although most of the media in the newspapers were criticizing him, it also allowed Lin Han to know what aspects they were criticizing him for, and gave him more preparation. Otherwise, if these guys caught his weaknesses, who knows what the final consequences would be.

What slightly disappointed Lin Han was that the American media, when mocking him, basically focused on how Lin Han, as a basketball novice without the qualifications to enter the NBA, had entered the league through various dishonorable means. Even today, the Los Angeles Times wrote that Lin Han had bribed the Jazz's general manager, Scott Layden, with half of his salary to get himself selected by Layden, who had been under constant criticism and questioning since the previous season.

There were countless such baseless speculations. Even more, most of the media had already started to look forward to Lin Han's first regular-season game. According to their expectations, they were already openly soliciting from fans and readers how much time Lin Han would play in his first game and how he would be completely dominated by the Dallas Mavericks' rookie, Jamal Mashburn.

No matter how much these guys disliked and disdained Lin Han, he was still a rookie. Even if they couldn't treat him like they treated Penny Hardaway, they shouldn't openly mock a rookie's dignity. The meanness of the American media could be seen from this.

"But this kid is really confident."

The Jazz's first regular-season game of the new season was against the Dallas Mavericks. This team had been one of the weakest in the NBA for the past few years, consistently finishing in the bottom three of the Western Conference, and last season, they were the worst in the West. Since the departure of the Mavericks' greatest player, Mark Aguirre, to the Pistons in 1989, the Mavericks had fallen from a strong Western team. After all, Mark Aguirre was a super player who could average 30+5+5, and the Mavericks' backcourt duo of Aguirre and Rolando Blackman had once shone, even leading the team to the Western Conference Finals in the 1987-88 season.

However, they ultimately lost to the Lakers, the champions of that year, led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, with a very unfortunate 3-4 result. After that, the Mavericks declined with the dissolution of the Golden Duo and couldn't even make the playoffs.

Although the glory of the Mavericks' Golden Duo had passed, the team never abandoned this building philosophy. After Aguirre left, the Mavericks formed a new backcourt duo with Blackman and Derek Harper. After Blackman left, the Mavericks had a new backcourt duo of Derek Harper and rookie Jim Jackson last season.

This season, before the first regular-season game, the Mavericks' rookie, Jamal Mashburn, stated that the Mavericks no longer needed a Golden Duo. With his arrival, the Mavericks could now have a Golden Trio. This young rookie claimed that his achievements in the Mavericks would surpass those of Aguirre and Blackman.

It had to be said that this guy indeed made Lin Han feel very confident. A rookie daring to challenge tradition required courage. Of course, if this guy had only said these things, Lin Han wouldn't have cared much. However, not only did he challenge tradition, but when asked about Lin Han, this second-place scorer from the Chicago rookie training camp said he would show Lin Han the difference between the NBA and other leagues. If some NBA veterans said these things, Lin Han might have thought they were worth listening to, but you're just a rookie, with a slightly higher draft position, so don't get too cocky.

Of course, while saying this, Lin Han knew that this guy was indeed very strong. If he wasn't careful, he might really be embarrassed by Mashburn.

After all, in the next game, Sloan had already said in an interview that although the team's star small forward, Benoit, had recovered from his injury, he wouldn't start due to just recovering. The remaining starting position would be Lin Han's, who would be the Jazz's starting small forward in the first game of the new season.

So, after Mashburn said he would teach Lin Han a lesson, some local media in Utah, such as the Utah News, surprisingly defended Lin Han, not ignoring him as usual, which Lin Han found very interesting.

Of course, the new season was about to start, with less than half a day left. When Lin Han arrived at the team, even the team's veteran players were more urgent than usual. After all, a good start for the team was necessary. Although the Mavericks weren't strong, they didn't look weak for the new season.

"Lin, are you nervous now? But don't worry, during the game, we'll cover for you."

Since Sloan publicly defended Lin Han and announced that he would start in the team's first game of the new season, Lin Han spent more time with Stockton and Malone. During team training, whether it was Malone, Stockton, or even Jeff Malone, who was competing for the same position as Lin Han, they all came to help him relax. For these veterans, who had been in the NBA for nearly ten years, they had never seen a rookie criticized like Lin Han across the country, which could be compared to Jordan in the past two years.

"John, I think it would be great to watch how that arrogant rookie kicks his ass on the court. It would definitely be very entertaining."

"Hey, Karl, are you saying that Lin will get his ass kicked and our team will lose? You bastard, John, I think we should teach Karl a lesson about teamwork."

"Haha, okay, Jeff, that's not what I meant. I think it would be an interesting experience. This kid might really use his performance to hit back at the Mavericks' little guy. Just use the jump shot you use to dominate Jeff in training to dominate that kid."

"In training, I didn't use my full strength, so it doesn't count as being dominated. But Lin's spin move and fadeaway jump shot is really strong. Apart from Jordan, I haven't seen many people with such a terrifying shooting percentage. In the NBA, keeping a 40% shooting percentage with this move is already very good. Your level far exceeds this excellent standard. And strangely, apart from this move, none of your other basketball skills have even reached the pre-NBA level. It's really a strange thing. Are you sure you have no connection with that guy from the Bulls?"

Of course, although these old guys generally took care of Lin Han, they weren't "good guys" and often bullied him. According to them, this was the rookie's duty.

The game against the Mavericks was a home game for the Jazz. Due to the preseason, Lin Han was not unfamiliar with the team's locker room. Although Jerry Sloan took good care of Lin Han, during the game, his locker was still on the edge, like the other two rookies. In this game, neither Aaron Williams nor Brian Russell was on the active roster, so these two guys in suits in the locker room looked at Lin Han, who had just finished warming up and was wearing the No. 8 jersey, with genuine envy.

"Alright, I don't have many requirements for this game. The Mavericks are not a strong team, so I just hope you can focus entirely."

Although Jerry Sloan was always strict, for such an opponent, he didn't say much in the locker room, just giving a slight encouragement to the players.

The Jazz's starting lineup was also set: the starting center was No. 42 Tom Chambers, the power forward was No. 32 Karl Malone, the small forward was No. 8 Lin Han, the shooting guard was No. 24 Jeff Malone, and the point guard was naturally No. 12 Stockton.

Apart from the rookie Lin Han, the team's starting center, Tom Chambers, a former All-Star, was also a new addition.

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