Chapter 50

"Lin, did you watch the news yesterday? The Mavericks won against the Timberwolves in a triple overtime game away from home, and Mashburn became the second youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points. USA Today has even called Mashburn, you, Penny Hardaway, and Leiter the 'Four Crazy Rookie Swingmen.' You guys are truly unbelievable; even the 1984 draft class wasn't as crazy as you are, right?"

"The four crazy young swingmen, what a bold claim, but you guys really do deserve it."

On November 15, 1993, when Lin Han arrived early at the team's training facility locker room, team leader Karl Malone waved a newspaper in his hand and shouted to Lin Han.

Lin Han knew without looking that the newspaper in Malone's hand was the latest edition of USA Today from that morning, which he had also read at home. This top-tier media outlet, focused on young American basketball players, referred to Lin Han, Penny Hardaway of the Magic, Mashburn of the Mavericks, and Leiter of the Timberwolves as the 'Four Young Swingmen of the League.' They directly compared Lin Han to Michael Jordan, Mashburn to Dominique Wilkins, Hardaway to Clyde Drexler, and Leiter to Chris Mullin.

It's worth noting that whether it's Jordan, Mullin, Drexler, or Wilkins, these are all top-tier swingmen in the league and currently the best group of swingmen superstars. If in previous years, a media outlet dared to compare four swingmen from a single draft class to these four, they would have been heavily criticized by fans and players. However, this time, USA Today's claim did not receive much opposition. Fans did not resist much, and players seemed to have little resistance either. For example, the Jazz players were discussing this matter with great interest.

It must be said that the 1993 draft class, or these four young swingmen, are truly outstanding. For example, Lin Han, who has been performing the best recently, is currently the league's scoring leader, averaging 42 points per game. Although his other stats do not match Jordan's, comparing him to a smaller version of Jordan is not controversial, and his playing style is very similar to Jordan's. As for Hardaway, although he did not have as explosive a scoring performance as Lin Han after entering the NBA, perhaps due to the scoring trend set by Lin Han, Hardaway has also changed. After five games, his scoring average is 20 points, and he is the only rookie this year averaging 20+6+6. During his peak, Drexler was also a 25+6+6 player.

Hardaway has been influenced by Lin Han's scoring spree and has increased his personal attacks. However, the one most influenced by Lin Han this year is not Hardaway. Hardaway has always been a low-key and reserved player, always prioritizing support over scoring. For example, if Shaquille O'Neal were injured, Hardaway's stats would skyrocket. Therefore, even if Hardaway adjusts his playing style due to Lin Han's influence, the changes would not be too significant.

On the other hand, Mashburn of the Mavericks and Leiter of the Timberwolves do not have as many concerns as Hardaway. Both the Mavericks and the Timberwolves lost their first four games, and it wasn't until the fifth game that the Mavericks ended their losing streak, while the Timberwolves continued to lose. For accumulating stats, is there anything better than playing for a rebuilding team? In the triple-overtime game, Mashburn played 51 minutes and scored 55 points, while Leiter played 46 minutes and scored 42 points. This brought Mashburn's scoring average to 30 points after five games. Lin Han, who faced Mashburn in the first game, knew from Aly's intelligence that Mashburn's rookie season average was around 19 points, never exceeding 20. Although it's early in the season, and Mashburn's average will likely drop, it is still much higher than the 19 points Aly reported.

As for Leiter of the Timberwolves, he had a tougher start, playing as a substitute in the first two games. Although he has been promoted to a starting role recently, his stats are the worst among the four. In the USA Today's 'Four Young Swingmen,' Leiter is at the bottom, but even at the bottom, his scoring average after 42 points is over 20.

Is there a year in NBA history where four rookies averaged over 20 points per game?

Last year, in 1992, only Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning, both centers, averaged over 20 points. Apart from O'Neal and Mourning, the last player to average over 20 points in his rookie season was one of the league's best mid-career shooting guards, Mitch Richmond. This 27-year-old guard averaged 22 points in his 1988 rookie season. As for the 1984 golden generation, only Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon averaged over 20 points. In the past decade, only seven players have achieved this: Jordan and Olajuwon in 1984, Ewing in 1985, Ron Harper in 1986, Richmond in 1988, and O'Neal and Mourning in 1992.

Although these four young swingmen listed by USA Today will not maintain such high averages throughout the season, they are undoubtedly the most prominent players in the league so far. With Jordan, the league's top player, leaving the NBA, the league needs to cultivate new young idols. After USA Today's report, other major media outlets like the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times also began discussing these young players.

Undoubtedly, for these major media outlets to start creating public opinion and topics about these four young players on the same day, there must be some coordination. Clearly, to save the league's ratings and attention, the league is starting to take action.

This makes Lin Han, who already feels extremely awkward, even more uncomfortable. Such large-scale packaging of these four young rookies will naturally attract the attention of the league's true top swingmen or those who aspire to compete for these positions. In this situation, the path for these four young players will not be easy, especially for Lin Han, who is being groomed as the "second coming of Jordan" after Jordan's departure.

Jordan is indeed the best player in the NBA and has many supporters. Packaging Lin Han as the "second coming of Jordan" can bring back Jordan fans who left due to Jordan's departure, reducing the league's losses. However, Jordan has many enemies in the NBA. When Jordan was in the league, he dominated all his opponents. Now that Jordan is gone, these players will target Lin Han, who is being called the "second coming of Jordan."

"Truly, the heavens are against me."

Looking at his excited teammates, Lin Han could not feel happy. At this moment, he had cursed the NBA's top executives countless times in his mind.

Of course, although Lin Han is filled with doubt about the future and feels the road ahead is full of obstacles, no matter what, he must move forward.

"Lin, starting tomorrow, we'll be playing away games in the East. Our first opponent is the Magic. You have to do your best. Your opponent is Hardaway, one of the four young swingmen. It's going to be very interesting, hahaha."

Looking at his teammates who were eager for drama, Lin Han was speechless.

Of course, Lin Han's teammates wanted to see how the league's new "four young swingmen" would match up against each other. After the morning training session, when Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan led the team onto the plane, the usually stern coach even encouraged Lin Han, showing his anticipation for the upcoming match between Lin Han and Hardaway.

Lin Han was very clear about the gap between himself and Hardaway. Hardaway is one of the players Lin Han fears the most. Lin Han is not afraid of facing players with strong offensive skills; he can always match them. Lin Han is not afraid of single combat, so players like Mashburn and Leiter, who play one-on-one, have suffered. Similarly, Lin Han is not afraid of facing players with poor offensive skills but strong defensive skills; he can always go all out in a game, and even if he misses a lot of shots, his jump shot is so graceful and beautiful that no one can say he was defeated. He can always claim he had a bad day, just like Jordan sometimes had bad shooting days.

However, a player like Hardaway, who is good at defense, offense, and organization, is the one Lin Han fears the most. The worst outcome could be getting dominated on both defense and offense.

"I really want to become stronger."

Stepping out of the Orlando airport, Lin Han looked at the dense crowd of reporters and cameras outside and desperately wanted to use his strength to dominate the league. However, the road ahead still seems long.